Water pumps may not sound important or interesting, but you'd be amazed how vital the movement of water is to many aspects of modern living.  Everything from flood control, hydroelectricity, bouyancy oil pumping, irrigation for agriculture, municipal supply for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and sanitation, chemical processes, and of course, for coal power plants for steam and cooling.  As a result, tens of billions of dollars of pumps are sold worldwide every year.  China will soon surpass the US as the top consumer.

From Impeller.Net:

By 2010 purchases of centrifugal pumps in China will rise to over $5 billion. China will surpass the U.S. whose purchases are projected at under $4.9 billion.

The top ten purchasers in 2010 will include primarily Asian and European countries.

Municipal wastewater represents the largest application in China and in the world. The migration of one billion people in Asia from the countryside to cities is creating huge needs for municipal wastewater treatment plants.

The chemical industry is the second largest application in China and in the world. China is rapidly building its chemical industry.

Power is the third largest application. In 2007 China has become the leading operator of coal-fired power plants in the world. By 2011 it is projected that China will be operating twice the coal-fired capacity of the U.S. and more than all of Europe combined.