Blue Gold
The business of water services was worth half a trillion dollars a year… five years ago. Five years from now, it will be worth a full trillion dollars. What’s going on?
Population and Water Stress
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By 2020, close to half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas.
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By 2030, demand may exceed supply by 40% worldwide.
Obtained From: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Perfect Storm of Demand
Three major factors are creating heightened demand for clean water in the U.S. and elsewhere:
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Contamination: Pollutants in the water supply are producing health and environmental risks.
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Scarcity: There is a shortage of quality water for human consumption and agriculture.
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Regulation: New regulatory limits for disinfection byproducts, VOCs, perchlorates, & other contaminants are complicating water treatment for end-users.
A Fragmented Market
“The industrial water sector is promising. Customers are prepared to invest to secure their water future, to meet higher environmental standards, and to improve their operational efficiency. The main challenge that I sense is that the market is incredibly fragmented. There are many more industrial water users than municipal water users, and their water treatment needs vary greatly from industry to industry. There needs to be some sort of aggregation of customers before it becomes a truly good business.”
Christopher Gasson, Publisher, Global Water Intelligence, May 2014
