Abstract
Water treatment in China to lead world in growth
For the past several decades, China has registered faster economic growth than
any other large nation. Until recently, however, water usage in China has been
fairly indiscriminate, with little attention paid to misuse and pollution.
Although water use has become more efficient and treatment techniques have
become more widely used in recent years, China still uses much more water to
produce a ton of paper or steel than do industrialized nations in Western
Europe, the United States or Japan. Industrial users who had once just
discarded wastewater without regard for short- or long-term environmental
impact have begun to comply with more assertive regulations for effluent
discharges. Water supplied by municipal providers -- which still leave a
significant share of the Chinese population unserved -- has generally been
either untreated or undertreated. Even water deemed "fully treated" is usually
not safe to drink without first being boiled, although efforts to improve the
reach of the Chinese water infrastructure and the quality of the water it
delivers have been substantial.
The newfound commitment to better water management practices has boosted
demand for water treatment products to almost the ¥20 billion mark, and will
continue to build on exceptionally strong gains despite minimal changes in
overall water usage. Although industrial expansion will continue at a
globe-leading pace and urban population increases will continue as people move
away from agricultural areas and into metropolitan areas, improvements in
efficiency and reduced agricultural water usage will offset increased
industrial activity and municipal water demand. Even so, water treatment
product demand will register outstanding growth as food and beverage
processors seek to improve finished product quality, papermakers reduce water
expenditures by treating water for reuse, municipalities strive to supply
safe, high-quality water to their citizens, and consumers look to home
filtration gear such as sinktop systems and carafes with activated carbon
units to improve the flavor and quality of water in their homes.
Study coverage
It presents historical demand data for the years 1997, 2002 and 2007 plus
forecasts for 2012 and 2017 by water treatment market and product. The study
also considers market environment factors, evaluates company market share and
profiles leading competitors.
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