This series of articles has been brought together by the Finacial Times illustrating both the challenges of water scarcity and the creative responses that industry have developed to meet this challenge.   Financial Times: ‘Businesses are having to adapt to rising water costs around the world and rivalries mount over poorly managed supplies of a resources long considered to be free – read more:

FT series A world without water

Case study: But since 2003 Coca-Cola and its bottlers have spent nearly $2bn to reduce their water use and improve water quality wherever they operate. That spending now extends to a sodden field next to the Nar, surrounded by clumps of stinging nettles and the odd goat, where the company recently paid for something very unusual to be done to improve the river. It gave £1.2m to the World Wildlife Fund conservation group, which has dug a winding channel to restore a straight stretch of the river back to a meandering version of its older, natural self.  “It’s definitely not your average conservation project,” says Rose O’Neill, WWF water programme manager, explaining that the scheme and other related work Coca-Cola has funded will help the river clean itself and tackle water scarcity.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/8e42bdc8-0838-11e4-9afc-00144feab7de.html#slide0