JonD

Water: Huge Potential Over the Next 10 Years

i should add that the New Yorker article (on newsstands now - the Oct 23rd issue) spent most of its space illustrating just the issues Roger raised - that being the desperate need for water infrastructure in developing countries.

Water: Huge Potential Over the Next 10 Years

great point. I don't disagree with you there, Roger. but I'm not convinced that the components of PHO are leveraged as much as you (or I) would like them to be to emerging markets. many of the components are domestic and european utilities. the US-based equipment suppliers certainly have the opp'ty to go after emerging mkts but i just don't know how much of their business is international today.

Water: Huge Potential Over the Next 10 Years

this month's New Yorker has an interesting take on water demand - not necessarily from an investor's perspective (which is good, IMHO). the message was that yes, there is need for water infrastructure in developing countries, but in *developed* countries (US, Japan, etc.) water consumption, on a per capita basis AND on an absolute basis, is going down --- due to better conservation efforts and more efficient economies.

it's easy to make the bull water case but, like many macro themes, it's a bit too simplistic to say "look at the population growth and how many people don't have water" and jump into PHO.