Business water prices may rise as EU initiative flounders

14/11/2011

A lack of new investment and insufficient attention to exploitation is significantly weakening a European Union (EU) initiative to improve water resource efficiency, according to leading industry experts.

The Water supply and sanitation Technology Platform (WssTP) has told the European Commission that water efficiency is being threatened by poor investment and the failure of the EU to tackle exploitation. This in turn may drive up the price of business water.

It was also alleged that the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on water efficiency could clash with other EU and national programmes.

Durk Krol, director of the WssTP, told Utility Week that there was “too much fragmentation” within EIP policy and a lack of funding for the initiative was becoming a problem.

Moreover, the failure of the EU to prevent commercial exploitation of water resources may prove a barrier for officials in sanctioning any water efficiency programme.

Despite Mr Krohl’s assertions, the WssTP has previously declared its support for the Innovation Partnership.

In a statement they commented: “We support in particular the creation of a European Innovation Partnership for Water Efficient Europe, as it addresses one of the key societal challenges of our lifetime: the availability of water for households, industry, agriculture and the environment.”

The WssTP was created by the EU to stimulate a collaborative, innovative, visionary and integrated research and technology strategy for European water.

It hopes to bring about a commonality and alignment of strategic goals between the different funding mechanisms for water research and innovation programmes in the EU.

While Europe is not widely known for having inadequate water resources, water scarcity is becoming increasingly common throughout the EU, due to demand outstripping supply.

Consequently, businesses have been facing rising water prices over the recent years.

Industry experts are predicting further depletion in EU water supplies, as temperatures continue to rise throughout the globe.

Posted by Tom Barnett