Water Tech: A Guide to Investment, Innovation and Business Opportunities in the Water Sector

by William Sarni, Tamin Pechet

Overview

This book unveils how the world in the twenty-first century will need to manage our most fundamental resource need, water. It outlines how stakeholders can improve water use in their homes, their businesses, and the world.

In particular, it focuses on the role of stakeholders in crafting a twenty-first century paradigm for water. Investors not only drive innovation through direct investment in new technologies but also by highlighting risk and driving reporting and disclosure within the business community.

Water Tech highlights the business drivers to address water related issues. These include business disruption, regulatory risk and reputational risk along with opportunities in the commercialization of innovative technologies such as desalination and water reuse and treatment. The authors argue that through increased attention on water scarcity through activities such as reporting and disclosure we are now accelerating innovation in the water industry. They show how we are just now capturing the true cost and value of water and this is creating opportunities for investors in the water sector. The text takes the reader through key aspects of emerging innovative technologies along with case studies and key issues on the path to commercialization. A roadmap of the opportunities in the water sector is presented based on interviews with leading authorities in the water field including innovators, investors, legal, regulatory experts and businesses.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032926681
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/14/2024
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Will Sarni is an internationally recognized thought leader on water stewardship and sustainability strategies, and author of Corporate Water Strategies (Earthscan, 2011). Will works with some of the most recognized global brands in developing water stewardship strategies. He is a Board Member of the Rainforest Alliance has worked with several NGOs as an advisor on water-related programs. He is based in Denver, Colorado, USA.

Tamin Pechet is CEO of Banyan Water, a private-equity funded company using information technology to reduce water costs and risks for large commercial and institutional customers. He is also Chairman and Co-Founder of Imagine H2O, a global non-profit organization spurring water entrepreneurship. He is based in San Francisco, California, USA.

Table of Contents

Foreword Marcus Norton Foreword Tom Kostigen Part 1: Innovation Introduction 1. The Value of Water 2. Global Trends as Drivers for Innovation Part 2: What is Water Tech? Introduction 3. Do Water and Innovation "Mix?" 4. Water Supply 5. Water Demand 6. The Water, Energy, and Food Nexus Part 3: Building the 21^st Century Water Industry – Ideas, Money and Commercialization Introduction 7. The Ideas 8. The Money 9. Commercialization 10. What does Success Look Like? 11. The Global World Water Forum 2024

Editorial Reviews

"Water stewardship is in its infancy - yet the possibilities for private industry to drive innovation and support improved performance from the public sector is huge. Private industry has always sought water innovation, but in the past, the pressures were different from those emerging in today’s highly branded, globalised and increasingly water stressed world. This book lays out in clear terms why companies need to act and shows how Water-Tech will play a crucial role in bridging the internal with external worlds of water management with stewardship practice." – Stuart Orr, Head of Water Stewardship, WWF International

"This book is a welcome, uplifting addition to the water literature. It points out that water problems in fact can be solved, once the risk is properly understood. Thanks to this contribution we are now approaching the point where necessity meets ability, and where water becomes an investment opportunity." – Piet Klop, PGGM

"Water matters to us all, whether CEOs, elected officials or consumers. Two-thirds of the world’s population over the next 20 years will experience some type of water shortage. Sarni and Pechet have written an accessible primer on the dynamics of water supply and demand and on the way forward for industry leaders, government regulators, municipal managers and financiers. Much of our profligate water use – including the 70% used by agriculture – is easily reduced through tracking, pricing, efficiency, recycling, reuse and innovation (technology and practice). Industry can lead the way through individual action and precompetitive collaboration with government, financiers, and civil society to address issues of pricing, regulation, and commercialization of new innovations." – Tensie Whelan, President, Rainforest Alliance

"As in energy, addressing the global water challenges of the 21st century will require innovations in technology, investment, and thinking. Sarni and Pechet’s book is a highly readable and invaluable guide helping point the way to a new, sustainable water future for the planet." – Clint Wilder, Senior Editor at Clean Edge and co-author, The Clean Tech Revolution and Clean Tech Nation

"Will Sarni and Tamin Pechet write with passion and optimism about the need to integrate good water stewardship into the heart of business. They show how an increasing number of companies recognizes the need for sustainable water use. The book shows that the path from awareness to actual change will have to go through innovation." – Arjen Y. Hoekstra, professor in Water Management, the Netherlands, and author of The Water Footprint of Modern Consumer Society

"This book makes a compelling case for why leaders need to better understand our relationship with water, is brilliant in its capture of nuance in water issues around the world, and more importantly it is convincing about the phenomenal commercial opportunity for innovation and technology to contribute to a secure and sustainable future." – Anand Shah, Founder, Sarvajal

"Will Sarni and Tamin Pechet have compiled not only an important book, but also a guide for entrepreneurs, innovators, policymakers and corporate executives. As a longtime water advocate and author on the subject, I can safely say this breaks new ground. Will and Tamin’s quest to showcase and discuss the cutting edge tools, practices, and strategies behind the business of water is a wild success. Water is life. And this book identifies new ways we can make it sustainable." – Tom Kostigen, author of The Green Blue Book, the simple water savings guide to everything in your life

"Sarni and Pechet make it clear that increasingly, water could be a source of failure for companies. There is great opportunity to take an out-of-the-box approach to innovation in water that can lead a more sustainable future for our most critical resource." – Jigar Shah

From the Publisher