Water companies frothing at highly liquid markets

After decades of developing water technologies aiming to "make the desert bloom", Israel has shifted focus to selling its products abroad with a goal of doubling exports in the sector to $2 billion by 2010.

From ultra-violet light technology to purify water to a recycling system using millions of small, plastic rings to breed bacteria and break down organic waste, Israeli innovations are finding buyers abroad. If a United Nations goal of improving sanitation by 2015 is to be achieved, the global market would be worth about $10 billion a year.

Daniel Wild, senior analyst at Zurich-based Sustainable Asset Management (SAM), an independent asset management group managing 8.5 billion Swiss francs ($8.3 billion) in assets, said Israeli technology is leading in two main segments - irrigation and desalination - because it was one of the first countries to develop efficient technologies.