Smart Water Metering Market by Meter type (Ultrasonic, Electromagnetic, Smart Mechanical), Application (Water Utilities, Industries), Technology (AMI, AMR), Component (Meter & Accessories, Communications) and Region - Global Forecast to 2027
The global smart water metering market is valued at an estimated USD 3.7 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 6.4 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 11.6% during the forecast period. The market growth for smart water meters can be attributed to the rise in need for accuracy in water billing solutions. Even utilities taking measures to reduce nonrevenue water has driven the market for smart water meters.
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Smart Water Meters Market Dynamics
Driver: Need for a significant reduction in loss caused by non-revenue water
Water utilities, comprising domestic companies, manage the tasks of the safe and timely distribution of water and other associated services. The companies fall under federal, state, and municipal jurisdiction and are tightly regulated by these bodies. Water utility companies also have stringent operational budgets, which are inadequate for upfront capital investments. The rising complexities of managing water usage, such as increasing regulations, high water bills, aging infrastructures, and tight budgets, continue to escalate, leaving water utilities with a bigger challenge called non-revenue water (NRW) losses. NRW is the difference between the water delivered in a network and the volume finally billed.
According to the International Water Association, globally, non-revenue water, on average, accounts for 30–35% of the total water available for consumption annually. The utilities bear the cost of energy used to pump out non-revenue water and repair leaks. This results in increased operational costs and reduced efficiency. According to the Energy and Water department of the World Bank, water utilities globally lose an estimated USD 14 billion in non-revenue water every year. In the US, the federal government reported losses from leaks, which amount to an estimated 2.1 trillion gallons of NRW per year. According to the World Bank, the total cost to water utilities from NRW worldwide can be conservatively estimated at USD 141 billion per year—one-third of it occurs in developing economies.
Restraint: Lack of government initiatives
In the current scenario, where smart grid investments are picking up pace, water meters are still being ignored when compared with electricity and gas meters. The reason behind this is that governments do not have any regulations or mandates for the installation or use of smart water meters. Smart water metering can pick up if governments support and promote the installation and benefits of these meters to users. Despite the growing need for drinking water infrastructure, the US federal government’s share of capital spending in the water sector fell from 63% in 1977 to 9% of total capital spending in 2017.
Water consumption can be reduced by 35% by installing smart water meters. Also, governments can curb non-revenue water and water wastage by implementing laws for smart water metering infrastructure. Wastewater management and recycling of water also are areas where governments can take steps to make optimal use of water
Opportunities: Replacement of aging infrastructure
Water supply issues persist in developing countries; however, in industrialized countries, the water infrastructure built in the early 20th century has the least potential usage. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), USD 473 billion investment in drinking water infrastructure will be needed over the next 20 years as aging pipes and storage facilities require upgrades and replacements. The water industry is facing the issue of aging infrastructure as the installed conventional meters have worn out and lack accuracy in meter readings.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the total cumulative infrastructure requirements for roads, telecom, electricity, and water will reach about USD 53 trillion by 2030. These include the replacement of the old infrastructure with new smart technologies. The lack of smart water metering infrastructure limits the ability of water utilities to monitor and control the water distribution network. If the utilities install smart infrastructure, they can reduce their water losses and save up to USD 10.0 billion. In addition, the operational costs can also be reduced. The water-intensive industries are more inclined toward replacing conventional meters with technologically advanced smart water meters, as these meters have higher accuracy.
Challenges: High deployment cost and long payback period
The installation of smart water meters requires high capital investments. There is no government aid provided for the installation of smart water meters. This makes it difficult for water utilities and end users to install smart water meters. Further, water utilities are incapable of making heavy capital expenditures by themselves as they face losses due to non-revenue water, water theft, and leakages. The smart water metering infrastructure requires various components like measuring and sensing devices, real-time communication devices, data management systems, and control tools. All these components increase the total cost of smart water metering.
Utility providers across the world need capital to upgrade their infrastructure. Developing countries with poor infrastructure, such as China, Brazil, and India, also need huge financial support to build and update their infrastructure. Besides, the integration of devices becomes more complicated when the number of customers increases, which further delays smart water meter operations. Even in developed smart water meter markets, such as Italy and Sweden, to make the integration of a new generation of smart water meters profitable, utilities are deploying smart water meters in different phases. The deployment of smart water meters in these countries could be extended until 2030 due to a lack of consumer acceptance of these meters. Due to such a long delay in the realization of ROI, companies refrain from installing smart water meters.
Market Trends
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AMI segment, by technology, is expected to be the largest market during the forecast period
The AMI segment is expected to be the largest market during the forecast period. The meter data is received by the AMI host system and sent to the Meter Data Management System (MDMS) that manages data storage and analysis to provide the information in a useful form to the utility. A large number of water utilities are upgrading to this technology as the price of advanced meters is gradually becoming comparable to one-way meters. Furthermore, AMI requires less human effort for functioning, which helps in reducing labor costs. As a result, the market penetration of AMI is deemed to be high.
By meter type, the ultrasonic meter is expected to be the fastest growing market for the global smart water metering market during the forecast period
By meter type, the smart water metering market has been segmented into ultrasonic meters, electromagnetic meters, and smart mechanical meters. Ultrasonic meters is expected to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period with the highest CAGR. These meters have the highest growth rate among the three types of meters considered in this study, as they are appropriate for fitting communication and IoT sensors and offer higher accuracy rates
“Asia Pacific: The fastest smart water metering market”
Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region for the global smart water metering market between 2022–2027, followed by North America and Europe. The government is adopting active measures for promoting water metering across the regions under its smart cities program. The growing population along with rising demand from the agricultural sector will further augment the business landscape.
Key Market Players
The smart water metering market is dominated by a few major players that have a wide regional presence. The major players in the smart water metering market are Badger Meter, Inc. (US), Sensus (US), Diehl Stiftung & Co. KG (Germany), Aclara Technologies (US), and Itron, Inc. (US). Between 2018 and 2022, the companies adopted growth strategies such as sales contracts to capture a larger share of the smart water metering market.
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Report Attributes |
Details |
Market size: |
|
Growth Rate: |
11.6% |
Largest Market: |
Asia Pacific |
Market Dynamics: |
Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities & Challenges |
Forecast Period: |
2022-2027 |
Forecast Units: |
Value (USD Billion) |
Report Coverage: |
Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends |
Segments Covered: |
Meter Type, Technology, Component, Application, and Region |
Geographies Covered: |
Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and South America |
Report Highlights:
|
Updated financial information / product portfolio of players |
Key Market Opportunities: |
The replacement of the old infrastructure with new smart technologies |
Key Market Drivers: |
Need for a significant reduction in loss caused by non-revenue water |
This research report categorizes the smart water metering market by meter type, technology, component, application, and region
Based on Meter type:
- Ultrasonic Meters
- Electromagnetic Meters
- Smart Mechanical Meters
Based on technology:
- AMI
- AMR
Based on Component:
- Meter & Accessories
- IT Solutions
- Communications
Based on application:
- Water Utilities
- Industries
Based on region:
- Asia Pacific
- Europe
- North America
- Middle East & Africa
- South America
Recent Developments
- In June 2021, Itron Inc. partnered with German IoT solutions firm Digimondo to help water utilities improve the management of distribution networks leveraging LoRaWAN
- In May 2022, Badger Meter, Inc. launched its ModMAG M2000 Electromagnetic flow meter with the BACnet MS/TP communication protocol.
- In December 2021, Diehl Metering helped the Maltese Utility Water Services Corporation (WSC) to reduce non-revenue water and overcome the challenges of low flow rates and high levels of limescale
- In July 2019, The City of Safford established a Smart Utility Network by partnering with Sensus. The technologies used in this network are Sensus iPERL residential water meters and the two-way FlexNet communication system.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
What is the current size of the smart water metering market?
The current market size of the global smart water metering market is USD 3.3 Billion in 2021.
What are the major drivers?
The growth of the smart water metering market can be attributed to the increasing demand for water meter infrastructure to reduce heavy water losses
Which is the fastest-growing region during the forecasted period?
Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region for the global smart water metering market between 2022–2027, followed by North America and Europe. Government initiatives and lucrative opportunities for suppliers to expand their regional reach in the Asia Pacific are likely to create growth opportunities in the Asia Pacific smart water metering market during the forecast period.
Which is the fastest-growing segment, by meter type during the forecasted period?
By meter type, the smart water metering market has been segmented into ultrasonic meters, electromagnetic meters, and smart mechanical meters. These meters have the highest growth rate among the three types of meters considered in this study, as they are appropriate for fitting communication and IoT sensors and offer higher accuracy rates.
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The study involved major activities in estimating the current size of the smart water metering market. Exhaustive secondary research was done to collect information on the peer and parent markets. The next step was to validate these findings, assumptions, and sizing with industry experts across the value chain through primary research. Both top-down and bottom-up approaches were employed to estimate the complete market size. Thereafter, market breakdown and data triangulation were used to estimate the market size of the segments and subsegments.
Secondary Research
This research study on the smart water metering market involved the use of extensive secondary sources, directories, and databases, such as Hoovers, Bloomberg, Businessweek, Factiva, International Energy Agency, and BP Statistical Review of World Energy, to identify and collect information useful for a technical, market-oriented, and commercial study of the global market. The other secondary sources included annual reports, press releases, and investor presentations of companies, white papers, certified publications, articles by recognized authors, manufacturer associations, trade directories, and databases.
Primary Research
The smart water metering market comprises several stakeholders such as smart water meters manufacturers, manufacturers of components of smart water metering infrastructure, technology providers, and technology support providers in the supply chain. The demand side of this market is characterized by the rising demand for smart water meters in the nations to reduce the non-revenue water losses. The supply side is characterized by rising demand for contracts from the distribution utilities, and mergers and acquisitions among big players. Various primary sources from both the supply and demand sides of the market were interviewed to obtain qualitative and quantitative information. Following is the breakdown of primary respondents:
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Market Size Estimation
Both top-down and bottom-up approaches were used to estimate and validate the total size of the smart water metering market. These methods were also used extensively to estimate the size of various subsegments in the market. The research methodology used to estimate the market size includes the following:
- The key players in the industry and market have been identified through extensive secondary research, and their market share in the respective regions have been determined through both primary and secondary research.
- The industry’s value chain and market size, in terms of value, have been determined through primary and secondary research processes.
- All percentage shares, splits, and breakdowns have been determined using secondary sources and verified through primary sources.
Global Smart water metering Market Size: Bottom-up Approach
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Data Triangulation
After arriving at the overall market size from the estimation process explained above, the total market has been split into several segments and subsegments. To complete the overall market engineering process and arrive at the exact statistics for all the segments and subsegments, the data triangulation and market breakdown processes have been employed, wherever applicable. The data has been triangulated by studying various factors and trends from both the demand- and supply sides. Along with this, the market has been validated using both the top-down and bottom-up approaches.
Objectives of the Study
- To define, describe, segment, and forecast the smart water metering market size, by technology, meter type, component, and application
- To provide detailed information on the major drivers, restraints, opportunities, and industry-specific challenges influencing the growth of the market
- To strategically analyze the market with respect to individual growth trends, prospects, and contributions of each segment to the market
- To analyze market opportunities for stakeholders and provide a detailed competitive landscape for market leaders
- To forecast the revenue of the market segments with respect to five main regions (along with countries), namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and the Middle East & Africa
- To strategically profile key players and comprehensively analyze their market ranking and core competencies
- To track and analyze competitive developments such as new product developments, contracts & agreements, investments & expansions, and mergers & acquisitions in the smart water metering market
Available Customizations:
With the given market data, MarketsandMarkets offers customizations as per the client’s specific needs. The following customization options are available for this report:
Geographic Analysis
- Further breakdown of region or country-specific analysis
Company Information
- Detailed analyses and profiling of additional market players (up to 5)
Growth opportunities and latent adjacency in Smart Water Metering Market