In celebration of World Water Day, Xylem today announced new commitments to support innovative solutions to global water crises at the White House Water Summit. Xylem employees will also pledge 100,000 volunteer hours to increase awareness of water issues and address community water needs.
As millions of people around the world observe World Water Day, the U.S. government is today hosting the White House Water Summit. The summit aims to raise awareness of water issues and potential solutions to build a sustainable water future.
In conjunction with the summit, Xylem announced its intention to invest at least $300 million in water-focused research and development activities through 2018. These efforts will encompass development of innovative technologies and systems as well as the exploration of new business models to address rapidly evolving global water needs.
“World Water Day is a reminder of the urgency of the water crises people around the world face every day through floods, droughts and disease,” said Patrick Decker, President and CEO of Xylem. “The time to act is now. We are pleased to participate in the White House Water Summit where we will work with others to identify and implement solutions. We look forward to doing the same in countries around the world.”
The White House Water Summit can be watched at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/white-house-water-summit, and promoted via social media with the hashtag #WHWaterSummit.
$50,000 water-innovation contest
Xylem will also support external research activities to drive progress. In collaboration with the U.S. Water Partnership and with technical input from other public and private partners, Xylem will issue a new national water-innovation challenge with funding of $50,000, focused on the broad themes of growing demand for water, protecting cities from flood and drought, and protecting water resources.
In addition, Xylem will support the efforts of the Everglades Foundation and the George Barley Water Prize by providing Xylem analytical instrumentation and technical expertise to support field evaluations in the final phase of this multi-year science contest. This contest seeks to identify a solution to freshwater nutrient pollution, which impacts freshwater sources in every state in the U.S. and more than 15,000 bodies of freshwater around the world.
100,000 hours of employee volunteer time
Through its water-focused global corporate citizenship initiative Xylem Watermark, Xylem has set a goal of logging 100,000 hours of employee volunteer time over the next three years. Employees will engage in a variety of activities aimed at raising funds for and awareness of water issues, as well as at providing and protecting water resources for many of the most vulnerable communities.
40 Xylem-sponsored “Walk for Water” events
Xylem employees around the world are commemorating World Water Day in a variety of ways. Starting today and extending over the next month, Xylem employees are partnering with their respective local communities in more than 40 Xylem-sponsored “Walk for Water” events. The walks, which will support some of the millions of people who lack regular access to clean, safe water, are scheduled to take place in Brazil, Argentina, Japan, China, Sweden, Switzerland and New York, as well as in numerous other locations where the company has operations.
24 clean water filtration systems in 24 hours
Xylem Watermark is also sponsoring Planet Water Foundation’s Project 24, an ambitious project to build 24 clean water filtration systems (AquaTowers) that will supply the daily drinking water requirements in 24 communities across five countries – in just 24 hours. Xylem Watermark is funding towers in India, Cambodia, Columbia and the Philippines, and will have 24 employees on these sites to assist in the construction. Planet Water Foundation, a long-time non-profit partner of Watermark, is focused on bringing clean water to the world’s most disadvantaged communities through the installation of community-based water filtration systems and providing education programs on water-health and hygiene.