The twenty-three largest water companies in the United Kingdom spent more than £1.5bn on capital equipment in 1999 and their operating expenditure amounted to £1.4bn. Across the industry, water companies, contractors and other service providers to the water industry and manufacturers hold stockpiles of surplus and second-hand equipment, plant and materials. Estimates for the surplus and used water equipment market in the United Kingdom range between £600 million and £1billion.
Much of the surplus water equipment in the industry is currently stockpiled and eventually scrapped due to the difficulty and search costs involved in finding a buyer. In particular, surplus low-value materials such as water pipes and tanks are scrapped while some specialist equipment (e.g. sophisticated pumps and valves) may be sold through trade magazines. The liquidity of the surplus water equipment market is extremely low primarily because there is no industry-wide marketplace for surplus equipment. While there are a number of second-hand equipment resellers who buy used equipment for reconditioning and reselling, they represent a very small percentage of the potential market.
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surplus chemicals in the water industry
According to the British Association for
Chemical Specialities (BACS), there is a sizeable market for surplus
chemicals. The global spot market for excess chemicals is estimated to be
worth £30bn per year. Of this, the United Kingdom market for surplus chemicals
is estimated to have an annual value of over £100m across all industry sectors.
A small proportion of surplus chemicals in the United Kingdom is sold through
advertisements in specialist magazines such as European Chemical News. The
remaining inventory of surplus chemicals is either recycled or disposed
of, both of which are costly procedures. Moreover, with strict government
regulations on the chemical industry, it is becoming increasingly difficult
to dispose of unwanted chemicals. Many companies find it difficult to locate
buyers for their surplus material due to high search costs and short shelf-life
of most products.
how can waterexchange help?
waterexchange
will create what is believed to be the first marketplace across the United
Kingdom for trading and exchange of surplus water equipment and chemicals.
The exchange will enable users to list surplus or second-hand equipment
and chemicals with instant access to potential buyers around the world.
The site is designed to save time and money for those who buy, sell and
rent water equipment.
While the initial focus will be for posting surplus equipment and chemicals located in the United Kingdom, buyers from around the world will be encouraged and welcomed to trade on the site. Buyers will also be invited to submit any specific equipment and/or chemical requirements they may have.
waterexchange
will, in future, offer customers the choice to use related services, which
might include transportation/delivery, insurance and credit services to
further enhance our offering.
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who should trade equipment and chemicals on waterexchange?
Anyone with surplus equipment (including, pipes, tanks, pumps, valves, etc.) for the water industry should contact us. We envisage existing water and sewerage companies, public utilities, new entrants, contractors/service providers to the water industry and water industry equipment manufacturers to be the primary interested parties. However, players from other industries, such as gas, chemicals and agriculture may also have a strong interest in joining and/or trading on the exchange.
The same group above are likely to be both buyers and sellers, although water industry and utility players from outside the United Kingdom and Europe (in particular developing countries) may have an active interest in buying second-hand and surplus equipment for developing water and wastewater network services in their home countries.
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here for the
waterexchange trading
floor