Asia Pacific is Working to Make a Better Water Future

TaKaDu Ltd. was selected as a Technology Pioneer in 2011 for their innovative technology in improving the efficiency of water networks. The company's CEO and Founder, Amir Peleg, was recently interviewed by CNBC Asia while he was attending the Singapore International Water Week.

"I just returned from the 4th Singapore International Water Week (SIWW), my first time at the event, which focuses on water sustainability, security and its economic importance. This event was for me a clear indication Singapore is playing, and will be playing, a significant role in shaping the future of water. In many ways it reminded me of my participation in some of the water related sessions at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, January 2011.

The theme was "Sustainable Solutions for a Changing Urban Environment". The Singapore International Water Week brings policymakers, industry leaders, experts and practitioners together to address challenges, showcase technologies, discover opportunities and celebrate achievements in the water world. Notably, I was impressed by the coupling at the same week of the Water Leaders Summit, the Water Convention, the Water Expo and the various Business Forums. The intense focus and dedication to the future of water networks in the Asia Pacific region mean that for TaKaDu, Asia-Pacific is a key strategic market for the next few years.

For me, one of the most interesting interactions was with the CEO of Maynilad, a Philippine water utility in the water and wastewater services for the 17 cities and municipalities of the West Zone of the greater Metro Manila area. Confronting the huge scale of an Asian-Pacific water utility is no simple task and Mr. Ricky Vargas, the utility’s CEO is well aware of that. Non-revenue water, the loss of a significant percentage of the water within the network, is a problem estimated by the World Bank affecting 25-30% of water worldwide. In Manila, water loss figures exceed 50%, making economic growth and sustainability a challenge. Local utilities, with Maynilad being a great example, are working hard to reduce water loss, and their early efforts are already bearing fruit.

Meeting Mr. Vargas, Maynilad’s CEO, was a great opportunity to be reminded of what the vision behind TaKaDu is. Mr. Vargas said until a year ago he was a senior executive at a telecommunications service provider. Coming into the water world, he noticed how water networks don’t have the level of sophistication and advanced control telecom networks do. I, too, have a past in the telecommunications world, and I, too, was surprised, three years ago, to see how water networks are managed today. We both agreed that the water world doesn’t just need a solution to the water scarcity problem; it needs to address the issue of innovation scarcity in water networks."