ACE11 Highlights Issues Facing North America's Water Industry

Under the radar of most investors, The American Water Works Association (AWWA) held its Annual Conference & Exposition (ACE11) last week in Washington, D.C. Featuring over 500 exhibitors, the conference helped highlight many of the water issues facing North America as well as the emerging world. Water is seen by many analysts (including this one) as one of the most important issues facing the developing planet. The World Bank reports that 80 countries now have water shortages that threaten health and economies. Presentations from ACE11 showed many of the problems facing North America's water infrastructure. Some statistics from the conference include: Nearly 30% of U.S. water infrastructure is considered old and is beyond its rated lifetime. Maintaining this old outdated infrastructure is quite expensive. There are about 700 water main breaks per day in the U.S. These breaks cost about $2.6 billion annually to repair. About 42 billion gallons of drinking water are produced and delivered every day in the nation. However, 7 billion gallons or 18% is lost through leakage. In addition, current outdated water systems in the United State's consume 56 billion kWh of electric power annually. Over 10% of this is spent to produce water that is not paid for. For investors, the ACE11 conference is just another reason to add water related stocks to a portfolio. The PowerShares Water Resources PHO remains the largest pure-play ETF in the sector. However, both the Guggenheim S&P Global Water Index FIW follow baskets of water related companies that will benefit from this trend.