Marquette, A. O. Smith release water study results

MILWAUKEE — The U.S. Council on Competitiveness’ latest sector study, co-led by A. O. Smith Corporation and Marquette University, reveals challenges faced by water users in the manufacturing sector, where nearly half of industry water consumption is attributed. Leverage: Water and Manufacturing found that to meet increasing water demand, innovation in infrastructure, technology, investment and talent are needed to overcome challenges resulting from urbanization and population growth.

“Water is a limited resource that plays a critical role across multiple sectors of the U.S. economy,” said William Bates, Executive Vice President, U.S. Council on Competitiveness. “Thanks to the collaboration of the tremendous leadership in the Milwaukee area, we’ve identified key policies and actions that can bring greater efficiency and productivity to the manufacturing sector and greater opportunity for businesses and workers.”

The Council, through its Energy and Manufacturing Competitiveness Partnership (EMCP), partnered with Marquette and A. O. Smith to hold the initial sector study dialogue on water & manufacturing on February 16, 2016 at Marquette. The dialogue gathered over 50 national leaders and water experts from all sectors of the economy to discuss the important issues around water and manufacturing.

“Water is a critical resource that is essential for our businesses, communities and society to thrive, and we are proud to collaborate on this roadmap for our nation,” said Marquette University President Michael R. Lovell. “On this important strategic priority, many national leaders and water experts came together to focus on accelerating development and technology for all sectors of the economy.”

“Manufacturers need ample, reliable supplies of fresh water if they are to compete in a global economy,” said Ajita G. Rajendra, chairman and chief executive officer for A. O. Smith Corporation. “This is an issue that is gaining a great deal of attention, and this study represents a call to action, not just for manufacturers, but for all stakeholders to address the critical water needs in this country.”

The conversations from the 50 national leaders and water experts formed the basis for Leverage and led to a set of recommendations that will feed into a larger EMCP paper and eventual action plan for the United States president-elect. These recommendations include:

• Use a stewardship approach to water management in which laws and regulations surrounding water reuse support natural processes whenever possible and treat water as the limited resources it is rather than a limitless commodity.
• Integrate natural infrastructure, including roof installments, rain barrels and constructed wetlands, into water management approaches to improve energy efficiency and water quality while reducing overall water infrastructure investment costs.
• Encourage development and deployment of technologies and microbiological barriers that increase overall water supply by diversifying sources and improving quality and efficiency such as desalinization, nutrient recovery and wastewater re-use.
• Promote the uptake of sensors and monitoring equipment and aggregation of big data across sectors and geographies to improve water management and increase information available on water quality and efficiency.
• Increase federal funding available for water technology test beds to accelerate development and reduce cost and risk associated with deployment of advanced technologies for improving water quality and efficiency.
• Model water consumption and availability using high performance computing to address gaps in supply and demand and reduce overall waste and costs associated with managing water and energy systems.
• Engage government and private sector stakeholders in an enhanced public awareness campaign to address water conservation needs.
• Address the skills gap in the water and manufacturing sector by de-stigmatizing technical careers, reintroducing hands-on training in K-12 and encouraging cross-sector partnerships between industry and academia.

Attendees made commitments to the solutions proposed in Leverage, including:

• The Water Council has launched a water innovation scouting program called the ICE (Innovation – Commercialization – Exchange) which is expected to connect emerging technologies from government laboratories, universities and entrepreneurs to commercialization across industry sectors
• A. O. Smith Corporation is involved in four projects, 1) a collaboration with The Water Council to sponsor the Business Research Entrepreneurship in Wisconsin (BREW), which will promote start-up businesses in freshwater technology. A. O. Smith is also excited about becoming one of the Founding Members of a groundbreaking initiative by The Water Council. To bridge the gap between research and industry, the initiative, called the ICE Institute, will accelerate Innovation, Commercialization and Exchange.; 2) leveraging the data and capabilities of their newest company, Aquasana, to identify regional water issues and develop approaches to address those issues; 3) a partnership with the Plumbing Heating-Cooling Contractors (PHCC) Educational Foundation to support an initiative for training outreach and recruitment of incoming talent, specifically in the plumbing field; and 4) along with other companies, A. O. Smith Corporation will provide support in a global outreach program that works to identify and broaden the efforts to develop sensor technologies that can be employed to monitor fresh and waste water usage.
• Marquette researchers, in collaboration with industry, are developing cross-functional sensors that can be used in water monitoring equipment. Technologies under development include solid state and acoustic wave sensors, micro-electro-mechanical Systems (MEMS) devices and sensors, optical waveguide-based sensors, and smart sensor systems for water monitoring applications. Faculty from the Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Sciences are involved in collaborative efforts at the Global Water Center to foster academic-industry partnerships on use of big data in the water sector.
• “Kohler Co. has earned partnership awards each year from the EPA’s WaterSense program, which labels products that use less water while delivering great performance. Since 2006, WaterSense has reduced Americans’ cumulative water use by 1.5 trillion gallons and extended water supplies in areas affected by drought,” said Rob Zimmerman, Director, Marketing–Sustainability. “In the last 10 years, Kohler has helped U.S. consumers reduce water use by 110 billion gallons and save $1.3 billion in water, sewer and energy costs, which has extended water supplies in drought-affected areas. Kohler is committed to helping reduce another 100 billion gallons of water use in the next three years.”
• “Many of the recommendations from this report reflect MMSD’s ongoing efforts to manage water in an integrated fashion while incorporating natural stormwater management systems into the urban infrastructure network. Highlighting these recommendations will further solidify the need for these approaches to be utilized around the world.” – Kevin Shafer, Executive Director, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
• “I am in strong agreement with the eight recommendations in the report on pages 6-7. Rockwell Automation has initiatives to support recommendations #4 (Promote the uptake of sensors and monitoring equipment …), and #8 (Address the skills gap …).” – Sujeet Chand, Senior Vice President, Advanced Technology and Chief Technology Officer, Rockwell Automation
• In 2016, MillerCoors is implementing the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Global Standard at the Milwaukee brewery in collaboration with the North American Office of the AWS at the Global Water Center. The effort complements the brewery’s successful work increasing the efficiency of water usage and projects that enhance lake water quality and promote the enjoyment of Lake Michigan. Examples include supporting Milwaukee County’s effort to clean up Bradford and South Shore beaches; providing the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) with rain barrels; supporting the Milwaukee RiverKeepers’ efforts and showcasing green infrastructure (green roof and rain garden) to thousands of tourists annually on brewery tours.

U.S. Council on Competitiveness
The U.S. Council on Competitiveness is a nonpartisan leadership group of CEOs, university presidents, labor leaders and national laboratory directors working to ensure U.S. prosperity.

A. O. Smith Corporation
A. O. Smith Corporation, with headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis., is a global leader applying innovative technology and energy-efficient solutions to products manufactured and marketed worldwide. The company is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of residential and commercial water heating equipment and boilers, as well as a manufacturer of water treatment products.

Marquette University
Marquette University is a Catholic and Jesuit university located near the heart of downtown Milwaukee that offers a comprehensive range of majors in 10 nationally and internationally recognized colleges and schools. A Marquette education offers students a virtually unlimited number of paths and destinations and prepares them for the world by asking them to think critically about it. Along the way, we ask one thing of every student: Be The Difference.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.