Smart Water Management Technologies Can Help Save Billions

Technavio analysts forecast the global smart water management market to grow at a CAGR of approximately 19% during the forecast period, according to their latest report. 

The research study covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global smart water management market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers revenue generated from hardware, solutions, and services.

The water industry is facing a number of challenges, including environmental impacts, aging infrastructure, and an increase in energy prices.

Globally, utilities spend more than USD 180 billion each year to supply clean water. The use of smart water management technologies, such as rising usage of Big Data, censoring and monitoring in real-time, and advances in channel distribution, can help save more than USD 12 billion revenues for utilities annually.

Amit Sharma, a lead analyst at Technavio for research on IT professional services, says, “Using pressure management and smarter leakage techniques for water networks, interpreting data to enable strategic capital management, managing smart network operations and water cycle, and monitoring smart water quality will authorize significant cost savings.”

Technavio ICT analysts highlight the following four factors that are contributing to the growth of the global smart water management market:

• Rising operating costs

Aging water infrastructure, the need to manage capital costs, increasing energy costs, expanding regulation, and tight financing are the major concerns for the water industry. Volatile energy costs are critical concerns prompting governments worldwide to implement smart water management solutions. Energy costs represent the highest expense in water treatment in countries such as Germany, the UK, and other European countries. In Germany, water treatment facilities alone accounted more than 20% of the energy consumption in 2014.

Aging infrastructure in the US is driving the need to implement smart water management solutions in the country. This places utilities in an awkward position to manage and treat water resources. In the UK, most of the water sector infrastructures set over the last hundred years are in poor condition and a majority of these are due for replacement. Some utility companies are experiencing high losses reaching up to 25% due to the aging infrastructure of water networks.

• Growing demand and inadequate supply

The demand for water is soaring, not just to cater personal needs of individuals, but also for multiple industries. With the current rate of population increase, we expect the demand for water to surge rapidly shortly. Freshwater supply is limited, even though the demand continues to rise rapidly. The cost of supplying water continues to surge as water becomes scarcer. According to Technavio, the global water demand is likely to grow by 35% over the forecast period with the majority of the demand coming from developing countries. As demand continues to surge, utility companies will require more efficient methods to manage water network and diversify supply.

• Improved usage of technology

Service integration between utility sectors has allowed companies to operate in the water industry without much efforts. The technology allows examining mechanisms and usage to bring improvements to water network and cut operating costs. Smart water management involves the whole life cycle of water from abstraction to treatment, distribution, use, and end treatment. This also indicates a stronger recognition of green infrastructure and alternative mechanisms to manage storm water runoff in urban areas.

“Countries opt for smart water management to utilize the resource in an efficient manner and improve the overall output. The DC Water Authority, through the implementation of smart metering systems, has been successful to increase its revenue by 7% in 2013, and reduced customer calls by 30%,” says Amit.

• Aging infrastructure in developed economies

The US, Canada, and some of the developed countries in Western Europe such as the UK, Germany, and Spain are experiencing increased demand for smart water technology solutions. The demand stems from issues due to aging water infrastructure, leading to bursts, pipe leakage, and increased customer complaints. With advances in software defined infrastructure and rising use of smart devices such as water meter have made maintenance and monitoring of water reservoir less complicated.

Source: Business Wire