US firms offer water technology

Water resources are depleting while demand is increasing.

The network of water system in the country is poorly arranged, hampering the distribution and transmission of water.

More technologies and water treatment plants managing water, should come up which will enhance the total supply of water thus preventing its continuous depletion, while at the same time adding on to the total market of water related products.

The market for water related products and services, estimated at $1 billion, is growing at 10-12 per cent a year.

While almost a half of this is contributed by the public sector, the remaining is from private industrial enterprises.

Water requirement for industrial use is also likely to increase from 40 billion cubic metres to 120 billion cubic metres by 2025.

The US market for the advanced drinking water technologies is around $1.5 billion and has a growth potential of reaching to more than $2.1 billion by 2011. US water treatment chemicals market sales are over $3 billion, growing at 4.5 per cent annually.

The market for household Water Treatment products is over $2 billion.

Water management and water purification are major concerns in West Bengal, said Sutanu Ghosh, regional president of IACC. Around eight districts of West Bengal suffer from arsenic poisoning. Government initiatives had failed to address the problem.

To combat water scarcity, many industries of late adopted water-recycling systems and other technologies for water management, which gives a lot of scope for such US companies to invest, said Jardine.

Five reputed US companies showcased their products at the IACC meet, mostly related to water treatment technologies, water recycling, use of specialty chemicals and equipment used for water purification. Prominent among them were Nalco and Dow Water.