jen@environmentalleader.com
With global water requirements increasing to 40% by 2030, now is the time to commit to ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water, urges Frost & Sullivan in a World Water Day memo. Mounting environmental awareness and water stress challenges have pushed many companies to seek viable, energy-efficient and cost-effective solutions to address the growing issue of water security, but “unfortunately the world and its water resources are seeing increasing instability,” says Seth Cutler, environment and water senior industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “As a result, water technologies and solutions need to take further inspiration from nature in how it deals with instability in resources, distribution, and quality.”
Frost & Sullivan shares some technologies and solutions - along with their growth potential - that could help counter such instability:
- Disinfection, namely UV disinfection: This provides rapid and effective inactivation of microorganisms, much like the sun’s rays, to decontaminate water. UV and advanced oxidation process (AOP) technology currently account for 30% of the total water and wastewater disinfection systems market, valued at $811.7 million. This technology is expected to account for 34.3% of the global water and wastewater disinfection systems market by 2024.
- Decentralization and mobile treatment: Recent Frost & Sullivan analysis reveals the global decentralized container treatment market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.2% through 2023. This growth can be attributed to the linear, large-scale, centralized water network that will become increasingly complemented by a more dynamic and agile web of support through local treatment services.
- Membrane treatment: This technology is bringing increasing efficiency in energy use, footprint, and system simplicity in potable and wastewater applications. Taking inspiration from organic cells that selectively allow molecules to pass through a porous material, membranes are applied in desalination, groundwater treatment, and in wastewater applications through membrane bioreactors, a technology that is set to see global revenues grow by over 9% in 2018.
- Sludge treatment, in particular sludge digestion: This takes inspiration from natural processes through thermal hydrolysis. This technology increases temperature and pressure to speed up natural digestion processes, while also delivering benefits to volume reduction and dewatering, footprint, and improved nutrient recovery. Frost & Sullivan research positions the North American municipal biosolids market, which leverages thermal hydrolysis, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 9% through 2021.
According to UNESCO, about 1.9 billion people live in potentially severely water-scarce areas. By 2050, this could increase to close to 3 billion people. The technologies and solutions needed to solve the most challenging issues involving sustainable water already exist, according to Frost & Sullivan. But barriers including economic issues, political/legislative issues, and lack of clear vision hamper complete and equitable access, says Cutler. Nature-inspired technologies and solutions like those above can help meet increasing water needs of a constantly growing population and aid in creating a more sustainable future for water, Frost & Sullivan says.
