“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”

– Mark Twain

Editor’s Note, January 2019

The first annual ‘Municipal Case Studies’ special issue is in your hands. We received an overwhelming response this year, in the form of case-study submissions. Finally, we selected top 30 case-studies. The selection was made on the basis of relevance (municipal/ government projects), the different segments of municipal market they represented, innovation (in technology or process), and their actual implementation on the ground. Here, I would specially mention VA Tech WABAG, Veolia, SUEZ, Evoqua, KSB, SPML, Bentley Systems, BASF, Grundfos, Pentair, Danfoss, Schneider, UEM India, WesTech, and Andritz for their constant support and regular editorial contribution.

The global municipal market is still very fragmented. And if we look at the market share, the competition is high with the presence of some heavy-weight companies like WABAG, Suez, and Veolia. The newcomers are also making their presence felt (for example by bidding and even winning some of smaller projects in big-budget government schemes like Namami Gange and Smart Cities in India). They will be able to sustain only with the proper support by the local governments in terms of transparent policies, timely payments, and off-course with the cost-effective digital technologies.

As per the latest Global Outlook of Water Industry report by Frost & Sullivan, the Smart-IoT enabled and digitalized sustainable solutions will be the key growth factors in the water industry. This is highlighted by an increasing stress of water resources across the globe. The municipal water market is set to extensively adopt new communication technologies like LPWAN, which is suited to support IoT, and explore AI and robotic solutions for process control and management.

The analysts from Technavio have predicted that the global municipal water and wastewater treatment equipment market will register the growth at CAGR of 5% during 2019-2023. They say that the Government bodies across the world are focusing on the use of reclaimed water. Hence, new regulations will further encourage the treatment of water in municipalities. This, in turn, will drive the growth of global municipal water and wastewater treatment equipment market.

Some other data says that the Asia-Pacific is expected to have the highest demand for municipal water treatment chemicals. The region is also likely to have the fastest growth.

Clearly, the new digital technologies will assist in the gathering all the data needed for proper treatment of a plant. On the other hand, lack of water & wastewater infrastructure will be a major challenge, as it is steadily affecting the growth of municipal water and wastewater treatment equipment market.

The 2nd edition of our annual flagship event JAL SABHA 2019 is just around the corner now. This year, we are organizing it from 19-20 February at Taj Fisherman’s Cove resort in Kancheepuram near Chennai. This is an exclusive -by invite only– forum for the heads of water supply and sewage departments of Municipal Corporations and Smart City CEOs. We will debate and discuss all the issues faced by municipal corporations on water supply and sewage, 24×7 water supply, smart metering, STPs, and waste management, among others. The event will have a gathering of 50 selective delegates from across India, and is in line with our vision to create highly engaging community-specific events.

– Mayur Sharma
Editor, Smart Water & Waste World Magazine

© Smart Water & Waste World. Send us your editorial contributions at mayur@smartwww.in