Wastewater Treatment Services Market

In terms of value, the wastewater treatment services market is estimated to grow from USD 55.9 billion in 2022 to USD 80.4 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 6.3%. Wastewater Treatment is the process of removal of contaminants and impurities from wastewater and convertion of it into an effluent. The treatment involves processes such as chemical treatment, evaporation, filtration, settling operation and others. Industrial wastewater are produced from end-use industries such as oil & gas, chemical & pharma, pulp & paper and others. Veolia  Group (France), Ecolab Inc. (US), Suez SA (France) and Xylem Inc. (US)are the majkor service providers of wastewater treatment services. These players mainly focus on expansion and new product launches to increase their geographic reach , garner new projects, strengthen their product and service portfolio and cater to the untapped markets.

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Market Dynamics

Driver: Initiatives for zero liquid discharge (ZLD)

ZLD is a wastewater management strategy that eliminates liquid waste and maximizes water usage. The ZLD systems market size was worth USD 200 million for 2018 and is growing because stronger environmental regulations are being enforced. Countries such as China, India, and Australia are employing technologies to maximize the full recovery treatment of wastewater. From the time of its inception, ZLD has attracted renewed interest worldwide. For example, this technology has been adopted at the Dallman Power Plant in Illinois to avoid the environmental impacts of boron from the effluent wastewater generated. Although the implementation of ZLD reduces water pollution and augments water supply, the technology is constrained by high cost and intensive energy consumption. However, some organizations may opt for ZLD irrespective of the constraints. Technically, the concept of ZLD in the present scenario can only be rendered theoretically. Practically, having no liquid effluent discharge is not commercially viable and technically feasible.

Restraints:High cost of wastewater treatment technologies

In general, when it comes to water treatment systems, lower flow rates translate to lower capital costs. While this rule holds across most systems, a significant difference can occur depending on the scale of operations. Cost differences between large and small microfiltration (MF) units are relatively scalable based on flow, once the base cost of engineering, control panel, and cleaning systems is considered. The cost of large capacity ion exchange (IX) systems can be slightly more. For example, increasing the flow by 50% can increase the cost by about 20.

Opportunities: Aging infrastructure and outdated technologies

Old wastewater treatment plants need more maintenance and are sometimes risky as a downtime may occur at any time. Municipalities or industrial wastewater plants maintenance can be given on contract to service providers. Aging infrastructure and outdated technologies need to be upgraded from time to time, and wastewater treatment service providers are finding increasing opportunities in the building & infrastructure, maintenance & repair, and design and consulting services. The growing need for green technologies and infrastructure upgradation is expected to be a key growth driver for the market in the future.

Challenges: Lack of required techno-commercial awareness

An example of a food-based wastewater treatment plant with treatment needs for wastewater from manufacturing products such as milk, dairy products, and beverage making. Typically, with a food & beverage manufacturing facility, technology will revolve around removing biological contaminants (with technology such as Membrane Bioreactors or MBRs) and oil/grease (with Dissolved Air Flotation or DAF). At 100 GPM, the system can have a minimum price ranging from USD 500,000 to over USD 1 million, depending on the levels of BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) and the discharge limits.

Wastewater treatment services Market Ecosystem

The wastewater treatment services market’s ecosystem includes companies offering water treatment services of different types such as design & engineering consulting, building & installation, operations & process control, and maintenance & repairs. Veolia Group, Xylem Inc., Suez SA, Ecolab, Thermax Limited, Evoqua Water Technologies, Pentair, W.O.G Technologies, etc., offer wastewater treatment services. Municipal, industrial, residential, and commercial industries require these services. The industrial wastewater needs to be treated and cannot be randomly disposed of into a stream, river, or rivulet. The demand for wastewater treatment services is influenced by various factors such as water availability, usage pattern, presence of pollutants, and government policies. The major end users of the wastewater treatment services are municipal organizations, Royal Dutch Shell, and EDF Group.

Based on service type , operation & process control was the largest segment for wastewater treatment services market, in terms of value, in 2022.

The amount of wastewater generated from industries largely depends on their operations & processes. Optimizing these processes hugely impacts the quality and quantity of the wastewater generated, which in turn, is expected to impact the kind of treatment procedure associated with it. Thus, operation & process control forms a key component of the service type segment. Operations & process control services are mainly provided for the facility operation improvement and control of wastewater treatment plants. The major municipal and industrial customers outsource such services to dedicated wastewater treatment service providers. These services include, but are not limited to, laboratory testing, facility troubleshooting, routine maintenance, parameters monitoring, statistical process control, and report generation. The smooth functioning of unit operations, such as separation, floatation, settling, filtration, neutralization, absorption, adsorption, ion exchange, and chlorination, is ensured through proper monitoring.

Based on end-use industry, municipal was the largest segment for wastewater treatment services market, in terms of value, in 2022.

The larger share can be attributed to the growing use of wastewater treatment services by various municipal organizations owing to the increase in population and increase in the quantity of wastewater generated. Absent, inadequate, or inappropriately managed domestic wastewater and sanitation services expose individuals to preventable health risks and pollute the environment. Inadequate management of urban and industrial wastewater leads to the contamination of drinking water of millions of people. Hence, the government authorities in developing countries in Asia Pacfic are undertaking proper initiatives to discharge domestic wastewater. The increase in negative effects of wastewater on health and the environment is driving the wastewater treatment services market.

“Asia Pacific accounted for the largest market share for wastewater treatment services market, in terms of value, in 2022”

Asia Pacfic is the largest wastewater treatment services market, accounting for the largest share of the market in 2022. Rapid industrialization, growing demand from various end-use industries, and increasing government spending are supporting the growth. Water contamination is a serious issue in the Asia Pacfic region causing increased environmental deterioration, high soil erosion, occasional floods, and an increase in the pollution levels in China, India, and Japan. The availability of clean water is declining, thus driving the demand for wastewater treatment services in these countries. With increasing urbanization and infrastructure expenditure, the wastewater treatment services market in Asia Pacfic is bound to grow significantly, and it will outpace other countries and regions.

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Key Market Players

The key players profiled in the report include Veolia Group (France), Xylem Inc. (US), Suez SA (France), Ecolab Inc. (US), Thermax Limited (India), Pentair (US), WOG Technologies (India), Golder Associates (Canada), and SWA Water Treatment (Australia),  among others, these are the key manufacturers that secured major market share in the last few years.

Read More: Wastewater Treatment Services Companies

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Scope of the Report

This report categorizes the global wastewater treatment services market based on service type, end-user, and region.

On the basis of service type, the Wastewater treatment services market has been segmented as follows:

• Design & Engineering Consulting
• Building & Installation Service
• Operation & Process Control
• Maintenance & Repair
• Others

On the basis of end-user , the Wastewater treatment services market has been segmented as follows:

• Municipal
• Industrial
  • Chemical & Pharma
  • Oil & Gas
  • Food, Pulp & Paper
  • Metal & Mining
  • Power & Generation
  • Others

On the basis of region, the Wastewater treatment services market has been segmented as follows:

• Asia Pacific
• North America
• Europe
• Middle East & Arica
• South America

Recent Developments

• In April 2023, Veolia has been awarded the contract for the operation and maintenance of Turkey's first waste-to-energy plant, the largest in Europe, in Istanbul.
• In January 2023, Xylem Inc. signed an agreement under which it acquired Evoqua, a leader in water treatment solutions and services, in an all-stock transaction.
• In December 2022, Veolia completed the sale to Suez, the share capital of Suez Recycling and Recovery UK Group Holdings Ltd. under antitrust remedies agreed with the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
• In October 2022, Xylem Water Solutions Singapore Pte Ltd, and Gross-Wen Technologies Inc. (GWT), a leader in environmentally-sustainable wastewater treatment solutions, announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a new joint research and development (R&D) project.
• In August 2022, Veolia announced today that it has signed a merger agreement concerning the merger of Vigie SA (formerly known as Suez SA) into Veolia. The purpose of this merger is to simplify and rationalize the legal structure of the Veolia group.

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