How 'water tech' enables commercial scale water solutions

Published on August 15, 2013 05:39 by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Technology

How 'water tech' enables commercial scale water solutions - article by Will Sarni.

Nearly every region in the United States experienced water shortages in the past five years,according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. At least 36 states anticipated local, regional and statewide shortages, even under non-drought conditions.

This increase in water scarcity, coupled with increased needs for water treatment, is beginning to fuel innovation and investment in "water tech."

The U.S. water treatment market is projected to grow approximately 5.9 percent a year to hit about $13 billion by 2017, according to a recent study by theFreedonia Group. This projected increase is driven by the needs of industry, such as water treatment technologies sought in the oil and gas sector for hydraulic fracturing, and in the semiconductor industry for "ultrapure" water, expected to push the global ultrapure water technology market to $4.4 billion by 2014.

The need for increased innovation and investment in the water industry is clear. However, there are challenges in commercializing innovative water technologies to address water scarcity and quality issues. Any new technology can face hurdles in the commercialization phase, but the water industry's commercialization challenges can present special obstacles. These hurdles include:

• Disconnect between the price and value of water:Water is essentially free and, as a result, water technologies are saddled with long payback periods if one only evaluates payback based on the current price of water.

• Water tech is not just about technology:Water has economic, environmental, social and cultural dimensions, all of which should be concurrently managed, unlike resource issues such as energy. Values are associated with water and as a result, reputational risk and brand value is important. Stakeholders care about how water is used by the public and private sectors. These stakeholders can affect social license to operate for private sector companies, along with perceptions of water reuse and advanced metering systems for public sector water utilities.

• Wide variation in legal ownership and regulatory frameworks:Countries, including the U.S., may have regional and state differences in water law, coupled with numerous regulatory agencies responsible for water.

• Lack of funding for water technologies and infrastructure in the public sector:Ongoing budget cuts and pushback on government funding results in an aging and unreliable infrastructure.

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