World Water Day

Start of the International Decade for Water Action.
"Water for Life“

Wherever we look – nothing but water. Seemingly there is an inexhaustible supply of water on our planet. The earth’s total water supply is estimated at 1.4 billion cubic kilometers. Of this figure, some 96.5% is attributable to the world’s oceans, 1.7% to the polar icecaps and glaciers, a further 1.7% is groundwater, lakes and rivers and the rest occurs as water vapor in the earth’s atmosphere.

The reality looks rather different: 

Global water consumption is increasing rapidly

Globally some 70 per cent of the water used by mankind is used in agriculture, industry uses 20 per cent and households consume 10 per cent. However, these figures fluctuate strongly from region to region and there are some countries that use up to 90 per cent of water for agricultural purposes. On top of this, worldwide only around 5% of all waste water is subjected to a treatment process.

In the recent past, human consumption of water has increased dramatically worldwide. The forecast that human water consumption could triple once more in the next 30 years is alarming. Then at least 40 per cent of the world’s population will live in countries that suffer from a chronic shortage of water. More than 50 countries already suffer from a great shortage of water.

The provision of water in sufficient quantity and of sufficient quality is perhaps the greatest challenge of the 21st century. Water will soon become more valuable than oil.
 

WATER FOR LIFE - UN declares a decade of water

To enhance awareness of the importance of water as a resource, the UN’s General Assembly declared the decade that is now starting from 2005 to 2015 the International Decade of Action on “Water – the Source of Life” at its 58th meeting. This proclamation is intended to point to the importance of protecting drinking water reserves, dealing responsibly with water resources, the challenges of effective water distribution and the need for sustainable water management.

The aim of this decade, which officially starts TODAY on World Water Day, is “to focus more closely on water-related questions at all levels and to implement water-related programs and projects”. The aim is to place the significance of water as a resource more firmly on the public and political agenda. The UN sees involving women in development programs as particularly important because they are largely responsible for the water supply.

Already in 2003, the “International Year of Freshwater”, an initiative of 23 UN organizations published the UN World Water Development Report for the first time. Under the title “Water for People, Water for Life” a total of 11 major challenges are specified for mankind in connection with water. Theses include the following areas:

• An adequate supply of clean drinking water and hygienic removal of waste are essential for preserving human health. Some 80 per cent of all diseases in developing nations are due to inadequate access to clean drinking water!
   
• Water is the basis of the food supply for an ever-growing world population. With a predicted 8 billion people in 2025, agriculture must continuously increase yields to secure food for the developing nations.
   
• There is also increasing concern about the quality of water, which has become one of the most urgent problems for both industrialized and developing nations. Water sources are in some cases showing extreme burdens of a highly diverse range of pollutants. One of the causes is the global increase in urbanization.
   
• An adequate supply of water is also a prerequisite for many areas of industrial production, and hence for the economic growth of a country.
   
• In the industrial and commercial sectors, water for industrial use can in many cases be recycled.
  In developing countries in particular suitable water treatment technologies must be accessible when constructing new industrial infrastructures.

WATER – Challenge for mankind,
corporate responsibilty for BWT

Knowledge of this limited availability of water, coupled with the rapid increase in the world population are the key factors responsible for the growing awareness of the irreplaceable value of water.

The BWT Best Water Technology Group is well aware of its great responsibility and with its ecologically and economically optimized products and technologies makes a substantial contribution to the responsible handling of the planet’s most essential and valuable element, WATER.

BWT, with 68 companies and 2,800 employees, today is the leading European water technology group.
BWT devotes its efforts to the entire water cycle, “from source back to earth”. With the two business segments Aqua Ecolife Technologies and Aqua Systems Technologies, the Group offers customised, sustainable products and solutions in the areas of drinking water, process water, ultra-pure water and waste water for individual homes, hotels, industry, and municipalities. With its third segment Fuel Cell Membrane Technologies, BWT is well positioned as a supplier of innovative membranes for fuel cells.

All technologies for water treatment are part of the BWT product range, including filter, softener, water purifier, disinfection technologies such as UV and ozone, along with ion-selective membranes, electro-deionisation (EDI), ion exchangers, membrane technologies (reverse osmosis, nano-filtration, micro-filtration, ultra-filtration), and the innovative AQA total Energy technology - the first technology worldwide to offer an all-in-one solution for vitality, protection against limescale and corrosion.

The BWT Best Water Technology Group is represented all across Europe with subsidiaries and affiliated companies. In the past years, BWT has also established or acquired subsidiaries to handle local markets in Asia, North and South America, and Southern Africa.

Building on our solid European market position, we are working consistently toward realising our vision:

BWT – the leading international water technology group.