Water for Industry - Get Started
Indian industries are beginning to realize that being water friendly is wallet friendly. And there are other benefits with it -- that of being in the good books of potential corporate partners and the society with which it has to co-exist in the long run. However, being water friendly is easier said than done for the industries. There is need for appropriate technologies, sustained sensitization programmes and adequate overall incentives. The Governments, industries and the citizenry have to work together in this process of transformation.
Frequently Asked Questions
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I already pay for the water, isn’t that enough?
Generally the price paid for water is far below its real economic cost. Most governments subsidise water supply on a huge scale by investing in infrastructure like dams, canals, distribution systems, and wastewater treatment. These costs are often not charged to the water users. As a result, there is insufficient economic incentive for water users to save water. Besides, due to the public character of water, water scarcity is generally not translated into an additional component in the price of goods and services that are produced with the water, as happens naturally in the case of private goods. Finally, water users generally do not pay for the negative impacts that they cause on downstream people or ecosystems
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Why should my business bother about its water footprint?
First of all, environmental awareness and strategy is often part of what a business regards as its ‘corporate social responsibility’. Reducing the water footprint can be part of the environmental strategy of a business, just like reducing the carbon footprint. Second, many businesses actually face serious risks related to freshwater shortage in their operations or supply chain. What is a brewery without secure water supply or how can a company in jeans survive without continued supply of water to the cotton fields? A third reason to do water footprint accounting and formulate measures to reduce the corporate water footprint is to anticipate regulatory control by governments. In the current stage it is not so clear how governments will respond, but obviously regulations in some sectors of business may be expected. Finally, some businesses see a corporate water footprint strategy also as an instrument to reinforce the corporate image or to strengthen the brand name.
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