The market for clean water and the knowledge and technologies to sustain steady supplies in the United States alone will be worth at least $150 billion by 2010, according to a report by Claudia Deutsch in today's New York Times.
Entrepreneurs in the Great Lakes have begun to recognize the opportunity. In April 2006, approximately a dozen business leaders submitted water-related proposals to Michigan's 21st Century Jobs Fund, a $100 million initiative designed to funnel public investment toward high-tech companies, generate modern employment opportunities, and diversify the economy. Five of those proposals survived an intense review process managed by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and will compete with 179 finalists for funding.
Applied BioSensors, Inc. seeks venture capital to commercialize a more effective water quality testing device. Syed Hashsham, an assistant professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Michigan State University, is developing a computer chip capable of detecting some 50 toxins that threaten water quality. And John McCulloch, the Oakland County Drain Commissioner, aims to establish the Michigan Drinking Water Protection Technology Incubator.
"The firms who get the new equipment to market first win," said Jim Ridgeway, who heads a Detroit-based environmental consulting firm working on the proposed incubator project. "This [industry] could be worth a ton. There is a tremendous opportunity in Michigan to take our existing knowledge, leverage that knowledge, and develop, test, and commercialize the new technologies."
Winners will be announced in September. But in Michigan, Wisconsin, and other Great Lakes states the water industry typically means pumping water out of the ground, packaging it in plastic bottles, and shipping it away in semi trucks. Developing the skilled workforce, manufacturing the products, or commercializing the new ideas to improve water management is hardly a consideration.
It's a prime example of how the region is struggling to transition from an economy defined by extracting and exploiting natural resources (think fur pelts and lumber) to a more modern marketplace defined by high technology, new information, and invention.
