4
Canada’s water industry
The water value chain The term ‘hydrocommerce’ has been employed to describe the ‘full continuum of companies involved in the distribution of clean water for economic and social benefit,’ specifically, products and services enabling conveyance, collection, distribution, treatment, disposal, and increasingly, reuse of water resources.90
Residential Water Supply Source
Water Conveyance & Storage
Water Treatment
Wastewater Treatment
Commercial
Industrial Water Distribution
Wastewater Collection
The water industry comprises companies providing products and services toward the collection, conveyance, treatment, and monitoring/ analysis of water and wastewater for residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural uses.
Recycling
Source: Maxwell, S., Dickenson, M., The Case for Water Investing 2010 – Value and Opportunity in Any Economic Environment (Summit Global Management Inc., 2010).
Figure 7 – The water value chain
In addition to maintaining a technical lead in such areas as purification, membranes and hydrogeology, Canada has substantial expertise in traditional water services like consulting, engineering, quality analysis and construction. In fact, with 400 to 600 firms active in this space, domestic expertise is much more extensive in services than on the technology supply side, where about 100 firms specialize in new technology. Notably, the bulk of these latter firms are small to medium-sized enterprise (SMEs).91
Water and the Future of the Canadian Economy 37