As states in the southwest face one of the most severe droughts on record and cities on the brink of water shortages ask residents to limit their usage, it’s evident that the country’s water crisis is reaching a new extreme. To prevent further escalation, all eyes are on those who hold the most power to change the course of the country’s water risk trajectory: large enterprises. Large enterprises throughout the U.S. have the power—through their extensive real estate footprints—to take deliberate action that optimizes water usage for the built environment.
In its 2021 Water Analysis Trends and Emerging Risk Report, data-driven water conservation software provider Banyan Water examined key risk factors, including frequent leaks and surging water rates, to provide an accurate depiction of how earth’s most precious resource is being used—and wasted—throughout commercial and multifamily properties in the U.S. The data speaks for itself in showing how avoidable water loss contributes to extreme environmental challenges, including the Colorado River’s first water shortage.
While the magnitude of the problem is easy to see, the false narrative is that the effects are impossible to reverse. This is not the reality. We’re at a critical moment in history where our planet’s future depends on how seriously we heed these warning signs and the action enterprises take to counter damage and reduce overall water risk.
What can enterprises do to reduce their water footprint?
Proactively calculate your business’s water footprint
You can’t reduce what you haven’t measured yet. A lack of data insight is a blind spot for companies, despite their best intentions to conserve water. Understanding your property’s total water usage is the first step to creating behavioral changes that lead to a minimized water footprint.
For most businesses, monitoring ongoing water usage is typically a retroactive activity performed when a bill is delivered weeks after water is used. Rather than working backward, with Bayan’s software, companies can more accurately calculate their water footprint with advanced IoT tools that track and respond to usage in real-time. This makes a difference in not only determining how much water your organization uses on a daily basis, but also detecting issues such as water main breaks, which can occur every two minutes and waste approximately 6 billion gallons of treated water each day, as discussed in Banyan’s latest report.
Take full control of your property’s water usage
On top of the lack of real-time access to water use, The American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2021 Infrastructure Report Card gave America’s collective infrastructure a C- rating. The country’s deteriorating water infrastructure continues to catch the government’s attention, leading President Joe Biden to propose a $111 billion project to double down on improving water infrastructure.
While nationwide plans to mend the broken infrastructure ramp up, companies are in the ideal position to parallel Biden’s efforts. By implementing Banyan’s data-driven software with real-time leak detection, auto-shut off capabilities and alerts, businesses can take control over their property’s resource consumption and save millions of gallons of water in the process. In its report, Banyan found businesses using its water management software detected more than 500 leaks and saved 5.1 million gallons of water in 2020 alone.
Facing the driest 20-year period since the late 1500s, the country’s cry for help is only getting louder. The water restrictions and droughts of today hint at a future with no options; we must conserve water every chance we get. Rather than stand idle, enterprises must reduce their water footprint today with data-driven optimization strategies.
