WATER SCARCITY | CLIMATE RESILIENCE | 2026 OUTLOOK | SUSTAINABILITY | WORLD WATER DAY
Is AI part of the solution or the problem?
One of the most surprising memories I have of my daughter is from when she was only three and was savouring water sporting a beatific expression on her face and saying, “Water is the tastiest drink ever, Ma. I love water. It is my favourite.”
I was struck with the realisation that my two-year-old was making more sense than most adults. Most of us treat water as a given and realise the importance of water only when we are thirsty.
“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” Thomas Fuller (17th-century historian)
The above memory is from our stay in Srinagar, the same place where we have the mesmerising Mughal Gardens. One of them is called Chashme Shahi, which surrounds a beautiful natural spring.
The Mughal gardens are intentionally designed with natural spring water flowing from the centre of each garden to celebrate water as the literal and spiritual ‘lifeblood’ of life on earth. The concept is derived from the Persian Charbagh (four-garden) tradition, where water is used to recreate a ‘jannat’ (paradise) on earth.
Not just the Mughals, but several ancient and mediaeval civilisations treated water not merely as a utility but as a sacred and cooling centrepiece of architectural designs. We have come very far away from that respect and understanding for this precious element of nature.
My boss at the international NGO in the water sector that I worked for used to say that the next world war will most definitely be for water.
Water is precious, and human beings cannot survive without it beyond 3–7 days. We don’t really need bottled water. We need clean water flowing from our taps. We need that water in the ground beneath us supporting life on earth.
Trust me, nothing is scarier than yellow/red water coming out from the taps. We faced the situation in Bareilly (a town in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh in India). It never failed to unnerve me throughout our stay there.
When sudden emergency repair work forces the administration to cut off our water supply for a day, it is a challenging situation. We bear with it, thinking it is just for a day. Imagine if it continues for days without respite. Our lives would be in utter chaos, and people might even turn violent. Just the thought is enough to push nations into conflict.
At this critical juncture, awareness is a must. We must know where our water is going and think about what we can do to help the situation. All of us are educated enough to decipher data and see how our actions, choices and lifestyles are aggravating the situation.
No action is small. Everything matters and adds up.
Little drops of water,
Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean
And the pleasant land.Thus, the little minutes,
Humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages
Of eternity. “Little Things”, written in 1845 by Julia Abigail Fletcher Carney
Water is used for a lot of things, and most of the water returns to the earth, but there are some industries which not only use water but also degrade or poison it, making it unfit for reuse without heavy treatment.
The biggest drain on our water resources is caused by certain industries like textiles, mining, food & beverage, pulp & paper, chemicals, and metals. Food and beverages (beer, soda and dairy) are unique, as much of the water ends up inside the product; however, the additives don’t make them any better.
More than the industries themselves, the insanely unsustainable scale of production makes it a problematic situation. Especially when we don’t need most of these things to live better. The demand is created artificially by profit mongering and unscrupulous capitalists.
Recently, data centres have added to the drain as the AI boom requires vast server farms which consume a huge amount of water, and this water is permanently lost through evaporation (roughly 1.8–12 litres of water are consumed per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of computing power). Source- Check this site out; the professor explains it really well.
These data centres are projected to become one of the fastest-growing industrial water consumers, rivalling traditional heavy industry by 2030.
The only way AI can help this situation is by making the data easily available to us so that we can use it to our benefit. Knowledge can be a powerful tool to help us start a positive change.
The textile and fashion industry is the most water-intensive, consuming between 100,000 and 200,000 litres of water for every tonne of fabric produced. This is largely due to dyeing, bleaching, and finishing processes, which generate wastewater that is often toxic and unrecyclable. Source- CoPiLot.
We don’t need more colourful clothes. We need to be aware of the following stats first.
1. The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
2. 40% of purchased clothes hanging in our wardrobes are rarely or never worn.
3. 35% of all primary microplastics released into the ocean come from washing synthetic textiles.
4. Extending the life of a garment by just nine months can reduce its carbon, waste, and water footprint by 20–30%.
5. 70 million barrels of oil are used annually to make the polyester used in our clothes. Source: https://rawshot.ai/statistic/global-clothing-production.
If the present trend continues, we will face a severe shortage of arable and drinking water by 2030! Day Zero of the world running out of water is not just a distant dystopian scenario anymore. It is real and very much possible.
“The earth, the air, the land and the water are not an inheritance from our forefathers but on loan from our children. So, we have to handover to them at least as it was handed over to us.” — Mahatma Gandhi
Many of us are already living mindfully and doing our part. It is still not enough. It is imperative to make better choices when it comes to what we buy and the little choices we make, keeping in mind the industries that are killing our planet.
We don’t need synthetic petrochemical-laced shampoos, soaps, creams, deos, make-up items, cancer-inducing sugary drinks and other things we have been force-fed. There are herbal equivalents which are cheaper and easier on our bodies, and it is good to note that many people are already switching over.
Of course, we have all been using these products without knowing about the dangers, being completely misled by the profit-mongering system and blindly trusting our governments with the ‘edible’ and ‘quality certification’ labels. However, it is not too late for us to change lanes now.
We might not need more things today, but we definitely need to know more and do more. A small step in the right direction goes a long way…
Unlike the Nobel-snatching buffoon we have as a world leader today, there once was a true leader who did step up to oppose the state of things going wrong. And it is interesting to note what he said.
“Anyone who can solve the problems of water will be worthy of two Nobel prizes — one for peace and one for science.” — John F. Kennedy
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