Problems/Global Water Scarcity
💧Wateractive

Global Water Scarcity

Over 2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water. Climate change and population growth are accelerating water stress in regions across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.

The Humans

2.2B
people affected

2.2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water. Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East are most affected. California, Australia, and Mediterranean face recurring droughts. Farmers use 70% of freshwater — they need precision irrigation. Cities like Cape Town and Chennai have nearly run dry.

829K
deaths per year
$600B
economic value at stake

Customer Segments

1Municipal water utilities
2Agricultural irrigation systems
3Industrial water users
4Households in water-stressed regions
5Desalination technology companies
Economic Value
$600B
Capital Deployed
$30B
Funding Gap
$470B
Existing Solutions
18

Capital Progress

6% funded
$30B deployed$500B needed

10/10 Framework

7.0/10 avg
Problem9/10

Severity × scale × urgency.

Team6/10

Quality and quantity of teams working on it.

Solution5/10

How close we are to viable solutions.

Lead6/10

Market demand and customer pull.

Offer9/10

Business model viability.

9/10
Severity
9/10
Opportunity
7/10
Solvability

Organizations Working on This (2)

XylemXYL

Solving global water challenges with smart tech

$30B market cap
Veolia

Making clean water accessible worldwide

$25B market cap

Meaningful Work

Opportunities at organizations working on this problem.

Water Systems IoT Engineer
Xylem
full-timeWashington, DC$110K-$170K

Saving billions of gallons of water with smart infrastructure

Environmental Engineer — Water Treatment
Veolia
full-timeParis, France$90K-$150K

Bringing clean water to the 2 billion people who lack it

Want to Work on This Problem?

Discover how your passions and talents match this problem.

Find Your PathAll Problems