Big Data’s Big Role in Reducing Water Stress

Sep 6, 2017 | Nitin Donde
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Water stress is not an arcane term just used by hydrologists. It is defined as the inability to meet the ‘human and ecological demand for water.' The effective use of water resources has been well documented as a leading indicator of economic progress and the converse, damages to water resources can significantly impact economic growth.

Here in the US, recent high-profile stories about poisoned water in Flint, Mich. and polluted water in Toledo, Ohio, have raised this issue for many who likely hadn't thought much about our national water supplies before. Alarmingly, as many as 3.5 million people in the US fall sick from water that has been contaminated by sewage each year according to a recent report. The UN reports that by 2040 one in four of the world's children will be living in areas with extremely limited water resources. To put it another way, 600 million children will be in regions enduring extreme water stress. Saudi Arabia now imports all its grain, after decades of self-sufficiency, brought about in part by fear of water depletion. In recent times, water utilities, non-government organizations (NGOs) and both local and national governments have turned to technologies and Big Data to alleviate some of the root causes of water stress and optimize the "catchment-to-tap" lifecycle.

The main causes of water stress are many: overconsumption, deterioration in water quality, wars, and natural disasters such as earthquakes. While many countries have done an admirable job to help alleviate the fundamental causes of water stress, there still remain many countries that remain at the mercy of weather patterns beyond their immediate control: for example, half of India's precipitation falls in 15 days. In Iran freshwater withdrawals now top 67% of available resources while a 40% ratio of withdrawal to availability ratio is considered the threshold of water stress. According to a study by the NGO Small Media, Iran is facing a water crisis that "threatens to render vast swathes of the country near-uninhabitable within the coming decades. Groundwater reserves are being exhausted, rainfall is declining, and the country's greatest lakes and rivers are evaporating into nothing, to be replaced by vast, dead salt pans." This chart illustrates over 30 countries likely to be water stressed by 2040.

The emergence of Big Data and smart technologies has brought about a sea change in how various agencies deal with today's water stress problems and work to reduce their impact in the decades to come. According to one consultant, utilities are moving away from investments in heavy physical infrastructure and reactive mechanisms to ‘smarter' systems that optimize processes. There are many ways in which Big Data can alleviate some of these issues. Here are just a few: