Will Smart Water Grids Become a $16.3 Billion Industry by 2020?

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Will Smart Water Grids Become a $16.3 Billion Industry by 2020?

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If you read this site you know that water is a major issue and how we relate to and manage our water could be the defining issue of the 21st century. Water innovation is just now starting to build buzz and attract investors, with venture capital still not flush and technologies very much in their infancy. Any discussion of macro-water issues brings up the smart water grid as a necessary but complicated step- but will smart water grids, currently a $530 million market, become a $16.3 Billion industry in the next ten years? A new report from Lux Research thinks it will.

Photo Credit: Orin Zebest

Is the smart water grid the next big thing in business?

According to Lux, the smart water grid market could balloon over the next ten years as it becomes increasingly important and draws both investment and innovation. Lux identifies 5 areas of the smart water grid, saying that start-up ventures will be most successful if they can integrate them in an innovative fashion: water mapping, water infrastructure, water quality monitoring, smart meters and smart irrigation.

The new technology and innovative management ideas around water from desalination plants and water footprint accounting are starting to catch the eyes of big businesses and investors. According to Drew Clark, Venture Capital Group Director of Strategy at IBM, said that factors from the Obama administration’s environmental stimulus money has created the perfect storm for water-focused start-ups and the development of a smart grid.

The report concludes: “While there are physical solutions or lower-tech options available to help solve the hydrocosm’s water management woes, the scale of water needs and the lack of funds for a complete overhaul of the physical infrastructure also call for the deployment of emerging information technology solutions to address these areas.”

For a look at some of that innovation, you can read up on Imagine H2O, a San Francisco-based national non-profit looking to support start-up water business ventures at Turning the World’s Water Problems into Opportunities.

Posted on Nov 19, 2009

Tags:

privatized water, smart water grid, water, water crisis, water economy, Water Grid, water issues, water shortage, water shortages, Will Smart Water Grids Become a $16.3 Billion Industry by 2020?, world water crisis, world water shortage

About the Author

Scott James

Scott James is a green copywriter living in San Francisco. He enjoys good coffee, innovative minds and challenging conversation. An experienced whitewater rafting and backcountry guide, he is passionate about water issues and the environmental web.

2 Responses to “Will Smart Water Grids Become a $16.3 Billion Industry by 2020?”

Gerry Rasmus

Nov 23, 2009

Every one needs to educate people about storm drains and stencilng them so that only, rain water goes into our natural waterways.
If we all did our part in our neighborhoods by leaving only foot prints behind , we could all make a diffeence for the better
KOTO

Nov 24, 2009

The ife of the people is in our hearts and shws in the land
Reach out fo the voiceess, children, widlife and natural waterways.
We all can all make a difference (Carpe Diem)
We are all in his neighborhod together