Water & Wastewater Chemical Sales to Exceed $22 Billion This Year
Purchasers in the municipal water, municipal wastewater and power industries will account for more than 50 percent of the $22 billion which will be spent worldwide this year for chemicals to treat water and wastewater.
Worldwide Water & Wastewater Treatment Chemicals (Image: McIlvaine)
This is the conclusion reached in the latest revision to the online Water & Wastewater Chemicals World Market report published by the McIlvaine Company.
The municipal water (drinking water) plants around the world will spend just under $4.5 billion this year for a wide range of chemicals including coagulants and disinfectants. Power plants will be the second largest purchasing group. They require corrosion inhibitors, coagulants, anti- scalants, chelants, ion exchange resins and many other chemicals. These totals do not include the limestone and lime used in power plant scrubbers or the ammonia injected for NOx control.
Refineries and the oil and gas industry are also major purchasers. The Gulf Oil spill last year temporarily boosted the market in the oil sector. The growth in unconventional sources for gas such as the Marcellus shale region in PA will expand the market in this segment.
The markets can also be generally segmented by use. Treatment of incoming water, cooling of recycled plant water, process water treatment and wastewater treatment are the four main categories. The market for chemicals for cooling water treatment in U.S. power plants is expanding due to new rules which limit the thermal discharges to rivers and other waterways.
Source: The McIlvaine Company
