Water and waste players, trends 2024 to 2026, and how to crack the cases
Who the players are by region, what changed from 2024 to 2026, circular economy rules, typical prompts, traps and drills.
Industry brief, with a one-minute summary: Water, waste and utilitiesFirm processes and online tests change from year to year and differ by office. Use this to prepare, and confirm the exact current steps on the firm's own careers page.
Key takeaways
- Water and waste cases usually ask how to fund and deliver more investment without huge bill rises, how to fix a loss-making or leaking utility, whether to build a plant, or how to meet recycling targets.
- Common traps: Treating a regulated utility as if it can raise prices freely.
- Gulf: water became a security issue. During the conflict that began on 28 February 2026, desalination plants in Bahrain, Kuwait and at Fujairah in the UAE were reported hit.
- Desalination cost: tenders in Saudi Arabia have been won at about USD 0.41 to 0.46 per cubic metre, far below older thermal plants, because reverse osmosis uses much less energy.
Key idea
Water and waste cases usually ask how to fund and deliver more investment without huge bill rises, how to fix a loss-making or leaking utility, whether to build a plant, or how to meet recycling targets. The answer depends on the asset base and allowed return, the cost per cubic metre or per tonne, and what the rules require.
| Region | Water and wastewater | Desalination and treatment | Waste |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global | Veolia, Suez | Veolia, ACWA Power, Metito | Veolia, WM |
| Europe | United Utilities, Severn Trent, Thames Water (England), city-owned utilities | Veolia Water Technologies, Acciona | Remondis (Germany), FCC (Spain), Veolia, Suez |
| Middle East | National Water Company (Saudi Arabia), DEWA (Dubai), EWEC (Abu Dhabi buyer), SWPC (Saudi buyer) | ACWA Power, Metito, international developers | Tadweer (Abu Dhabi), Beeah (Sharjah), Dubai Municipality |
| India | City bodies and state water boards; Jal Jeevan Mission for villages | VA Tech Wabag | City bodies, Re Sustainability |
| Southeast Asia | PUB (Singapore), Manila Water and Maynilad (Philippines), Air Selangor (Malaysia) | Sembcorp, Keppel | City contractors, Sembcorp |
| United States | City-owned utilities, American Water, Essential Utilities (the two agreed in 2025 to merge; not completed by September 2026) | Specialist engineering firms | WM, Republic Services, Waste Connections |
So-what
Much of the sector is owned by the state or cities, so the client in a case is often a government, a regulator or a state buyer, not a listed company.
Trends 2024 to 2026 (checked 30 September 2026)
- England and Wales: Ofwat's December 2024 review allowed about GBP 104 billion of spending for 2025 to 2030, about 71 percent more than the 2020 to 2025 settlement (all in 2022 to 2023 prices), with the average bill rising by about GBP 157 in total over the five years, before inflation. The allowed return of 4.03 percent is a real return, meaning on top of inflation. The average household bill for 2026 to 2027 is about GBP 639, up 5.4 percent. The January 2026 water white paper plans to replace Ofwat with a single new regulator for England, and the future of Thames Water, heavily in debt, was still unresolved in September 2026.
- Gulf: water became a security issue. During the conflict that began on 28 February 2026, desalination plants in Bahrain, Kuwait and at Fujairah in the UAE were reported hit. With about three quarters of the region's municipal drinking water desalinated, the safety of a few hundred coastal plants became a question for governments, not only for engineers.
- Desalination cost: tenders in Saudi Arabia have been won at about USD 0.41 to 0.46 per cubic metre, far below older thermal plants, because reverse osmosis uses much less energy. The IEA noted that in 2016 desalination supplied about 3 percent of the Middle East's water but used about 5 percent of its total energy consumption.
- India: in March 2026 the Cabinet extended the Jal Jeevan Mission to December 2028, with a total outlay of about INR 8.69 lakh crore, to reach the remaining rural homes, with a focus moving from new connections to keeping supply running and water quality safe.
- Waste volumes keep rising: UNEP expects municipal solid waste to grow from about 2.1 billion tonnes in 2023 to 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050, and put the direct global cost of managing it at about USD 252 billion in 2020.
- Europe's circular economy rules: the EU recycled about 48 percent of municipal waste in 2024 (517 kg generated per person). Targets require 65 percent recycling and at most 10 percent landfill by 2035. The new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation applies from 12 August 2026, with rules that all packaging be recyclable from 2030 and that plastic packaging contain a minimum share of recycled material.
- Waste as an energy source: Dubai's waste to energy centre at Warsan is built to take about 1.9 million tonnes a year.
- The large operators grew: Veolia reported 2025 revenue of about EUR 44.4 billion (water about 40 percent, waste about 35 percent, energy about 25 percent) with an EBITDA margin (profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, as a share of revenue) of 15.9 percent; WM reported 2025 revenue of about USD 25.2 billion.
Typical case prompts and how to crack them
| Prompt | Structure hint | First driver to check |
|---|---|---|
| A Gulf city will run short of water by 2030. What should it do? | Demand (growth, use per person) vs supply (desalination, recycling, leaks, storage) | Non-revenue water and use per person before new plants |
| Should we bid for a desalination plant tender in Saudi Arabia? | Investment: cost per cubic metre vs likely winning tariff, financing, power, risk | Energy price and capital charge at a realistic cost of capital |
| A city utility in India loses money. Fix it. | Revenue per cubic metre produced: NRW, tariffs, metering, collection; cost per cubic metre | Non-revenue water and collection rate |
| How can a UK water company fund a large sewage upgrade without a big bill rise? | Regulated blocks: asset base, return, cost allowances, timing, efficiency | How spending enters the asset base and the allowed return |
| A European city must reach 65 percent recycling by 2035. | Waste flows by stream; collection design; sorting capacity; costs and taxes | Share of each waste stream now recycled, and where the biggest gap is |
So-what
Before building new supply or new plants, check what is lost, unbilled or unsorted today. It is usually the cheapest fix.
Treating a regulated utility as if it can raise prices freely. Proposing a new desalination plant before checking leaks and use per person. Forgetting energy, which is the largest running cost of desalination. Mixing up capacity (cubic metres a day) with yearly output. Assuming recycling always makes money: material prices swing, and dirty input can make sorted material worthless. Ignoring who the client is: often a government that cares about access, health and affordability as much as profit.
Investment and capital project decisions; Government and economic development; Sustainability and decarbonization; Operations and process improvement; Pricing.
A Gulf utility loses 60,000 cubic metres a day of desalinated water that cost USD 0.50 per cubic metre to make. What is the yearly cost of the lost water, in USD? (Use 365 days.)
A desalination plant in the UAE has a capacity of 200,000 cubic metres a day and runs 90 percent of the time. How much water does it produce in a year, in cubic metres? (Use 365 days.)
A Gulf city wants more water. What should you check before recommending a new desalination plant?
Why do landfill taxes matter in a waste case?
Sources for this lesson (19)
- Ofwat, PR24 final determinations (price review for 2025 to 2030), December 2024
- Slaughter and May, "Ofwat publishes PR24 final determinations" (summary of totex, allowed return and bills)
- Competition and Markets Authority, PR24 water redeterminations, final determinations summary, March 2026
- Clifford Chance, "Reforming the UK water industry" (on the government's January 2026 water white paper)
- MoneySavingExpert, water bills from April 2026 (Water UK figures: average GBP 639, up 5.4 percent)
- City AM, "Thames Water's cash crunch intensifies as bailout rumours swirl", 2026
- International Water Association, The Source, "Bursting at the seams: new study highlights the realities of water loss" (global non-revenue water of 126 billion cubic metres, worth USD 39 billion a year), April 2018
- MEED, "Acwa Power team is Rabigh 4 preferred bidder" (SAR 1.7162, about USD 0.458, per cubic metre), February 2023
- Smart Water Magazine, "ACWA Power consortium signs financing agreements for Jubail 3A IWP" (tariff of about 41 US cents per cubic metre)
- Arab Center Washington DC, "War on Iran: the dangers of attacking water desalination plants in the Gulf", 28 April 2026
- Government of India, Jal Jeevan Mission dashboard (household tap connections)
- Prime Minister of India, "Cabinet approves extension of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) period up to December 2028" (15.80 crore of 19.36 crore rural households connected), March 2026
- UNEP and ISWA, Global Waste Management Outlook 2024
- Eurostat, Municipal waste statistics (2024 data: 517 kg per person, 48 percent recycled)
- European Parliament, "Circular economy: MEPs back plans to boost recycling and cut landfilling" (targets of the 2018 waste package)
- Baker McKenzie, EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (EU) 2025/40, applying from 12 August 2026
- Veolia, full year 2025 results
- WM, "WM Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Earnings", 28 January 2026
- WAM (Emirates News Agency), Dubai Waste Management Centre, capacity of about 1.9 million tonnes a year
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