Celebrating World Water Day, Ecolab Inc., the global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services, launched an enhanced version of its Smart Water Navigator<\/strong><\/a>. The free online tool helps businesses understand the value of water in their operations and take action to achieve corporate water goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This enhanced tool comes at a time when rising industrial water use continues to contribute to the world\u2019s growing water stress and scarcity challenges. According to the World Resources Institute (WRI), the world will experience a 56% freshwater shortfall by 2030 if nothing changes, an increase from the 40% shortfall projected by the U.N. in 2015<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is an important time for industry to start closing the widening gap between freshwater supply and demand through smart water management,\u201d said Ecolab President and CEO Christophe Beck. \u201cWe developed the Ecolab Smart Water Navigator to help businesses develop comprehensive, context-based plans and to better engage and support the teams responsible for driving smart water management.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A need for increased urgency around corporate water action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To better understand the state of corporate water management and how companies can more effectively advance their water management goals, in February 2021 Ecolab and sustainability news research organization GreenBiz surveyed 93 companies with revenues of at least $1 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The survey underscored the need for increased urgency around water action within organizations, with only 38% of respondents stating that water is a strategic corporate initiative that is proactively managed across their operations. At the same time, S&P Global reports<\/strong><\/a> that corporate water use progress is currently insufficient to prevent the projected freshwater gap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Identifying opportunities to advance corporate water goals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While water targets and goals are typically set by sustainability and corporate responsibility teams, 95% of respondents in the Ecolab-GreenBiz survey said that facility-level teams are responsible for achieving these targets, which may contribute to the disconnect between water intention and action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/20210323-ecolab-water-monetizer-1024x585.jpg\")
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