The total French market for water treatment equipment and related services is estimated to be worth USD 23 billion. A stable economy and financial institutions, stronger European Union (E.U.) regulations, greater public awareness and the increasing costs associated with polluting have played a major role in an expanding market for water treatment equipment and services. In addition, greater interest in complying with environmental regulations by national and local government officials has stimulated this market. Despite the current financial and economic challenges, the water sector is still expected to grow at a stable rate and provide continued market opportunities in a number of areas.
Best Products/Services
Best prospects include wastewater sludge treatment; installation and maintenance of stand-alone sewage treatment tanks; remote monitoring technology; and membranes and water filters. Non point source pollution management and water conservation including leak detection and reclamation are becoming of major importance.
Opportunities
Storm water Management
Urban development, environmental concerns and water quality have
brought non point source water and rainwater management to the
fore in France. Consequently, progressive storm water
management policies have been implemented to mitigate the
environmental impact of urban development. While the main
focus has been placed on treating and disposing of rainwater for
environmental reasons, residential applications have been used
for many years. In addition, industry has recently
discovered the benefits of this vital resource for its own
processes that can decrease operating costs and strengthen bottom
lines. This is driving the market for rainwater
capture, storage and reutilization technologies and include green
house watering, commercial and industrial water cooling, water
jet cutting, car washing and other ultra-pure, low mineral
content water applications. Further, there are currently
8000 storm water management installations in France while there
are approximately 100,000 systems in the Germany. Based on
this relative comparison, France is expected to experience high
growth in the short to mid-term.
Wastewater Sludge Treatment
Wastewater sludge treatment has remained a hot topic in
France. Currently, 30 percent of sludge is incinerated, 31
percent goes to landfills, and 39 percent is used as
fertilizer. Innovative technologies will focus on volume
reduction and conditioning. The French government continues
to recommend recycling and fertilizing as the primary disposal
method for wastewater sludge. However, this practice has
met resistance from the general public due to health and safety
concerns and from the agriculture industry for pollution
liability concerns. The government has consequently,
strengthened its resolve to improve recycling techniques (e.g.,
composting, dehydration) and broaden the range of applications
(e.g., farming, landscaping, revegetation) for recycled
sludge. The government and as a result industry are moving
towards "zero sludge discharge and zero waste generation".
Moreover, given the increase in wastewater, effluents and sludge
generation, membrane bioreactors are in very high demand.
New types of contaminants from pharmaceuticals, hormones and
pesticides entering the wastewater stream have also increased
demand for membrane bioreactors. In sum, sludge treatment
technologies will continue to be in big demand into the
foreseeable future.
Stand-alone Sewage Treatment Systems
Currently there are 5.3 million non-municipal sewage treatment
systems (4 million septic and stand-alone sewage treatment tanks)
in France. According the French authorities over 90 percent
of these systems do not conform to the French Water Agencies
Directives (over half of the stand alone units do not comply with
current or future environmental regulations). They will,
therefore, need to be replaced or revamped. Approximately 200,000
septic tank units are installed per year. Managing and
maintaining these installations has become a top priority for
end-users. While the number suppliers is growing and
competition is increasing market demand still outpaces
supply. All this combined is expected to provide continued
market opportunities in this sector.
Remote Monitoring Technology
With the arrival of broadband networks, remote monitoring
technology has become extremely prevalent. The industry is
continuously restructuring to leverage these new and evolving
technological capabilities. Consequently, water and
wastewater operators are in constant search of equipment and
instrumentation that can increase operation efficiency and
decrease total cost of ownership. Market players will be
looking for technology with broader applications, easy
installation and greater flexibility and autonomy. Further,
remote monitoring technology will offer solutions to the
increasing costs to comply with evolving storm water management
policies. This is especially true since many water
districts and municipalities do not have the financial or human
resources to invest in full storm water management systems.
Hence, sharing remote storm water management systems with several
water districts and municipalities has become a cost effective
way to comply with more stringent regulations and ensure higher
quality water management.
Analytical Instrumentation
The European Directive for water quality adopted in 2000, which
requires all natural existing bodies of water to attain
satisfactorily ecological state by 2015, is expected to drive the
market for biological and toxic substances analytical
instrumentation. This Directive will also require a greater
number of parameters to be measured. The primary market
applications include continuous monitoring in aquatic environment
and in-line monitoring; flood control and prevention in sewer
networks and grids; reduction of chemical reagents and energy in
water treatment.
Filters, Membranes and Water Reclamation
Organic membranes for urban wastewater treatment and reclaimed
water is an emerging market. A growing interest and
acceptance in reclaimed water has been driving the market for
disinfection technologies such as UV, ozone and chlorination as
well as other membrane technologies including nanofiltration,
microfiltration, ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis.
Membranes capable of treating wastewater discharged into
sensitive ecological systems are also in high demand. This offers
an important opportunity for U.S. companies, which are generally
market leaders in this sector. In the UV market France
(with less than 100 water treatment plants using UV systems) is
much further behind compared to Germany, Switzerland, the UK and
the US.
Resources
Union des Entreprises et Industries de l'Eau et de
l'Environnement
The French Federation for the Water and Environmental
Industries
http://www.french-water.com
Canalisateurs de France (French Waterline Constructors
Association)
http://www.canalisateurs.com
SNITER (Syndicat National des Industries du Traitement des
Eaux)
National Association for the Water Treatment Industry
IFEP (The French Institute for Stormwater)
UAE (Union des Entreprises d'Affinage de l'Eau)
French Water Quality Association
http://www.french-water.com
U.S. Commercial Service Trade Specialist:
Everett.Wakai@
- Phone: 33-1 43 12 20 45
mail.doc.gov
For data tables and additional information corresponding to this prospect please contact: Everett.Wakai@ mail.doc.gov
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