There is a small, but growing cohort of startups working to tackle the impending water crisis — and investors are catching on.There is a small, but growing cohort of startups working to tackle the impending water crisis — and investors are catching on.
While many of us in Europe take it for granted, access to freshwater today, and in the future, is far from guaranteed. Demand is skyrocketing but supply is diminishing. Many of the ways in which water is used are inefficient and antiquated, and climate change is making the entire problem a lot worse.
Europe just had its most severe drought in 500 years. Industries are being forced to shut down or divert water from other sources to maintain operations, while protests have broken out over shortages, most recently in France and Spain. Experts predict that global freshwater demand will outstrip supply by 40% by the end of this decade.
Water technologies — from pulling water from thin air to transforming saltwater into fresh, and everything in between — will be critical in helping industry and society adapt to this new reality.
Unfortunately, water tech still receives a small fraction of the total climate tech funding. Out of some €50bn invested in climate tech globally in 2021, just €430m — less than 1% — was allocated for water tech.
The good news? There is an emerging cohort of tech startups working to prevent the impending water crisis, and investors are beginning to catch on. Doing more with less
From source to treatment to tap – a lot of money, energy, and resources go into supplying the water we use each day. Shockingly, up to half of this water is lost due to leaky pipes. Another big chunk is lost due to inefficient use, and in most countries, water is never reused. But as water scarcity increases, so does the need to start doing more with less.
One company catering to an up-and-coming segment of water-conscious homeowners is Sweden-based Orbital Systems. The startup, which has raised €65m to date, has developed a shower system inspired by NASA that reuses water in a closed loop. But don’t worry, the shower is equipped with sensors that detect urine or other unsavoury liquids, which get filtered out before the water is reused — thank god.
The company claims its “shower of the future” saves 90% of water and 80% of energy compared to a regular unit. While the systems aren’t cheap — at $4k (€3,680) a pop — Orbital says that homeowners could save $1,100 (€1,011) per year in water bills.
But you don’t necessarily need hardware to cut water use. Belgium-based startup Shayp’s AI-powered software can detect whether a building is leaky and find the most likely source. Data from the building’s existing water metres gets pulled into the Shayp platform and then AI automatically classifies leaks in order of importance.
Buildings, which are some of the EU’s biggest water users, sign a five-year SaaS contract with Shayp, pay 5% of their water bill and in return, reduce their water consumption by 20% on average. “Buildings can significantly reduce their usage and make huge water and cost savings simply through optimisation – no new infrastructure is required,” says CEO Alexandre McCormack.
Shayp is one of many emerging startups harnessing the power of data to help industry and society manage water more sustainably. Liquid data
Agriculture accounts for around 70% of all freshwater withdrawals globally, a whopping 60% of which is wasted due to inefficient irrigation and planting methods.
Higher resolution data can go a long way in helping farmers optimise their water consumption and free up more water for other critical uses. Constellr, a spin-off from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute, raised $10mn in seed funding in November to do just that.
