The mining sector uses a lot of water—in fact, it’s the world’s second most water-intense industry, when benchmarked against company revenues. Skyrocketing demand for metals like copper, lithium, and cobalt that are used in solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, and other technologies is only further straining global water supplies. Mining companies, racing to meet this demand, have… Continue reading Water Scarcity Drives New Mining Regulations: Will Chile Serve as a Blueprint for Mexico?
Category: Our Take
Induction Ovens, Heat Pumps, and Electric Vehicles: Why the Water Industry Should Care about Electricity.
Regardless of your opinion on the hotly debated topic of gas versus electric stovetops, there has certainly been an uptick in adoption of electric technologies in recent years. The prevalence of electric car chargers, heat pumps, and electric stoves is only picking up pace thanks to legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which subsidizes… Continue reading Induction Ovens, Heat Pumps, and Electric Vehicles: Why the Water Industry Should Care about Electricity.
Finding the Fit: Water Utilities Adjust to Ongoing Challenges
A mainstay in our annual event schedule, Bluefield Research keenly participated in the AWWA’s Utility Management Conference in Sacramento, California, this past 28–30 March. Well attended by a vast array of city water and wastewater officials and their engineering firm partners, it offered a window into current thinking on recurring challenges. The same multifaceted set of challenges… Continue reading Finding the Fit: Water Utilities Adjust to Ongoing Challenges
Banking Industry Anxiety? Be Water, My Friend
Here we go again. For those of my vintage, the last week has generated a not insignificant amount of 2008, Lehman Brothers anxiety with the fall of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The risk-taking banking execs caught out when interest rates increased. An astonishing 48-hour, Twitter-accelerated run on a bank with over US$212 billion of assets. The U.S. President holding an emergency conference to… Continue reading Banking Industry Anxiety? Be Water, My Friend
Run-up to UN Water Summit: The Elusive Water Sector Financing Issue
Bluefield Research had the pleasure of attending the recent Roundtable on Financing Water organized by the UN and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Geneva, Switzerland. As a previous participant in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s Working Party on Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), the event promised high-level thinking on how to optimize financial institutions’ approach to water sector… Continue reading Run-up to UN Water Summit: The Elusive Water Sector Financing Issue
To In-house or Outsource? This Is the Question for Many Municipal Water and Wastewater Utilities
For most of us, turning on the faucet or flushing the toilet is something to which we give little thought—that is, until these everyday functions cease to work properly. Recent news stories of operational water & wastewater failures at the utility level have highlighted the criticality of utility operations & maintenance (O&M) in places like Jackson,… Continue reading To In-house or Outsource? This Is the Question for Many Municipal Water and Wastewater Utilities
When Analyzing Municipal Water Data, We Must Look beyond Water
Data points influencing U.S. water sector investment begin with 49,000 drinking water systems and 16,000 wastewater treatment facilities. But when analyzing and forecasting the overall water market trajectory, it’s crucial that we consider not just water market data and trends, but also a host of ever-changing macroeconomic factors that will influence the sector. Below are… Continue reading When Analyzing Municipal Water Data, We Must Look beyond Water
Gripped by Polarization, U.K. Water Sector Needs Stability
The recent proposal by the British Environment Secretary to raise the maximum cap on civil penalties for water pollution incidents—a 1,000-fold increase from £250,000 up to £250 million per violation—now adds to the list of forces influencing the U.K. water sector. The October 3rd proposal was released the same day that British regulatory authorities announced eleven water companies… Continue reading Gripped by Polarization, U.K. Water Sector Needs Stability
Policy Leadership Key to Water Reuse Development in Europe
Currently, more than 700 water reuse projects in Europe are garnering significant attention in the wake of drought and extremely high temperatures that swept across the continent during the summer of 2022. As if the global supply chains don’t already have enough challenges, a host of water-related disruptions are altering river transport, power generation, and agriculture output shining a… Continue reading Policy Leadership Key to Water Reuse Development in Europe
Where Next after Jackson? U.S. Cities Face Looming Water Crises
For the second time in as many years, Jackson, Mississippi’s 164,000 residents face a water crisis. In 2021, Mississippi residents were crippled by what we now call the Texas Winter Storm – some had no water access for up to a month. And just last week, politicians announced that the water treatment system is inoperable, and… Continue reading Where Next after Jackson? U.S. Cities Face Looming Water Crises
