Written by Alison Binney for the International Water Association while employed as a science communicator at Econnect Communication

When: Thursday 20 September 2012, 1 pm – 1.45 pm
Venue: IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition 2012, Press Conference Room, Busan Exhibition and Convention Centre (BEXCO), Korea

The pressure is mounting worldwide to provide more water, and use less energy to do it.

On the one hand, suppliers of water need to reduce the carbon footprint from the urban water sector. On the other hand, they need to tackle the increasing erratic and unpredictable nature of rainfall patterns.

Three international water experts will speak at a press conference in Busan today about the nexus between water and energy, and what tools and practices are being developed to help water utilities become energy neutral.

Peter Steen Mikkelsen from the Technical University of Denmark says, “Climate change is affecting the patterns of rainfall we are familiar with around the world. This makes it increasingly difficult to manage urban floods and droughts”.

“Longer and more frequent droughts and more extreme rainfall and runoff events are changing the nature of water management in urban areas and beyond.”

A series of workshops are being run at the International Water Association’s (IWA) World Water Congress 2012 in Busan that address this issue and provide further insight into new approaches that are being applied around the world.

To address the uncertainty in water supplies, ‘non-conventional’ water sources need to be considered such as water re-use and rainwater harvesting.

Increasingly, the latter is used as an alternative source of water supply, according to Mooyoung Han, Professor at the Rainwater Research Centre, Seoul National University.

“Adapting to climate change will require us to apply rainwater harvesting at much larger scales than applied today,” says Professor Han.

Also during the World Water Congress, a large number of technical sessions and workshops are organized to address the water-energy nexus. More and more leading utilities are working on achieving energy neutrality.

“Through efficiency gains and alternative energy production from wastewater, we can turn the majority of water and wastewater utilities into being energy neutral in two decades”, says Paul Reiter, Executive Director of the International Water Association (IWA).

Mr Reiter will further elaborate on the IWA Water, Climate and Energy programme that is developing new tools and practices for energy neutral utilities.

Press conference speakers:

Peter Steen Mikkelsen: Technical University of Denmark: psm@env.dtu.dk
Mooyoung Han: Professor at the Rainwater Research Centre, Seoul National University: myhan@snu.ac.kr
Paul Reiter: Executive Director, International Water Association: paul.reiter@iwahq.org