Antoine Walter

The Dear Link Between Water, SDGs and our Everyday Lives

Featured - Kevin Sofen - SDG Talks - There's a Water Impact all over the SDGs

When it comes to Sustainable Development Goals, we often limit Water to SDG 6. Yet, water plays a key role in many more of them! Let’s explore it:

with 🎙️ Kevin Sofen – Director of Innovation at W. S. Darley & Co., Host of the Smart Firefighting podcast, and Co-Host of the SDG Talks Podcast.

💧 The SDG Talks podcast highlights Change Makers and their work towards the UN SDGs with a sound passion for highlighting people and organizations that will transform the world into a better place for everyone.

This episode is part of my Series on the Water Crisis in America

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We Want You! Will You Help Closing the Water Gap and Save Lives?

Featured - George McGraw - DigDeep - Millions Without Water in the US - Closing the Water Gap

2.2 million Americans don’t have access to water and wastewater services in their homes. 44 million more recently experienced water quality issues. Isn’t it time to effectively close the water gap?

The first step to closing is probably acknowledging: an information mission that’s been taken on by DigDeep. Today, we’ll explore how they act to help populations we’ve left behind for too long. Are you wondering how you could help, too? Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ George McGraw – CEO & Founder of DigDeep

💧 DigDeep is a human rights nonprofit serving the 2.2 million+ Americans without the sinks, bathtubs, or toilets that the rest of the US takes for granted.

This episode is part of my Series on the Water Crisis in America

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How to Make Water more attractive than the Apple and Samsungs of this World

Featured - Errick Simmons - Greenville Mississippi - Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative

We’ve been regularly touching on how we’re facing an aging water infrastructure: and so is the water workforce as well! In light of the “silver wave,” we currently experience, how can we transform the water industry to attract new, diverse and dynamic talents?

This age and knowledge pyramid problem is of particular concern when you’re administrating a mid-sized or rural infrastructure. Hence today’s episode promises to be a fascinating exploration:

with 🎙️ Errick Simmons – Mayor of Greenville, Mississippi, and co-chair of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative.

💧 The Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative works to improve the river’s water quality, restore its habitat, coordinate the state’s efforts, create sustainable economies around the basin, and celebrate the river’s culture and history.

This episode is part of my Series on the Water Crisis in America

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How to Make a Lonely Water Professional’s Mentor, Friend, and Caring Colleague

Featured - Trace Blackmore - Scaling Up H2O - Bring Water Professionals Together

The job of a Water Professional can be lonely: in many utilities, water treaters are on their own – or not far from it. But to keep you growing as a person, a certain friend has your back, your favorite water podcast.

Don’t worry; this one is not about bragging (as much as I praise my water podcast, I’m not that selfish yet!). It’s all about getting to know better one of the legends of that game:

with 🎙️ Trace Blackmore – Owner of Blackmore Enterprises and Host of the “Scaling Up! H2O” podcast

💧 The “Scaling Up! H2O” podcast intends to prove to you every week why working in Industrial Water Treatment is the best job in the world.

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How to take Mid-Market Green Tech Companies to the Next Level?

Featured - James Rees - Botanical Water Technologies - Growing Green Tech Companies

Our World is facing new water challenges that will be hard to solve with old solutions only. This means that helping new entrants and mid-market green tech companies to thrive is also the best segway to putting their impact on steroids!

But navigating the jungle of finance, investment, regulations, institutions, and existing business canvas can be tough. Yet no one ever said you couldn’t get some help, as we’ll explore:

with 🎙️ James Rees – Chief Impact Officer at Botanical Water Technologies and Board Advisor at Bluerloop, Droople, and Noverram.

💧 Botanical Water Technologies strives to positively impact water scarcity by providing a new source of drinkable, sustainable, plant-based water for social and environmental projects.

This episode is part of my Series on the Water Crisis in America

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Pre-Disaster Mitigation Needs to Quickly Ramp Up in the US. Will it?

Featured - Nick Shufro - Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration - Pre Disaster Mitigation

With only 9 million households that hold an insurance policy against flood risks, the most common and costly natural catastrophe is still widely undercovered in the US. Will the new federal efforts finally open the long-awaited age of pre-disaster mitigation?

with 🎙️ Nick Shufro – Deputy Assistant Administrator, Federal Insurance & Mitigation Administration, Resilience, FEMA

💧 The Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA) manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and a range of programs designed to mitigate against future losses from all hazards, including floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters.

This episode is part of my Series on the Water Crisis in America

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The Underestimated Hidden Threat of Biomethane Production. Time to Act?

Featured - Semra Bakkaloglu - Imperial College London - Biomethane Production Leaks to the Atmosphere

What’s about 28 times more concerning than carbon emissions? Methane releases into the atmosphere. It’s the same amount of carbon but with a much higher immediate global warming impact. Hence the concern when a recent study shows how we underestimate the emissions of biomethane production by a factor of two!

What’s wrong with the biomethane supply chain? Where does it leak the most? Who are these 5% of bad pupils responsible for over 60% of the emissions? What can we do about it? Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ Semra Bakkaloglu – Research Associate at the Imperial College of London

💧 Semra recently showed in her research how the methane emissions along the biosolids supply chain were vastly underestimated and proposed straightforward actions to correct it swiftly.

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How to Actually Fight Big Water with Pioneering Bottled Rainwater?

Featured - Taylor O'Neil - Richard's Rainwater - Bottled Rainwater

Rainwater Harvesting just got an all-new flavor, and it’s sparkling! Indeed, next to the conventional approaches where that water would be used for irrigation, Richard’s Rainwater kinda created a new market segment: bottled rainwater.

How can you fight Big Water by actually putting water in cans and bottles? How’s that approach greener and more sustainable? What could it unlock in the long term? We covered this:

with 🎙️ Taylor O’Neil – CEO of Richard’s Rainwater.

💧 Richard’s Rainwater markets what it claims to be “The Water of Tomorrow,” aka Bottled Rainwater!

This episode is part of my Series on the Water Crisis in America

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Seth Siegel: 50’000+ US Water Utilities, 500 Water Talks, 5 Decisive Truths?

Featured - Seth Siegel - Troubled Water - Let There be Water

Seth Siegel is a voice that counts in the Water World – having published some of the most influential water books of the past decade and spoken on every scene you can think of.

Yet, in every keynote he delivers, he never fails to captivate the audience to convey his message home. There’s something wrong with what we drink, the way we manage our water, and the allocation of the precious blue resource. And there’s a better way around: simply replicate what works! That’s far too much to pack in 30 minutes? For sure, yet I tried ⬇️

with 🎙️ Seth Siegel – writer, lawyer, activist, serial entrepreneur, and an acclaimed public speaker.

💧 You might have read his “Troubled Water” book – and if you haven’t, you should – or his international best-seller “Let there be Water,” translated into 20+ languages.

This episode is part of my Series on the Water Crisis in America

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Expensive, Heavy but Desperately Needed: is Source the Future of Drinking Water?

Featured - Colin Goddard - Source Global - Atmospheric Water Generation

Could you imagine producing perfect drinking water out of thin air and fully off-grid? Let’s face it: Source’s take on atmospheric water generation is pretty disruptive. Could it be a blessing for people and places for whom traditional central approaches have failed?

We’ll explore today how even in the US, no less than 44 million people may need to find a solution to fix their tap, and try to evaluate how Source could fit in the role!

with 🎙️ Colin Goddard – Director at Source Global

💧 Source aims to market the world’s first renewable drinking water system. Clean, safe, made entirely off-grid, and available almost anywhere in the world.

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How will the Trial Reservoir Change Piloting Forever and For Good?

Piloting a new water technology has always been a cumbersome process. But this may well soon be history with Isle Utilities’ invention: the Trial Reservoir.

What would it enable if water entrepreneurs could deploy their best ideas in weeks instead of decades? That’s what we’ll explore today (and how that’s even possible)…

with 🎙️ Piers Clark – Chairman and Founder of Isle Utilities

💧 Isle Utilities aims to bring new technologies to life by connecting expertise, investment, and inspired ideas across the globe.

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What if your Microbial Fuel Cells could Reach Out on Twitter?

Featured - Carol Maxwell - Brent Solina - MICROrganic Technologies - Microbial Fuel Cells

Microbial Fuel Cells represent a tremendous opportunity to tap into the hidden energy of wastewater. But beyond that, they could also turn the way we operate our plants on its head!

What if your microorganisms told you live and 24/7 how they feel and what your effluent looks like?

with 🎙️ Carol Maxwell – CEO & Director of MICROrganic Technologies and a Founding Member of ENYA Funds 1, 2, &3

with 🎙️ Brent Solina – CTO of MICROrganic Technologies

💧 MICROrganic Technologies builds a Microbial Fuel Cell platform that aims to change the way the world deals with wastewater.

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How to Admit, Value, and actually Overcome the Economic Risk of Water

Featured - Nicola Lei Ravello - White Stag Investing - Water is an Economic Risk

Water may well represent less than 1% of the World’s GDP, but it heavily affects the other 99%, turning it into a major economic risk.

Why and How? Let’s review!

with 🎙️ Nicola Lei Ravello – Author and Founder of White Stag Investing

💧 White Stag Investing is a research platform for responsible investments, focusing on sustainability as a source of value and stability in the long term.

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How to Build the World Leading Water Innovation Accelerator: Imagine H2O

Featured - Scott Bryan - Imagine H2O - Water Innovation Accelerator

Water Innovation Accelerators became more common in recent years. Yet the world reference remains unchanged: Imagine H2O.

Why and How? Let’s review!

with 🎙️ Scott Bryan – President of Imagine H2O

💧 Imagine H2O is the world leading Water Innovation Accelerator with $800+M raised in early-stage funding and 1.1 billion people (and counting) served.

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How to Mitigate 4 Shades of Water Risk Through Impact Investing

Featured - John Robinson - Mazarine Ventures - Impact Investment - Water Risk

Turning the narrative from “Water is Life” to “Water is a Risk” makes its associated challenges more straightforward. This is an opportunity for investment funds to have an impact.

Why and How? Let’s review!

with 🎙️ John Robinson – Partner & Co-Founder at Mazarine Ventures

💧 Mazarine is an impact investor backing young technology companies with innovations that address some aspects of water risk, including quality and quantity.

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Passing the Baton: How to Bring Innovation to Market Faster & More Reliably

Featured - Sivan Zamir - Xylem Innovation Labs - Bring Innovation to Market

With the inception of its Innovation Labs, Xylem intends to provide a common framework for the water innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems to work with the US Giant.

Why and How? Let’s review!

with 🎙️ Sivan Zamir – VP Xylem Innovation Labs

💧 Xylem is one of the largest water and wastewater technology company globally and follows the simple motto: “Let’s solve water”

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How to Save over 1 Million Tons of CO2 Every Year with Thermal Hydrolysis

Featured - Eirik Fadnes - Cambi Group - Thermal Hydrolysis

Thermal Hydrolysis Processes are rolled out worldwide for as long as there are COP conferences. Cambi Group, the World leader with an estimated 80% market share, estimates that it represents 1 million tons of CO2 equivalent saving compared to the best available alternative.

What’s inside these appealing thermal hydrolysis processes? Let’s review!

with 🎙️ Eirik Fadnes – CEO at Cambi Group

💧 Cambi is on a mission to turn sludge into resources thanks to Thermal Hydrolysis Processes (THP)

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Radical Collaboration: 12 Staggering Ideas to Regenerate the Water World

Radical Collaboration for Regeneration

BlueTech Forum 2022’s Theme was straightforward: Radical Collaboration for Regeneration. I got to chat with 6 industry leaders about their take at the matter!

with:

🎙️ Menno Holterman (President & CEO @ Nijhuis Saur Industries)

🎙️ Snehal Desai (EVP & Chief Growth and Sustainability Officer @ Evoqua Water Technologies)

🎙️ Ralph Exton (Chief Marketing & Chief Digital Officer @ SUEZ – Water Technologies & Solutions)

🎙️ Kimberly Kupiecki (Director & Global Leader Sustainability ESG, Advocacy, Communications @ DuPont)

🎙️ Jon LIberzon (VP & Head of Business Development @ Tomorrow Water)

🎙️ Kamakshi Sharma (Director of Marketing and Strategy @ Aquatech International)

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How to be Alone, Early, Crazy but Actually Right: The History of Zenon

Featured - Andrew Benedek - Zenon - Anaergia - From Lonely Prophet to Water Industry Legend

Membrane Bioreactors systems weigh $4Bn a year today (and growing). Yet, in the early eighties, no one really believed membranes would ever make a dent in clean water applications. So before envisioning a wastewater application, there was a long way to go… and a valley of death to cross for Zenon!

with 🎙️ Andrew Benedek, Executive Chairman of Anaergia, founder of Zenon and CEO for 26 years, a former member of the IWA board, and the inaugural recipient of the Lee Kwan Yew Prize.

💧 Anaergia aims to convert waste into useful resources, protect the environment, and sustain life for generations to come. Where some see waste, they see resources.

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Can Lithium Mining Astoundingly solve the Brine Riddle with Benefits?

Lithium Mining is expected to deliver the lithium-ion battery industry 500’000 metric tons a year. Sure, conventional lithium supply will grow by 300% over the next decade but that will still not be sufficient! Hence, it might be an opportunity to get creative and to look for lithium in… water. How? Let’s review.

with 🎙️ Benjamin Sparrow – CEO and Co-Founder at Saltworks Technologies

💧 Saltworks provides innovative products and solutions for industrial wastewater treatment and desalination.

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Why is One Water the Best Way to Manage our Vulnerable Water Cycle?

Featured - Susan Moisio - Jacobs - One Water

We tend to put water management in silos. Drinking Water, Wastewater, Water networks, Sewers, Flood prevention… All of those have one thing in common: water. This is why you shall start leveraging the One Water framework today! It will swiftly turn into a key asset in our race to net zero water. Let’s review how, and why ⬇️

with 🎙️ Susan Moisio – Global Water Director at Jacobs, where she leads a team of 9,000 water professionals across all regions.

💧 Jacobs pledges to push the limits of what’s possible, continually challenging today to reinvent tomorrow.

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How Water UK intends to Reach a Good Net Zero, Two Decades Early!

When it comes to the race to net zero water, Water UK leads the charge. Not only did it set ambitious goals, but also in a quite timely manner: the routemap leads to 2030! The cherry on that cake? It’s not only about “net zero.” They’re before and above all aiming for a GOOD one.

with 🎙️ Maria Manidaki – Net Zero Technical Lead and Principal Water Investment Planning Advisor at Mott MacDonald

💧 Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management, and development consultancy, that places social outcomes at the center of all it does.

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How to ensure Energy and Carbon Resilient projects with a Simple Screening Tool

Featured - Stephane Bessadi - Asian Development Bank - Screening Tool for the Energy Evaluation of Projects

The Asian Development Bank has put together a Screening Tool for the Energy Evaluation of Projects. As a result, it can guarantee that the water and wastewater projects it backs are fully aligned in the race to net zero water!

with 🎙️ Stephane Bessadi – Senior Procurement Specialist for the Asian Development Bank

💧 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) commits to a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and Pacific Region.

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How to cut Wastewater’s Energy Related Carbon Emissions in Two at No Cost?

50% of wastewater’s energy-related carbon emissions can be eliminated with existing technologies. What’s even better in the race to net zero water is that 95% of this impact is achievable at zero to negative cost!

with 🎙️ Austin Alexander – Vice President, Sustainability and Social Impact at Xylem

💧 Xylem is a leading water technology company with the famous “solving water” motto – and a finalist for this year’s Net Zero Carbon Award at the Global Water Summit

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Who will become the US’s first Water Reuse Champion Ever?

Featured - Jon Freedman - SUEZ WTS - Water Reuse Champion

What levers can you play on to promote greater water reuse? Well, you can act on the money side of the equation, for instance, by incentivizing the deployment of new technologies through grants and loans. But also by making the wrong behavior more expensive. Wanna find out more? Let’s review it…

with 🎙️Jon Freedman – Senior Vice President – Global Government Affairs at SUEZ WTS

💧 SUEZ WTS provides industry-leading water technology and process expertise to solve the toughest water, wastewater, and process challenges

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3 Crazy Simple Tips to take the Bore out of Business Meetings or Water Conferences

Featured - Annyse Balkwill - Take the Bore Out of Water Conferences and Business Meetings - The Luminus Group - BlueTech Forum

Have you ever attended a business meeting that seemed to drain your soul out of your body? Or happily slept in a water conference, to digest the jet lag and be in a good shape for the real conference content, aka the late drinks at the

with 🎙️ Annyse Balkwill – Founder of the LuminUS Group and Program Director for the upcoming BlueTech Forum

💧 The LuminUS Group crafts an events formula that has participants engaging, again and again, sharing with their colleagues and offering this feedback. Wanna see it applied? Make sure to attend the upcoming BlueTech Forum!

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Is the Hydrogen Economy actually an Astounding Investment Opportunity?

with 🎙️ Alena Fargere, Principal at SWEN Capital Partners and co-founder of the first European investment fund dedicated to renewable gases.

💧 SWEN Capital Partners, a benchmark player in sustainable investments in private equity, just announced the first closing of its second SWEN Impact Fund for Transition (SWIFT 2). It will be a direct contribution to decarbonizing the economy and creating jobs in France.

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18 Months Left to “Close the Gap”: Beware, the Water Clock is Ticking!

with 🎙️ Mina Guli, CEO and Co-Founder of the Thirst Foundation, Director of the Antarctic Science Foundation, Director of the Global Water Partnership and Adventurer.

💧 The Thirst Foundation is dedicated to getting the global water crisis to the top of the agenda and driving innovation to use less water every day.

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Solid, Liquid, Gas, And… A Fourth Phase of Water?!

with 🎙️ Gerald Pollack, Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington, Founding Editor-in-Chief of the WATER research journal, Executive Director of the Institute for Venture Science, and Author of – among other books – “The Fourth Phase of Water.”   

💧 The 4th Phase of Water, or Exclusion Water, is a semi-liquid or crystalline state of water that forms at the interface with hydrophilic surfaces. More on that in a second!

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How to treat PFAS out of Water and protect our Health, Economy, and Biodiversity

with 🎙️ Henrik Hagemann is the CEO and Co-Founder of Puraffinity.   

💧 Puraffinity is a GreenTech Company that designs smart materials for environmental applications.​ Their cutting-edge material design and creative engineering approach may provide a new horizon to solve the daunting PFAS / Forever chemicals challenge we face.

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Do Nature-Based Solutions Work? These New Case Studies Will Verify It!

with 🎙️ Silvana Di Sabatino, Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Bologna, and coordinator of the OPERANDUM project.   

💧 The OPERANDUM Project aims at delivering the tools and methods for the validation of Nature-Based Solutions as a way to enhance resilience in European rural and natural territories by reducing hydro-meteorological risks.

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Can Nature-Based Solutions Better Protect Cities from Soaring Environmental Risks?

with 🎙️ Marc Barra, Urban Ecologist specializing in nature-based solutions at Paris’ Agency for Biodiversity, in charge of the H2020 REGREEN project.  

💧 The REGREEN Project promotes urban livability through fostering nature-based solutions in Europe and China using evidence-based tools and improved urban governance to accelerate the transition towards green, equitable and healthy cities.

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3 Paths to Reach SDG 6 by 2050: All Our Hopes are on #3!

David Lloyd Owen - Guest of the Don't Waste Water podcast - SDG 6 - Global Water Funding

with 🎙️ David Lloyd Owen, Managing Director of Envisager, Columnist for Global Water Intelligence, Advisor on several boards, and author of “Global Water Funding.”

💧 In his Global Water Funding book, David Lloyd Owen discusses global progress towards fulfilling SDG 6, proposes alternative solutions to lack of funding, and examines the reasons why countries are failing at implementing safe and sustainable water and sanitation for all.

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Choosing the Best Suited Ozone Diffusion System. What does Data Say?

with 🎙️ Jim Lauria, Vice President Sales and Marketing at the Mazzei Injector Company and Board Member at the International Ozone Association

💧 Mazzei Injector Company is a global leader in the design, engineering, and manufacturing of venturi injectors, flash reactors, and other high-efficiency mixing technologies and ozone diffusion systems.

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How to Speak Up and Empower More Young Water Professionals

Hasmik Barseghyan - Guest of the Don't Waste Water Podcast

with 🎙️ Hasmik Barseghyan, President of the European Youth Parliament for Water, among other strategic roles at the World Water Quality Alliance, the World Energy Council, the International Secretariat for Water, or Woman in Climate and Energy.

💧 The EYPW aims to promote youth involvement in the water sector by increasing their awareness of water resource management issues and by fostering an understanding of citizenship and democracy.

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1001 Reasons Why, the Sustainability Puzzle is a Unique Opportunity

Alice Schmidt and Claudia Winkler, guests of the Don't Waste Water Podcast

with 🎙️ Alice Schmidt, MBA lecturer, Adviser to the European Commission, and non-profit organizations like Extinction Rebellion, Protect our Winters, and Chair of the Board of Endeva e.V.

with 🎙️ Claudia Winkler, CEO, and co-founder of Goood Mobile, Europe’s first B-Corp Certified telecom provider, and a Founding Partner of Adjacent Possible Network.

💧 Alice and Claudia are the Authors of “the Sustainability Puzzle,” a must-read addressing how systems thinking, circularity, climate action, and social transformation can improve health, wealth, and wellbeing for all.

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How Long Will it Take to Grow? The 4 Stages of Water Innovation.

Paul O'Callaghan - Guest of the Don't Waste Water Podcast

with 🎙️ Paul O’Callaghan – Founder & CEO @ BlueTech Research 

💧 BlueTech Research analyzes innovative water technologies to transform your company. 

💧 Paul is also the executive producer & co-director of Netflix’s “Brave Blue World.” 

💧 … and as he noticed, that he still had some time on Saturdays, he just completed a Ph.D. on the Dynamics of Water Innovation! 

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