The theme for 2015 World Water Day is "Water and Sustainable Development". Photo: IC

World Water Day on March 22 is a day to celebrate water, make a difference for the members of the global population who suffer from water-related issues, and strategize how to manage water in the future.

The first World Water Day was officially declared in 1993 by the United Nations General Assembly and is celebrated around the world, shining a spotlight on a different issue every year. This year, the theme for World Water Day is "Water and Sustainable Development."

March 22 to 28 also marks the 28th China Water Week, which promotes the theme of "Saving Water, Securing Water Safety" this year.

However, World Water Day shouldn't be the only time people are thinking about saving water. The following companies have demonstrated efforts to make water conservation a continuous priority in their respective industries.

PepsiCo takes a comprehensive approach to water stewardship

As one of the first major consumer product companies to endorse the United Nations Human Right to Water, PepsiCo's involvement in water stewardship has been much more than a fulfillment of a company's corporate social responsibilities.

To maintain the highest-quality standards for consumers, using the best water is a must for PepsiCo. They treat water as a limited resource by optimizing their water use through greater efficiency, innovative processes and new technologies

Understanding that water is inherently local, PepsiCo strives to work on specific solutions for watersheds where they operate to make more and better water available to local communities. They also have a wide range of partners and have delivered access to safe water to more than 3 million people, in conjunction with the PepsiCo Foundation and its partners.

PepsiCo's collaboration with their portfolio of water partners is instrumental to their progress. By seeking out and leveraging the strengths of their water partners, PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation support and enable creative new strategies that achieve measurable and sustainable progress in the fight to achieve water security and provide access to safe water.

These initiatives include water conservation, distribution, purification and hygiene for underserved communities in countries such as China, India, Brazil and other South American countries.

PepsiCo achieved their goal four years ahead of schedule, which is to improve global operational water-use efficiency by 20 percent per unit of production by 2015, compared to a 2006 baseline. The improvements they have made in efficiency enabled PepsiCo to save nearly 14 billion liters of water in their direct operations in 2012, which, in turn, enabled the company to save more than $15 million in water costs.

In addition to the Earth Institute, PepsiCo's partners include the China Water Cellars for Mothers Initiative, Inter-American Development Bank AquaFund, Safe Water Network and Water.org.

Ritz-Carlton Beijing, Financial Street saves water in hospitality

The Ritz-Carlton Beijing, Financial Street has a series of water saving initiatives:

• They changed their boiler room equipment to a more efficient system.

• They changed the sea sand in the filters of the swimming pool and the fitness center to white quartz to avoid water turbidity (cloudiness caused by particles in the water).

• They conduct regular checks of their facilities to help the hotel monitor the potential depletion of resources. For example, one check revealed there were a few leaks in the hotel building system, and the hotel immediately fixed them.

• They encourage every guest to save water by developing a habit of turning off the tap when leaving the room.

• They discourage using running water to unfreeze food in the kitchens.

• They have a grey water treatment room located in their basement that recycles water from the guest rooms, employee bathrooms and rain water collection to flush the toilets.

James Li, director of engineering of The Ritz-Carlton Beijing, Financial Street, said they make sure their guests are all on board with their efforts to be eco-conscious.

"We insist that water conservation is applied to daily operations at the hotel," he said. "Our guests should think of water conservation as a common-sense thing to do in their daily lives. Saving water and protecting our environment is one of our highest goals."

Shenzhen Genzon Golf Club makes golf 'greener'

Located in Dayun New Town of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, with an area of 2.5 million square meters, the Shenzhen Genzon Golf Club is well seated in between bodies of water and hills with dense forests. In 2007, Neil Haworth, a world-renowned architect, did a thorough renovation for the golf course and one of the most noteworthy aspects of this renovation lies underground - the water recycling system.

Fei Hailong, deputy president of Genzon Group, said they do not use the underground water or tap water for irrigating the golf course. In the course, there is a 420,000 square meter lake, which used to be a reservoir.

"In the rainy season, the rain water will fill up the lake," Fei said. "In order to maximize the water capacity of the lake, we also installed an anti-seepage system to keep water from leaking."

Good use of water can be seen beyond the golf course. The air conditioners of the hotel in the golf club are designed to cool down the indoor temperature with a water exchange system. This is accomplished through water pipes that are connected to the lake, turning the cold water from the lake into the cool air for the club.

Meanwhile, Genzon Golf Club's golf course does not overly rely on herbicide for a cleaner and more natural environment.

"The job for tidying up the course relies on manual labor, which although is more costly, gives the golfers a more eco-friendly environment," Fei said.

The water recycling efforts are reflected in the activity of the birds in the area. At dusk, one can hear varied birds sing from the tiny islands in the lake. Genzon Group plans to count the amount of birds in the area and apply for environmental certification by the National Audubon Society, a non-profit organization in the US.

Global Times