IDTechEx has predicted that the water and wastewater sensor industry will be over $2 billion by 2030 in a recent market report.

The report, dubbed Sensors in the Water and Wastewater Treatment Industries 2020-2030, looks at how the water industry is adopting a number of digital solutions, unlike the oil and gas industries.

It adds that the sensors predicted to be included in the water industry will come with the wider adoption of IoT devices in cities as the hype around them grows.

Many water and wastewater networks are currently not digitised, using analogue or slow systems to collect samples, analyse data and provide data for companies to use. These results are used to meet pollution requirements, policy limits and to ensure that the treatment of both water and wastewater plants are running correctly.

With water shortages occurring across some countries like Cape Town, South Africa, in 2018 for example, there is a real need to better monitor the usage, supply and treatment of both supply water and wastewater networks. The report points to the benefit of digitising the industry and water networks as a solution.

The benefit of adopting sensors into the networks outweigh these barriers. There is a real need for remote monitoring; it removes the need for maintenance staff to check pipes as regularly or to collect samples for lab monitoring.

Additionally, it speeds up the identification of pollution events, reducing fines incurred by the water companies, improves the efficiency of the treatment plants and provides a better service for customers.

While it may be a steep investment, but the dividends pay off for many years to come. It has been used already to track COVID-19 in a number of cases and provides real opportunities for investment in future water and wastewater networks.