Q: What's a good and easy way to invest in water?A: Plain old, clean water used to be something we t...

1. Water, water everywhere. Should you take a drink?
Q: What's a good and easy way to invest in water?
A: Plain old, clean water used to be something we took for granted. But increasingly, investors are
looking to electric water pump water as the next best thing since computers or the Internet. Already,
many consumers are willing to pay more for water than for a soda.
That's not lost on investors. There are scores of companies researching all angles of the water
business, and there are countless ways to play it.
The most difficult, and riskiest way, to invest in water would be to try to pick individual companies.
Companies like Danaher dhr, a diversified company with a water treatment business, and Flowserve
fls, a maker of pumps, valves and seals, have a strong interest in water. But unless you already have
a diversified portfolio, buying individual stocks can be treacherous, not least because you are putting
all your eggs in one basket. You also don't want to overpay. And you need a reasonable expectation
of the company's future earnings and revenue growth.
But, if you're determined to invest in water and don't want to hassle with individual stocks, there's
an easier way. There are several exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, that own baskets of water
companies.
Owning water stocks through an ETF offers several benefits. For one, you get exposure to many
companies, so if one fails, or takes off, you have it in your portfolio. Owning a basket also reduces
your need to do a lot of research on individual companies.
Due to the popularity of water as an investment, there are several ETF options, including:
PowerShares Water Resouces Portfolio phoFirst Trust ISE Water Index fiwPowerShares Global
Water Portfolio pioClaymore S&P Global Water ETF cgw
Just be careful. Many trends that seem like money in the bank, such as Internet and ethanol stocks,
are notoriously tricky to make money on. It's difficult, if not impossible, to buy and sell at the right
times.
Most investors are better off sticking with mutual funds or ETFs that own diversified portfolios of
stocks that mirror broad indexes, and which may own pieces of water companies as well.
Matt Krantz is a financial markets reporter at USA TODAY. The majority of installed pumps were not
dewatering pumps originally specified for their current use. Typically, a line in a plant changes and
the pump that once providedcooling water to an injection molding machine is now needed to
transfer oil from a rail car to a tank. Unfortunately, this causes a substantial number of problems for
the pump and the plant. Pumps operate where the pump curve crosses the system curve. If you move
a pump from one system to another, this means that the system curve is different. This new system
may cause the pump to operate away from its best efficiency point, leading to seal failures and other
component failures that are merely symptoms of a mis-matched pump and system.He answers a
different reader question every weekday in his Ask Matt column at money.usatoday.com. To submit a

2. question, e-mail Matt at mkrantz@usatoday.com.