Private participation in water & wastewater takes many forms, from system ownership and concessions to third-party operations & maintenance (O&M) contracts. Enabled by lower barriers to entry across a fragmented addressable market, third-party O&M providers represent the bulk of private participation in the U.S.

The third-party O&M services segment has garnered significant attention over the past few years due to lingering pandemic-related workforce disruptions (e.g., remote workers, rising labor rates), regulatory calls for advanced treatment solutions, and shifts in the competitive landscape. The last of which has been headlined by recent M&A from top players like private equity-backed Inframark and publicly traded H2O Innovation out of Canada.

Further, the mounting financial, regulatory, and environmental pressures on utilities bolster considerations for outsourcing, including O&M. Third-party service providers are well positioned to leverage their operational and technical expertise, geographic coverage, and their arsenal of trained workers in this evolving market.

Bluefield has identified more than 2,000 O&M contracts from the 1970s that represent the foundation for market sizing by contracts, system sizes by population, and values. They also enable market share and competitive positioning of the leading O&M service providers in the U.S.