The US$10 Billion Market Nobody Talks About: Chemicals for Water Treatment

Chemicals used to treat water is a US$10 billion market hiding in plain sight—fragmented, consolidating, and far more strategically interesting than the name suggests. Bluefield's latest water treatment chemicals analysis mapped nearly 500 companies across the space. In this episode, Bluefield analyst Caroline Vauclain joins host Reese Tisdale to unpack what she found—including why the top 10 players control just 30% of facilities and 80% of companies run only one to two locations. The conversation covers five key questions shaping this market: With nearly 500 companies mapped, how fragmented is the water treatment chemicals market—and what's most surprising about the landscape? Chemical prices are up 36% since 2019—is it inflation, supply disruptions, or something else driving the increase? Hawkins made 16 acquisitions in five years, USALCO is similarly aggressive — what's fueling all this M&A activity? What's fueling the wave of M&A activity, with Hawkins logging 16 acquisitions in five years and private equity-backed firms driving 20 of 78 deals since 2020? Why are chemical companies like Kemira and Ecolab suddenly acquiring software and digital monitoring firms? How did Cargill, Morton Salt, and bioethanol producer POET end up in the water treatment business? If you enjoy listening to The Future of Water Podcast, please tell a friend or colleague, and if you haven’t already, please click to follow this podcast wherever you listen. If you’d like to be informed of water market news, trends, perspectives and analysis from Bluefield Research, subscribe to Waterline, our weekly newsletter published each Wednesday. Related Research & Analysis: U.S. Water Treatment Chemical Manufacturers and Distributors: Competitive Analysis & Strategies USALCO Deal Points to Private Equity’s Role in Consolidation of Water Treatment Chemicals