One startup company is taking steps to address the growing concern over fresh water shortages by helping companies track their water usage.
Key Details
- Waterplan helps companies monitor and manage their water usage through a software platform that combines watershed data and customer water use data.
- Through this data, companies are able to plan for future droughts so that their operations are not interrupted.
- The data also helps companies with their plans for replenishing the water supplies they draw from.
Why it’s news
Waterplan began in 2020 just as the world was beginning to experience droughts and water shortages.
In 2021, Texas and Califonia saw some of the worst droughts in the area in over 1,000 years. European rivers began to recede, exposing “hunger stones,” ancient warnings about droughts.
A world facing drought was the perfect opportunity for Waterplan to try out the newly developed software. Co-founders José Ignacio Galindo and Nicolas Wertheimer have the backing of well-known individuals such as the Richard Branson family and Leonardo DiCaprio.
The company now partners with over 30 customers—including major players like Coca-Cola and Amazon. More than 100 global watersheds are in Waterplan’s program in addition to many water basins the company monitors.
By using a company’s operational data, local watershed data, and satellite imagery, Waterplan can calculate an assessment of a company’s risk to the water supply. Waterplan then uses the data to make suggestions for improvements such as increasing water efficiency technologies or cultivating natural solutions like wetlands.
Some companies are able to find less intrusive methods of collecting needed water such as collecting rainwater. Through its software program, Waterplan is able to show companies how much water they need as well as how much they need to give back to the community.
Regenerative practices such as reforestation and wetland conservation are another major part of how Waterplan helps companies preserve a shrinking, necessary resource.
