Planet Water: Investing In The World'S Most Valuable Resource

Solving the world's water problems is proving to be one of the greatest investment opportunities of our time. Already, world water supplies are inadequate to meet demand, and the problem is going to get much worse in the years ahead. The World Bank estimates that 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water and about 50 percent of the world's hospital beds are populated by people who have contracted water-borne diseases. If present consumption rates continue, in 25 years the world will be using 90 percent of all available freshwater. To address the problem, trillions of dollars will need to be invested in water infrastructure projects. And while the problems are most acute in developing and rapidly growing economies, there are huge water infrastructure needs in industrialized countries, as well. In the U.S. alone, it's estimated that more than $1 trillion will be needed for water and wastewater infrastructure projects. In Planet Water, water investment expert Steven Hoffmann explains the dynamics driving the water crisis and identifies investment opportunities in various sectors of the water industry. Hoffman provides investors with the knowledge and insights they need to make informed investments in water utilities, as well as companies providing water treatment services; infrastructure services; water monitoring and analytics; and desalination services. He also discusses mutual funds and ETFs that specialize in water stocks. Investing in the water industry is certainly no pie-in-the-sky idea. Over the past five years, many water stocks have exploded in value and water stocks as a whole have outperformed the S&P 500 by a substantial amount. In Planet Water, Hoffmann provides investors with everything they need to profit from this fast-growing industry in the years ahead.

Steve Hoffmann is the founder of WaterTech Capital, a private investment company that specializes exclusively in consulting and investment opportunities within the water industry. With over twenty-five years of experience in the water industry—as a water rate designer, resource economist, entrepreneur, and investor—Hoffmann has witnessed firsthand the dramatic transition of the water business. He was one of the earliest financiers to recognize the potential of water as an investment theme, and has been a contributing editor to the Water Investment Newsletter for more than fourteen years. Hoffmann is also cofounder and principal architect of the Palisades Water Indexes, which serve as the tracking indexes for several leading water ETFs.

Named a top investment book of the year by the Stock Trader’s Almanac 2010.
“The book. . . might well guide some very satisfactory investments. . . Mr. Hoffmann does an able job of laying out the basics of water scarcity and delivery, and he presents a persuasive case for water's looming importance, rivaling oil as the most important commodity this century. . . A strong current of the investing advice in "Planet Water" is Mr. Hoffmann's contention that water utilities will move toward privatization and away from government management. Private management will make companies concentrate on core competencies to keep efficiencies high; those companies are the ones for investors to pursue.”--Wall Street Journal, 5/27/2009

Part I. Water.
Chapter 1. Water: Prerequisite for Life, and Living.
Prerequisite for Life.
Prerequisite for Living.
Chapter 2. The Global Water Condition.
The Human Cost of Waterborne Disease.
Supply and Demand.
Regional Fundamentals.
Water Institutions.
Overview of Water Reguation in the United States.
Global Water Regulations.
Non-Governmental Organizations.
The Institutional Impact on Water Investing.
The Role of Water in Economic Growth.
Chapter 3. Public Good, Commodity or Resource?
What Is Water?
Water as a Public (Social) Good.
Water as a Commodity.
The Answer: Water as a Resource.
Chapter 4. The Cost of Clean Water.
How Big Is the Universe?
The Global Cost of Clean Water.
From the Whole to the Parts.
The Transition from Cost to Price.
Part II. Investing in Water.
Chapter 5. The Business of Water.
Water versus Wastewater.
Functional Categories.
Water-Related Applications.
Drivers of the Water Industry.
Chapter 6. Water Utilities.
A Brief History.
Regulatory Providers Face Regulatory Burdens.
Non-Regulated Activities.
The Future of Water Utilities.
Foreign Water Utilities.
Conclusions.
Chapter 7. Centralized Water and Wastewater Treatment.
The Basics.
Centralized Treatment.
Treatment Chemicals.
Mixed Oxidants.
Carbon.
Resins: Ion Exchange.
Chapter 8. Decentralized Water and Wastewater Treatment.
Decentralized Treatment.
The Roots of Decentralized Treatment.
Water Softeners and Salinity.
Groundwater Treatment.
Membrane Bioreactors: The Future of Decentralized Treatment.
Chapter 9. Water Infrastructure.
The Distribution System.
Stormwater Infrastructure.
Investment Components.
Pipeline Rehabilitation.
Flow Control and Pumps.
Chapter 10. Water Analytics.
Metering.
Monitoring, Measuring, and Testing
Asset Management
Chapter 11. Water Resource Management.
Water Resource Management Defined.
The Principle of Sustainability.
Remediation.
Water Supply: Reservoirs and Dams.
Irrigation.
Chapter 12. Desalination.
The Promise of Desalination.
The Process of Desalination.
Part III. Water Beyond the 21st Century.
Chapter 13. Emerging Issues.
Unregulated Contaminants.
Biosolids Management: There's Money in Sludge.
Biotechnology.
Regulation.
Regulating Nonpoint Sources of Water Contamination.
Water Reuse.
Water Conservation.
Nanotechnology.
Algal Toxins.
Measuring Chlorophyll-a.
Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products.
Chapter 14. Water As An Asset Class.
Is Water an Asset Class?
What Is An Asset Class?
Chapter 15. Climate Change and the Hydrologic (Re)Cycle.
Planning for Uncertainty.
Impacts on Water Quality.
Occurrence of Drought.
Investing in Drought.
Chapter 16. Conclusion.
The Windfall Profits Tax…On Water.
The Age of Ecology, Again.
Is Water The Next Oil?
Appendix A. Water Contaminants.
Microbial Contaminant Candidates.
Chemical Contaminant Candidates or CCL3 Candidates.
Appendix B. Acronyms.
Appendix C. Conversions.
Notes.
About the Author.
Index.