Growth in the European water pollution monitoring instruments is expected to be driven by increasing concern over water quality and stricter implementation of environmental pollution control legislation. In addition, growth prospects, customer pressures and increasing competition are expected to give rise to a need for innovative technologies at competitive prices.
Market growth is expected to be stimulated by the implementation of tighter European legislation. In particular, the approaching 2005 deadline for the implementation of the Urban Wastewater Directive (UWWT) is expected to provide a strong impetus for growth.
The market is also anticipated to benefit from the increasing popularity of multi-parameter systems and on-line analysers. All these factors are predicted to drive revenues in the European water pollution monitoring instruments market from $300.6 million in 1998 to $421.2 million in 2005.
In future years, a growing demand for automation is likely to encourage growth in the market for sophisticated on-line analysers. In countries such as Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands, where the municipal markets are relatively mature, the industrial sector of the market is expected to exhibit particularly good growth.
Meanwhile, in regions which have yet to fully implement programmes to upgrade waste water treatment facilities, such as Iberia, Belgium, Greece and Ireland, the municipal sector is likely to be the main source of growth.
According to Maria McFaul, Research Manager at Frost & Sullivan, future trends are likely to include strong technological advances in the areas of instrument accuracy, durability, ease-of-operation, maintenance, number of parameters and detection limits.
In terms of product types, the market is dominated by pH, ORP and conductivity meters (on-line and portable/hand-held), followed by BOD, COD and TOC meters and ammonium, nitrate and phosphate analysers.
It is expected that the relative importance of the markets for pH, ORP and conductivity meters, and for DO meters in the total market will dwindle in future years. This decline will follow the growing maturity of this product market in certain regional markets, notably Austria, Benelux, Germany, Scandinavia, and Switzerland.
The market segments promising the most dynamic growth potential include BOD, COD and TOC analysers, nutrient analysers and multi-parameter systems.
A number of trends in customer requirements are leading to an increasing emphasis of software design, which is particularly relevant in the determination of the speed of analysis and its accuracy. Customers increasingly seek instruments that contribute to the total effectiveness of the operation by making the enterprise more competitive.
Though price has emerged as an extremely important competitive factor, product quality and customer service continue to be of utmost importance. Many manufacturers have focused on customer care, both before and after purchase.
A growing number of companies are offering services such as end-user training, utilising training courses and product education seminars. In addition, an increasing number of companies compete by catering for the specific needs of end-users by designing systems for individual applications.
Frost & Sullivan is an international marketing consulting company that monitors a comprehensive spectrum of high-tech markets, including the environmental industry for market trends, market measurements and strategies. This ongoing research is utilised to complement a series of research publications such as the European Water and Wastewater Treatment Equipment Markets (report #3788-15) to support industry participants with customised consulting needs. Free executive summaries of all Frost & Sullivan reports are available to the press.
3785-15 - European Water Pollution Monitoring Instrument Markets
Publication Date: January 2000
Price: $4150 USD
