September 26, 2019 01:54 PM |updated 10 hours ago
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crai...-lure-business
Chicago sees enviable water supply as future lure for business
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A California drought and talk of water becoming more valuable than oil or gold mobilized Chicago officials several years ago to explore recruiting companies in water-stressed areas to the shores of Lake Michigan.
As the impacts of climate change become more visible, the impulse was understandable. Chicago is well-positioned to capitalize on its access to the Great Lakes—a fifth of the planet's freshwater—and the technology base growing up around it.
Many believe water will shape Chicago's economic future like little else, with the water industry becoming digitized much like telecom and other industries.
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World Business Chicago, the city's job recruitment arm and a partner in Current, estimated in 2016 that water-intensive industries here, including energy production, already account for more than $100 billion in annual output. Another $14 billion is attributed to infrastructure- and tech-related firms.
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With predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and other methods, industry could usher in an era of "fit for purpose" water, purified at different levels for different uses. An example: Breweries, including Chicago's Lagunitas, use drinkable water to wash insides of bottles, reuse it to wash their outsides and use it again to mop the floors.
Another innovation could involve Chicago's abundant production of wastewater, according to Seth Darling, chief of Argonne National Laboratory's Center for Advanced Materials for Energy-Water Systems. A pilot project at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District plant in Stickney, for instance, is removing phosphorous from wastewater for resale.
"I don't think there is currently any consensus (research and development) center for water in the United States today, but I believe this region is poised to assume that position," he says. "This is, literally, an untapped resource."
The potential for Chicago's water has its enthusiasts, such as water company investor and California transplant Michael Reardon, who
says Chicago could become "the Silicon Valley of water. There's a lot of energy and innovation, but it still takes leadership to connect the dots."
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While water isn't a corporate magnet for Chicago today, Darling says, "over time, not just for Chicago but for the Great Lakes region, that will be a huge draw."
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