Why Water Management Professionals Can’t Afford to Ignore Innovation
Innovation in the water management industry is born from the collaboration between water managers, operators, engineers and manufacturers who set out to resolve problems or improve service levels that impact all parts of the supply chain. This is usually the result of early adopters either at the field level or in engineering disciplines who no longer are interested in maintaining the status quo and seek improvements or solutions that involve out-of-the-box thinking.
Our company, while being a true innovator, would not have had the opportunities to create cutting-edge solutions without the collaboration of water professionals, such as engineers and the operators that encounter issues firsthand in the field.
The Leakage and Water Loss Epidemic
Water is such a precious resource, yet when traveling around the world we’ve discovered leakage and water loss within existing infrastructures is a paramount concern. Reports show leakage between 30 and 70 percent, which is a huge problem.
In many regions where drought and water shortages are the norm, it’s especially disheartening to witness such significant water loss. Not only does this leakage further impact water shortage, but also impacts costs. With the lost water comes lost energy (power required at pumps), lost chemicals (used to treat the water) and the constant search for new water supplies (wells, reservoirs) coupled with the huge associated costs for increasing supply.
Some regions are attacking these issues head on with great innovation, while others are inhibited by costs. And sadly, some regions ignore leakage issues altogether and falsely assume their water resources are unlimited.
While budgets and associated funding can be a powerful barrier to improvements, improvement projects yield substantial ROI — eventually paying for themselves over time.
A Need for Change
Too often water management professionals become complacent, asking themselves why they would change the status quo when things have worked well for so long. But many of today’s biggest concerns are in part due to errors of the past and aging infrastructure. What may have worked in years past is not going to work tomorrow. For the right innovation to occur we need to understand the issues and take responsibility for where we are today.
Seeing water systems around the world and consulting with water leaders for over 40 years, here are some of the biggest issues we have observed:
- Many developing nations are experiencing a lack of water access or an intermittent supply that poses health risks.
- There is a lack of desire, capabilities and/or capital to address the massive issue of leakage within existing water supply infrastructure worldwide.
- An aging management and engineering community that often lacks the transfer of knowledge and a solid succession plan.
- The inability for many to embrace the advancements of technology, like SCADA and electronics in general, which give real-time data for more efficient and better decision making.
- There are few early adopters of new technologies and new ideas thanks to an outdated, risk-averse mindset.
- Customers and engineering firms rely on ancient product specifications and “copying and pasting” these product specifications despite either a lack of understanding of benefits of new approaches or keeping up with real technology changes.
- Water authorities accept new technology and innovative products or ideas and offer large investments of capital or resources without first proving viability with a limited field test.
Nurturing Innovation is Key
The greatest innovations and new ideas throughout history have always started through the collaboration of passionate industry personnel who have identified a problem and have a strong desire to improve some aspect of their system.
Often, there is a risk associated with being an early adopter. The best and brightest ideas sometimes require patience to develop and mature, and also require a partner — such as a manufacturer or engineering firm that clearly understands the problem, the opportunity and is willing to invest resources and time to work through the developmental stages of a field test.
A manufacturer often needs to understand not only the benefit of a one-time business opportunity but the ability to recover their R&D investment by taking the product to market — and having a viable, profitable product moving forward. There is a risk for all parties involved, but if an opportunity is managed properly through a solid plan and approach, the risk will produce monumental and lasting benefits.
Singer Valve seeks out R&D opportunities. Our management team (and staff in general) insist on launching a variety of new products each and every year. It all starts when our engineering field technicians (who are consulting with water professionals around the world) bring forward these new ideas. Their excitement is infectious — from our top management team to business development through engineering and in each and every department. We pride ourselves on our culture of innovation and desire to find the next big thing.
2 Areas of Improvement
The two areas of innovation where we have invested heavily in the last few years are:
- New water loss and pressure management tools have been a priority as they relate to our many pressure reducing and pressure management tools already offered in our toolbox. We have many new, simple mechanical solutions but also a number of electronically related devices that can be easily retrofitted to greatly increase water loss savings through better pressure management techniques.
- Electronics have greatly expanded our offerings from being a simple mechanical device to having the ability to use SCADA or multiple other approaches to include metering, 4-20mA motorized control, limit switches, position indicators and countless other options that allow our valves to respond in real time. We invest in forward-thinking professionals in mechatronics engineering to maximize on this incredible growth opportunity. If a company is not making use of these new technologies they will soon be left behind.
It’s amazing how a water professional (like you) can influence change across the world. And it all starts by asking yourself one simple question: Why are we doing it this way if there is a better way?
I encourage water professionals to share their ideas and be part of the innovation process by collaborating with industry partners. It is incredibly rewarding to witness an idea that was born in the field go through the development process and rise to become the next big improvement in our water management systems and our lives.
Recently, we accepted an opportunity to improve the lives of tens of thousands of people in Malang, Indonesia. Thanks to the enthusiasm of the city’s innovative and collaborative water management team, we were able to introduce new technology that not only greatly reduced water loss and leakage, but also made excess water accessible to tens of thousands of people who had previously gone without. The experience of helping so many people was immensely gratifying.
So now I challenge you to stand up and become a thought leader. The time has come to embrace innovation, make a difference and be part of a legacy.
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