'In this century, water is going to be the next oil'

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has launched Sustainable Water, a web-based toolkit featuring an anchor video and dozens of other resources to foster greater understanding of the challenges in providing a sustainable supply of clean water—and the possible scientific solutions. With 163,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society.

The video points out that people around the world are facing shortages of clean water. At least 80 countries already have water shortages that threaten human health and economic activity. Almost 1 billion people lack reliable access to clean drinking water. And the situation may worsen with population growth and global climate change.

“Water is going to be this century’s oil,” says Hessy Taft, who narrates the video. “We really need to do something. Business as usual cannot continue. We need to try to find solutions.”

Taft, who is at St. John’s University, states that an expanding world population, an aging infrastructure and severe climate change are causing global and national water challenges. The video focuses on possible solutions to the water sustainability crisis, including conservation, desalinating salty water, and recycling and reusing water from municipal sewage treatment plants.

The website’s resources include links to ACS press releases; Congressional briefings; news articles published in Chemical & Engineering News, the ACS’ weekly news magazine; videos; podcasts; and social media posts on Twitter and blogs.