Invest in technology, PH water sector urged

On the other hand, he said there is also the risk of losing revenue in the business of producing clean drinking water faced by water utility companies. (Pixabay photo)

MANILA – Amid the challenges confronting the Philippines in the area of water resource management, the country’s policy-makers have been urged to invest in water technology to make the sector more efficient.

In a media round table on Wednesday, Xylem President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Decker said investing in water technology would help the country reduce operation costs for wastewater treatment, as well as wastage in producing potable water.

The executive of the New York-based water technology firm said there are now available technologies focusing on efficiency in energy consumption for wastewater treatment facilities.
Decker said the biggest challenge for wastewater plants is mitigating their voracious energy consumption.

On the other hand, he said there is also the risk of losing revenue in the business of producing clean drinking water faced by water utility companies.

“In Asia alone, 40 percent of that water in revenue is lost, were not built,” Decker said. “And that’s driven by leaks in the pipeline, which are usually underground, they can’t see them. It can be caused by people hijacking or stealing water off the network or inaccurate billing or metering of the consumption of water.”

He also cited the rising impact of climate change that further challenges the water resource.

“In the coming years, experts predict that demand for freshwater, energy and food will increase dramatically due to a wide range of factors like population growth and mobility, economic development and trade, urbanization, new technologies, and climate change,” Decker said during the WaterLinks Forum.

“Meanwhile, the global supply of fresh water continues to decline – down 26 percent per capita over the last 25 years due to pollution, climate change and other factors.

And as clean water becomes more scarce, water consumption is accelerating, with water demand estimated to double every 20 years,” he added.

Decker welcomed the government’s initiative to invest in the water sector.

“There is more and more pressure on political leaders to address the water issue,” he said.