Water Treatment Chemicals Market Analysis & Forecast: 2025-2032

Water Treatment Chemicals Market is estimated to be valued at USD 46.11 Bn in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 72.46 Bn in 2032, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.67% from 2025 to 2032.

Driver:

Increasing population, urbanization, and economic development:

Increasing population, urbanization, and economic development have led to an increasing demand for freshwater supply to satisfy human needs and support industrial activities. Players operating in the water treatment industry use various methods of water treatment, in order to make water usable for drinking, cooking, industrial activities, irrigation, and other purposes. The particles removed during the water treatment process are suspended solids, fungi, viruses, bacteria, minerals, and algae. The water treatment process involves chemical and physical methods. The chemicals used in the process are called water treatment chemicals. The water treatment method involves four processes including boiler water treatment, cooling water treatment, water purification, and wastewater effluent treatment. The market is projected to reach US$ 49.0 billion by the end of 2027, at a CAGR of 5.6% over the forecast period, owing to increasing demand for portable water.

Strict government regulations:

Coagulation and flocculation are two separate processes, used in succession, to overcome the forces stabilising the suspended particles. While coagulation neutralises the charges on the particles, flocculation enables them to bind together, making them bigger, so that they can be more easily separated from the liquid are preferred for industrial and sewage wastewater treatment applications due to their high efficiency and effectiveness in wastewater treatment. Coagulants are also used for treating drinking water by removing excess chlorine from the treated water. Strict government regulations have made it mandatory to treat industrial wastewater before discharging it into the environment. These regulations are expected to increase demand for water treatment chemicals in industrial wastewater treatment. According to the Central Pollution Control Board of India's Environmental Protection Rules, 1986, the effluents released in inland surface water should have a pH value between 5.5 and 9.0, and the suspended solids content should be less than 100 mg/l.

Growth of the manufacturing sector, which includes the automobile industry, drugs & pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food processing, and others, across the globe has resulted in increasing demand for water treatment chemicals. This is owing to increasing water contamination due to wastes from manufacturing units. For instance, according to India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), in 2022 the market size of the manufacturing sector in India 51.23 lakh crore (US$ 694.93 billion) in the first quarter of FY22, as per the provisional estimates of gross domestic product for the first quarter of 2021-22.

Restraint:

Increasing prices of water treatment chemicals:

Key players in the water treatment chemicals market are increasing the prices of water treatment chemicals, which is a major factor restraining the water treatment chemicals market growth. For instance, on February 24, 2022, Solenis, a leading global producer of specialty chemicals, increased prices across all product lines in North America and Latin America by 10 to 25 percent or as customer contracts allow. These price increases are necessary because of increased costs for raw materials, energy, transportation, and packaging.

Global Water Treatment Chemicals Market- Impact of Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic

In the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown was imposed across the globe, travel restrictions and social distancing had a negative impact on the global water treatment chemical market. The chemical industry faced a shortage of chemicals due to a shortage of raw materials, transportation, and workforce shortage. Water treatment chemical market was affected negatively by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the COVID-19 market is recovering now and will grow during the forecast period.

Figure 1. Global Water Treatment Chemicals Market Share (%), By Region, 2025

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North America accounted for the largest market share of around 30% in 2025, followed by Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa owing to increasing demand for water treatment chemicals from wastewater treatment plants. Players operating in the global water treatment chemicals market are adopting various growth strategies such as mergers & acquisitions, in order to strengthen their market presence.

Figure 2. Global Water Treatment Chemicals Market Share (%), By Application, 2025

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Among applications, the Industrial segment has a 70% market share in the global water treatment chemical market. Water treatment chemicals are used in various end use industries such as oil, gas, pulp and paper, food, and beverages. Increasing demand from these industries and rising industrialization are driving the market for the industrial segment.

Recent Development:

On January 13, 2023-Wind Point Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm, acquired Hasa Inc., a producer, and supplier of water treatment services.

On December 19, 2022-Shoreline Equity Partners, LLC, a purpose-driven lower middle market private equity firm, partnered with C&S Chemicals, Inc. Provider of water treatment and animal health chemicals intended to serve the companies in the specialty treatment chemicals industry, This partnership aligns well with Shoreline’s ongoing thesis in the specialty treatment chemicals industry

On November 30, 2022- MiddleGround Capital, an operationally focused private equity firm that makes control investments in North American middle market B2B industrial and specialty distribution companies, announced it has acquired Dutchland Inc., a leading manufacturer and installer of precast concrete tanks across the water and wastewater treatment market.

On February 1, 2023-Osceola Capital, a Tampa-based private equity firm, announced the formation of Flotilla Partners water services company to create the leading provider of water treatment and testing services for residential and commercial customers in Florida and the Southeast.

Major Players:

Major players operating in the global water treatment chemicals market include BASF S.E., Suez S.A., Kemira OYJ, BWA Water Additives, Ecolab Inc., Cortec Corporation, DowDuPont Inc., Baker Huges Incorporated, Akzo Nobel N.V., and Solenis LLC.