Topic: How To Invest

Dear Pat: With concerns over water consumption and contamination, would you please provide some insight into this water purifying company and if you believe it promises any investment potential: Aqua-Pure Ventures? Continuing thanks for your informative advice.

Article Excerpt

Aqua-Pure Ventures, $0.16, symbol AQE on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 86.6 million; Market cap: $13.9 million; www.aqua-pure.com), is a Calgary-based company that recycles waste water. Aqua-Pure has developed what it believes is a superior technology to deal with waste water produced during hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. This process, which is used to extract oil and gas from shale rock, involves pumping water and chemicals into rock formations. This fractures the rock and releases the oil and gas. A significant amount of the fluid used in the fracking process comes back to the surface as contaminated “flowback” water, full of sand, clay, polymers, oil, salt and other substances. And contaminated water continues to flow to the surface throughout the well’s life. Right now, producers generally truck this water to disposal facilities, which then inject it into deep wells. However, Aqua-Pure is now selling its new mobile Rover device, which is designed to treat contaminated water at or near the well. In 2011, Aqua-Pure’s revenue fell 14.1%,…