Look beyond innovations to tackle water shortages

Global water issues are becoming complex and experts now feel that tackling them would require some out-of-box thinking. Innovations are not enough where water scarcity is concerned and an effective solution to the water problem will involve a business model, creative packaging and a reasonable price, former technology officer of General Electric Water and Process Technologies Ramesh Rengarajan said.

Rengarajan said the requirement was to find solutions that married water sustainability with efficiency. He proposed treatment and reuse of water through a decentralized power system as one solution for water scarcity that may minimize environmental impacts. His comments came during an interactive session at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in late August.

The former GE official said he saw the treatment and reuse of water as a solution for the growing water shortages across regions. While this "toilet-to-tap" method makes some people uneasy, it has been widely used with no harmful effects.

He said he envisioned a device people could plug in and use on-site, like an air conditioner, to disinfect water. The solution would have to be cost-effective in order to work. While people are willing to pay for gas and oil, they are reluctant to do so for water, he added.

According to Rengarajan, finding a solution to global water scarcity was 'not a challenge, but an opportunity'. A solution would benefit the environment and potentially create a multibillion-dollar business, he added.

Against a backdrop of growing water scarcity around the world, any business that promises a solution would indeed be worthwhile. The last several years have seen advancement in technology solutions including new and efficient ways to desaline, reuse and treat water. Now, water is even being made from mist, or out of air. Going ahead, all of these would become still more efficient and effective, and hopefully, some new solutions would arrive.