Just as a credit crunch is reshaping the global economic landscape, an often-unheralded shortage of clean water is confronting business and industry with a range of profound new challenges and opportunities, according to an article scheduled for the October 6 issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS' weekly news magazine.

The cover story, written by C&EN Senior Business Editor Melody Voith, points out that big industrial companies, such as Dow Chemical, General Electric, Nalco, and Ashland, must manage day-to-day operations in ways that conserve and reuse water. Once regarded as a cheap and inexhaustible resource, clean water increasingly is in short supply around the world, Voith explains, noting that lack of clean water is "a growing risk" to industry.

"There is just no replacement for good, clean water - and it is getting harder to come by," Voith states. At the same time, companies that supply water purification and conservation technology are taking advantage of new opportunities. The articles explain how companies are investing in new technologies to meet the evolving demand for water treatment chemicals, services, and equipment. -American Chemical Society