Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination Market

Global Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination Market Size (2024 to 2029):

The size of the global seawater and brackish water desalination market was worth USD 17.7 billion in 2023. The global market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 8.2% from 2024 to 2029 and be worth USD 28.40 billion by 2029 from USD 19.15 billion in 2024.

Current Scenario of the Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination Market

Currently, there is an increasing wave of desalination factories worldwide to address the water shortage. With an astonishing 16000 plants all over the globe, this technology is progressively being taken advantage of to ensure the supply of fresh water for coastal and arid regions. However, routinely, these water facilities produce a splendid quantity of brine, which is 142 million cubic meters or 5 billion cubic feet, crossing the previous projections by around 50 percent. In the last few years, nations have been making use of their marine resources sincerely as they want solutions to freshwater scarcities via desalination procedures. This transition is spearheaded by countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, where the availability of fresh drinking water is scarce. These economies hold about 55 percent of the complete brine output globally.

MARKET DRIVERS

The development of a portable desalination unit that does not require any high-pressure pumps or filters to remove particles drives the growth of the seawater and brackish water desalination market.

Likewise, research workers from MIT in April 2022 have devised a portable unit for desalting water weighing under 10 kg and is a suitcase-sized device which consumes electricity less than a mobile phone charger. It can also be operated by a compact and lightweight solar panel and this system even surpasses the quality standards set by the World Health Organisation. The overall unit costs about 50 dollars.

The market is also propelled by the high number of extremely high water-stress countries which is directing and raising investments to present any solution via this approach. According to data published in August 2023, there are more than 25 countries as of now that are vulnerable to extremely high water stress yearly. This shows all these nations utilize more than 80 percent of their sustainably available water resources for domestic, industry, livestock, and irrigation demands. This scenario has already been witnessed in economies like South Africa, Mexico, Iran, India and England.

The mounting need for fresh water is surging the significance of the seawater and brackish water desalination market.

As per the study, up to 4 billion people are prone to water scarcity situations for not less than one month annually. Also, the rapid pace of fading away and degrading of the natural ecosystems gives clean water and relieves floods and other hazards like wetlands, mangroves and forests. Besides this, it is predicted that by 2050 the need for water will rise by up to 30 percent, and, at the same time, political uncertainty and water-related conflicts are experiencing an upward trajectory, with climatic variations making it worse.

MARKET RESTRAINTS

The advancement and mass production of portable or next-generation systems for this purpose is restricted by the application of expensive materials.

This is one of the factors affecting the seawater and brackish water desalination market growth. Moreover, the formation of crystals quickly after being left is another issue whenever there is any effort to develop new and innovative solar-based desalination systems. Some successful solutions were also made to mitigate this but the rate of desalinating water reduced. Additionally, a serious issue is the elimination of brine waste. This saline-heavy residue can obstruct oceanic or coastal ecosystems if not good governance. The environmental consequences of desalination plants, especially those situated beside coastlines, are a major problem for water treatment engineers and ecological consultants.

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

The use of low-cost materials instead of expensive ones in the portable system based on filer-free technology holds immense opportunity for the seawater and brackish water desalination market.

Moreover, the market is also expected to grow with further development and application of the ion concentration polarization (ICP) technique. This technique as of now works with electrodialysis as demonstrated by Prof. Jongyoon Han in its development at MIT in April 2022. Apart from this, Chinese and MIT engineers are targeting to produce drinking water from seawater with a fully passive device which is powered by the sun and influenced by the ocean. The design of a new solar desalination system has already been prepared by the team. Also, the novel device has a greater rate of salt rejection as well as water production compared to all other solar-based passive desalination concepts presently undergoing tests. Hence, all these developments are boosting the market growth rate.

MARKET CHALLENGES

The seawater and brackish water desalination market growth is derailed by the toxic impacts of brine.

The production of brine has elevated because of greater dependence on desalination procedures in nations such as Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia which add around 55 per cent towards overall worldwide brine output yearly. Apart from the amplified salinity levels impacting oceanic temperature laws, there is high certainty that bio-accumulation under marine organisms can take place owing to the presence of pollutants and heavy metals within unprocessed brines. This may result in prolonged deterioration at both the single species level together with wider ecological dynamics if not managed accountably. Hence, decreasing the market growth rate.

REPORT COVERAGE

SEGMENT ANALYSIS

Global Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination Market Analysis By Source

The seawater segment remained the most prevalent source and holds a significant market share. This can be attributed to the sharp drop in the water levels in freshwater resources and the escalating need for potable water has resulted in a supply shortfall. Moreover, seawater represents a source that exists in abundance on the globe, positioning as a highly dependable resource over the estimation period. The breakthroughs in technologies to raise the gain-to-output proportion of potable water from seawater will propel the growth of the segment’s market share. For instance, the government of Morocco is supporting a shift to non-traditional water sources, like desalinating seawater or the reapplication of processed wastewater as a feasible strategy to expand the availability of water supply and deliver a trustworthy source of freshwater free of rainfall trends.

Global Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination Market Analysis By Type

The reverse osmosis (RO) segment spearheaded this category of the seawater and brackish water desalination market. The affordable and simple use nature of reverse osmosis is mainly contributing to the expansion of its market share. RO maintains the application of chemicals to the lowest, an added advantage propelling the segment's market size. Moreover, the increase in technological breakthroughs has accelerated the rising dependence on desalinization methods. Also, RO, the most frequently employed technique is praised not only for its productiveness but also its effectiveness. It fulfills both the demands of industrial users needing filtered water coupled with facilitating drinkable water for societies, cities, and towns. In addition, reverse osmosis is the most comprehensive and sophisticated desalination system in the world and is utilised in more than 60 per cent of facilities globally.

Global Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination Market Analysis By Application

The municipal is the biggest user of the seawater and brackish desalination market. Considering the growing population world population, urbanization and migration to urban regions, the segment’s market share is expected to increase in the coming years. The shortage of water sources has obligated more water treatment and recycling facilities. Besides this, municipal wastewater is normally treated to meet the legal demands for release to ecological waters. However, there is surging employment of wastewater reapplication initiatives. The considerable pollutants necessitating elimination from municipal wastewater, usually in the order of significance, include solid materials suspended, natural substances, micro-pollutants, pathogenic bacteria, phosphate and nitrates.

REGIONAL ANALYSIS

The Middle East and Africa region currently leads the seawater and brackish water desalination market because of the rising population of Qatar, Oman, Lebanon, Kuwait, Cyprus and Bahrain which are also the most water-stressed nations.

This can be attributed to the refugee extremity in this region, and growing government spending on reconstruction, upgrading and supply chain infrastructure. Moreover, the construction industry consumes water in huge quantities, which will improve the region’s market size.

The Asia Pacific region is anticipated to expand over the estimation period owing to the escalating water shortage, along with rising demand because of swift urbanization.

According to a study, failing to enforce superior water programs or initiatives for water management could lead to losses in GDP of 7 per cent to 12 per cent for China, Asia and Central Asia.

KEY PLAYERS IN THE GLOBAL SEAWATER AND BRACKISH WATER DESALINATION MARKET

Companies playing a prominent role in the global seawater and brackish water desalination market include Abengoa, ACCIONA, Veolia, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, Siemens, IDE Technologies, Koch Separation Solutions, Suez, Koch Separation Solutions, CleanBay Renewables, Evoqua Water Technologies, Dow, Aquatech International, Genesis Water Technologies, and Others.

RECENT HAPPENINGS IN THE GLOBAL SEAWATER AND BRACKISH WATER DESALINATION MARKET

• In May 2024, research personnel from The Australian National University submitted a new technique for desalinating water which evades several of the unnecessary adverse effects of conventional desalinating methods and lowers the power needed by around 80 per cent.

DETAILED SEGMENTATION OF THE GLOBAL SEAWATER AND BRACKISH WATER DESALINATION MARKET INCLUDED IN THIS REPORT

This research report on the global seawater and brackish water desalination market has been segmented and sub-segmented based on source, type, application, and region.

By Source

• Seawater
• Brackish Water
• River water
• Other

By Type

• Thermal Desalination
  1. Multi-stage Flash Distillation (MSF)
  2. Multi-effect Distillation (MED)
  3. Vapor Compression Distillation (VCD)
• Membrane Desalination
  1. Reverse Osmosis (RO)
  2. Electrodialysis (ED)
  3. Electrodialysis reversal (EDR)

By Application

• Municipal
• Industrial
• Others

By Region

• North America 
• Europe 
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America 
• Middle East & Africa