(Reuters) - Money manager Bill Brennan spends most of his waking hours thinking about something most Americans take for granted: water.
It may be the most essential of all commodities because without it none of us would be alive. But as an investment, water has had neither the glitter of gold nor the allure of oil.
But Brennan, a 49-year-old mechanical and biomedical engineer, is one of a small group of investors who are increasingly seeing an opportunity to make money from water.
"We look at water 100 percent all the time," said Brennan, a portfolio manager of the San Diego-based Summit Global Management.
They say water funds are poised to reap the rewards of the need to replace aging and crumbling water and sewer systems. Infrastructure needs in the United States alone will require at least $500 billion over the next 20 years, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
