SHARE

By of the

Declaring that the water technology industry is in its infancy, the Johnson Foundation in Racine, along with one of the Johnson family businesses, on Monday said U.S. economic security relies on the nation's supply of water.

"We're at a crossroads," said S. Curtis Johnson, chairman of Diversey Inc., which evolved from privately held S.C. Johnson & Sons. "We can no longer treat water as if it were merely a cheap and nonstrategic resource with infinite supply. We have to recognize that fresh water is the lifeblood of our economy."

Diversey regards itself among the emerging concentration of water-engineering companies in southeastern Wisconsin, a sector that's become the focus of efforts to attract new investment, jobs and research for technologies that clean, conserve, reuse and deliver water in ways that lower energy costs.

"It's definitely an emerging sector, and we see it at Diversey as a high-growth industry that will grow as people recognize the cost of water," Johnson said, speaking Monday to members of the Milwaukee Water Council trade group. "Water does have a cost, and good cost management is good business."

Known as JohnsonDiversey Inc. until a name change in March, Diversey engineers water-intensive industrial cleaning processes for breweries, hospitals and food manufacturers, forcing it to innovate in low-usage water technologies, he said. It has $3.1 billion in annual sales.

The economics of water was a natural issue for the family's foundation, which has had a strong environmental bent since its inception over 50 years ago, Johnson said.

Under Johnson's father, Samuel Curtis Johnson Jr., the company voluntarily removed chlorofluorocarbons as the propellants from its aerosol products in the '70s after scientists suggested that CFCs were destroying the planet's ozone layer. The move catalyzed change in aerosol products and triggered government regulation.

Diversey is active in the World Wildlife Fund, a nongovernmental organization. Diversey also helped found the Alliance for Water Stewardship, a new international body that will open its North American office in Milwaukee, which in turn will help set global water quality standards.

After two years of work, the Johnson Foundation released a report, "Charting New Waters: a Call to Action to Address U.S. Freshwater Challenges." It was the Milwaukee debut for the report, which the foundation presented last month to Washington, D.C., policy-makers. The report is based on input from companies such as Kohler Co. and Siemens AG of Germany, and nonprofits such as the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Pacific Institute.

Much of the report focuses on growth sectors, such as the need for new infrastructure to pump water. The U.S. has 240,000 water main breaks a year - a figure that doesn't include the innumerable leaks. Aquifer levels are falling, adding to overall scarcity. And few parts of the economy price water honestly, leaving the impression that it's cheap and abundant. The report cited a poll showing that 36 states expect water shortages by 2013.

The foundation said it has been grappling with dual environmental footprints - energy production accounts for over two-fifths of all U.S. water use, meaning a big carbon footprint creates a big water footprint. But it takes prodigious energy to clean and pump water.

"Without a vision for a sustainable fresh water resource and the commitment to take urgent action to achieve it, our very way of life is in jeopardy," Johnson said.