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In a recent conversation with a colleague who chooses his words quite carefully, he commented, "Water is more hazardous than plutonium." Really? Well, his point (and I gather he was drawing comment from others) is that water is a necessary component of life and much of the world only has access to unsafe, unsanitary, polluted water that ultimately causes untold harm.
His comment is perhaps a bit dramatic but I am sure that most engineers have heard that water is "the next oil", meaning that as access to water falls into the hands of a few and demand increases, there will be an imbalance (locally or globally) that will create rising prices and a stratification of the market for high versus lower value needs.
Having worked in the industrial process filtration marketplace for many years, I am well aware of the need for and costs associated with high quality water. But, I admit that I have always had an abundant supply and am not sure how significant the problem is. I am keenly aware that this marketplace was at once the home to many smaller, 'mom and pop' companies and that over the past ten years, major corporations (3M, Dow, GE, Koch) have all acquired and consolidated many of these businesses. Comments at the proverbial water cooler suggest that they are all positioning themselves in the clean water business more than the current business of industrial process filtration.
Can others comment on this subject? How significant are the issues we face? Can we generate a dialog to get a sense of the challenges, the needs and the opportunity to ensure a continuing supply of clean, clear drinking water for all?
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More have substandard water than drinkable
