Clean water is vital to sustaining our natural environment, human health, and our economy. As infrastructure continues to deteriorate and water resources become increasingly threatened, new technologies will be needed to ensure safe and sustainable water in the future. Though the US water industry accounts for approximately 1% gross domestic product and regional “clusters” for water technology exist throughout the country, this emerging industry has not been captured by recent studies. As use of the term “cluster” becomes more prevalent, regional mapping efforts have revealed international differences in definition yet showcase this industry's economic impact. In reality, institutional processes may inhibit altering industry coding to better describe water technology. Forgoing the benefits of national economic tracking, alternative data sets are available, which may support new ways of identifying these clusters. This work provides cluster definitions; summarizes current approaches to identifying industry activity using data, interviews, and literature; and sets a foundation for future research.

中文翻译：

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确定美国新兴水技术创新产业的方法。

清洁水对于维持我们的自然环境，人类健康和我们的经济至关重要。随着基础设施的持续恶化和水资源的日益威胁，未来将需要新技术来确保安全和可持续的用水。尽管美国水工业约占国内生产总值的1％，并且全国各地都有水技术领域的“集群”，但最近的研究并未抓住这一新兴产业。随着“集群”一词的使用变得越来越普遍，区域制图工作揭示了国际上的定义差异，但仍显示了该行业的经济影响。实际上，机构程序可能会阻止更改行业编码以更好地描述水技术。放弃了国民经济追踪的好处，备用数据集可用，这可能支持识别这些集群的新方法。这项工作提供了群集定义。总结了使用数据，访谈和文献来识别行业活动的当前方法；为将来的研究打下基础。