Published: April 2022 | Report Code: 12294 | Available Format: PDF
The wastewater treatment plants market was valued at an estimated $117.2 billion in 2021, and it is expected to advance at a CAGR of 5.8% during 2021–2030. The major factors credited for the growth of the market include the limited availability of freshwater across the globe and stringent environmental regulations implemented by governments.
Global freshwater use has increased by six times over the past 100 years. Moreover, agriculture accounts for 69% of the global water withdrawal, mainly for irrigation. However, the availability of freshwater for human use has been decreasing over the past many years. Thus, the treatment of wastewater, for its re-utilization for various activities, such as manufacturing and agriculture, is the need of the hour.
To address the issue of the scarcity of water for human use, numerous international frameworks on wastewater management have been adopted. There are a number of general principles under international water law that are applied to the management of watercourses transcending international borders. There are principles of preventive action and precautionary principles, which help protect watercourses from pollution across international boundaries. Moreover, national governments also implement regulations regarding the discharge of wastewater into waterbodies. For instance, the U.S. has specific effluent treatment and discharge guidelines for various industries, such as battery manufacturing, cement manufacturing, coal mining, and dairy processing, under the Clean Water Act.
However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the beginning of the construction of new wastewater treatment plants and those already under construction in various countries were put on hold. Moreover, to maintain social distancing, the entire workforce of treatment plants was not engaged at a given point, thus resulting in the negative impact on the market.
The revenue from effluent wastewater treatment plants is more than 50% of the total market. This is because of the huge volume of wastewater generated from industries. According to the projections in the United Nations World Water Development Report 2021, industrial water withdrawals are expected to double by 2030. Additionally, in most countries, as per government regulations, the wastewater generated from industries has to be treated before it can be released into waterbodies.
Electrochemical technology is used to treat industrial wastewater, so as to recover valuable products, such as chemicals, metals, nitrogen, and salts. Electrochemical treatment is a method in which chemical oxidants are produced in situ through redox reactions on the surface of an electrodes. This can be done through various techniques, such as electrochemical oxidation and reduction, electrochemical coagulation, electrodialysis, and microbial electrochemical technology.
Electrochemical treatment plants for drinking water, brackish water, or process water have flow rates from a few cubic meters up to 20,000 cubic meters per day. In wastewater treatment procedures, electrochemical methods are commonly used for low-to-medium wastewater flow rates, of up to approximately 500 cubic meters per day.
Advantages such as the discharge of less residual impurities compared to conventional methods and a highly automated process allowing for remote operation and monitoring will be the driving forces for this category during the forecast period.
Currently, centralized treatment plants dominate the market, with a share of more than 80%. The revenue from decentralized treatment plants is expected to increase significantly, at a CAGR of approximately 6%, during the forecast period.
Decentralized treatment systems are easy to install and portable, and they treat the wastewater generated from individual houses, hotels, and apartments. Additionally, the decentralized system is economical for communities as it does not require large capital, unlike centralized treatment systems, and has minimal operational and maintenance costs.
Report Attribute |
Details |
Historical Years |
2017–2021 |
Forecast Years |
2022–2030 |
Market Size in 2021 |
$117.2 Billion (Estimated) |
Revenue Forecast in 2030 |
$194.5 billion |
Growth Rate |
5.8% CAGR |
Report Scope |
Market Trends, Drivers, and Restraints; Revenue Estimation and Forecast; Segmentation Analysis; Impact of COVID-19; Companies’ Strategic Developments; Market Share Analysis of Key Players; Company Profiling |
Segments Covered |
By Type; By Technology; By Treatment System; By Application; By Region |
Industries generate a large amount of wastewater, which needs to be treated before discharging it into lakes and rivers. The number of companies reporting water usage reduction targets to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) (Formerly,) has doubled in the past four years; however, there is an increase of 50% in the number of companies reporting higher water withdrawals, due to the expanding production activities, especially in Asia and LATAM. Additionally, the growing environmental concerns and those related to the health of people living close to industries and the stringent government regulations for wastewater discharge by industries are vehemently promoting the setup of wastewater treatment plants in the sector.
Moreover, more-effective technologies are being developed for industrial wastewater treatment. According to a study, the number of patents increased consistently during 1973–2020, with China ranking first in the number of patent publications. The upcoming technologies include treat-to-discharge, membrane-based fuel cells, and membrane bioreactor (MBR).
The APAC region dominates the market, generating more than 40% of the revenue in 2021, and it is expected to witness the greatest growth, of around 7%, during the forecast period among all regions. Currently, China generates the highest revenue in the region, followed by India. The major factor attributing to the market growth is the expanding power, mining, oil & gas, pulp, chemicals, and other sectors. The increase in the demand for potable water results in the rising focus on wastewater treatment, as these industries consume a huge amount of water and generate voluminous effluents.
Additionally, China represents 21% of the global population; however, it has access to only 6% of the world’s freshwater resources. In 2020, the country discharged 55.7 billion cubic meters of wastewater. Thus, China massively invests in effluent treatment facilities so as to cater to the rising demand for water for residential as well as industrial use. In fact, 39,000 new wastewater treatment facilities were set up in the People’s Republic in 2020.
In recent years, major players in the market have been actively building new wastewater treatment plants. For instance:
The report offers comprehensive market segmentation analysis along with market estimation for the period 2017–2030.
Based on Type
Based on Technology
Based on Treatment System
Based on Application
Geographical Analysis
From $117.2 billion in 2021, the revenue of the market for wastewater treatment plants is set to reach $194.5 billion by 2030.
Effluent treatment plants generate the highest revenue in the wastewater treatment plants industry.
APC leads the market for wastewater treatment plants because of its large population, expanding manufacturing base, and growing scarcity of freshwater.
The most-opportune wastewater treatment plants industry trends are biogas production and usage of IoT at the facility.
Companies in the market for wastewater treatment plants are offering government and private agencies technical expertise for setting up effluent treatment centers.
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