Digital technology is fundamentally reshaping how water utilities operate, plan, and invest across the U.S. and Canada. Bluefield projects a cumulative spend of US$230 billion on digital water solutions from 2026 to 2036, indicating that digital solutions are well beyond early adoption. The question for utilities, technology providers, and investors is no longer whether digital water can scale, but rather who will seize the opportunity and how quickly they can do so.
Persistent pressures are driving the demand for digital solutions. Infrastructure is aging faster than it can be replaced, workforces are shrinking, climate change is affecting systems throughout the water cycle, and regulators are tightening requirements on lead, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, water loss, and cybersecurity. Unfortunately, budgets are not keeping pace with these challenges. Utilities must achieve more with less, relying on data, analytics, and automation to get there.
Consequently, there is a sustained and structurally driven expansion of the digital water landscape across all major segments. The adoption of leakage management and wastewater monitoring is being accelerated as utilities comply with policy mandates and tackle climate-related stresses. Advanced metering systems are unlocking new layers of customer and operational data; asset management platforms are enabling utilities to make smarter capital decisions under financial constraints; and information management is emerging as the fastest-growing product category as utilities develop the necessary data infrastructure to integrate all these elements.
This Insight Report delivers a comprehensive, bottom-up forecast of the U.S. and Canada digital water landscape through 2036, covering hardware, software, services, and connectivity across every major technology segment.
Table of Contents
Section 1 – U.S. and Canada Digital Water Landscape Drivers & Trends
- Drivers for Digital Water in U.S. and Canada
- Water Industry Pain Points Exist
- Assessing Utilities’ Position Along the Digital Maturity Curve
Section 2 – Methodology
- Forecast Updates
- Bluefield Digital Water Landscape Model Structure
- Mapping the Digital Ecosystem – Digital Water Taxonomy
- U.S. Utility Assets by Tier
- Quantifying Spend – Digital Water Pricing by Utility Size
Section 3 – Growth Forecasts
- U.S. and Canada Digital Water Landscape Opportunity
- Advanced Tools Growing in Forecast Size – 10-Year Spend
- Growth Opportunities by State and Province
- Growth Opportunities by Utility Size
- Digital Water Solutions by Product Type
- Digital Water Investments by Water Type
- Digital Water CAPEX, OPEX
- Digital Drives Performance – Network & Plant Management Forecast
- Jump to AMI – Metering & Customer Management Forecast
- Reactive to Proactive – Work & Asset Management Forecast
- Securing the Digital Transformation – Information Management Forecast
- Enhancing Water Efficiency – Leak Detection Solutions
- Wastewater Goes Digital
