by Brianna Crandall — June 3, 2011—Veolia Water recently launched GrowingBlue.com, a data-driven resource that is designed to help municipalities, businesses and consumers gain a better understanding of today’s and tomorrow’s global and local water challenges and best practices. For example, one case study delves into the extremely high use of water in the semiconductor industry.
Focused on nature’s essential but often forgotten element—water—GrowingBlue.com uses a variety of tools, including animated maps, infographics and case studies, to provide a visually compelling, user-friendly representation of the current state of water in 180 countries. The site also includes possible water availability scenarios in 2050 and the intrinsic link between water and economic prosperity, societal stability and environmental sustainability.
In addition to the visual representations of the current and future states of water, GrowingBlue.com also contains: case studies from around the world, addressing water challenges and potential solutions for mitigating risks; updated news on water-related issues, as well as white papers and other resource materials; and links to other major water-focused Web sites.
Veolia notes that various sectors worldwide are competing for increasingly limited water supplies, and communities are being forced to reconsider the future of their economic and population growth. According to the site, 2.5 billion people (36 percent of the world’s population) currently live in water-stressed regions, and 4.8 billion people could by 2050. Veolia says that local and global water challenges often stem from a lack of public awareness, long-term planning, and proper water resource management.
