Water Scarcity and Cotton

Levi Strauss fears that due to climate change in the near future cotton could become too expensive or scarce, which would jeopardize the company’s very existence. In an attempt to quell this fear the company has begun a nonprofit program to teach farmers in India, Pakistan, Brazil and West and Central Africa in the latest irrigation/rain-water capture techniques.

They have also introduced a new jean that is smoothed with rocks but no water, and are also sewing in tags urging consumers to wash less and use cold water.

In 2005 nongovernmental as well as cotton industry organizations, and some giant retailers including Ikea, Gap and Adidas founded the international nonprofit ‘Better Cotton Initiative’ in order to promote water conservation, reduce pesticides use as well as child labor in the cotton industry. In 2009 Levi Strauss joined the initiative and has since given a combined $600,000 towards the initiative.

A program known as the Carbon Disclosure Program (CDP) has also recently added water security to its priorities, as nearly 40 percent of businesses have already reported that water problems had detrimentally impacted their business. The CDP is working to catalyze a global movement towards sustainable corporate water stewardship to safeguard water resources and address the global water crisis; one of the most significant challenges facing our global economy today.

 Credit: Carbon Disclosure Program

Resources: The New York Times online Sruthi Gottipati contributed reporting from Shelu, India.

CDP: https://www.cdproject.net/en-US/Programmes/Pages/cdp-water-disclosure.aspx  

Calculating Water Footprints:

In an attempt to conserve water

See how a variety of common products stack up when it comes to water use.

You would be amazed at the amount of water needed to manufacture certain items. For example, it takes around 20 gallons of water to manufacture a pint of beer. 132 gallons for one 2 liter of soda, and 500 gallons to grow, dye and process a pair of Levi's stonewashed jeans!

Much of this water is replenished through natural cycles, though many companies are beginning to calculate not just their 'carbon footprint,' but also their water footprint. The motivation behind this is self interest as water shortages loom worse every year. The United Nation's has projected that by 2025 two-thirds of the planet's population will be facing water shortages. Water managers in from several different states anticipate the shortages to begin this year in 2013 according to a general accounting report.

Representatives from such companies as Nike Inc, PepsiCo, Levi Strauss & Co and Starbucks will meet on a summit to calculate the shrinking corporate water footprints. Scientists, Companies' and Development agencies Will launch the Water Footprint Network In December, which is an international non-profit that helps corporations and governments measure and manage their footprint.

The term 'water footprint' was coined by a man by the name of Arjen Hoekstra 11 years ago. Hoekstra is a professor of water management at University of Twente in the Netherlands. Using data provided by the U.N.'s Food and Agricultural organization, Mr Hoekstra and other researchers were able to gauge the amount of water used in making various products from start to finish. They then took this data and compared it to people's consumption patterns in order to get a rough water footprint for both individuals and the nation as a whole.

Zuma Press

Water shortages have plagued Georgia, including a 2007 drought that lowered the Lake Allatoona reservoir. The state tried unsuccessfully to move its border north to claim part of the Tennessee River.

 

Back in 2004 a Coca-Cola bottling plant was shuttered after residents reported that the company was depleting and polluting local water supplies. Now more and more companies are beginning to calculate their water footprints, and are developing new ways to diminish them.

By 2050 there will be a projected 3 billion more people on the planet, according to Stuart Orr the manager of Freshwater Footprint Project for the World Wildlife Fund; and somehow we're going to have to have enough water to sustain that many more people.

Source: By

ALEXANDRA ALTER

Water Demand to Double By 2035

 

 

 

Water Demand to Double By 2035

 

 

Photograph by Bernhard Classen, Alamy

 

The global increase of coal power, along with the coal industry's

adoption of new technologies, will drive the largest share of water

consumption for energy use through 2035, according to the IEA.

Pictured: Germany's Jaenschwalde coal plant.

 

The amount of fresh water consumed for world energy production is on track to double within the next 25 years by 2035 according to projections by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

 

According to IEA's forecast the largest strain on future water resources from the energy system would be the soaring coal-fired electricity and the ramping up of biofuel production.

 

If today's policies remain in effect the IEA calculates that water consumed for energy production would increase from 66 billion cubic meters (bcm) today to 135 bcm annually by 2035.

 

That amount equals the amount of residential water use of every person in the US for three years! That amount would be equal to  four times the volume of the largest US reservoir, Hoover Dam's Lake Mead.

 

More than half that drain would be from coal-fired power plants, and 30 percent would go to biofuel production. The IEA estimates that oil and natural gas production would account for 10 percent of global energy demand in 2035!

 

National Geographic

 

Not only now, but in the future it is becoming more and more imperative to conserve water, our most precious resource. Every year droughts seem to be becoming more severe and pro-longed. Leak detection is becoming an industry unmatched in importance for our planet and it's resources.

 

Accredidation: National Geographic Daily News

  

 





Pittock Mansion undergoing $1.13 million rehabilitation to repair water leaks

Pittock Mansion's east side terraces leak water into the historic mansion. (Courtesy of Pittock Mansion)
By Sara Hottman, The Oregonian The Oregonian
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on June 28, 2013 at 8:00 AM, updated June 28, 2013 at 8:05 AM

The Pittock Mansion is undergoing a $1.13 million rehabilitation, repairing damage incurred from a century of wind and rain.
Construction started at the end of May, according to a release, and the nonprofit Pittock Mansion Society expects work to be finished by October.
In 2014, the Pittock Mansion, 3229 N.W. Pittock Drive, celebrates its centennial, and age has affected its three of its terraces, the nonprofit reports. Three of four terraces leak or seep water, and none of the four drain properly, causing water to leak into the historic mansion's 23 rooms.
The project, including waterproofing and other repairs, has been in the works since 2011. It is being financed by $405,000 in grants and gifts from foundations and individuals, as well as a cumulative $550,000 from the city and $175,000 from the Pittock Mansion Society.
The Pittock Mansion, surrounded by a 46-acre park in the Hillside neighborhood, is maintained by the Pittock Mansion Society and Portland Parks & Recreation.
-- Sara Hottman

Leak Detection Techniques and Services

Many cities are beginning to implement new and more efficient ways to reduce water loss and excessive use.  Some of these ways include the use of electronic and sonic listening apparatuses such as our technicians use when locating leaks.

According to the AWWA a recent water research foundation project was designed to create a technical guidance document to assist small system operators in locating their buried infrastructure, identifying water loss, and locating leaks. This is being done in order to help utilities to improve the efficiency of distribution system operations.

Leak management is now being utilized in many if not most utilities and cities.  The following steps are what is included in leak management programs;

• Periodic assessments of leakage through water audits
• The establishment of district metered areas as well as pressure management
• The reduction of response and repair times to reported or detected leaks
• The application of leakage management as an effective part of asset management

These policies in effect will assist utilities in reducing real losses, maximizing water resources, while also improving public health protection.

A report also concluded that electromagnetic leak detection technology is the most accurate and cost-effective means to locating leaks. Most other leak detection techniques include; acoustic listening rods, acoustic ground microphones, as well as Correlators which attach to each end of supply lines.

These proprietary techniques are being utilized more and more now in attempts at more accurate and cost-effective leak detection rather than the search and destroy methods used in the past.