Smart Water Meter Market Size, Share, Opportunities, COVID-19 Impact, And Trends By End-Use Application (Residential, Commercial, Industrial), And By Geography- Forecasts From 2022 To 2027

The global smart water meter market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.63% from a market size of US$1.885 billion in 2020 to reach a market size of US$5.875 billion by the end of 2027.

The smart water meter helps customers monitor their property water flow rates in real-time and compare their water usage with historical data. The increasing need to minimize water wastage, along with the growing demand for water preservation, is considered a key driver for market growth during the forecast period. Moreover, technological advancements and rising government initiatives to save water are also contributing to driving market growth during the forecast period. A smart water meter not only helps in the measurement of water flow but also utilizes wireless communication for connecting to local or wide area networks, further allowing remote location monitoring, in addition to infrastructure maintenance via leak detection. The sophisticated instrument also helps in enabling automatic billing and thus assists in customer management as well. This includes detection and protection against tampering attempts as well. The companies offering smart water meters are battery-powered and are low-power devices that play an important role in defining system configurations. The growing trend of the utilization of electronic products contributing to less power consumption is further providing an impetus to burgeoning market growth during the forecast period. The growing sensor technologies are further augmenting the market growth owing to the placement of sensors in smart water meters. These smart meters include inductive sensors, ultrasonic sensors, and electromagnetic sensors.

Growing concerns regarding water scarcity are driving the market demand during the forecast period.

It has been estimated by the United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs that by the end of 2025, around 1.8 billion people are predicted to live in regions experiencing absolute water scarcity. Also, it has been further predicted by the organization that around two-thirds of the global population will be living under water-stressed conditions.

Hence, with these issues, the application of advanced metering solutions will address the upcoming global problem with the growing need for conserving and optimizing the global water supply. Smart water meters with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) applications will enable two-way communication between the meters and water utilities, further providing accurate information regarding the water system. Smart water metering includes meter data management software and services, providing utilities with end-to-end capabilities in order to remotely read meters and help in the integration of data with back-end systems.

The growing demand for investments in smart city infrastructure development is providing an opportunity for the market to thrive in the forecast period.

It has been observed that governments from all over the world are spending heavily every year on building and repairing crucial infrastructure. The trend has been observed, especially in the developing economies of the world with increasing urbanization. Hence, these developing regions of the world require additional infrastructure spending in comparison to the developed regions of the world. The current amount is not sufficient to meet the demands for transportation, water, power, sanitation, energy, and other infrastructural needs, such as in order to fulfill the needs of smart city development. Hence, efforts are being made toward the participation of private entities to fulfill future infrastructural demands. Keeping in view the new infrastructural demands around 60% of the world is poised to live in cities by the end of 2030, as per the United Nations estimates.

 In the developing regions of the world, by the end of 2030, around one in three individuals will be living in a city. In addition, the number of individuals living in cities is projected to exceed the number of individuals living in rural areas by a ratio of 2:1 (source: UN). Currently, around 90% of the urban expansion is reported to be taking place in the emerging economies of the world. Hence, this has unlocked the need for private financing as well, in order to drive greater infrastructure spending. Therefore, the surging demand for greater investments in smart cities is likely to have a strong impact on boosting the market’s growth during the forecast period.

Innovative designing technologies and solutions for smart water meters are boosting the market growth

The presence of companies offering support in designing smart water meters is also contributing to increased market growth as these companies aid designers with a portfolio of semiconductor products and development kits to overcome the design challenges raised by smart water meter applications. For example, ST Microelectronics company’s ultra-low-power sub-GHz RF communication solutions provide support for all the major protocols that include long-range, WM-BUS, and proprietary LPWAN protocols like LoRa and Sigfox, and short-range like dual NFC/RFID interface tags and ultra-low-power Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and 802.15.4 system-on-chips. In conjunction with ultra-low-power STM8L or STM32L microcontrollers, the company’s solutions help applications fulfill the battery life expectancy required for smart water infrastructures.

Furthermore, with growing automation across residential, commercial, and industrial end-users, the market is projected to show high growth prospects in the forecast period. The growing global water scarcity concerns are further providing an impetus to boost market growth over the next five years. Furthermore, increasing investments in the development of smart city infrastructure are providing an opportunity for the market to thrive over the forecast period, particularly in the world's developing economies.  However, the availability of low-cost substitutes is projected to have a low-to-medium impact on hampering the market’s growth.

The North American region is expecting to witness a substantial CAGR during the forecast period

Geographically, the smart water meter market is segmented into North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Asia Pacific (APAC). North America is predicted to hold a significant market share owing to the rising awareness of water management solutions. In North American countries like the US and Canada, smart water meters are integrated with ICT to effectively manage distribution networks and assets. Moreover, the rising interest in creating awareness about managing water resources is driving the demand for smart water meters in the North American region. On the other hand, the Asia-Pacific region is estimated to be the fastest-growing market in the global smart meter water market. Growing industrialization and urbanization are promoting market growth in this region.

Key Developments

• E.ON has announced its partnership with Vodafone in February 2022 to retrofit water meters with wireless technology which will convert the meters into smart water meters. As a part of their partnership, the companies intend to use the technology in a similar form for gas and electric meters in the future.
• In January 2021, Badger meter acquired Analytical Technology, Inc. (ATi). Badger acquired ATi for US$44 million. Through this acquisition, Badger intends to strengthen its core strategy to continue augmenting the smart water offerings by collaborating advanced technologies in instrumentations.

COVID-19 Impact on Smart Water Meter Market 

The novel coronavirus pandemic had a diminutive impact on the sales of smart water meter hardware. Similar to most sectors, the smart water market experienced pressure on the utilities to maintain and supply safe drinking water to consumers. For instance, in February 2021 North Battleford witnessed a one-week delay in smart water meter installation in Canada. The complications were the result of shipping issues amid the pandemic.

Smart Water Meter Market Scope:

Segmentation:

• By End-Use Application
  • Residential
  • Commercial
  • Industrial
• By Geography
  • North America
    • USA
    • Canada
    • Mexico
  • South America
    • Brazil
    • Argentina
    • Others
  • Europe
    • UK
    • Germany
    • France
    • Others
  • Middle East and Africa
    • UAE
    • Israel
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Others
  • Asia Pacific
    • Japan
    • China
    • India
    • Australia
    • South Korea
    • Indonesia
    • Taiwan
    • Others