No matter where in the world you are, access to clean water is critical. Industrial water drives economic growth, while municipal water ensures public health. With more than a third of the world’s population dealing with clean water shortages, there is growing demand for water treatment. According to a September 2016 report from BCC research, this is expected to lead to immense market growth in the specialty chemicals industry over the next five years.1 By the end of 2016, the market is expected to hit $28.5 billion, and it is expected to increase to $38.2 billion by 2021.
Countries like China and India are dealing with huge populations that demand clean drinking water, as well as burgeoning industries that require industrial water supplies. In the United States, water quality regulations are becoming more stringent, so specialty chemicals are being used more frequently. Moreover, as freshwater supplies in the Colorado River Basin dwindle and western states like California continue to face major droughts, specialty chemicals companies can take the lead in developing more feasible desalination techniques. To meet these water treatment needs, specialty chemicals companies will need to build more treatment plants, manufacture more and better chemicals, and also adopt new technologies that can improve upon current methods.
Developing Effective Water Treatment Processes When looking to manufacture new chemicals and develop more water treatment methods in response to the expected market boom, process development software can offer the competitive edge needed to claim a very large portion of industry growth. The right kind of software will offer some key capabilities that can improve process development efficiency and guarantee quality:
● Guaranteeing process quality and enabling improvements Once a chemical manufacturing or water treatment technique is in place, the software runs continual verification checks on the process in order to confirm that it is running as expected. This reduces compliance risks in an increasingly strict regulatory environment. Plus, the checks identify potential sources of process variability. This can be helpful as the same processes are implemented in different treatment facilities across the globe, since it allows workers in one lab to make others aware of possible errors before they happen and to correct any inconsistencies in their techniques.
● Enabling knowledge sharing across multiple locations Process development software has built-in information-sharing capabilities that facilitate collaboration between labs, regardless of their geographical locations. That way, if a problem arises with a new water treatment technique, the issue can be quickly communicated throughout the organization and fixed before it does any real damage. Also, when one lab develops an innovative new process, they can share their findings with those in other locations, who can then implement the process directly or tweak it to suit their area’s particular water treatment needs.
By developing novel water treatment methods that can meet the municipal and industrial requirements of people in both developing and developed countries, specialty companies can be sure to make the most of the ten-billion-dollar growth in the industry over the next five years. And as a result, in 2021, the worldwide clean water shortage could be a far less threatening global issue than it is today.
Learn how specialty chemicals researchers can optimize the design of water treatment methods and how manufacturing can monitor processes for quality assurance. The knowledge-sharing aspects are also ideal for multinational companies that are looking to take advantage of industry growth in both developing and developed countries helping develop revolutionary solutions to the clean water crisis.
1 “Global Shortage of Clean Water Boosting Specialty Chemicals Market, Reports BCC Research,” September 28, 2016, http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/global-shortage-clean-water-boosting-specialty-chemicals-market-reports-bcc-research-2162051.htm