The industrial sector receives increasing attention from water technology providers due to opportunities presented by increasingly stringent regulations or growing production capacity, as is the case for craft brewing. Figure 1, for example, shows the U.S. and European wastewater and biochemical oxygen demand for the six industries identified.
The indices presented in Figure 2 were calculated by studying the value of economic activity per cubic meter of wastewater produced. The chemicals industry represents the largest sector in terms of the value of economic output and revenue generation, while the pulp and paper industry represents the smallest sector in terms of the value of economic output and revenue generation.
The research revealed that the pulp and paper industry generated the largest quantities of wastewater in comparison to the other industries, due to the large quantities of water used per unit of product and rare water reuse. However, the economic value of the pulp and paper industry is one of the lowest in comparison to the other industries analyzed.
The BlueTech Industrial Value of Wastewater Indices serves as an orientation for process and wastewater treatment technology providers who need to factor in the relative value associated with a unit of water to determine the price point each market can bear. Industries with higher economic values per unit of water are likely to be less sensitive to the cost associated with water solutions. This can also mitigate in favor of a greater openness in certain industries to measures that can provide savings in the costs associated with water management.
While industries do not have a choice in relation to environmental compliance with discharge limits, the openness to invest in technology or to implement cost-saving options may be influenced by the significance of associated costs relative to the overall value of the activity it is supporting.
