Our year in water: Progress with purpose and people

Matthew White, the founder and executive chairman of BW Water, reflects on 2025 and the priorities in 2026.

Every year, we take a moment to reflect on why BW Water exists in the first place. It began with a shared belief that water is a precious resource – one that deserves thoughtful stewardship, supported by technology, engineering, and strong execution to make it accessible in a cost-effective and reliable way.

That purpose continues to guide us. But as many businesses have experienced, purpose alone is not enough. The global shifts, market pressures, and unexpected turns that shaped 2025 tested organisations across our industry. For BW Water, this meant operating with greater focus, adaptability, and accountability. The way our teams responded – with integrity, diligence, intelligence, and heart – has positioned the company well for what comes next.

Some projects shape a company, and 2025 was a defining year for BW Water.

Municipal project in Indonesia

The completion of the SPAM Jatiluhur Regional 1 project in Indonesia marked a major milestone. When the project began in 2023, it was ambitious – at 410 million litres per day, it was our largest municipal project to date and incorporated BW Water’s proprietary Hydro-PAQ™ and Hydro-FIL™ technologies. Successfully scaling and delivering this project has reinforced our ability to execute complex municipal infrastructure and expand safe water access to growing communities.

Semiconductor fab in Asia

Another key achievement was the successful commissioning of the wastewater treatment system for a semiconductor fabrication plant in Asia. The project required complex system design, ongoing change management, and delivery under tight schedules. Delivering this project successfully strengthened not only our technical capability, but also sharpened our understanding of where greater consistency, earlier coordination, and stronger execution discipline are required as projects increase in size and complexity.

Gearing up for 2026

BW Water is entering 2026 at a new scale. Our active and upcoming work includes an 800 million litre per day municipal treatment plant, alongside the ultrapure water supply and wastewater treatment of two semiconductor fabrication plants in different regions of the world. We are also continuing to explore how desalination can be applied more thoughtfully in our cooperation with BW Elara.

2025 reinforced that BW Water’s strength lies in its people. Teams across regions and functions have shown they can adapt, step up, and take ownership as the business grows and changes around them.

We continue to operate as collaborators, overcome challenges together, and remain aligned when navigating demanding environments.

As we enter a new year, BW Water does so with gratitude and confidence – aware that the next phase will require focus, maturity, and preparedness to carry the responsibilities of 2026 with clarity and purpose.