At The Water Council, we often find ourselves banging the drum to alert people about present and coming water challenges. But we also focus on finding solutions, which is what keeps us hopeful for the future. One way we facilitate solutions is through our innovation programming. Learn more in our September newsletter.
Application is now open for our fall 2021 Tech Challenge! Our Tech Challenge connects water innovators to innovative water users. Our corporate sponsors — A. O. Smith, Badger Meter, Watts Water Technologies and Xylem — issue challenge topics. Applicants are invited from all over the world and all areas of innovation — universities, business, government labs and more — to submit their solutions.
There is an important relationship between water technology and water stewardship that is well demonstrated by the success story from John Barelli and WaterSurplus. Watch our latest video to learn more.
As I write this, we are expecting another day of severe storms and extreme heat in Milwaukee. Is this caused by climate change? It’s hard to say for certain, but we know climate change is here and will get worse, as confirmed by the recent United Nations report. While the news about climate change is alarming, we at The Water Council see a huge opportunity to leverage our work in water innovation, technology and stewardship to make a real impact in the sustainability movement.
The Water Council welcomed a new neighbor in July with the opening of Beckhoff Automation’s Milwaukee office in the Global Water Center. Beckhoff, based in Germany with U.S. headquarters in Minnesota, is a provider of advanced and open automation solutions. The 3,660-square-foot Global Water Center office includes space for sales, engineering, support and training. The office also gives the company easy access to The Water Council, helping us work together to promote innovation in freshwater technology.
I’m pleased to invite you to our second Milwaukee post-WEFTEC business development event for U.K. and European companies October 20-22. We’ve created a thought-provoking agenda to facilitate a meaningful exchange of ideas and strategies: from engaging with new, powerful panels to small group discussions featuring water specialists, state government officials, utility partners and industry C-suite executives, and, of course, through personal networking.
Water, as one of Water Leaders Summit panelists said this week, is having a moment. Our discussions this week, much like week one, couldn’t have been timelier. On Tuesday, we talked to Sara Gonzalez-Rothi, senior director for water for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, with a follow-up panel from Emilio Tenuta of Ecolab and Claudia Toussaint of Xylem. As expected, they emphasized over and over how closely water is tied to climate change.
What a week it has been for Milwaukee! I’m talking, of course, about the first three sessions of our annual Water Leaders Summit, presented by A. O. Smith and Baird. Why, did something else happen here this week?
I know my radar is up when it comes to water, but it seems like water issues might finally be hitting critical mass with the business community and the public. Unfortunately, not a day goes by where we don’t see another major news story about water problems. Then again, when drought, climate change and increasing demand threaten the water supply of 25 million Americans, you can’t help but take notice. That’s what’s happening on the West Coast, as Lake Mead – the country’s largest reservoir – sinks to historic lows that will most likely trigger water shortages and restrictions in the coming months. As you know, those low water levels also create significant challenges to the production of needed energy for a vast area of the U.S.
Xylem has been a member of The Water Council for nearly a decade. Our partnership took a giant step forward when Xylem announced it would move its Sanitaire operations to the Global Water Center. Now Xylem is again strengthening its relationship to The Water Council as the newest sponsor of our Tech Challenge.