Our Scans · Water · Weekly Summary

• Fastest Growing Region: Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region, projected at a 13.7% CAGR fueled by rapid urbanization, water scarcity, and large-scale government-backed smart city programs. Persistence Market Research
• The EU targets a 10% increase in water efficiency by 2030 through water reuse in agriculture, industry, and public water supply. Euronews
• The roughly 50,000 known rock glaciers around the world could collectively contain about 48 gigatons of water. ScienceDaily
• The kind of increasingly frequent heatwaves we have experienced and greatly reduced rainfall that we could see over successive summers with climate change, plus a projected increase in demand for water, have raised the prospect that England could at some point run out of water. BBC News
• NASA plans a sustainable moon base staffed by astronauts and robots near the lunar south pole, where permanently shadowed craters are thought to hold tons of frozen water that could be turned into rocket fuel and drinking water. The Guardian
• Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the fastest-growing region as governments are promoting digital agriculture to improve food security while using land and water more efficiently. Persistence Market Research
• German companies have faced disruption after Rhine water levels fell to record lows earlier this month, driving up transport costs, creating logistics bottlenecks and curbing production. gCaptain
• The EU established a harmonized methodology under Delegated Decision 2024/1441 for measuring microplastics in drinking water, under Article 13 of the revised Drinking Water Directive (2020/2184). Science and Medicine Group
• The Panama Canal is expected to limit traffic starting in early September, as it prepares for lower water levels due to the El Nino weather phenomenon. Al Jazeera
• If governments continue to fail to address water and climate crises, the coming decades will inevitably see worsening water-related violence and conflict and deteriorating public and ecological health. The Guardian
• Attacks targeting critical infrastructure could have serious real-world consequences, including disruptions to hospitals, electrical systems and water treatment facilities. KDBC
• While drinking-water testing leads regulatory activity now, the European Food Safety Authority's scientific opinion on microplastics in food, due by the end of 2027, could prove a major inflection point. Science and Medicine Group
• The UK is braced for its fifth heatwave of the year this week, as persistent dry weather puts further pressure on water supplies and could see more areas officially declared in drought. BBC News
• In economic terms, the effects of low water levels on the Rhine could be enough to dampen German gross domestic product by up to 0.2% in the third quarter. CNBC
• By the mid-2020s, heat waves, floods, droughts, and other extreme weather events had become more frequent and severe across many parts of Asia, increasing risks to food security, water resources, infrastructure, and public health. EBSCO
• The mass deployment of sensors, including Event Duration Monitoring, at all UK storm overflows creates opportunities for digital solutions to improve the way water quality is both managed and subsequently communicated to communities. CIWEM
• Water companies must have improved 75% of storm overflows by 2035, and 100% by 2045. / UK CIWEM
• There are renewed warnings that threats to food and water security in the Pacific arising from a stronger than usual El Nino climate pattern will compound the shocks emanating from the ongoing Middle East conflict. Devpolicy Blog from the Development Policy Centre
• Increasing pressure on global water resources is encouraging industries to adopt water reuse and recycling strategies, creating new opportunities for zero valent iron technologies. Persistence Market Research
• Water and food security will form another major pillar of WGES 2026, reflecting the growing pressure that climate change is placing on essential resources. GCC BUSINESS WATCH
• Regulatory readiness is geographically uneven: California leads U.S. states with Phase Two treated-water testing expected in fall 2026; the EU has a harmonized methodology but no monitoring mandate yet; Japan has an advanced commercial ecosystem but no drinking-water requirement. Science and Medicine Group
• Swiss startup Riverkin develops river monitoring technology that tracks water, sediment, and flood risks. Vestbee
• The scale of planned investment in water infrastructure across England and Wales is creating a substantial delivery opportunity, but workforce availability is emerging as an important constraint on how effectively that capital can be deployed. DirectorsTalk Interviews

Last updated: 01 November 2026