Survey: Business Water Management Efforts Are Still a Drop in the Bucket

Ecolab opens Water University to help companies accelerate their
progress

NAPERVILLE, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–By the year 2030, water demand is expected to exceed sustainable supply
by 40 percent, but only 42 percent of respondents from a recent survey
conducted by Ecolab and GreenBiz Group cited water management as a
strategic corporate initiative. According to the research, 82 percent of
the 184 large businesses surveyed say they are not sufficiently using
advanced tools and technologies to better manage their water use.

To encourage better water management practices, Nalco Water, Ecolab’s
global water management business, has created Water University, a
hands-on training facility for Nalco Water clients and associates. The
new Water University will be officially dedicated today with a
ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nalco Water’s Naperville campus. Lieutenant
Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti, former U.S. Secretary of Defense William S.
Cohen, State Senator Michael Connelly and Naperville Mayor Steve
Chirico, as well as leaders from industry and non-governmental
organizations and other local representatives, will be part of the
opening ceremonies.

Water University will provide the tools and training businesses need to
strategically manage water more efficiently. The innovative learning
environment showcases water management technologies serving a variety of
industries. It also features a training facility with a lab and a range
of equipment for hands-on training. Water University is expected to host
more than 2,200 global visitors in 2018.

“In partnership with our customers, our goal by 2030 is to help save 300
billion gallons of water annually – equal to the yearly drinking needs
of more than one billion people,” said Christophe Beck, executive vice
president and president of Nalco Water. “Water University is a
state-of-the-art facility where 200 scientists share solutions to
conserve our most precious resource – water.”

Ecolab’s 25,000-strong field team serves customers globally, and they
have access to data from tens of thousands of digitally controlled and
remotely monitored IoT devices to ensure immediate problem
identification and resolution.

The Ecolab/GreenBiz Group survey further underscores the need for
companies to rethink their water management. Key findings of the survey
include:

• Water is an increasing priority – especially in the consumer packaged
  goods and healthcare industries – but it still is not a key factor in
  corporate decision making.
• Most companies have water-related targets (75%) – but the retail and
  healthcare sectors are lagging in integrating water into corporate
  decision making.
• Respondents said the key drivers for managing water are: mitigating
  business risk (48%); meeting regulatory requirements (33%); saving
  money (30%); achieving internal goals (28%); protecting local sources
  of water (28%); and improving company brand (23%).
• The majority of companies (82%) say they lack the tools and strategies
  to turn data into actionable insights.

“We need to start thinking about how we can do more with the water we
are using,” said Jason Morrison, president of the Pacific Institute and
head of CEO Water Mandate, which partnered with Ecolab to evaluate the
survey findings. “We all need to help drive this shift from thinking of
water as a consumable good to managing water as a reusable asset.”

For more information about Water University as well as photos, please
visit Ecolab.com.
For more information on the survey results or to set up an interview
with a water expert from Ecolab, please contact Ecolab Media Relations
at 651-250-3273 or [email protected].

About Ecolab
A trusted partner at more than one million
customer locations, Ecolab (ECL) is the global leader in water, hygiene
and energy technologies and services that protect people and vital
resources. With 2016 sales of $13 billion and 48,000 associates, Ecolab
delivers comprehensive solutions and on-site service to promote safe
food, maintain clean environments, optimize water and energy use, and
improve operational efficiencies for customers in the food, healthcare,
energy, hospitality and industrial markets in more than 170 countries
around the world. For more Ecolab news and information, visit www.ecolab.com.
Follow us on Twitter @ecolab or
Facebook at facebook.com/ecolab.

About GreenBiz Group
GreenBiz Group’s mission is to define
and accelerate the business of sustainability. It does this through a
wide range of products and services, including its acclaimed website
GreenBiz.com and e-newsletters, GreenBuzz and VERGE; webcasts on topics
of importance to sustainability and energy executives; research reports,
including the annual State of Green Business; the GreenBiz Executive
Network, a membership-based, peer-to-peer learning forum for
sustainability executives; and conferences: the annual GreenBiz forum
and VERGE. www.greenbiz.com

About the Pacific Institute and CEO Water Mandate
The
Pacific Institute is a global water think tank that combines
science-based thought leadership with active outreach to influence
local, national, and international efforts in developing sustainable
water policies.

The UN CEO Water Mandate is a unique public-private initiative –
established by the UN Global Compact in 2007 and endorsed by global
companies from a variety of industry sectors – designed to assist
companies in the development, implementation, and disclosure of
corporate water stewardship practices and policies.

(ECL-C)

Contacts

Ecolab Inc.
Mesa Denny, 651-250-3273
[email protected]
or
Emilie
Williams-Sinn, 312-368-7529
[email protected]