Water Treatment Technology Market Expected to Reach $265.9 Billion by 2030—Allied Market Research

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, “Water Treatment Technology Market," The water treatment technology market was valued at $168.0 billion in 2020, and is estimated to reach $265.9 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 4.8% from 2021 to 2030.

Water treatment technology deals with the removal of impurities present in water during its use or storage and convert it into usable form. It includes several stages such as collection, screening & straining, chemical addition, coagulation & flocculation, sedimentation & clarification, filtration, disinfection, storage, and distribution. Water treatment technology is employed in several end-use sectors, including chemical, petrochemical, pulp & paper, food & beverage, healthcare, and others.

Water resources are depleting vigorously, which, in return, provides wide scope for the water treatment technology market to flourish. Stringent government regulations implemented on industrial and municipal waste water disposal using recycle and reuse procedures drive the growth of water treatment technology market. Furthermore, growth in population along with rise in urbanization and industrialization increased the demand for clean and potable water. Water treatment technology plays an important role in processing wastewater into potable and clean water. This may foster growth of the water treatment technology market during the forecast period.

However, water treatment equipment are relatively expensive and require proper training for their installation and operation. These factors hamper the market growth.

Technological advancements and increase in R&D activities surged the popularity of automated water treatment equipment in various end-use sectors. Moreover, the introduction of automation programs such as Industry 4.0 in water treatment sector led the consumers toward using automated water treatment technology equipment, owing to its properties, including higher efficiency, less manpower requirement, and operational flexibility.  This factor is expected to provide lucrative growth opportunities for the water treatment technology market in the future.

The water treatment technology market is segmented on the basis of chemicals, membrane system, end-user industry, and region.

Depending on chemicals, the market is segregated into coagulants & flocculants, antifoam & defoamers, corrosion & scale inhibitors, activated carbon, biocides, and others. The coagulants & flocculants segment is projected to grow at a highest CAGR of 5.3% during the forecast period. This is attributed to the increase in establishments of water treatment plants in developed and developing countries, in which coagulants & flocculants are widely used for separation of suspended particles in any solution. Furthermore, coagulants & flocculants are among the most common chemical that finds application in every water treatment & wastewater treatment units. These aforementioned factors aids the development of coagulants & flocculants segment in the global market.

As per the membrane system, reverse osmosis segment dominated the global market in terms of revenue in 2020, with 44% of the total share. This is attributed to the increase in water scarcity. Change in government regulations, mandated treatment of industrial and municipal wastewater where reverse osmosis membrane is widely used for water treatment purposes. Moreover, the reverse osmosis membrane requires less space and maintenance compared to other water treatment membrane system. This made consumers use reverse osmosis membrane system for water treatment applications in various end-use sectors.

According to end-user industry, the market is fragmented into municipal water & wastewater, industrial, and others. The municipal water & wastewater segment dominated the global market, with X54.5% of the total share in 2020. This is attributed to increase in attempts to establish municipal water & wastewater treatment plants to provide safe, clean, and potable drinking water to population of developed and developing economies. For instance, according to a report published by the  Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) ,in 2019, the planning commission of the Government of India estimated that demand for water will rise from 710 billion cubic meters (BCM) in 2010 to 1180 BCM in 2050 with domestic and industrial water consumption expected to increase almost 2.5 times. This factor drive the growth of municipal water & wastewater segment in the global market.

Region-wise Asia-Pacific is projected to grow at  highest CAGR during the forecast period and accounted for a major water treatment technology market share in 2020, owing to increase in  applications of water treatment technology is sectors such as chemical, pulp & paper, oil & gas, healthcare, municipal, and textile. Moreover, increase in demand for water treatment technology in countries such as China, India, Japan, and Korea, due to different developing application attracted the key players to expand or enter in the region.

Key players operating in the global water treatment technology market include AECOM, Aquatech International LLC, Ashland Global Holdings Inc., BASF SE, BioMicrobics, Inc., DOW, DuPont, PepsiCo, the 3 M company, and The Coco-Cola Company.

COVID-19 analysis

The novel coronavirus is an incomparable global pandemic that spread to over 180 countries and caused huge losses of lives and the economy across the globe. COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the global water treatment technology market, owing to its dependence on chemical, petrochemical, pulp & paper, and  municipal water & wastewater facilities. According to a report published by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, in April 2020,  chemical industry witnessed 20% decline in production in March 2020 compared to March 2019, while profits declined by 66%. In addition, several chemical manufacturing companies either were shut down or halted ,due to the risk of infections among the workforce where water treatment technology-based equipment are used for transporting & filtering large liquid masses. This temporarily hampered the demand for the water treatment technology market amid the COVID-19 period. In addition, the falling income of customers and international travel restrictions led to decrease in demand for water treatment technology among refining sectors. For instance, according to a report published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in April 2020, the demand for oil decreased by 3 million barrels per day during March 2020, owing to the lockdowns and transport restrictions. Also, around 100 countries have temporarily halted the trade of unnecessary products, which, in turn, hampered the demand-supply chain of water treatment technology equipment amid the COVID-19 situation.

However, the demand for water treatment technology among sectors, including agriculture and food processing maintained the position of the water treatment technology market in both developed and developing countries during the COVID-19 situation. For instance, according to an article published by DownToEarth, in August 2020, the gross value added (GVA) by agriculture sectors in India grown by 3.4% during April-June 2020. Furthermore, healthcare sector experienced rapid expansion amid the COVID-19 situation, which, in turn, increased the need for fresh & sterile water for drug formulation and  cleaning. This may enhance the performance of the water treatment technology market post pandemic.

Key findings of the study

• The corrosion & scale inhibitors segment is estimated to display the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 5.0% from 2021 to 2030.
• The reverse osmosis segment is estimated to display the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 5.0% from 2021 to 2030.
• The municipal water & wastewater segment is estimated to display the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 4.9% from 2021 to 2030.
• North America garnered the highest share of 32.1% in 2020, in terms of revenue, growing at a CAGR of 4.9%.