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Though water itself is a very basic commodity, developments in
technology used to treat water, deliver it in an efficient manner, or
measure its quality are making profound changes in the water industry
and are likely to do so in the future. The development of polymer
membranes for water filtration has been the biggest technology
development to impact the sector. Reverse osmosis membranes have
brought down the cost of desalination in many areas, and newer
ultrafiltration and microfiltration membranes are able to remove
bacteria and parasites from drinking water and wastewater more
effectively than ever before. Following are key technologies involved
in the water industry.
- Membrane filtration
– polymer membranes can separate particles from fluid down to the
molecular level. Reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, and microfiltration
handle different sized particles. Developments in performance
capabilities and durability have reduced operating costs and
dramatically increased market demand, for both pure water and
wastewater treatment applications.
- Desalination
– one of the fastest growing segments of the market, providing a new
source of fresh water supply. Membrane processes are taking share from
thermal distillation processes, as membrane efficiency increases.
- Water reuse/recycling – also
primarily uses membrane technology to treat wastewater to sufficient
purity that it can be used again. Most water reuse is currently in
industrial and agricultural applications potable water reuse is still
limited, due to public squeamishness, though the technology is fully
capable.
- Ultraviolet disinfection – alternative
to traditional chlorine disinfection commonly referred to as UV
treatment, destroys bacteria and other contaminants via UV energy from
specialized lamps.
- Automated meter reading – AMR,
developed in the electricity industry, is moving into the water sector,
in conjunction with increasing focus on conservation, full-cost
pricing, and demand management. Monitoring and process controls
– increasingly sophisticated marriage between information technology
and instrumentation allows real-time monitoring of contaminants and
automated processes for water treatment.
- Plastic and coated pipes – the basic iron
and concrete pipes that have been used in the water and sewer
transmission markets for 100 years are giving way to newer technology.
Plastic pipes have become more widely used, especially in small
diameter pipes, and new coatings for traditional ductile iron pipes
that can improve their performance are gaining traction.
- Trenchless pipe rehabilitation –
technology for fixing water and sewer pipes with lower cost and less
disruption than traditional dig and replace methods. While pipe lining
technologies have become common in the sewer pipe industry, the market
for trenchless replacement of drinking water pipes is just beginning to
develop.
- Conservation-based irrigation
– drip irrigation and soil moisture monitoring technologies that more
efficiently manage the vast volumes of water used in agricultural
applications.
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