It is important to read stories about things you only have limited interest in for sometimes it will help you connect the dots of the things you are really interested in. Recently the book Flushed – How the Plumber Saved Civilization by W. Hodding Carter, Atria Books, Ny, 2006 was read. The book stems from a home repair job and Mr. Carter asking questions about what happens after you flush the toilet? what pipes are used and why? How did the process evolve to where it is today? As more and more people live in cities, the plumbing of the city is an increasing concern due to the volume of waste products. Mr. Carter goes back to Roman times, moves to the London before and after the plagues, touches on Boston and ends up with low flush toilets.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, every urban environment has an utility to look after the waste waters, some are private (investor owned, some are public owned) but each has a steady stream of income for the owners. Reading books similar to Flushed which is not something you might pick (most of us are not that concerned as long as everything works the way it should) allows you to think about the urban environment and see the opportunities as well what type of solutions have been proposed. For example, when the plagues were happening in Europe, people did not know or realize it was the waste products in the non sewers which was spreading the disease. Everything else but ensuring clean drinking water was being offered as a solution. In the case of the plaques a great deal of focus was on the air, for it was thought the diseases travelled through the air. Some of the proposed solutions to us now seem strange, but how the problem was being framed brings forth the solutions.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions