Forum for water industry companies

Companies are being invited to join a forum which will keep them up-to-date with events, news and changes relating to the water industry.

The Water Industry Forum has been specifically set up, by Yorkshire Forward, in collaboration with UK Trade & Investment, as a resource for the Yorkshire & Humber regional environmental industry, serving the water supply and wastewater treatment supply chain.

The water and wastewater treatment sector is already well established in the region, but additional strong growth potential has also been identified. Additionally, in a Yorkshire Forward mapping report of the regional environmental technologies sector – which recognised over 500 companies in the sector, with a combined regional turnover of £1.8bn – water and wastewater treatment, waste management and environmental consultancy were identified as the region’s key strengths within the sector.

Yorkshire Forward consulted with a large number of regional companies in the water and wastewater treatment sub-sectors to develop the Water Industries Forum, in order to exploit the recognised growth potential and support the creation of a vibrant network in the region. It aims to promote trading, networking and transfer of product, process and regulatory information (business drivers) between suppliers and users of water and wastewater treatment solutions.

One of the first points of action for the Forum was to develop a water and wastewater treatment supply chain directory for Yorkshire & Humber businesses. Supported by UK Trade & Investment, the directory enables businesses to source regional suppliers and allows companies to register for free to promote their services. The aim of the directory is to broker business between the registered supply chain companies and water users and wastewater producers, in both industrial and private water supply owners.

In the long term, the Forum itself will provide an information exchange network to businesses and will allow members to engage with other organisations, promote events, case studies and industry news. It will also enable members to pool their expertise to educate the market on water legislative requirements and their solutions, in order to promote a more collaborative, innovative and competitive regional water and wastewater treatment industry.

Some key facts relating to the water and wastewater treatment industry include:

• Less than 3% of the world’s water is fresh – the rest is seawater and undrinkable*
• Of this 3%, over 2.5% is frozen and not available (for example locked up in glaciers)*
• The largest single use of water by industry is for cooling in thermal power generation)*
• One litre of wastewater pollutes about eight litres of freshwater**
• Asian rivers are the most polluted in the world**
• People already use over half the world’s accessible freshwater, and may use nearly three-quarters by 2025**
• Producing a fast food lunch – hamburger, fries and a soft drink – uses 1,500 gallons of water. This includes the water to grow the potatoes and the grain for the burger bun, the grain needed to feed the cattle and the production of the soft drink**

For more information about the Water Industry Forum visit www.waterindustryforum.com

* Water Facts and Trends, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
** Water Facts and Figures, WWF International