Private participation in the U.S. drinking water and wastewater sector is evolving, with third-party operations and maintenance providers playing a growing role. Traditionally, local governments managed these essential services themselves. Today, private companies increasingly handle O&M, bringing specialized expertise, advanced technology, and workforce support to help utilities overcome mounting challenges like aging infrastructure, regulatory demands, and financial constraints.
Valued at nearly US$3 billion annually, the third-party O&M market now supports drinking water and wastewater services for over 38.6 million Americans. This approach allows utilities—many facing workforce shortages, rising costs, and complex demands—to maintain service quality without managing everything in-house.
Bluefield Research has tracked over 2,000 O&M contracts since the 1970s, revealing trends in contract sizes, geographic reach, and service innovations. This dataset underscores how leading O&M providers are crucial in supporting utilities and ensuring safe, reliable water services in an increasingly complex environment.
Table of Contents
Section 1 – Market Overview and Drivers
- Market Drivers and Inhibitors
- Utility Capital and Operating Expenditure Trends
- Utility Workforce Challenges
- A Snapshot of Union Representation Across the U.S.
Section 2 – Sizing the O&M Market
- U.S. Population Served by Third-Party O&M Contractors
- O&M Market Size by Population Segment
- O&M Service Provider Presence by Geography
- Average Contract Duration by Company Profile
- Municipal Utility Districts: The Cornerstone of Texas’s Water Landscape
- MUD Hot Spots
Section 3 – Competitive Landscape and Trends
- Strategic O&M Players Across the Value Chain
- O&M Providers by Company Segment
- Leading O&M Providers by Total Population Served
- Company Ranking & Market Share
- Leading O&M Providers by Market Share, Scope & Contract Count
- Evolution of Competitive Landscape via Select M&A Deals
- Outsourced O&M: One Facet of Utility Digital Water Strategy
- O&M Competitive Landscape
- M&A Trends in O&M
- Notable M&A Activity Among O&M Players
Section 4 – Company Profiles
- American Water Works Company
- Alliance Water Resources
- California Water Services Group
- ClearWater Solutions
- Crossroads Utility Services
- H2O Innovation
- Inframark
- Jacobs
- Middlesex Water Company
- Municipal District Services
- Municipal Operations & Consulting
- Nexus Water Group
- PERC Water Corporation
- Si Environmental
- U.S. Water Services
- Veolia North America
- Water District Management
- Weston & Sampson
- Whitewater, Inc.
- Woodard & Curran
