GE Water and Process Technologies has been an advocacy partner with the Business for Water Stewardship, working to advance policies that benefit both the bottom line, water sustainability and healthy rivers. Jon Freedman, Global Partnerships and Government Affairs Leader for GE spoke at the 2016 Business of Water Summit on the Reuse, Recycling and Water Efficiency panel. Freedman also authored this column for The Hill following the summit, calling on businesses to come to the table to work towards water solutions. GE has managed its own water footprint and has reduced operational water usage by 42 percent from a 2006 baseline. The company has surpassed its initial goal, achieving a 25 percent reduction, and it’s still making progress.

GE has also been an important partner in the drafting of our Smart Water Policies and Principles, (link to the document here).

Smart Water Policies and Principles

The Objective:  Empower the business community to support and guide the development of sound water policies at the local, state, and regional level needed to sustain thriving economies, maximize community livability and sustain healthy river flows.

The Principles:

Conservation & Efficiency

• Incentives to promote water conservation and discourage waste
• The development of water efficiency standards based on innovative technology

Water Reuse & Recycling

• Incentives to promote more water reuse/recycling
• Removal of barriers

Flexible Water Management

• Encouragement of investment and participation in water banks, exchanges, transfers and sharing
• Streamlining water transfer and banking programs

Analysis, Utilization & Communication of Water Information

• Improved collection, accessibility, analysis and visualization of water data to improve decision making