Water Innovations Alliance Launches `Smart Water Grid` Initiative; IBM to Chair Committee Focused On Developing Water IT Technologies

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(Business Wire)--
Water Innovations Alliance, an industry association promoting accelerated
adoption of water technologies, today announced that IBM joined the
organization`s Foundation board. IBM will also serve as chair of a subcommittee
working on technology platforms, standards and methodologies to enable improved
water management decisions.

The Alliance launched its Water IT Subcommittee in New York City on May 18,
2009. The one-day event took place in collaboration with Livingston Securities
LLC.

"Having IBM take a leadership role in this initiative will further our mission
for creating a national smart water grid, and we are pleased to have their
active participation," said F. Mark Modzelewski, Co-Founder and Executive
Director of the Alliance. "It is vital that all the parties - both in the public
and private sectors - come together to create and fund a water information
technology initiative with common platforms, standards and nomenclature."

"Demand for innovative water-related information technologies is growing
rapidly," said Peter Williams, CTO of IBM Big Green Innovations. "To achieve our
goal of improving water management, we need to collaborate on sensing and
monitoring infrastructures for water resources, a common system for measurement,
evaluation and reporting, as well as common standards. If we come up with an
effective IT management system that leverages the current infrastructure,
filtration, and treatment technologies, we could realize significant annual
water savings."

Currently, 1.1 billion people lack access to a reliable water supply, and 2.6
billion people lack access to adequate sanitation. By 2025, over half the
world`s population will live in water-stressed or water-scarce countries. One
quarter of global freshwater use exceeds local long-term accessible supplies.
Agricultural uses are the biggest concern, with an estimated 15 to 35 percent of
irrigation withdrawals in excess of sustainable limits. Industrial withdrawals
of water are expected to rise by 55 percent out to the year 2025. In addition,
within the US, population has been migrating from the water-rich North to the
water-depleted sunbelt. Moreover, crumbling infrastructure means that cities
such as Chicago lose upwards of 60 percent of their water in transit from
treatment facilities to faucets.

"Addressing water quality and management issues are of paramount importance to a
sustainable planet," said oceanographer and Alliance advisor Fabian Cousteau.
"Technological innovation is one of the vehicles that will help get us there."

The emerging water IT field is focused on aiding the delivery of water from
suppliers to consumers using digital technology to improve decision making, save
energy, reduce cost and increase reliability and safety. The goal of the field
is to create a virtual water "grid" that cuts across all water supplies from
natural ones such as rivers and aquifers, to municipal suppliers, to the impact
of weather patterns.

Information about IBM`s global water and Big Green Innovations initiatives is
available at: http://www-03.ibm.com/technology/greeninnovations/

"We were gratified by the quality of speakers and attendees who participated in
our first annual Water Innovations Alliance Conference," noted Vincent Caprio,
Chief Operating Officer of the Alliance. "Based on the success of our premiere,
we plan to co-locate our second event with our NanoBusiness Conference in
Chicago on September 10th, and will return to New York City for another spring
conference on May 17, 2010."

About the Water Innovations Alliance

The Water Innovations Alliance is an industry association focused on developing
new funding, reducing regulatory barriers, increasing collaboration and raising
awareness for cutting-edge water technologies and the problems they solve. Its
membership includes Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, economic development
organizations, universities, NGOs and investment firms.

The Alliance serves the entire spectrum of the water sector: corporations,
investors, engineering firms, start-ups, NGOs, research centers, municipalities,
and others in the field. The Alliance is located in Washington, DC. It is a
501(c)(6) trade organization. More information is available at
www.waterinnovations.org

The Water Innovations Foundation is focused on educating the public and key
stakeholders as to new developments in fresh and waste water technologies. The
Foundation works to gather data, develop reports, standards, economic analysis,
and model training programs for advancing the development and deployment of new
water technologies. The Foundation is located in Cambridge, MA. It is a
501(c)(3) organization.

Schwartz Public Relations
Steven Wright-Mark, 212-677-8700, x29
steven@schwartzpr.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009