A group of water tech companies, in a joint statement, says a lack of reliable data and lack of measurement at the EU level is hampering Europe from becoming fully water resilient.
Signed by companies including Siemens, Bentley, Cisco, and Schneider Electric, the joint statement calls on EU and national policymakers to urgently develop an EU-wide action plan on digitalisation in the water sector and to accelerate data-driven innovation across the entire water value chain.
“Data is part of how we can understand the green and blue landscape. You need data to improve the energy market, but when we talk about the water market, that is really a premature concept,” former MEP Pernille Weiss (EPP) told Euractiv.
The former chairperson of the MEP Water Group explained that high-quality data is required to help the EU design its future water market and to understand which concepts and technologies are working and delivering a return on their investment.
“If we can better understand that, then we also can improve the possibility for European businesses that make horizontal technologies, either services or products, that can go on the export market,” Weiss said. “Because the problems we are facing in the EU are also the same problems found elsewhere around the globe.”
Good on policy, weaker on results
Weiss, who is now adjusting to life after Brussels partly by advising entities such as the Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) Water, Marine, and Maritime, said that while Europe has been at the forefront of creating environmental regulations, it has not focused enough on how to become more water efficient and water resilient.
The EU had better do so quickly because different regions are facing droughts, floods, or both, Weiss said.
While water quality has already been well addressed by European policy, the topic of water quantity is becoming an increasingly important and challenging one, Water Europe Executive Director Durk Krol told Euractiv.
The multi-stakeholder association, which was originally established by the European Commission and today represents the entire water value chain, sees that while water was traditionally a topic more relevant to southern European countries, member states in the north are starting to get affected by water issues themselves. Especially considering Europe’s strategic policies.
“We see that the EU wants to make the transition to a hydrogen economy. But for one kilogram of hydrogen, you need nine kilograms of ultra-pure water,” Krol explained.
On Europe’s transition to a digital economy, Krol said that for a one-megawatt data centre, one would need around 25 million litres of water, enough water to fill about 10 Olympic-sized swimming pools, simply for the centre’s cooling system.
A recent socio-economic report commissioned by Water Europe also highlighted that the EU is producing 3 million wafers per month in the semiconductor industry.
This activity consumes 45 million cubic…
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