Investing in water is garnering renewed interest as climate risks loom: As drought becomes more widespread and the pervasive effects of climate change intensifies the challenge of managing global water resources, investors are looking for ways to finance the technologies and infrastructure supporting more efficient water use. This trend is picking up globally as much as it is here in Egypt. Homegrown businesses such as Pylon, a data-driven startup working to improve our traditional infrastructure efficiency through the use of tech, are increasingly looking at ways to step water leakage and waste.

Water scarcity poses an existential threat to a lot of firms’ bottom lines: Financial services companies could stand to lose as much USD 225 bn from water-related risks, according to a report (pdf) prepared by environmental disclosure platforms CDP and Planet tracker. Of 377 listed financial institutions assessed by the CDP some 33% aren’t even taking these risks into account. What this means is that tons of new projects and companies (about 69% by CDP’s count) could soon become defunct or unfeasible due to “significant” water related challenges.

A group of investors, armed with USD 10 tn, is demanding better water management from companies: Ceres, a sustainability-inclined investor group consisting of 64 investors and pension funds with some USD 9.8 tn in assets under management, are pressuring the boards of companies they are invested in to do more to ensure they better manage their water use and protect neighboring ecosystems—how exactly they would follow through on these demands remains unclear.

Some investors have started their own water-focused equity funds in response: Over the past five years some 23 water funds with a collective USD 8 bn in assets have cropped up targeting various segments of water infrastructure and technology, according to Morningstar Direct data shared with Reuters. What some of these funds do is invest in firms like utilities company American Water Works, technology company Xylem or the Swiss transport outfit Georg Fischer AG — that are involved in the provision of water-related services.

Most of these investments aren’t in straight up utilities though: There’s estimated to be only 25-30 water utilities companies that can receive these investments, Simon Gottelier, co-manager of the USD 282 mn Thematics Water Fund, tells Reuters.

Ancillary services are where most of the money is going: Desalination plants, smart irrigation providers and pollution prevention companies are the sorts of businesses that these funds are most focused on investing in for the time being. Despite a lack of new companies boasting water solutions offerings “the outlook for existing companies has never been better,” Justin Winter, co-manager of the USD 7.3 bn fund Impax Water Strategy, tells Reuters.

Is technology-driven efficiency the future? Companies that can offer efficiency boosting technologies like leakage monitoring are leading the pack. Technology-focused Xylem is anticipating revenue growth of about 5% through 2025 as demand for water efficiency becomes more pressing–which the company’s senior vice president notes might not seem like dramatic growth at first sight but insists is huge for the generally slow and cash strapped water sector.

Some investors claim that water is currently the most tangible ESG sector to invest in: “Water as an industry, really leapfrogs a lot of the ambiguity around quote, ESG investing because of the very clear, positive metrics that are identifiable around the water,” Matthew Diserio, president of water-investing firm Water Asset Management tells MarketWatch.

As for the lay investor, there are growing opportunities to invest in water-related companies: Purchasing stock in straightforward publicly traded water companies is one way of getting your foot in the door of water investing in the US. Another way people are starting to invest in the sector is through exchange-traded funds like First Trust Water or Invesco Water Resources which are “the least risky way to invest in a portfolio of companies that are attacking water scarcity in several different ways,” Pattu Baum a financial advisor at RBC Wealth Management tells Barron’s.