2010 Water Industry Alliance Awards
Keynote Speaker Trevor Hill
Global Water
Future Trends for Managing Arid Cities
Trevor Hill, P.Eng. President & CEO Global Water
The City of the Future
Partners in Managing Scarcity
• In Arizona, cities “function like space stations, importing every ounce of fresh water from distant rivers or fossil aquifers.”
• “In arid places…physics amplify evaporation and drought, visible in the dust-dry farms of the Murray-Darling River Basin in Australia.
Partners for Water Sustainability
Source: Barbara Kingsolver, “Water Is Life”, National Geographic, “Water Our Thirsty World”, April 2010
Partners for Water Sustainability “As the state struggles to match water supplies with its booming population and ensure reliable water delivery to future generations, the Commission will need to expand its efforts at conservation into uncharted areas.”
Chairman Kristen Mayes, Arizona Corporation Commission
“The water industry in South Australia is changing quite rapidly – so the governance and institutional arrangements supporting the industry also need to change,…it will mean South Australia can take a holistic and integrated approach to water management for the very first time.”
Commissioner for Water Security, Robyn McLeod
Water Scarcity
Sources: World Resources Institute (2003) and Global Water Intelligence (11 Feb 2010)
Water Scarcity
Sources: World Resources Institute (2003) and Global Water Intelligence (11 Feb 2010)
Water Scarcity
Sources: World Resources Institute (2003) and Global Water Intelligence (11 Feb 2010)
[The]“water crisis” is really about the political realization in many parts of the world that we cannot continue to live as if water availability were not a restraint on our activities. It is a bit like coming to terms with the fact that Santa Claus does not exist. For years, politicians and engineers have worked to create the illusion that abundant water is part of nature’s bounty, wherever in the world it is required. It was easier to maintain the pretence of plentiful water in the past.
The illusion is becoming much more difficult to maintain.
Arid City of the Future
Source: The World Bank, “Making the Most of Scarcity - Accountability for Better Water Management Results in the Middle East and North Africa”, 2007
Source: UN FAO (http://www.fao.org/nr/water/art/2008/wateruse.htm) and UN “World at Six Billion”
Source: UN FAO (http://www.fao.org/nr/water/art/2008/wateruse.htm) and UN “World at Six Billion”
By 2025, 1.8 billion of the world’s projected 8.9 billion people will be living in countries or
regions that are experiencing “absolute water scarcity”, and two-thirds of the world population
could be under conditions of water stress
Supply Side Management - Reservoirs
Supply Side Management - Reservoirs
Supply Side Management - Reservoirs
Supply-Side Management - Desalination
• Saudi Arabia uses 1.5 million barrels of oil per day at its desalination plants.
730 gallons of fuel per second. It takes 1850 gallons of water to refine this fuel from crude oil.
Source: Arab News
Supply-Side Management - Desalination
• Saudi Arabia uses 1.5 million barrels of oil per day at its desalination plants.
730 gallons of fuel per second. It takes 1850 gallons of water to refine this fuel from crude oil.
Source: Arab News
Shifting the Paradigm: The Arid City Water Cycle Total Water Management
Shifting the Paradigm: The Arid City Water Cycle Total Water Management
• TWM • Centralized/Decentralized • Integrated utilities
• Infrastructure • Purple Pipe (Dual
Reticulation) • ASR/ASTR
• DSM • Data • Price Signals
• Customer Feedback
Infrastructure – Dual Reticulation
Infrastructure – Decentralized
Infrastructure – ASR/ASTR
Arizona has a rich history in managed aquifer recharge to counteract the overdraft of groundwater sources, and to “bank” its surface water allocation
Arizona has a world-class groundwater management plan backed by Statute
Many Az utilities employ: Recharge Basins Vadose Zone Injection Wells ASR (deep injection)
Environmental allotment – requires accounting of ET losses and maintains a 5% “cut to the aquifer”
Hassayampa River Recharge Project
Infrastructure – ASR/ASTR
Global Water: The Global Water Hassayampa River Recharge Project pioneered
“in-basin” recharge. Transports water from the CAP west of Phoenix to the Hassayampa
River Basin, where it percolates to the aquifer Recharged approximated 10,000 AF in 2007, 20,000 AF in 2008, and
23,000 AF in 2009
Hassayampa River Recharge Project
ASR/ASTR • Aquifer Storage & Recovery, Aquifer Storage Transfer & Recovery • Two available water sources:
• Storm water run-off • Reclaimed water discharged currently from wastewater operations
• Collect, treat and recharge underground both supplies • Develop long term water availability • Recover, treat and distribute to non-potable uses
• Duplex complementary upsides: • Long term growth of value of water rights • retail distribution sales
Underground Storage Reclaimed feed
& recharge
Storm-water treatment &
recharge
Renewable water recovery
Renewable water treatment, short term
storage and distribution
Utility-Scale Conservation Demand-Side Management
Real conservation requires:
• Data • Information • Education
Information = Conservation
Source: AquaSpy
Price Signals = Conservation
Source: Brett Walton “The Price of Water: A Comparison of Water Rates, Usage in 30 U.S. Cities”, April 26, 2010, Circle of Blue Source: Oliver M Brandes et al, “Worth Every Penny: A Primer on Conservation-Oriented Water Pricing”, POLIS Water Sustainability Project, May 2010
Price Signals = Conservation
Source: Brett Walton “The Price of Water: A Comparison of Water Rates, Usage in 30 U.S. Cities”, April 26, 2010, Circle of Blue Source: Oliver M Brandes et al, “Worth Every Penny: A Primer on Conservation-Oriented Water Pricing”, POLIS Water Sustainability Project, May 2010
Opportunities for Arid Regions to Collaborate
• Develop a new Paradigm for Sustainability • Pool our resources to maximize water
efficiency • Provide access to markets for innovative
technologies • Provide Best in Class Technologies,
Business Practices and Management Practices for Arid Regions
• Provide policy development aligned with resource development
• Provide opportunities to finance water reuse infrastructure and systems
Sustainability
…not if we plan it right!
Get connected with the Water Industry Alliance
visit www.waterindustry.com.au