Top 10 Water Stocks to Quench a Thirst

Jacobs is also part of a portfolio called Cramer's Go-To Stocks from a recent "Mad Money" show, where he states that earnings estimates for Jacobs Engineering and others on his list -- including Qualcomm(QCOM Quote) and Foster Wheeler(FWLT Quote) -- are way too low for the year.

Another large-cap to note here is General Electric(GE Quote), which has a subsidiary that manufactures the chemicals and equipment for water treatment and processing systems. Shares of General Electric are owned by value investors such as Warren Buffett and David Dreman, among others. Click on the above links to see the top holdings of both investors.

Several other portfolios on Stockpickr also provide a diversified look at the water purification space. One is the portfolio for the PowerShares Water Resources ETF. This exchange-traded fund tracks the Palisades Water index, which identifies companies that focus on water treatment.

There's also an international focus in the PowerShares Water Resources ETF portfolio, with investments such as Companhia de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo(SBS Quote), a Brazilian utility.

Another holding is Danaher(DHR Quote), which is also part of the Who Will Berkshire Hathaway Buy Next? portfolio on Stockpickr.

Finally, there's a list of the highest-yielding water utilities, with excellent analysis from stockerblog, who often guest blogs at Stockpickr.