In recent years the state has steadily increased investment in ecological and environmental protection, and the Clean Water campaign has advanced further. Demand continues to be released across municipal wastewater treatment, industrial wastewater treatment, rural water environment improvement, seawater desalination and water reuse, driving steady growth in China's water treatment industry. Authoritative industry forecasts put the domestic water treatment market above RMB 1 trillion in 2026, marking a golden period of high-quality development. The industry's development logic has shifted markedly: it is no longer simply about meeting basic discharge standards, but about transforming along three core directions — low-carbon operation, resource recovery and intelligent management.

On low-carbon operation: as the “dual carbon” goals advance, the industry is moving away from high-energy, high-emission conventional processes. Energy-efficient filtration systems, low-energy backwash technology and sludge resource recovery are being widely adopted, and companies are increasing R&D investment in energy-saving technology to cut energy use and carbon emissions, achieving both environmental and efficiency gains. On resource recovery: models such as wastewater reuse, sludge-to-building-material and reclaimed water utilisation are maturing, and the applications of reclaimed water continue to expand — easing water scarcity, closing the water loop and creating new economic value. On intelligent management: big data, AI and IoT are converging deeply with water treatment. Smart water systems are becoming widespread, enabling real-time monitoring of equipment status, online water quality testing and intelligent O&M scheduling, greatly improving efficiency and reducing costs.

This shift is also forcing faster replacement of conventional water treatment processes and media. High-energy, low-efficiency legacy processes are being phased out, opening broad market space for new high-performance media and efficient purification systems. For water treatment companies, keeping pace with the trend and building on new technology and products that serve the water needs of many industries is the only way to gain an edge in this upgrade wave and achieve sustainable growth.