Aguas de Antofagasta’s desalination plant

The city of Antofagasta is a striking example. A city with a developed mining industry located in the Atacama Desert, the driest desert in the world. Antofagasta addresses this challenge by desalinating water. 60% of the city’s water is currently desalinated, and by 2015 it is forecast to use 100% desalinated water. But desalinated water has its costs. In addition to the high investment required for planning and building the plant, operational costs are very high due to high energy consumption. This makes desalinated water much more expensive than fresh water. According to the American Chemical Society, the average cost to produce one acre-foot of desalinated water from seawater ranged from $800 to $1,400 (compared with $200 per acre-foot for water from other supply sources).

Recently, Eddy Segal of TaKaDu was the guest of the Aguas de Antofagasta water utility in a visit to the city’s impressive desalination plant. As you can learn from the photos, Aguas de Antofagasta’s desalination plant is one of the biggest and most impressive in the region.

Investing so much in desalination, cities like Antofagasta can’t afford losing water, especially not the high proportion of the water typically lost in Chilean water networks (and in utilities worldwide). Aiming to reduce water loss, water utilities try to get a better visibility and control of their network, implementing solutions and processes such as Active Leak Detection and Water Network Monitoring.

Eddy Segal of TaKaDu and Cristian Jimenez Paredes of Aguas de Antofagasta in the Antofagasta’s desalination plant

Antofagasta is working hard to reduce its non-revenue water (NRW) rate. Using various water conservation approaches, the utility’s NRW was reduced to 23%, while Chile’s average is 35% and the world average is about 30%. As part of its efforts to reduce water loss, Aguas de Antofagasta uses TaKaDu’s water network monitoring solution that enables better detection of network inefficiencies and leak prevention. With TaKaDu, Aguas de Antofagasta minimizes losses of water, a resource so precious in this area.

[Drumroll...]

Introducing TaKaDu 4.1 – the same winning formula, with a few key enhancements and improvements.

The new version is available to all users as of today. As usual, all the user needs to do in order to enjoy this new version is to log into the TaKaDu account – the updates will be made automatically.

So, what’s New? Some users will find it very familiar, as the enhancements are all based on user feedback and user requests.

Enhanced detection of small, prolonged leaks; Clearer event location information; Shortcuts to key functions from the main events screen; Larger, clearer graphs, now easier to manipulate and save; Enhanced alert emails; More data extraction and export capabilities; and much more.

While we are very proud of the user interface and the upgrades to user experience, we have invested a lot in the less-visible parts of the service. We have improved and accelerated many back-end processes, making TaKaDu faster and more accurate than ever.

By the way – in case you missed the BBC coverage of TaKaDu, it’s not to late to catch up. Check it out in this link.

During the four days of this huge show (over 20,000 visitors, according to the organizers) we found out that the European market is thirsty for smarter solutions in the field of water network management and monitoring. Despite the downturn – and maybe because of the downturn, water utilities from all over Europe are eager to invest in making water distribution networks more efficient through the use of data. Dutch utilities are typically very efficient and water loss is quite low, which means that they are ready to move to the next level of efficiency – automation of network monitoring.

As you can see on the right, Eddy Segal, our Sales Director, took the (Aqua)stage on the first day of the exhibition as part of the Smart Water workshop. The audience, comprising leading utilities and vendors, was quite engaged.

Aquatech also marked the first public exposure of Version 4 of TaKaDu – a true upgrade from the previous version. The feedback we received from visitors to our booth was heart-warming!

But we can’t rest on our laurels – not quite yet… we are now getting ready to the next International trade show – WATEC Israel 2011 which will be held in Tel-Aviv in two weeks.

In some of the world’s cities, water is priced lower than the costs to pump and transport it, let alone sustain its delivery infrastructure: the network of pipes, pumps, reservoirs and valves that brings water to our homes. In some places water is free.

The question raised by TaKaDu’s research was whether the price of water also affects water loss rates. Theoretically, water underpricing can lead to undervaluing of water and underinvesting in the water distribution network.

Water pricing doesn’t impact residential consumption alone. Globally, only about 10% of water is used residentially, while the remaining 90% is used for agriculture and industry, so water mispricing obviously affects the way all sectors use water.

According to the World Bank, about 25%-30% of water supplied to urban water networks is lost before reaching its desired destination, the end user. Cities surveyed by TaKaDu have water loss rates of 4% to 62%. Non-Revenue Water (NRW) is typically attributed to insufficient maintenance and old infrastructure. Many Western-world water networks were built in the 20th century, but some networks have aged and now include elements aged 100 years or more, requiring constant maintenance. In general, policy makers in the Western world state that the water sector suffers from a growing infrastructure deficit. For instance, in the United States, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) estimates a 5-year shortfall of $108.6 billion in water and wastewater infrastructure.

TaKaDu’s research, based on information from 41 urban water networks all over the world, found that higher water tariffs are associated with lower water loss and a more sustainable outcome. In most cities where the price of water is very high or very low, low and high NRW rates are observed respectively. This holds true across different countries and regions.

Thus, when setting policy and water tariffs, policy makers should consider all possible implications of low pricing to avoid infrastructure deterioration. Regulatory tools such as on-going benchmarking of water utilities and incentives for improved performance can be used, as well as a tiered pricing model for domestic consumption.

On his way to Dalian, Amir commented  on how utilities in Asia Pacific are dealing with water loss: “Asia Pacific is undergoing rapid urbanization, putting its NRW rates under increased scrutiny.  Its NRW rates range from a low single digit number in Singapore and Tokyo to above 50% in Jakarta and Manila. However, having met many Asia Pacific utility CEOs, I was impressed by the vigorous attention paid to these issues and the significant reduction in NRW already achieved by utilities in Manila and elsewhere”.

As part of the Ideaslab at Davos, Amir Peleg, our Founder and CEO, will take part in a September 15th panel on New Solutions to Water Management.

We’ll keep you updated!

Last week, on  July 7^th, I had the great honor of participating in a face to face meeting with Israel’s President and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Mr. Shimon Peres,  at his official residence.

Maan'tech Meeting with Shimon Peres

This all came about as a function of TaKaDu’s participation in Maan’tech.  Maan’tech is an Israeli coalition that promotes the employment of the Israel’s Arab population in high technology companies.  It aims to boost the recruitment of Arab candidates into Israel’s leading high tech companies, which are a huge engine of growth for the economy as a whole. Its mission is to launch the natural integration of Arab employees into the Israeli high tech industry by supporting both candidates and employers throughout the entire recruitment process.  TaKaDu’s strength lies in its employees, and as we strive for exceptional people and candidates, we deeply believe in the drivers underlying the Maan’tech vision.

We’re honored to be partners in the Maan’tech coaliation, which includes huge enterprises such as Cisco, HP, Intel, Google and … TaKaDu, which came to life in 2008 and is still a small company compared to the standards of these huge employers.

Posing for a picture with the president at meeting's end

The objective of this specific meeting was to discuss the ideas and insights since the establishment of Maan’tech. There was optimism in the air. The inspiration of meeting the president further drove us to become part of this great potential change.

Here it is:

Omry and leak, exchanging thoughts

This is part of an effort to understand how TaKaDu alerts are translated into actions by real-life repair and detection crews — even including yellow-jacket wearing. Hopefully, integrating TaKaDu alerts with the realities of water utility staff and processes will make them better.

TaKaDu's Shirley Segal, Yellow Jacket and Potential Leak

On June 14th I will be speaking in Chatham House in a conference titled “The New Politics of Water“. I plan to talk about the “other” scarcity in the water sector.

In the 20^th century the world’s population has grown threefold, while the world’s water consumption is six times higher. The World Economic Forum predicts that water scarcity is about to become a global crisis. Insufficient water could mean food shortages, demographic changes, political strife and even armed conflict. Lifestyle changes that come with economic development have enormous “virtual water” price tags. For instance, producing one kilogram of beef requires 15,500 liters of water. Nestle, Coca Cola and others are openly discussing their efforts to reduce their water consumption, in preparation for a world with  less water.

As a newcomer to the Water industry, I often hear mention of “Water Crisis” or “Global Water Scarcity”, as if the only missing element is water. Initially, I accepted this as an axiom, having grown up  in Israel, an arid country. However, as a technology entrepreneur, and having had the opportunity to define a new sector in the water industry, I can say that the water sector is facing an altogether different  scarcity. It is not about lack of water; it is about lack of Innovation.

 The Weakest Link

The Water-Food-Energy-Climate nexus underlies many of the issues that plague our future, all tightly coupled in one chain. The weakest link determines the chain’s overall strength. Water scarcity, driven by over-used water resources, population growth, climate change, economic development and other reasons, contributes to the recent increase in food commodity prices. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization reports that food prices today are 2.5 times higher than 7 years ago, and well on their way to create a food commodity crisis. Clearly, this is a huge alarm sign for our future.

The Golden Triangle of Innovation

Last month, a senior executive in a large UK water utility told me: “The industry needs to move from our 19th century invisible and manual view of the world […] into the 21st Century… so the network is visible and can be better operated and optimized.  This is the way to increase sustainability.” While power networks are becoming smart grids, water networks remain a 19^th century affair. Large-scale innovation is the only way to transform the industry and to alleviate the water crisis, by providing creative and sustainable solutions to the age-old problems of water production, transportation and distribution.  For instance, at TaKaDu, we have taken the approach of using existing data from the water network to detect and alert upon inefficient operations and water loss, which accounts for over 25% of water produced worldwide.

Innovation is neither an ‘invention’ nor a ‘Eureka moment’. For the innovation cycle to roll, three components need to co-exist: a real market need, human entrepreneurial leadership and the capital to fund a new venture. These three elements, highly interdependent of each other, create the golden triangle of innovation, much more so than an ’idea‘. The higher the exposure capital providers (i.e. venture capitalists) and entrepreneurs will have to water issues, the more players will enter the innovation cycle, and the better water future for us all.

The Water Innovation Investment Gap

In recent years, a large share of venture capital funding is directed to clean tech investments; but in 2009, less than 2% of such investments were directed at the water sector. Clean tech investments enable knowledge-based companies to reduce negative ecological impact and ensure we use our natural resources responsibly. Most clean tech investments go to solar, wind and energy efficiency companies, but the growing water problem should force us to divert a much larger share of clean tech investment to water.

One must ask why this gap exists. One reason is that the water industry is perceived as conservative and slow moving. Another explanation is that  water is undeniably underpriced, affecting the perceived return on investment in making networks more efficient. Nestle and others believe that this underpins many of the inefficiencies in how we use water. The result is the false perception that money cannot be made in the water sector. This, in turns, yields lack of  venture capital interest, with just a handful of visionary funds actively looking for water investments.

My experience at international water industry events shows that very few leading venture capitalists are present, and that entrepreneurs hardly show up at all. They all miss  on the opportunity to learn from water industry experts. This is in sharp contrast with telecom or consumer electronics conferences, where entrepreneurs and venture capitalists flock to hear executives speak about their innovation and vision. The inevitable result is incremental and slow innovation – the exact opposite of what the world needs today!

The World Bank, which funds large infrastructure projects worldwide grants the bulk of its resources to telecommunications and transportation projects, with a mere 5% of projects funded related to water. This means that water infrastructure is not upgraded or even properly maintained, and is therefore likely to reach the 50% water loss rate many less-developed countries suffer from today. A 50% water loss rate means that one-half of the water, suitable for drinking, agriculture and industry, is lost.

A Wake-Up Call

Water is not “the new oil”. There is no substitute for it, no alternative sources. Desalination and transport of water are expensive and energy-intensive. They alone, just like any other infrastructure intensive solution, cannot resolve the problem on a global scale. This crisis cannot be solved just by conservation and infrastructure investment – it calls for a major wave of. Together we can work to resolve the innovation scarcity in the water sector. The industry needs a “wake-up call” – It is up to us, entrepreneurs, investors and water experts to deliver.

The future of our water is in our hands.