Alexander Crawford posted an article on fool.com that gives the rundown on 13 different ways to invest in blue gold. It's an interesting list that highlights the broad way of looking at the water patent ecosphere.
Here is our slightly different short list of thing to think about in the blue gold space:
1) Municipal water treatment and aging infrastructure.
2) Water treatment chemicals - The chemistry of clean water.
3) Getting water to, from, and around industrial plants.
4) Pumps, seals and valves - enough said.
5) Pipes
6) Household systems - see 3, 4, and 5 above only think smaller footprint.
7) Filtration
8) Distribution - old infrastructure here and no infrastructure there.
9) Irrigation - growing populations and we're growing our food and our fuel.
10) Desalination - Because you can't get the salt out without it.
11) All the meters and other devices needed to manage this stuff that will be part of the smart water grid.
Here are the some of our recent posts on the inventions in this space.
1) Water on the Move - Generating power through the flow of water. (Innovative water metering.)
2) Put That In Your Pipe - An autonomous robot for inspecting the interior of a sewer pipe.
3) Low Tech Clean Tech - An low tech approach to clean water complete with a schmutzdeuke layer
4) Indoor Wetlands -- An overview of some of the latest inventions for dealing with polluted water including some hydroponic approaches.
Learn more about what is in the Way Better Patents Water Index.
