What’s in Your Water?

Water is our most precious resource. Microsoft and Ecolab aim to protect it. The Water Risk Monetizer, is billed as industry’s first publicly available financial modeling tool that enables businesses to factor current and future water risks into decision making, now incorporates water quality into its site-specific risk analysis to provide a more comprehensive risk assessment. The enhanced tool helps businesses understand the impact of water quantity and quality on their operations, and gives them the insights they need to make more sustainable business decisions.According to the United Nations, global demand for water will exceed supply by 40% by 2030. The compounding impacts of decreasing availability and declining water quality are now incorporated into the Water Risk Monetizer risk assessment.
 

“The market price of water in most of the world does not account for quantity and quality risks,” said Libby Bernick, global head of Corporate Business for Trucost, part of S&P Dow Jones Indices. “This disconnect between the market price and value of water makes it difficult for businesses to substantiate investments in strategies that address water risks. By utilizing Trucost’s data, analytics and insight, the Water Risk Monetizer seeks to quantify water quality risks and the potential impact of water scarcity on a facility to help businesses make better informed decisions on water strategies and management.”
 

Developed by Ecolab and Trucost, a generator of environmental data and risk analysis, and built on Microsoft Azure Cloud technology, the Water Risk Monetizer is designed to advance corporate water management in an increasingly water-scarce world.
 

“At Microsoft, we see a great opportunity to use the cloud, IoT and machine learning to transform water management,” said Judson Althoff, executive vice president of worldwide commercial business for Microsoft Corp. “We have worked with Ecolab and Trucost to develop a secure solution that can listen, learn and predict. The Water Risk Monetizer tool, powered by our cloud technologies, is able to turn data into actionable insights to transform the way every business consumes and manages water.”
 

The Water Risk Monetizer uses best-in-class local water basin datasets, economic techniques and scientific methodologies developed by Trucost to monetize water-related business risks. The tool quantifies the full value of incoming and outgoing water to a specific location based on basin-level quantity and quality considerations – taking into account tangible factors such as scarcity and quality as well as less tangible human health and environment impacts of water use. Risk levels for individual facilities are displayed in comparison to current water costs.
 

New features of the Water Risk Monetizer include:

• Assessment of incoming water risk based on water quantity and quality
• Assessment of outgoing water risk based on water quality
• Enterprise risk profile based on three-year projected output growth and location-specific water stress
• Incorporation of reputational risk exposure provided in partnership with RepRisk
• Enhanced user interface and functionality including the ability to organize and sort facilities, and rank them based on risk level to make it easier to prioritize action

“The impacts of water scarcity on business are complex and far reaching,” said Christophe Beck, Ecolab executive vice president and president, Nalco Water, an Ecolab company. “Successful business leaders will drive water strategies that go beyond simply using less to reuse and recycling. Data provided by the Water Risk Monetizer not only encourages conservation but also helps make circular water management an important and viable option to ensure a more resilient future for businesses and communities.”

 

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