Gradiant Secures $300 Million in Semiconductor Water Infrastructure Contracts Across Four US States
Boston-based water technology company Gradiant has won $300 million in new contracts since early 2026 to provide ultrapure water systems and wastewater treatment for semiconductor fabs in New York, Virginia, Idaho, and Utah, as water constraints increasingly limit chip production capacity.
Gradiant Secures $300 Million in Semiconductor Water Infrastructure Contracts Across Four US States
Gradiant announced $300 million in new water infrastructure contracts from semiconductor manufacturers since the beginning of 2026, reflecting accelerating demand for water management solutions as the industry faces mounting resource constraints.
The Boston-headquartered company secured agreements with multiple leading global semiconductor manufacturers across five fabrication sites in New York, Virginia, Idaho, and Utah. The contracts encompass ultrapure water production, high-recovery wastewater treatment, local scrubber reclaim systems, and zero liquid discharge facilities designed to reduce freshwater consumption and maximize production capacity in water-constrained regions.
Water Emerges as Critical Bottleneck for Semiconductor Expansion
Water has emerged as a critical bottleneck for semiconductor expansion, with industry-wide water usage projected to surge from approximately 260 billion gallons annually in 2026 to between 390 and 455 billion gallons by 2030. An average chip manufacturing facility consumes up to 10 million gallons of ultrapure water daily—equivalent to the water usage of roughly 33,000 American households.
The challenge is compounded by the inefficiency of ultrapure water production itself, which requires approximately 1,400 to 1,600 gallons of municipal water to generate just 1,000 gallons of the specialized water needed for semiconductor manufacturing. Producing a single 300mm wafer demands about 2,200 gallons of water in total, with more than 68 percent consisting of ultrapure water.
Approximately 40 percent of existing semiconductor fabs and more than 40 percent of new facilities announced since 2021 are located in areas projected to experience high or extremely high water stress by 2030, making advanced water management systems essential for sustained operations.
Comprehensive Water Cycle Management
Rather than addressing isolated points in the water cycle, Gradiant will deliver its complete semiconductor portfolio across the contracted sites. The scope includes ultrapure water production, high-recovery wastewater treatment, scrubber reclaim systems, treatment of complex streams such as hydrofluoric-acid wastewater, and zero liquid discharge technologies.
Several awards represent repeat business from existing customers, including a second phase of a high-recovery wastewater facility at one of the world's largest semiconductor fabs. One scrubber reclaim system, already deployed for the same customer in Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States, recovers more than 80 percent of feed volume.
CHIPS Act Drives Semiconductor Manufacturing Expansion
The contracts align with substantial semiconductor manufacturing expansion under the CHIPS Act, which by January 2025 had provided $30.7 billion in awards and $5.5 billion in loans to 19 semiconductor companies for 40 commercial fab projects across the United States. Major facilities are under development in states where Gradiant secured its new contracts, including Micron Technology's $100 billion megafab in Clay, New York, which broke ground in January 2026 and represents the largest private investment in New York history.
Micron received $6.14 billion under the CHIPS Act to construct facilities in Idaho and New York, with the two New York facilities and one Idaho facility expected to onshore approximately 40 percent of the company's DRAM chip production over the next two decades.
The market for zero liquid discharge systems, a key component of Gradiant's semiconductor offerings, is experiencing substantial growth driven by increased investments in semiconductor fabrication across Asia Pacific, North America, and Europe. The ZLD systems market is projected to reach $12.40 billion by 2030.
Company Leadership Highlights Strategic Importance
Prakash Govindan, CEO of Gradiant, said water has become one of the defining constraints on the speed at which the world can manufacture chips powering AI data centers, including high-bandwidth memory. He emphasized that leading semiconductor manufacturers choose Gradiant because the company manages the full water cycle as a single accountable partner.
Nish Vora, Managing Director for the Americas at Gradiant, characterized the momentum as critical to reaching the company's target of a $1 billion U.S. order book next year. He said each contract reinforces Gradiant's position as the water infrastructure provider for semiconductors, eliminating water as a production constraint for companies building chips that power the AI economy.
Gradiant, founded at MIT and headquartered in Boston, builds water and wastewater infrastructure for AI's supply chain, from chip manufacturing and data centers to the energy and industrial sectors that support them. The company's technologies have been deployed in more than 3,000 treatment plants across 92 countries.