To conserve water resources, infrastructure and behavior must change

*photo credit: Vicki Francis/Department for International Development

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‍If we want to conserve water resources, infrastructure and behavior must change. Droople, a Vaud-based startup, offers cleantech solutions and advice on daily consumption. And for good reason: all sustainable development objectives are based on this precious commodity. It is evident that Switzerland is already experiencing droughts that lead to temporary water shortages. Yet, who realizes how much water we consume and how we can best reduce its consumption?

PUIDOUX, Switzerland – Subsequent to the recent heat waves, the startup Droople is sounding the alarm: it is urgent to conserve water, our most valuable source of life! And for good reason: all sustainable development objectives are based on this precious commodity. It is evident thatSwitzerland is already experiencing droughts that lead to temporary water shortages. Yet, who realizes how much water we consume and how we can best reduce its consumption?

For Droople, the solution lies in the adoption of intelligent technological solutions combined with the adoption of eco-friendly gestures. It is banking on the "Internet of Water'' to digitize usage data through connected equipment to monitor and automate water use.

Furthermore other applications as well, since it helps monitoring and modulating water consumption according to real needs, controlling water quality in real time, and detecting failures for rapid intervention to avoid losses. Droople's message is unambiguous and fundamental: we must adapt both behaviors and equipment as soon as possible!

Any person or entity can contribute to a more sustainable consumption of water by changing certain behaviors and using appropriate equipment. This is especially true during the summer months when there is a tendency to over consume.

"The care given to green spaces during the heat wave leads to an increase in water consumption that is often poorly controlled," comments Ramzi Bouzerda, CEO of Droople.

It is true that, on one hand, swimming pools – whose water evaporates – are filled up gradually, and on the other, the watering of gardens and green spaces in individual houses or rental buildings is often done daily. This is especially true of hoses connected to external taps that are "off the radar": "Consumption figures are not recorded; as these pipes are close to the pressure of the water network, the flow rate and therefore their consumption is very high, much higher than necessary," adds Ramzi Bouzerda. 

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How to limit water use in gardens

Common sense and methodology dictate a reduction in water consumption within green spaces. Droople gives the following recommendations: 

• Lawns turn yellow but recover quickly with the first rains, so they can do without water even in very hot weather.
• For plants and trees, abundant watering once a week is sufficient. Schedule it in the evening, when the temperature drops, to reduce evaporation.
• Compared to hoses, drip irrigation systems are recommended for their ecological and economical qualities.
• The same water can have a variety of uses: Feeding your plants with the water used to wash your fruits and vegetables; water in a carafe that came with your meal; rainwater collected from the gutters works perfectly well too.

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Water dispensers: reliable and economical

Another Droople battle horse is the consumption of bottled water in PET bottles, whose negative ecological impact is no longer in question. For individual use, fresh tap water remains the preferred solution.

Take for example Switzerland, the consumption of bottled water has doubled in recent decades, while tap water is accessible, inexpensive and of superior quality. Droople is one of the partners of the NGO WASSER FÜR WASSER (WfW), which encourages a conscious and responsible approach to daily water consumption with projects in Switzerland and abroad:

"Our partner network can benefit greatly from Droople's solutions that allow consumption to be monitored and its environmental impact to be evaluated in real time," comments Lior Etter, co-founder and director of WfW.

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The NGO advocates for the consumption of tap water and facilitates its drinking by providing carafes, bottles, and glasses as well as water fountains in companies, restaurants, and organizations. With WfW the change from bottled to tap water has a double advantage: It is up to 1000 times more environmentally friendly and has a social impact by enabling water access in Zambia and Mozambique.  To track this behavioral change, Droople has developed a platform dedicated to the management of water dispensers connected to the network. The " fountainOS '' platform combines remote monitoring of assets with full management automation of consumables, such as water filters and carbon dioxide bottles used in dispensers. Consumers are informed of water consumption and environmental impact in a timely manner via an Awareness screen.

The "Internet of Water": monitoring to better calibrate consumption

Public buildings, industries, gastronomy, residential buildings: Droople's technological innovations serve all types of infrastructures. Monitoring modules analyze data on water volume, temperature, pressure, hardness, and flow.

The results provide information regarding the maintenance needs of the equipment; an alert is triggered in the event of a breakdown or leak. And above all, by informing users of the extent of their water consumption, they offer them potential saving solutions. "Droople connects and digitizes water-using assets around the world to create the"Internet of Water," – a platform using advanced data processing techniques, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things(IoT), explains startup CEO Ramzi Bouzerda. He adds: "The political sphere is not addressing the issue although it is now essential. There is an urgent need to intervene on a massive scale in favor of water conservation, by acting on both infrastructure and behavior.

At its meeting on 18 May 2022, the Federal Council ofSwitzerland accepted a report on the security of water supply. In the coming years, climate change will force Switzerland to reconsider  the water needs for human activity. The report points especially to infrastructure, the regionalization of water management, and the detailed monitoring of consumption. 

At the global level, the next few years will be marked by floods and droughts of varying severity – with population growth as a backdrop. By 2030, a 40% shortage of fresh water is expected, while all the sustainable development objectives are based on this most precious commodity.

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Also featured in Monde Economique (en français)

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For more information:

www.droople.com 

Radar PR, Emilie Pralong, Media Manager, emilie@radar-rp.ch, +41 (0)79 816 54 40

Magali Dubois,Media Officer, magali@radar-rp.ch, +41 (0)78 898 45 30

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About Droople

Droople is a Swiss cleantech company developing innovative solutions for the intelligent management of water resources. Droople currently digitizes over 36 billion "offline"water assets worldwide, connecting plumbing fixtures, water treatment systems, appliances and more to provide real-time information at all points of use. By incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, Droople systems enable customers worldwide to accurately measure and analyze their water resources, implement remote monitoring and predictive maintenance, and achieve water and energy savings.

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About Wasser fürWasser (WfW)

WASSER FÜR WASSER (WfW) is an international non-profit organization with the vision of making the use of water resources climate-friendly and fair. Throughout Switzerland, more than 570 companies work with WfW to promote the environmentally friendly consumption of tap water and at the same time integrate donation into their everyday business. In this way,WfW enables sustainable improvements in water and sanitation in Zambia andMozambique with long-term partnerships and holistic approaches. In Switzerland,Zambia, and Mozambique, WfW places a strong focus on education, knowledge transfer and awareness-raising - always with the aim of promoting the conscious use of water.

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