Water Treatment: The Innovation Landscape

Climate change is, to a large extent, a water crisis. Rising sea levels are leading to floods and contaminated water sources. The increasing temperatures cause wildfires, extreme weather and droughts. By next year, over 4 billion people could face water scarcity. That’s more than half of the global population.

Water fills our thirst, grows our crops and sustains our livestock. Today, agriculture accounts for a staggering 70% of global water consumption. Despite water covering most of the Earth, only 0.5% is drinkable – making it our most precious, yet increasingly scarce and polluted resource. In the realm of climate tech, investment in water treatment companies is crucial to secure clean water for future generations. 

So what exactly is water treatment?

Water treatment involves making water safe to consume by removing chemicals, bacteria and impurities. This process is becoming increasingly vital to reduce water pollution and conserve our limited resources. Water treatment companies range from large multinationals to innovative startups, with public funding often supporting environmentally aligned projects and VC fuelling innovation. 

Tech funding by water treatment solution

Although water tech still only receives a fraction of total climate tech funding, recent years have seen a noticeable uptick in investments in water treatment solutions. Key areas of innovation include:

• Water Filtration: Advanced filtering systems utilising nano or membrane technology to remove contaminants. 

• Water Desalination: Techniques like reverse osmosis thermal desalination to purify seawater

• Water Remediation: Advanced oxidation processes, chemical precipitation and biological treatments to break down pollutants and restore water sources  

• Biological: Using bacteria and microorganisms to degrade contaminants in water 

Water filtration companies have received the majority of investment, with a total of $2.65B in funding since 2015.

Innovation across key sectors 

Water treatment companies are tackling some of the most pressing challenges of our time. From wastewater to agriculture, drinking water and manufacturing, here is how water tech is making a difference across sectors.

Wastewater

We generate large amounts of wastewater from our homes: through our sinks, toilets and showers. So do our industries and agriculture. This wastewater is particularly damaging to the planet since it often gets contaminated with pollutants, chemicals, and other harmful substances. Today, around 80% of wastewater is discharged without proper treatment, damaging the environment and public health. Wastewater treatment processes are also energy-intensive, contributing to carbon emissions. According to Pale Blue Dot, the freshwater infrastructure sector accounts for about 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with wastewater treatment responsible for 62% of those.

So what can be done about it? Software companies like SewerAI are leveraging AI to reduce the costs of maintaining sewage infrastructure by improving data quality. SewerAI automatically detects faulty pipelines pulling from sources like CCTV crawlers, drones and GoPros. The company recently secured $15 million from investors like Innovius Capital, bringing the total raised to date to $25 million. Although investment in wastewater companies is still nascent, 2024 has already seen significant activity, with acquisitions such as Avvatech by Uniwater and GreenCityZen by Simplicity.

Drinking water

Access to safe drinking water is fundamental for public health. Sadly, climate change and over-extraction are depleting freshwater sources. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that 2.2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services. The effects can be devastating, with contaminated water causing 485,000 diarrhoea deaths annually. Aging water infrastructure, particularly in regions like the U.S, poses additional challenges, with an estimated $1 trillion needed to upgrade systems over the next 25 years. Over 300 organisations are working on making drinking water safer. Swedish-founded Wayout secured €6M in funding last year to offset the need for bottled water, by partnering with organisations to deploy container-sized water treatment facilities to provide clean drinking water. Chicago-based Tikal Industries, an early-stage startup, uses AI-powered monitoring and advanced RAMAN spectroscopy to detect contaminants, ensuring safe water for farmers, homeowners, and communities.

Industrial water

15.9 billion gallons of water are used per day in manufacturing  – that’s in the US alone. Industries are major water consumers since their operations require a lot of water to run. This in turn puts stress on local water supplies, contributing to water scarcity​. If that wasn’t enough, industrial processes often result in water pollution, introducing chemicals, heavy metals, and other contaminants into the environment.

Clean Chemistry has raised $2.5M to tackle this, by fixing microbial control issues with cleaner, safer chemistry. Their advanced oxidant technology is already making an impact in the energy, pulp, paper, and cooling tower industries, with ambitions to expand into the food and beverage sector next.

Agriculture water

Agriculture isn’t just the biggest consumer of water; it also strains the environment by depleting local water sources through over-extraction. To combat this, companies are turning to drip irrigation systems and biotechnology, developing resilient crops for stable food production despite shifting climate patterns.

Verdi is a Canadian ag-tech startup revolutionising legacy irrigation systems with smart, plant-level healthcare and automation. With Verdi’s technology, farmers can slash water usage per plant by up to 60%. Partnering with leading food and beverage brands, Verdi has already saved over 7 million litres of water, driving climate-resilient operations in their fields. The global market for agricultural sensors is expected to grow significantly, reflecting the increasing adoption of precision agriculture.​ 

Our climate-fist taxonomy offers granular, in-depth insights that make exploring and studying the climate tech market landscape a walk in the park. Leveraging over 850 solutions, users can quickly scout and identify new and niche players in just a few seconds, streamlining sourcing and market research activities.

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