IBM Smarter Water ad

While the world's population tripled in the 20th century, the use of renewable water resources has grown sixfold. Within the next fifty years, the world population is expected to increase by another 40 to 50 percent. With this population growth - coupled with ever-growing industrialization and urbanization -- the demand for water could soon outpace the supply.


There is a water crisis today -- in the United States alone, water managers in 36 states foresee critical shortages by 2012. But the crisis is not about having too little water to satisfy our needs. It is a crisis of managing water badly. Whatever the use of freshwater (agriculture, industry, domestic use), smarter water management can bring significant water savings. Almost everywhere, water is wasted -- in some areas, up to 50 percent of available water is lost due to leaky infrastructure. IBM's smarter water management technologies can help companies reduce pollution, improve drinking water quality and increase the supply of usable water with a real-time advanced analytics system that tracks and reports on the condition of an infrastructure from filtration equipment, water pumps and valves to collection pipes, water storage basins and laboratory equipment. The ability to monitor these systems in real-time means that potential problems such as a burst water main, a slow leak, a clogged drain or a hazardous sewage overflow can be quickly identified and resolved -- or even predicted and prevented. The system even taps into geospatial data to pinpoint the exact location of problem areas.

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Science & Technology

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• ibm
• smarter water