How public-private partnerships can drive innovations in water efficiency and sustainability

Access to water is recognized as a human right, being vital for human health and survival. Even though water is responsible for nearly 60% of economic activity, over 2 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water.

With water resources increasingly threatened by climate change, greater collaboration and investment are needed across public and private sectors to develop and deploy water solutions that support resiliency to climate-related disasters and allow us to reach Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water access and sanitation.

Recently, the 10th World Water Forum convened in Bali, Indonesia, under the theme of “Water for Shared Prosperity” and emphasized our collective role in addressing the water crisis across sectors and industries. During the week, the World Economic Forum brought together public, private and development partners to discuss how we can scale available technologies and blended financing mechanisms to drive greater innovation and progress.

One overarching theme was the importance of public-private collaboration for safer and more inclusive water supply systems. The private sector can contribute in many ways, beginning with integrating water into their sustainability and climate goals. For example, AWS has committed to being water positive by 2030 by returning more water to the communities where it operates than it uses in operations.

However, private sector leadership is just one piece of the puzzle. Further collaboration across government, nonprofits, community leaders and public-private partnerships are needed to ensure the sustainability and resilience of our water resources, especially regarding water efficiency, water recycling and community needs. These examples from AWS and others show how.

The first and most important step to greater water security for all is ensuring industries, corporations and households use no more than needed. A greater focus on water efficiency has the added benefit of reducing demand on public water infrastructure and encouraging reinvestment in maintenance and other projects to increase community resilience.

AWS, for example, employs cloud computing and IoT devices to analyze, identify and address opportunities to improve operational efficiencies in its data centres continually. This move has contributed to reducing Amazon’s data centre water footprint to less than one cup of water (0.19 litres) to cool one kilowatt hour (kwH) of IT load on average, compared with the industry average of about 1.8 litres for the same load, a 24% improvement within a year (0.25 litres/ kwH in 2021).

In Singapore, AWS is working with innovative industry partners, such as EcolabNalco, on cooling tower operational efficiency and Hydroleap for additional water reuse and efficiency.

Cloud-based tools and AI-enabled automation are helping to scale water sustainability innovation across a growing number of sectors, from helping farmers boost crop yields and save water to real-time water monitoring and leak detection in commercial and residential buildings. Policymakers should consider ways to encourage further use of cloud-enabled tools to accelerate efficiency gains.

To reduce water use in Amazon’s fulfilment operations in India, one of the most water-stressed countries, the company designs buildings with rainwater-harvesting systems and sewage treatment plants.

These facilities recycle greywater – water from domestic streams, such as sinks, cafeterias and washrooms – for irrigation and flushing water for toilets. Optimized fixtures, such as waterless urinals and water restrainers for high-flow fixtures, help reduce washroom water consumption.

Water is often forgotten once it flows down the drain. However, recycled water can play a significant role in ensuring water security in times of scarcity as one of the most resilient and sustainable water sources available today. Every community generates wastewater that can be reused, even during a drought. AWS has made treated wastewater a critical part of its water-positive commitment, and it is now using recycled water to cool 20 data centres globally.

Technologies for water reuse are becoming more sophisticated, with modular reuse systems, membrane filters for industrial wastewater and efficient treatment technologies making recycling and reuse more accessible than ever.

AQUAKIT offers onsite greywater treatment systems for residential and commercial buildings, reclaiming up to 300,000 litres of water monthly in a single 12-story building. At the same time, Membrion employs ceramic desalination technologies to treat harsh industrial wastewater for safe onsite reuse.

Public sector support for water treatment and reuse is critical. The Singapore government started exploring the feasibility of reclaimed water in the 1970s, proved the efficacy of these solutions in the 1990s and officially launched high-grade and reclaimed NEWater in 2002. Today, NEWater is used mainly for industrial and air-con cooling purposes and during dry periods, it is blended with raw water and treated again before being supplied to consumers as tap water.

There is also tremendous opportunity to align corporate sustainability goals and infrastructure investment with government priorities and community needs. When corporations collaborate with community organizations on water access, quality and availability, they can invest in the right local priority areas to help build more resilient water systems.

Amazon has worked with Water.org and WaterAid to bring clean water and sanitation to nearly 700,000 people across India and Indonesia to date. In Australia, Amazon is partnering with Great Eastern Ranges to restore water and biodiversity in bushfire-affected areas of Greater Sydney’s water catchment.

In Indonesia, Amazon is collaborating with Water.org to provide technical assistance to local water utilities to reduce leakage in their water networks, to lower water loss from nearly 50% to 15%. AWS’s global water replenishment portfolio is expected to return 3.9 billion litres yearly to local communities.

These are just a few examples of how companies can help build more resilient and sustainable water systems. With water stress increasing worldwide, private sector leaders must consider using their expertise and financial resources to help create a water-secure world. We invite the public, private, and development sectors to partner with us on this shared mission.