Disinfection may be a common and widely applied tertiary treatment technique for water and wastewater applications, yet a broad range of technological options will mean this area will still see future growth.
Generating revenues of $1.94 billion dollars in 2012, the disinfection industry – ranging from conventional chlorine dosing to ultrasound and ultraviolet (UV)-LED – is predicted to grow by 6.2% annually to $2.96 billion by 2019.
A report from industry analysts Frost & Sullivan (F&S) – Global Water and Wastewater Disinfection Systems Market – says this will be driven by regulatory requirements and public health risks from drinking water contamination.
UV Technology was predicted in the report to witness widespread acceptance with marked developments in LED-UV technology aiding in cost-cutting efficient disinfection solutions. Traditional gas chlorination disinfection will not be phased out from the market, but will give rise to attractive alternatives such as chlorine dioxide and electro chlorination.
Gas Chlorination continues to dominate the global water and wastewater disinfection systems market, with a 2012 market share of 38.7%, says F&S.
Meanwhile UV and Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) disinfection, on the other hand, currently holds 30.7% of the total water and wastewater disinfection systems market valued at $588.5 million. It is expected to have a higher occupancy rate by 2019, taking up 33.3% of the total market summing up to a revenue total of $968.7 million.
F&S adds that electro chlorination is rising as an alternative after chlorine dioxide. One reason was the "declining gas chlorination usage", which can attributed to its health hazards and rigid legislation specifying extremely low levels of residual chlorine.
Close to 400 companies are estimated to be involved in the global disinfection market, leading F&S to call it "fragmented".
With the predicted 6.2% market growth, F&S said chlorine might experience a slowdown, while UV disinfection will stand out as the growth technology segment driven by innovative solutions such as the LED UV, an energy efficient disinfection alternative.
