IN the coming years, the competition for water among the residential, industrial, and agricultural sectors will drastically increase, straining the lifeblood of ecosystems: water.
Nearly one in every two people will live in water-stressed areas by 2030, and the consequences of dry ecosystems are extensive and far-reaching. Impacts include reduced productivity, loss of biodiversity, landscape damage, and economic hardship.
Producing drinking water is highly energy-intensive due to complex treatment processes and operation of required infrastructure (pumps, membranes and other equipment that run on electricity). Over a quarter (26%) of water operators’ costs is driven by electricity alone; and energy use increases when water needs to be pumped over long distances or infrastructure is aged and inefficient.
To overcome these obstacles, some countries have implemented electricity tariff reductions for water operators, with the aim of improving service delivery. While this approach may address immediate water quality concerns, it raises questions about the alignment with long-term national decarbonisation and energy efficiency goals. Studies show that subsidised electricity prices often lead to increased consumption, potentially undermining progress towards sustainability.
Optimising water management requires synergy between impro-ved operational efficiency and mindful water consumption by consumers. Thus, raising water tariffs for consumers can be a way to encourage conservation, as recently demonstrated by Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Another complementary method for improved water management is stormwater prevention. Rain that falls on rooftops is usable; however, once it runs off the rooftops onto the streets, it becomes polluted stormwater that burdens the water treatment system. Reducing stormwater runoff can also offer benefits such as protecting local freshwater ecosystems from pollutants, lessening erosion impacts, and recharging aquifers.
Flood management is conventionally done with costly pipes that maximise the rapid drainage of rainfall. However, there is great potential in capturing rainwater and releasing it slowly over permeable areas to percolate into the groundwater table. By doing so, captured rainwater could be used to restore groundwater, irrigate landscapes, and meet other water needs, ultimately reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
This new paradigm can free cities from the never-ending quest of expanding pipes and energy-intensive pumping and treatment facilities.
As rooftops make up roughly 60% of total urban impermeable area, they are the main sources of stormwater runoff, and cities will need to adopt innovative solutions to prevent this runoff.
For example, one of the winners of the World Economic Forum’s UpLink Global Freshwater Innovation Challenge 2023 has proposed a method of stopping rainwater from running off the rooftops by using smart city technology.
The property-based rooftop runoff prevention digital network enables calculation of savings on stormwater treatment, and verifiable ecosystem credits – stormwater retention, potable water demand offsets, lower associated scope 2 carbon emissions (ie indirect emissions associated with the purchase of electricity), and ecosystem restoration. Accru-ed over an entire community, the ecosystem credits can be huge.
Utility-owned and managed green infrastructure assets are usually implemented on public property, while distributed residential and commercial property- based green infrastructure is typically not integrated into the asset management planning or costing of water utilities.
We need a paradigm shift in our thinking to resolve this administrative barrier between public and private properties.
Moreover, we need innovative solutions to water management, such as the property-based rooftop runoff prevention digital network that can reduce stress on water treatment facilities, recharge groundwater, preclude flooding, and improve water quality.
As we look toward this year’s World Water Day on March 22, city councils, energy transition and water transformation ministries, natural resources, environment and climate change ministries, education ministries, and citizens should seize the moment to build a circular blue economy by adopting innovative, decentralised approaches to strengthen national and regional water security and adaptability in the face of a changing climate.
PROF YEUN YOONG LEONG and PROF WING THYE WOO
Kuala Lumpur
Prof Yuen is the director of Sustainability Studies at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and teaches Sustainable Manage-ment and Operations at Sunway University; Prof Wing is co-chair of the SDSN South-East Asian Regional Leadership Council and holds academic appointments at University of California-Davis, Sunway University, Columbia University, Fudan University, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
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