Clean Water and the Tao of Dow | Joel Makower

Dow Chemical announced last week that it would develop new technologies and solutions "for creating safer, more sustainable water supplies for communities around the world."

The announcement, part of Dow's 2015 Sustainability Goals, included a pledge to develop technologies focusing on desalination; chemistry and polymers for removing specific impurities; leak-reducing materials that increase the efficiency of community water systems; and lower-cost technologies and business models for managing municipal water supplies.

Sounds like yet another in a series of old-line polluters committing to a new, greener strategy in the footsteps of GE, Dupont, and BP, right?

Of course, it's never that simple.