Innovative Water Hydration Treatment Systems for Connected Homes, Offices, and HoReCa that are Backed Up by Sustainability Principles have a Strong Role in Tackling Plastic Waste from Bottled Water
The global residential, light commercial, and HoReCa water hydration treatment systems market is expected to witness a 7-year CAGR of 6.1% to generate above $30 billion by 2025. Emerging markets such as China, South Korea, India, and Japan, especially in segments such as light commercial and HoReCa, are witnessing high growth.
The increasing awareness on hydration is spooling the growth opportunity for this market and will further be shaped by solutions addressing the needs of customization of hydration solutions in the customer segment. APAC's share is more than 25% of revenue and is expected to witness the highest growth during the forecast period. NA and Europe are mature markets due to their relative saturation, especially in the residential segment, while light commercial and HoReCa are still experiencing some high growth. Market demand in LATAM and MEA is fuelled by perpetually increasing demand for good-quality drinking water, especially in the water-scarce regions.
The residential sector is the largest, accounting for more than 40% of the market. The growing urbanization and increasing concern on the drinking water quality and associated health issues from questionable municipal water supply will boost the adoption of residential water treatment systems. The light commercial and HoReCa segments are also experiencing an increased installed base of water treatment systems due to increasing concerns regarding plastic waste that is being generated from the bottled water sector. PoU systems contributed around $5 billion in 2018 and are the largest in terms of revenue. The ease in installation, coupled with its compact size and relatively cheaper price, is a key decision-making factor. Increasing environmental concerns regarding single-use plastics will eventually reduce the consumption of bottled water in the coming years. This will attract water treatment solutions in the light commercial and HoReCa segments. Rental business will continue to boost the market revenue due to the added advantages of reliable after-sales service for customers and recurring monthly income for equipment suppliers. Alkaline and pH-balanced water are gaining attraction in the bottled water industry. Efficient business models, such as water filtration systems at grocery and convenience stores where consumers can refill their cans and pay by the liter, will increase revenues and reduce the carbon footprint created by the use of plastic bottles.
Water treatment systems market is relatively consolidated in some product segments but highly fragmented in the overall market. Developed countries in Europe and NA are more open to accept premium products with innovative technological variations, while APAC, MEA, and LATAM portray immense potential for regional suppliers as well as international participants catering to a niche customer base. The IoT, with its enormous growth, has changed the living environment of the people by connecting all types of digital devices to the Internet. Integrating the systems with Cloud- and IoT-based technology helps companies in predicting issues in advance – where engineers can schedule maintenance visits. This helps in creating an efficient customer support. Any issues with the systems will alert the engineers instantly. Customers can get access to this data and understand the status of their machines at all times.
