Costs and Benefits of Water Conservation Systems In Industries

Abstract

According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, as of August 30th, 2022, 38.23 percent of the US and 45.53 percent of the lower 48 states are in drought (National Integrated Drought Information System, 2022).These droughts are becoming so common nowadays that most Americans are facing water shortages in their communities. Due to this, water conservation is becoming more important than ever, especially because of the effects of climate change. This paper will provide information on methods of water conservation in some industries such as water processing and water auditing, including background information on how the industry has dealt with policies related to water conservation and why some have been unsuccessful and others have been successful. Various methods in past years have been successful in reducing industrial water consumption, such as closed-loop water recycling in the beverage industry, message-based appeals of water conservation in the lodging industry, and water auditing in the water processing industry. However, the cost of water conservation is much more expensive to implement than not implement, which is especially true with water conservation efforts that have been more costly than wasteful ones causing companies to shy away from these policies. Due to climate change and groundwater depletion, the economic benefits of water conservation are more in favor of cost-effective measures because, in the past, there was an excess amount of water causing policies that were economically beneficial to not implement. In this paper, I will bring together researchers from a wide array of industries to examine the benefits and feasibility of existing and potential water conservation policies as a long-term investment.