Global Water Desalination Market Will Grow At Highest Pace Owing To Rising Fresh Water Scarcity

Water desalination is a process that removes salt from saline water sources such as brackish or sea water to make it suitable for human consumption and agriculture. Key advantages of desalination include it allows utilization of non-conventional water sources, reduces dependence on freshwater resources and ensures adequate supply of freshwater even during drought situations. With growing global population and urbanization, freshwater scarcity has emerged as a major issue worldwide. This has augmented the demand for desalination to secure freshwater supply.

The Global Water Desalination Market is estimated to be valued at US$ 31.32 Bn in 2024 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 8.7% over the forecast period 2024 to 2031.

Key Takeaways
Key players operating in the Global Water Desalination are Acciona, Biwater Holdings Limited, Aquatech International LLC, IDE Technologies, Veolia Water Technologies, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, Genesis Water Technologies, SUEZ Group, Aqua Filsep Inc., Hatenboer-water, Triveni Engineering & Industries Ltd., Webuild Group, Barka Desalination Company, Fluence Corporation Limited, and Marine Water Production AS. With growing Global Water Desalination Market Trends the demand for desalination is steadily rising across regions to secure freshwater availability. Rapid technological advancements in desalination such as introduction of renewable energy driven desalination and use of advanced membrane technology is further fueling market growth.

Growing demand: The global demand for fresh water is exponentially rising due to factors such as population growth, rapid urbanization and economic development. Water scarcity issues are compounding in many parts of the world. For example, according to UN report, over 1.2 billion people live in areas of physical water scarcity. This rapidly increasing demand for fresh water is driving heavy reliance on desalination technology to produce fresh water from seawater and brackish sources.

Technological advancement: Recent years have witnessed significant technological advancements in desalination systems and processes which have made desalination more cost effective and efficient. For example, use of renewable energy like solar, wind to power desalination plants is reducing overall energy consumption and costs. Likewise, new generation reverse osmosis membranes allow reducing operating pressures and energy needs of desalination. Such technological upgrades are positively impacting market growth.

Market trends
Increasing use of renewable energy: With the global focus growing on adoption of renewable energy, newer desalination plants are integrating solar and wind energy to power the plants. This is reducing carbon footprint and energy costs of desalination.

Advent of intelligent desalination systems: Newer desalination plants are employing intelligent systems, IoT and automation to remotely monitor plant operations, optimize processes and ensure higher plant productivity with lower downtimes. This presents new growth prospects.

Market Opportunities
Emerging economies: Emerging economies in Asia Pacific and Middle East experiencing growing water stress present major opportunity for desalination companies to set up new plants.

Hybrid desalination models: Developing hybrid desalination systems combining different technologies like reverse osmosis, multi-stage flash distillation offers opportunities to improve efficiency and productivity further.

Impact of COVID-19 on Global Water Desalination Market
The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted the growth of global water desalination market. The lockdowns imposed to curb the spread of virus led to temporary closure of desalination plants worldwide. This caused disruption in production and supply chain networks. It has created shortage of salinized water supply for various industrial and domestic uses. It also created difficulties in carrying out maintenance, testing and repair activities in desalination plants due to travel restrictions. However, with gradual lifting of restrictions, the governments have increased focus on ensuring uninterrupted water supply for public health reasons. Post pandemic, demand is expected to rise driven by increasing need for alternative sources of freshwater. Various nations are emphasizing on boosting desalination capacity to achieve water security goals. Automation and digitization trends are also expected to accelerate to reduce human interventions. Public-private partnerships are likely to receive higher attention in coming years for sustainable development of desalination infrastructure.

The Middle East and North Africa region accounts for the largest value share in global water desalination market. Countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Israel have highest per capita desalination capacities in world. Around 60% of global desalinated water is produced in this region due to scarcity of renewable freshwater resources. Asia Pacific region is witnessing fastest growth in demand led by China, India, Australia and Southeast Asian nations. Rising population, industrialization and urbanization are major drivers. North America market is concentrated in Gulf Coast region of United States due to availability of seawater and advanced technologies. Europe region is led by Spain, Italy and other Mediterranean nations where desalination helps meet water needs of coastal cities and islands.

The fastest growth in global water desalination market is projected to come from Latin America region over forecast period. Countries like Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Peru are investing significantly to expand desalination capacities. Growing domestic and agricultural water demands coupled with sustained economic development are fuelling infrastructural projects across the region. Joint initiatives between Latin American governments and global technology providers are attracting higher private sector participation to tap vast seawater and brackish water resources through desalination.