In a survey of 98 engineering, operations and corporate management experts within the water industry, nearly 70% of respondents reported that they are planning upgrades to existing facilities, indicating that new equipment and instrumentation is a necessity for municipalities. According to 48% of respondents, the budget for upgrades has generally remained the same from last year. Nearly 47% of respondents have a budget of $1 million or more, and 22% have budgets between $100,000 and $499,000.

In last year’s survey, 50% of respondents stated that revenues had increased, but this year’s survey results imply a plateau in revenues, which is in line with the unstable political climate around infrastructure funding that was prevalent for most of 2018. For companies that import material from China, tariff increases will begin January 1, which will also impact the water industry. However, many manufacturers expect the trend of record revenues that has been experienced over the past few years to continue into 2019.

The most pressing issues for respondents in the coming year are state and federal regulations and compliance issues; funding; maintaining and upgrading facilities; developing and expanding the workforce; and preliminary wastewater treatments, including headworks and screens.

The majority of municipal funding for water has been in energy efficiencies, specifically relating to the purchase of drives. This points to a long-term strategy in which municipalities are investing. While public utilities’ reinvestments are lagging, the private sector is filling in the investment gap. The hurricanes and other natural disasters in 2018 also contributed to opportunities to rebuild infrastructure.

State legislatures that secure funding projects are expected to be more involved than the federal government in 2019, according to experts in the water industry, as public-private partnerships are mostly only effective for larger companies and municipalities.

While most markets in the water sector are trending (i.e., food and beverage, power, oil, gas, agriculture irrigation, etc.), the key factor linking those markets is developing and utilizing recycled water, both for environmental and monetary concerns. Water needs have grown by 30%–40% year over year with no signs of slowing down, which makes the highlighted need of wastewater reuse in the industry a major one.

Source: Water & Wastes Digest