Smart Water Management Market Is Estimated To Witness High Growth Owing To Rising Concerns For Water Conservation And Growing Adoption Of IoT
The Smart Water Management Market is estimated to be valued at US$ 15.14 Bn in 2024 and expected to exhibit a CAGR of 13.9% over the forecast period 2024-2031. Rising concerns regarding water scarcity along with decreasing quality of freshwater resources globally have propelled the usage of smart water management solutions.
Market Dynamics:
The global smart water management market growth is driven by rising concerns regarding water scarcity and increasing adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in water infrastructure management. Firstly, the issue of water scarcity is becoming more prominent across regions due to factors like rapid urbanization, industrialization, and climate change. This has boosted the deployment of advanced solutions for maximizing water use efficiency and reducing non-revenue water losses. Secondly, IoT allows integrating of various water meters and sensors to collect real-time data on water usage, leaks, flow, and quality. This data helps utilities and organizations take informed decisions regarding upgrades, pricing, and resource allocation. Technologies such as AI and analytics are further helping operators gain valuable insights from IoT-enabled water networks and infrastructure.
Growing Concerns about Scarcity of Freshwater Resources is Driving the Adoption of Smart Water Management Technologies
The global population is increasing rapidly and so is the demand for freshwater. However, freshwater resources are limited and many regions across the world are already facing water scarcity issues. This is creating significant pressure on governments and utilities to efficiently manage the available water resources. Smart water management technologies offer solutions to monitor water usage, detect leaks, automate processes and gain insights to optimize water distribution and usage. These helps conserve freshwater which is acting as a key driver for the growth of the global smart water management market.
Stringent Regulations about Water Conservation are Promoting Investments in Smart Infrastructure
Various government bodies and environmental agencies worldwide have implemented strict regulations regarding efficient water usage and conservation of freshwater resources. Utilities and municipalities are mandated to meet certain benchmarks to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) losses. This is driving them to invest in smart water infrastructures such as advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, geographic information system (GIS) networks etc. that help gain real-time visibility and control over distribution systems. The regulatory push is compelling water utilities to adopt smart technologies and boosting the smart water management industry.
Higher Initial Investments Pose a Challenge for Widespread Adoption
While smart water management solutions offer long-term benefits, their implementation requires huge upfront capital investments. Setting up smart metering infrastructure, sensors networks, control rooms etc. involves significant costs which are difficult for cash-strapped utilities in developing regions to afford. Similarly, replacing the existing analog systems with digital ones or integrating new technologies requires large Capex spending. The payback period for these investments is also lengthy. The high initial costs pose a major challenge for widespread adoption of smart water solutions across all geographies and restrain the growth potential of this market.
Lack of Standardization Increases Integration Complexities
The smart water management industry currently lacks standard protocols for data communication and device integration. Various vendors follow proprietary technologies that do not allow easy integration of systems and devices from multiple providers. This results in complexities and higher costs of integration. It also limits the utilities' choice while procuring smart solutions. The absence of standardized platforms and interfaces increases the integration challenges which act as a deterrent for the mass-scale implementation of smart water infrastructure projects worldwide. This hinders the market growth to some extent.
Growing Urbanization in Developing Regions Presents Remunerative Opportunities
With rapid urbanization happening in Asia, Africa, Middle East and South America, the demand for water and burden on distribution infrastructure is set to increase manifolds in the coming decades. New urban settlements will require extensive smart water networks for effective resource management. This presents lucrative business opportunities for smart water solution providers to partner with governments and utilities to implement smart metering, control and monitoring projects targeting the booming urban population.
Rising Adoption of IoT and Data Analytics Creating a Conducive Environment
Advancements in IoT, wireless communication technologies, cloud computing and data analytics are enabling higher degree of intelligence and automation in industrial sectors including water. Utilities are increasingly leveraging these digital technologies to upgrade their infrastructure into "smart" networks. This conducive environment driven by the proliferation of digital technologies is fueling opportunities for the integration of sensing, computing and intelligence functions into water networks. Vendors can capitalize on this trend by offering innovative smart water solutions strengthened by IoT and analytics capabilities.
Link: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/market-insight/smart-water-management-market-805
Key Developments:
- In June 2023, SUEZ, a global leader in water, waste, and environmental management solutions, partnered with Northumbrian Water Ltd. (NWL), one of the 10 regulated water and sewerage companies in England and Wales, as a key partner in the Hydro Powered Concentric Smart Meter Project. This groundbreaking initiative, which received the Ofwat Innovation Fund's Catalyst Stream prize, aims to develop a novel smart water meter powered by a hydro-electric turbine.
- In May 2023, Lummus Technology, a global leader in process technologies and sustainable energy solutions, announced an agreement with Siemens Energy to acquire assets from the latter's water solutions portfolio. The acquired assets include intellectual property, trade secrets, copyrights, and research and development properties related to water and wastewater treatment technologies for the oil and gas industry.
- In November 2022, Siemens, a global technology leader, expanded its partnership with The Water Tower, a water innovation center in Gwinnett County, Georgia, by becoming a sustaining partner. As part of this agreement, Siemens will sponsor The Water Tower's Control Center, a state-of-the-art learning and demonstration facility that allows visitors to experience the integration of physical and digital technologies in water and wastewater treatment.
- In November 2022, the Government of Manitoba, the provincial government responsible for governing the province and serving its 1.3 million residents, announced the launch of a comprehensive new Water Management Strategy. This strategy, the first of its kind in nearly 20 years, sets a clear vision, mission, guiding principles, and 11 key focus areas with 47 strategic objectives to guide future decisions, actions, and investments aimed at safeguarding Manitoba's valuable water ecosystems and resources while sustainably developing the province's economy and communities.
- In October 2022, Landis+Gyr Pty Ltd., a subsidiary of Landis+Gyr Group AG, partnered with Watercare, New Zealand's largest water utility serving 1.7 million customers in the Auckland region, to deploy 22,000 of Landis+Gyr's W350 ultrasonic smart water meters across Auckland. The meters are equipped with NB-IoT communications, enabling advanced metering capabilities for Watercare.
Key Players:
ABB Ltd., Honeywell International Inc., IBM Corporation, Itron, Inc., Schneider Electric SE, Siemens AG, SUEZ Group, Badger Meter, Hydropoint, Oracle Corporation, Trimble Inc., Arad Group, Elster Group SE, Sensus, and Takadu
