Awareness and regulations to boost water treatment equipment market says Frost & Sullivan

Rising awareness among the public, strict enforcement of water quality standards and tougher regulations are contributing to the expansion of the water treatment equipment (WTE) market.

According to market research undertaken by Frost & Sullivan, the WTE market is expected to exceed $18.80bn in 2020 from $11.03bn in 2013.

Rigid regulations in countries such as the US, the UK, Singapore, Germany, India and China will make the residential sector the biggest stakeholder in the market with 67.4%.

Though lagging behind at the moment, the light commercial WTE market is also projected to have a steady compound annual growth rate of 8.9% in the future.

Frost & Sullivan energy and environmental research analyst Vandhana Ravi said: "Premium products will see better market penetration in developed countries.

"Preference for counter-top systems will increase in Asia-Pacific, while under-the-sink and point-of-entry systems will gain traction in the Americas and Europe."

The WTE market is facing competition from the bottled water market due to pricing issues and the fragmented structure of the former.

The research report said: "As awareness spreads, end-user preference will turn towards suppliers offering holistic WTE solutions.

"Reducing intermediary channels will bring the supplier closer to customers, in turn shortening the value chain, allowing suppliers to act as one-stop solution providers, and curbing costs."