Greening the Blue: Insights from the World Water Tech Innovation Summit

The World Water Tech Innovation Summit isn't just a congregation of great minds in water technology; it's the hub for the next wave of sustainable innovations that the world urgently needs. For industry leaders and environmentalists alike, the summit offers a glimpse into cutting-edge technology that's set to transform how we approach water management.

Our Commercial Lead, Sarah Brooks, attended the summit in February and has written up some crucial takeaways in this blog post that are essential for the future of water technology and sustainability.

The Power of Collaboration in Water Technology

At its core, the water technology sector is a collaborative effort. No single entity can solve the water crisis or revolutionise the industry on its own. This year's summit emphasised the importance of partnerships between institutions, businesses, and innovators. For water technology companies, partnership can mean aligning with shared values and skillsets to deliver comprehensive solutions.

A groundbreaking new offering may come from a coalition of players, working together.  Linking water companies and large multinational engineering consultancies to agile smaller businesses, which have the ability to adapt rapidly, is critical in an industry where each region presents unique challenges.

Decarbonising Desalination: An Urgent Energy Saving Crusade

Desalination is a critical process, but it comes at a significant energy cost. The eco-footprint of desalination has been a growing concern, especially as the world races to meet carbon reduction targets. This year, the summit highlighted advancements in reducing the energy consumption associated with desalination processes.

Big data and machine learning are set to play a pivotal role in making desalination more energy-efficient. By optimising operations and predicting maintenance needs with unprecedented accuracy, we could usher in a new era of greener desalination.

Reinforcing Resilience in Water Infrastructure

Maintaining and upgrading our water networks is a formidable challenge. With aging infrastructure and a rapidly growing global population, creating resilient and efficient critical infrastructure is a priority. The summit tackled this challenge head-on, with discussions on this ongoing work.

One opportunity is to use existing water infrastructure more innovatively. By using enabling technology on what we already have, the industry could drive down costs and reduce the burden on both the environment and consumers. Balancing OPEX and CAPEX costs have shown overall savings in TOTEX - optimisation drives down cost, which releases budget for other projects to further reinforce resilience.

Interoperability in Water Technology: The Need for Seamless Integration

The water tech sector is flush with new tools and solutions, but the real challenge lies in integrating these technologies into operations rooms. Water utility managers are hesitant to adopt yet another system or software, no matter how cutting-edge. Interoperability was a hot topic at the summit, with speakers stressing the need for technologies that seamlessly complement and enhance current operations.

For new water tech to make an impact, it must be interoperable with existing legacy systems and should not lead to additional training requirements. 

The Road to Net Zero in Water Technology

With global discussions around net-zero becoming commonplace, the water technology sector is not to be left behind. The summit explored the industry's role in achieving these ambitious goals, with a focus on showing Return on Investment (ROI) for net-zero projects.

In the context of water technology, reaching net-zero is as much an economic imperative as an environmental one. Investors and regulators need to see a clear path to profitability for such initiatives. 

The Invaluable Aspect of Networking and Informal Exchange

While the formal sessions are crucial for disseminating knowledge, the informal exchanges that take place at events like the World Water Tech Innovation Summit are equally vital. These casual conversations over food and drink often lead to breakthroughs and collaborations that might not have been possible in a structured setting.

In an industry that requires such a broad, multi-disciplinary approach, these informal interactions are a treasure trove of inspiration and insight.

In summary, the World Water Tech Innovation Summit provided a fertile ground for discussions on the present and future of water technology. The key to success lies in fostering collaborations, enhancing energy efficiency, reinforcing existing infrastructure, ensuring interoperability, and demonstrating the value of net-zero endeavours. It's an exciting time for the water tech sector, with new advancements on the horizon that promise a more sustainable and secure water future for all. For the innovators and investors in our water companies, for the regulators, engineers, entrepreneurs and environmental stewards, the time to act is now.

Tap here to learn more about Klarian and our product Digipipe. We’ve developed our solution for more efficient and sustainable operations for fluids management, providing the framework to not only achieve net-zero but to do so in a way that makes good business sense.  To stay updated on the latest innovations and insights in water, follow us on LinkedIn.