5 Water Issues to Watch in 2025
By this year, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) predicted that 1.8 billion people will experience ‘absolute water scarcity’. This is a state of water demand exceeding water supply. The FOA also projected that two-thirds of the global population will struggle with water stress by 2025.
At Chelsea Water, we understand that water is not just an environmental issue – it’s also an economic and social one. Access to clean and reliable water sources underpins public health, agricultural productivity, and energy generation. In many regions, water scarcity and mismanagement contribute to social inequalities and geopolitical tensions.
2025 sees the urgent need for decision making and drastic action from governments and international bodies to address water scarcity and water stress. Humans need to combat the hydrological effects of climate change and stabilise water systems around the world to protect water sources.
Let’s explore the five critical issues shaping the future of water in 2025.
1. Intensification of climate disasters
Water remains at the centre of the climate crisis. Over 90% of natural disasters are water-related, including drought and aridification, wildfires, landslides, tsunamis, storms, pollution, and floods.
According to Climate Change 2021 – The Physical Science Basis, human-caused climate change has driven detectable changes in the global water cycle since the mid-20th century. Detectable, because it has led to a marked increase in recorded extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts.
The intensification of the water cycle is affecting physical aspects of water supply – such as precipitation, groundwater supplies and water quality. This in turn exacerbates existing economic water scarcity created by a lack of water infrastructure and poor management of water resources. In recognition of the clear links between the global water cycle, water security and natural disasters, global actors must turn their attention to the adaptation of resilient water and sanitation infrastructure and the mitigation of climate change.
As the climate disaster worsens, the risk of flooding increases. In 2025, it’s predicted to be the top risk to supply chains around the world.
2. The urgency of glacial preservation
The United Nations declared 2025 the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation to raise global awareness about the critical role of glaciers, snow and ice in the climate system and hydrological cycle.
Glaciers and ice sheets store approximately 70% of the world’s freshwater, making them a vital source of water for life on the planet. Over 2 billion people rely on glaciers to replenish their rivers, lakes and groundwaters.
These sensitive indicators of climate change are retreating (melting) at unprecedented rates, overwhelming freshwater supply in many regions, causing extreme weather events and depleting the world’s future supply of fresh water.
The International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation seeks to turn attention to methods to preserve glaciers. 2025 will see attempts to mobilise governments, scientific institutions, private sector organisations, and civil society to urgently reduce greenhouse gas emissions and implement effective adaptation strategies.
Glaciers like the Athabasca Glacier in Canada store approximately 70% of the world’s freshwater, but they are melting at unprecedented rates.
3. Preventing groundwater depletion
Groundwater, a critical source of freshwater making up the remaining 30% of the world's supply, is water found deep underground in aquifers. At the current rate, we are extracting more groundwater than can be replenished, depleting the natural supply and reducing the water tables. A NASA study concluded that 21 of the largest 37 aquifers in the world have exceeded sustainability tipping points and are being depleted.
This depletion is a critical global challenge, with significant implications for agriculture, ecosystems, and human populations. In 2023, The Interconnected Disaster Risks report from UNU-EHS named the issue of groundwater depletion as one of six global risk tipping points, alongside melting glaciers. Together, groundwater and glaciers make up around 99% of total freshwater, with surface freshwater only making up 1%. As both these sources are threatened, urgent action is needed to sustain the world’s freshwater supply.
Recent studies highlight this rapid decline, but also point to the potential of recovery. Strategies to replenish groundwater include developing new alternative water supplies, adopting policies to reduce demand for groundwater, and intentionally replenishing aquifers with surface water.
As glaciers melt and groundwater depletes, humans need to become conscious of their impact and look for alternative sources of fresh water.
4. Reducing the presence of ‘forever chemicals’
Present in water and food sources across the world are what are often referred to as ‘forever chemicals’ – per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that contaminate the environment, accumulate in the body and are very challenging to remove.
PFAS are a group of fluorinated compounds widely used in products like non-stick pots and pans, food packaging, cleaning products, textiles, pesticides, paints and plastics. Current research indicates that exposure to certain PFAS may cause adverse health effects, such as decreased fertility, developmental delays, increased risk of certain cancers and compromised immune systems.
With this increasing awareness, a number of countries, including Canada and Australia, have established regulations on PFAS in water and their use in manufacturing in recent years. In2024, the United States also instituted limits on PFAS in drinking water. Alongside ongoing efforts to establish treatment applications to remove the chemicals, 2025 will see a concerted move towards reducing the presence of PFAS.
Efforts to remove forever chemicals from drinking water are stepping up, as the health implication s become more urgent.
5. The impact of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) and water are a complicated pair. On the one hand, the environmental cost of running AI servers is high. On the other, AI has the potential to revolutionise the prevention of natural disasters and manage water resources.
AI servers consume fresh water in two ways: onsite server cooling and offsite electricity generation. AI servers consume vast amounts of energy, generating significant heat that requires extensive cooling to prevent overheating, which in turn requires large quantities of water.
The servers are also powered by electricity, the generation of which traditionally requires more water consumption. Global AI demand is projected to account for 4.2-6.6 billion cubic meters of water withdrawal in 2027, which is more than the total annual water withdrawal of half of the United Kingdom.
But AI can also benefit water utilities. By leveraging artificial intelligence, algorithms and big data analytics, water utilities can optimise available information to make more informed decisions, improve service delivery, and lower costs.
For example, with the incorporation of AI into leak-detection hardware it is now possible to detect potential leaking through numerical methods, bypassing the need for human interpretation and reducing Unaccounted-for-water (UFW).
With multiple countries, such as the United Kingdom, declaring their intention to step up AI programmes and use in various fields, 2025 will offer new insights into the impact AI has on water availability and management.
AI server farms require significant cooling to keep functioning, which means an increase in AI usage will require more water.
Water for all
There is no doubt that addressing these water challenges requires urgent global collaboration and innovative solutions. Ensuring access to clean water is vital step toward global stability and resilience – a goal Chelsea Water aspires to in our delivery of water purification solutions.
We use cutting-edge technology and strategic, on-the-ground partnerships to provide clean, reliable water to crisis zones, industries, governments and private sector stakeholders.
Contact us today to learn how we can help you with your 2025 water needs.
