Europe Water Meter Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

Europe Water Meter Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The European Water Meter Market is expected to record a CAGR of 4.85% during the forecast period, 2022 - 2027. The growing awareness of water wastage and various state regulations are expected to drive the Europe water meter market.

· Water meters measure the flow of water through a particular portion of the system. It is measured in cubic feet or gallons. These are mainly used for water management as they can help identify water leaks and save water. Smart water meters are widely adopted nowadays as they enable real-time tracking of utility usage by both utility supplier and consumer and encourage the supplier to start/read/cut off of supply remotely.

· The critical need for optimized water consumption in water-scarce areas is driving the deployment of water meters. As per a European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment, around 30% of Europe's population is affected by water stress during an average year. The situation is expected to worsen as climate change increases droughts' frequency, impact, and magnitude.

· As per the European Environment Agency's Water resources across Europe - confronting water stress report 2021, Droughts and water scarcity are no longer rare or extreme events in Europe, and about 20% of the European territory and 30% of the Europeans are affected by water stress during an average year. Overall, Europe needs to strengthen the resilience of its ecosystems and use water more efficiently to reduce the impacts of water stress on people and the environment.

· Supportive regulations and legislation are vital factors to be considered in the rollout of meters in many markets. Increasing support by the government in various nations, coupled with significant investments, is expected to boost the rollout of water meters across the region.

· Lack of availability of capital funding remains a major challenge affecting meters' adoption due to several costs associated with these meters. Also, the technologies integrated with these systems add to the charges, restraining the deployment of meters in small consumer groups, such as residential premises. This is due to the lack of ROI in these meters, which is a major hindrance for these consumer groups to adopt them.

· The recent COVID-19 outbreak and nationwide lockdown across the region has impacted the overall rollout of meters globally. The global COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lockdowns in various parts of the world, which halted several operations across the industries. As a result, the shipments and installations of meters also witnessed a downfall.

• Smart meters are increasingly being adopted in the region for various deployments, such as electricity, gas, and water, due to their two-way communication feature, which enables real-time tracking of utility usage by both utility supplier and consumer, and also encourages to start/reading/cutoff of supply remotely by the supplier.
• There is an increased necessity to monitor water usage, resulting in the adoption of smart water meters. The water and wastewater industries are undergoing a transformation process using ICT. The focus is to increase operational and management efficiencies and reduce expenditures and carbon footprints through smart water metering.​
• More and more utilities are integrating advanced ICT solutions into their operations. With smart water metering assisting in identifying and reducing leakages and non-revenue water, the market is expected to grow exceptionally in the forecast period.
• The critical need for optimized water consumption in water-scarce areas is driving the deployment of smart water meters. According to the European Environment Agency, about 30% of the region's population is affected by water stress during an average year. Further, the situation is expected to degrade as climate change increases droughts' frequency, magnitude, and impact.

• The introduction of the smart city concept across Europe has accelerated the adoption of intelligent water meter infrastructure to improve urban water supply planning and management. For instance, in July 2021, Global Omnium signed an agreement to install around 150,000 SIM cards embedded with NB-IoT technology to enhance the data communication power of 450,000 domestic & industrial smart water meters across Spain.
• The government is allocating various funds for research on smarter water systems. For instance, in February 2022, European Research Council's (ERC) Synergy Granted EUR 11 million for developing smarter water systems. The research team will develop an open-source toolbox to help policymakers plan smart water infrastructure.
• In January 2022, Denmark's water utility, Hjorring Vandselskab, partnered with Kamstrup to modernize its metering infrastructure for improved services and consumer billing. Kamstrup will provide around 20,000 intelligent water meters, related infrastructure and technology, and a remote reading system installed in Hjorring through November 2022.
• The United Kingdom government has introduced rollout strategies, policies, and programs for installing advanced metering systems across the country. For instance, AMP6, AMP7 & AMP8 water resource programs in the United Kingdom aim to install meters for over 90% of the end-users by 2022, enabling utilities with efficient water metering management, leakage reduction & repair, and regular monitoring of consumption.
• United Kingdom Government is regularly making efforts to roll out smart meters to modernize energy networks and billing systems. For instance, as per a report released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), 25.2 million smart meters were deployed across the United Kingdom as of June 2021.

The European water meter market is highly competitive, with some local and international players active. With the market expected to broaden and yield more opportunities, more players will enter the market soon. Key players in the market include Elster Group GmbH, Diehl Stiftung & Co. KG, etc.

· December 2021 - Spain has announced its strategic project for economic recovery and transformation (Perte), aiming to fully digitalize water service meters in private homes. This collaborative initiative aims to streamline water management in order to guarantee transparency, and better efficiency, ultimately bringing the country a step toward its Sustainable Development Goals, 2030.

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