U.S. Water Infrastructure and Management Market Size & Share Analysis - Trends, Drivers, Competitive Landscape, and Forecasts (2025 - 2032)

U.S. Water Infrastructure and Management Market Emerging Trends

Private Sector Participation Is Major Trend in Market

• ​The market is witnessing an increasing number of public–private partnerships (PPPs) aimed at tackling the present challenges.
• Most water infrastructure systems across the country belong to the public sector, which, however, struggles to fund essential upgrades and maintenance activities.
• The water infrastructure receives a poor grade from the American Society of Civil Engineers, mostly −C or D, highlighting the requirement for immediate upgrades.
• PPP arrangements combine public supervision with private sector capital and operational efficiency, thus enabling the funding of projects that were not earlier possible because of budget limitations.
• The Congressional Budget Office indicates that PPPs often result in cost reduction and better adherence to standards, if implemented correctly.
• Through PPPs, projects can complete faster deploy advanced technologies, and offer better services to users.
• Performance-based contracts for water management can reduce water distribution losses and improve the overall operational performance.
• The public control on water supply and pricing stays intact, while the private sector can make the required improvement in the services.

Climate Change and Water Scarcity Are Chief Drivers for Market

• The primary growth driver for the market is the increasing focus on water recycling and reuse.
• Due to more-prevalent and -severe drought conditions, California, Arizona, and Nevada, communities are adopting sophisticated wastewater processing systems to supply for agricultural irrigation, landscaping, and drinking.
• As per the EPA, 34 billion gallons of wastewater are processed in the country each day by publicly owned facilities.
• The acceptance of these solutions is increasing because they help conserve scarce water resources, decrease imported water consumption, and enhance the overall sustainability.
• Investment and efforts for innovation in this domain have expanded due to the need to deploy improved technology and rise in the level of public education.
• Water conservation measures encompass plumbing system modernization, large-scale educational initiatives, and incentive-based programs.
• Local and community-scale water conservation, such as by limiting wastage and harvesting rainwater, is cost-efficient and speedier than treating wastewater and installing large-scale water supply lines.
• The extensive implementation of water conservation could help homes, farms, and industries save USD 380 a year on utility expenses.
• The policies and programs underway in the U.S. for water conservation include the Rainwater Harvesting Initiative, WaterSense program, National Drought Resilience Partnership, Climate Ready Utilities Program, and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds.
• These projects are aimed at promoting water-efficient appliances, researching better ways of water conservation, and setting up utility-level systems for this purpose.

U.S. Water Infrastructure and Management Market Segmentation and Category Analysis

Insights by Component

​Devices are the largest category, with a market share of 45% in 2024, because they deliver real-time data for billing accuracy. This helps utilities reduce losses and allows consumers to handle their water usage better. The increasing use of smart meters stems directly from their capability to optimize resource handling and disclose leakages using such instantaneous information.

Services are the fastest-growing category. This is because utilities and municipalities need professional guidance to implement and maintain complex smart water systems. The deployment and operation of such technologies demand a range of operations, support, and maintenance services. The demand for water infrastructure management services driven by IoT, AI, and data analytics is rising because specialized knowledge is required for this, and utilities often do not have the required in-house expertise.

Here are the components studied in the report:

• Devices (Largest Category)
• Software
• Services (Fastest-Growing Category)

Insights by Application

Industrial is the largest category, with a market share of 40% in 2024. Industrial businesses, especially those engaged in manufacturing, consume large volumes of water. As per studies, power plants in the country use almost 50 trillion gallons of freshwater each year, making them the largest withdrawer from underground reservoirs. Hence, they need smart water management systems to operate and meet environmental compliance requirements. Smart water management systems enable better leak detection, improved operational efficiency, and minimized expenditure. Advanced technologies allow the sector to maintain the desired water quality and dispose of wastewater, which minimizes operational stoppages.

Residential is the fastest-growing category because people now better understand the importance of water preservation and reducing utility expenses with smart home technology. Residential property owners now use advanced water meters, leak identification systems, and real-time monitoring equipment for improved water consumption management. These technologies decrease water expenses and offer environmentally benefits by decreasing wastage. The government’s water conservation efforts and the availability of IoT-enabled home appliances make the case here.

The following applications are analyzed in the report:

• Residential (Fastest-Growing Category)
• Commercial
• Industrial (Largest Category)

Insights by Infrastructure Type

​Wastewater infrastructure is the largest category, with a market share of 45% in 2024, due to the presence of over 16,000 wastewater treatment plants and 1.3 million miles of public and private sewers. The existing systems need modernization to the updated standards, to support the expanding population.

Stormwater management systems are the fastest-growing category. This is due to the necessity to replace antiquated systems that fail to manage present-day precipitation patterns, thus leading to more-detrimental effects of flooding. Urban growth creates additional runoff problems, which require advanced stormwater management systems.

Here are the categories of this segment:

• Water Supply Infrastructure
• Wastewater Infrastructure (Largest Category)
• Stormwater Management Systems (Fastest-Growing Category)

Insights by Technology

Traditional water management is the largest category, with a market share of 60% in 2024. Conventional water treatment plants, manual monitoring processes, and legacy distribution networks are cost-effective and simple to implement, operate, and maintain. The huge extent of the existing infrastructure that needs modernization drives this category’s dominance. The complications in overhauling the entire water management systems with smart ones are another reason for their popularity.​

Smart water management is the fastest-growing category, as IoT, AI, and data analytics enable real-time monitoring, predictable maintenance, and optimal resource assignment. The need for sustainable water usage, pressure on water resources to cater to an expanding population, and the government initiatives propel this category.

The following technologies are studied in the report:

• Traditional Water Management (Largest Category)
• Smart Water Management (Fastest-Growing Category)

U.S. Water Infrastructure and Management Market Regional Growth Dynamics

​South is the largest region, with a market share of 35% in 2024. The region has a substantial population, industrial growth, and often inadequate water infrastructure are the reasons for this prominence. Texas is facing large water shortages, impelling investments in new water supply projects and repairs to the existing infrastructure. Texas might need USD 154 billion over the next 50 years in its water infrastructure.

The West is the fastest-growing regional market, due to the acute water scarcity, exacerbated by prolonged droughts and climate change. California and Nevada are spending significantly on cutting-edge water reuse and conservation methods. The Truckee Meadows Water Authority in Nevada has secured USD 30 million to build the first water purification and reuse facility in the state.

Here are the categories of this segment:

• Northeast
• Midwest
• West (Fastest-Growth Category)
• South (Largest Category)

U.S. Water Infrastructure and Management Market Share

The market is fragmented because it is composed of thousands of local and regional water utilities that are each subject to their regulations, priorities, and funding ability. More than 90 percent of the U.S. water systems are publicly owned and serve small populations, making the market fragmented. Infrastructure needs and challenges are substantially different from place to place. What is necessary in rain-starved California is not in flood-prone Louisiana, making it hard for a few domineering players to satisfy the market uniformly. However, equipment, chemicals, and services provided by large companies (such as Xylem, Veolia, Ecolab) are present, but the market is spread over because it’s so local.