The next answer was: "$500 billion." The question revealed where a big part of the industry's problem lies: How much is needed just to keep our systems up to snuff?

In the '70s, Decker said, the government was paying for about 78% of water/wastewater infrastructure improvements, but that number has fallen to just 10%. Meanwhile, the burden falls on local municipalities, which are receiving some help from states that face their own set of financial woes. While privatization is part of the answer (more than $10 billion has been raised for private equity infrastructure) and public-private partnerships are starting to blossom: "This is a slow-moving train," Decker observed.

DECKER'S FORECAST: The water/ wastewater market will grow 4% to 5% in 2008/2009. Desalination will play a greater role in creating drinkable, usable water and alternative delivery systems will play a greater role in bringing it to people. The best opportunities are on the wastewater side of the industry because market growth will slow a bit on the water side.

POWER GENERATION
Coal Wanes, Other Markets Strengthen

The long-term energy market has remained strong for more than 25 years, and it will remain strong going forward as energy demands around the world increase, said Howard A. Russell, vice president and regional general manager for the Power Business of Black and Veatch Corporation.

The power industry continues to see expansion and while there aren't currently a lot of new project awards being announced, "there is still growth, and it's not going to slow down," said Russell.

Yet, "there are challenges, and certainly the market cycles will go up and down" for end users like the valve and actuator industries, he said.

As with the rest of industry, power companies are seeing costs rise and resources become scarcer, particularly in the skilled crafts, such as engineering, he pointed out.

"This country is short about 1 million skilled craft workers," Russell said, citing a recent study.

Elsewhere in the world, growth will come from the needs of developing countries. "If we are going to pull poor people out of their status, it requires more energy, not less," Russell pointed out.

As far as specific markets, Russell said the coal industry is in a major decline (Russell downgraded his forecast for the next five years from $25 billion in capital spent-2007's forecast-to $10 billion), while the nuclear industry is seeing major advances and interest. The nuclear industry is benefiting from increased consumer acceptance, new support from environmental groups, and a world focusing on carbon sequestering and global warming. This means opportunity for those who build valves and pumps, Russell told the audience.

While energy companies face the same pressures as other industries today (the recession, interest rates, credit challenges, employment challenges, the price of oil), they have two larger boulders currently being tossed at their businesses: capital costs and regulatory uncertainty, Russell pointed out.

For example, contributing to the coal industry's woes is the fact that while its link to carbon emissions is debated, a squeeze has been placed on building new plants, and some states are even taking regulatory action. The state of California, for instance, recently passed legislation banning building of new coal plants and even prohibited the purchase of power from coal-fired plants.

"Certainty is needed before someone is going to invest in a new coal environment," Russell explained.

Meanwhile, opportunities exist in the combustion turbine (CT) industry, which will see huge growth as the need to replace coal-fired demand grows. He pointed to a slide he showed last year that indicated 40 gigawatts (GW) of planned CT projects and compared it to what has been more recently announced-60 GW of projects.

Another industry that will benefit from coal's reputation is the air quality industry, which remains steady, though somewhat stagnated by greenhouse gas regulatory uncertainties. While the market for equipment suppliers has not yet softened in this area (it remains about the same size as last year), significant opportunity exists as retrofits and new building projects address increasing environmental regulations for coal plants, he said.

The other two industries that stand to benefit from coal's decline are nuclear and renewable energies, Russell said.

He told the audience, "If you own a business with a nuclear stamp, get it out and get it updated," because the industry is about to explode. "We've had the technology waiting for us for decades, it's safe, it's clean, etc. We will be building plants or letting the lights go out," he said.

And while renewables cannot hope to meet the needs of this nation's bulk energy demands, most states are embracing them and more than half now mandate their use. For example, California has mandated that 20% of its energy come from renewables by 2011 while New York has mandated 24% by 2013.

RUSSELL'S FORECAST: About 30 GW of new coal-fueled generation will be needed through 2015. The total market for CT will be 15 to 20 GW per year through 2015 with 70 GW of additions made over that time. In the U.S., investments of $56 billion in CT and $22 billion in air quality technology will be made through 2015.