Patent Landscape Report on Membrane Filtration and UV Water Treatment

The UN General Assembly explicitly recognized access to water and sanitation as a basic human right in its Resolution 64/292 of July 28, 2010. UN member states and international organizations are called upon in this Resolution to facilitate capacity-building and technology transfer aiming to help countries, foremost developing countries have access to safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation.

Various water treatment methods are required and used to make water safe and clean for drinking and irrigation purposes. The present landscape report focuses on a selection of water treatment technologies, namely UV disinfection and micro-, ultra- and nanofiltration. The report identifies patents that claim inventions related to these water treatment technologies. It also looks at patents on inventions that form part of desalination (pre- or post- desalination) treatment in particular. In that it complements another WIPO patent landscape report on desalination and renewable energies, one of the major technologies used for water treatment in an increasing number of countries.

The patent search results reveal innovation patterns and patenting trends in the selected technological areas, and are supplemented by a technology and market analysis, case studies and the results of a survey on the industry views on innovation in the field of water treatment.