Podcast

In the bustling corridors of Veolia, the buzzword isn’t just sustainable water management anymore. It’s AI. Meet Andrew Collier and his digital team, who are not just transforming water treatment but setting audacious goals to marry artificial intelligence and LLMs with Veolia’s vast network of industrial solutions.

Their ambition? To turn tens of thousands of cooling towers (and countless more assets) into data goldmines and push the envelope on how the world perceives water technology. Let’s explore it:

with 🎙️ Andrew Collier – Digital Solutions Executive at the Veolia Water Tech Zone

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In an era where automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are revolutionizing industries, wastewater management is (no longer) lagging. Kando, a wastewater intelligence company, is pioneering this shift with its AI assistant, STREAMi. This transformative tool aims to alleviate some of the sector’s most pressing issues, from workforce shortages to complex data analysis.

But STREAMi isn’t just another tech novelty—it’s a solution grounded in practical necessity and designed for real-world application. How? Let’s figure out:

with 🎙️ Ori Reshef – Chief Solutions Officer at Kando

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Who could have imagined that water treatment could be both a strategic and a sustainability-driven endeavor? (yeah, I know, you, probably, or you wouldn’t be here, but please play along!) Yet, that’s precisely the journey Kemira is on, led by Riikka Timonen, the company’s VP of New Markets and Biomaterials. In an era where environmental responsibility is increasingly intertwined with business strategy, Timonen is spearheading initiatives that might just redefine the chemical industry.

Intrigued? Let’s dive deeper into her vision.

with 🎙️ Riikka Timonen – VP New Markets & Biomaterials at Kemira

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In a world where water scarcity and climate change pose imminent threats, one company is plotting a course toward an audacious goal: providing water access to 300 million people by 2030. Grundfos, traditionally known as a pump manufacturer, is at the vanguard of this transformation, reshaping itself into a comprehensive water and climate solutions provider. How? Let’s find out:

with 🎙️ Laura Gallindo – Global Director Strategic Marketing & Communications at Grundfos

with 🎙️ Phillip Tomlinson – Digital Solutions Leader at Grundfos

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When you think of groundbreaking innovation, you probably don’t immediately think of laundry or wastewater treatment. Yet, SUDOC is turning heads by doing just that—with a new, tiny catalyst that is 100 times smaller and 1,000 times more powerful than its predecessors.

Imagine a product that makes water treatment more efficient, reduces harmful chemical use in everyday cleaning products, and cuts energy consumption by 90%: does it sound too good to be true? Well, this is what SUDOC is making happen. Wanna learn more? Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ Roger Berry – Co-Founder & CEO at SUDOC

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In the world of infrastructure, underground pipes don’t exactly get a lot of love. Hidden from view, they silently transport water, sewage, and storm runoff, serving as the backbone of our urban landscapes. But when things go wrong down there, the results can be catastrophic—think burst pipes, sinkholes, and flooded basements.

That’s the kind of trouble, VAPAR aims to fight, by leveraging the power of Machine Learning and sound commitment! How? Let’s find out:

with 🎙️ Amanda Siqueira – Co-Founder & CEO of VAPAR

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Remember the buzz at CES 2020? Among thousands of cutting-edge innovations, one stood out and took home the “Best of the Best” award: Hydraloop. This game-changing water tech company wowed everyone with its mission to combat water scarcity. So, where are they now, and what makes Hydraloop so revolutionary? Let’s dive in.

with 🎙️ Sabine Stuiver – CMO & Co-Founder at Hydraloop

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When we think of world-changing entrepreneurs, names like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, or Bill Gates often come to mind. But there’s another one that deserves a spot on that list: Gary White. Along with his co-founder, the Hollywood superstar Matt Damon, Gary is transforming lives by addressing one of the most pressing global issues – access to clean water and sanitation.

Surprisingly, the engine driving this transformation is not an international governmental organization but a remarkably effective charity. Let’s explore the inspiring story of how Gary White’s innovative approach is reshaping the water crisis landscape:

with 🎙️ Gary White – Co-Founder & CEO of Water.org & Water Equity

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Imagine transforming the way we extract one of the most critical elements for our green future—lithium. This is where Adionics’ cutting-edge advancements and strategic pivots could reveal the company to be a game-changer in the Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) market.

Wanna learn more? Let’s dive into it:

with 🎙️ Gabriel Toffani – CEO at Adionics

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Imagine harnessing the power of nature to solve one of humanity’s most pressing challenges: water scarcity. That’s exactly what Aquaporin is doing with its groundbreaking technology. By mimicking the natural process of water transport in cells, Aquaporin is not only changing the game in water treatment but also setting new standards for… water entrepreneurship!

Wanna find more about one of the water sector’s Rockstars? Let’s explore Aquaporin’s path:

with 🎙️ Matt Boczkowski – CEO at Aquaporin

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Desalination has always been synonymous with high energy consumption and significant operational costs, but what if there was a way to make it more efficient and sustainable? Enter Ionic Solutions, a company that aims to revolutionize the desalination industry with its cutting-edge technology.

Let’s explore it:

with 🎙️ Jordan Grose – Vice-President of Commercialization at Ionic Solutions

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Water stewardship is a buzzword that’s often thrown around in corporate boardrooms and environmental conferences, but what does it truly mean? And more importantly, how do we ensure that companies’ commitments to water sustainability are not just empty promises? Let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of water stewardship, the necessity of standards, and how to measure real impact:

with 🎙️ Lauren Enright – Program Manager Water Services @ SCS Global Services

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When Megan Glover co-founded 120Water in 2016, she was driven by a personal mission sparked by the Flint water crisis. As a concerned consumer and a seasoned marketing executive, she saw a glaring gap in the accessibility of water quality testing for everyday people. Fast forward to 2024, and 120Water has transformed from a consumer-focused startup to a robust B2B company, scaling its customer base by 50 times in just four years!

This incredible journey is a testament to strategic pivots, innovative solutions, and a relentless focus on customer needs, let’s explore it:

with 🎙️ Megan Glover, CEO & Co-Founder at 120Water

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Ok, water scarcity and pollution are two of the biggest challenges our world faces today, right? So imagine a technology that could dramatically reduce energy consumption, cut water rejection, and make water reuse and resource recovery simpler and cheaper. Too niche? Too good to be true? Well, we should probably look at Salinity Solutions. Let’s dig in!

with 🎙️ Tim Naughton – CTO and Founder of Salinity Solutions

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Yes I know, we just entered the PFAS removal age, so why already looking on the horizon? Well, removal is great if we stop drinking PFAS. But if the concentrated waste stream goes to landfills (and pollutes soils) or gets burnt and sent to the atmosphere, where’s the win? We’ll inevitably enter the age of PFAS destruction down the line. And you know what, it might even be a profitable move!

Let’s explore it:

with 🎙️ Fajer Mushtaq – CEO & Co-Founder at Oxyle

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Peter Christou had a water membrane epiphany in his garage in Edmonton. But a terrible timing and some financial difficulties of one of his investors basically turned him… homeless, and in the need to steal food to survive. As Swirltex has since soared and proved its worth, let’s explore the full story:

with 🎙️ Peter Christou – President & Founder at Swirltex

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In the challenging yet ever-evolving world of water tech startups, sometimes what seems like a failure can pivot into a tremendous success story! Such is the tale of SimpleLab, who initially embarked on a mission to remove arsenic from drinking water, only to discover their true calling in revolutionizing lab logistics. Let’s explore it:

with 🎙️ Johnny Pujol – CEO & Co-Founder of SimpleLab & TapScore

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In the intricate Water Tech World we explore every week, Aqua Membranes has emerged as a pioneer, fundamentally altering how spiral wound membranes are constructed by replacing traditional netting spacers with innovative printed spacer technology. This seemingly simple switch carries profound implications not only for the efficiency and sustainability of water purification systems but also for the businesses and environments they serve.

Let’s explore it:

with 🎙️ Craig Beckman – CEO at Aqua Membranes

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In the landscape of environmental innovation, where necessity drives invention, Aclarity stands as a beacon of progress, particularly in the battle against per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This formidable challenge, rooted deeply in the domain of water purification, found a formidable adversary in Aclarity—a company that pivoted from consumer-focused solutions to spearheading advancements in PFAS destruction technology. At the helm of this transformative journey is Julie Bliss Mullen, a visionary CEO and founder, whose insights and leadership have steered Aclarity through its evolutionary path from B2C to a leader in the environmental sector’s fight against PFAS.

No wonder I wanted to get my insights straight from her, hence let’s explore PFAS destruction:

with 🎙️ Julie Bliss Mullen – CEO & Founder at Aclarity

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The journey to becoming a water tech unicorn is no small feat. Simply put: it had never been done… until Gradiant achieved that billion-dollar milestone last year. Today, we’re exploring that journey and the learnings that we can all take out from this:

with 🎙️ Prakash Govindan – Co-Founder and COO of Gradiant

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Venture capital (VC) has been the lifeblood of innovation across many sectors, propelling startups from garage projects to global giants. Yet, in the nuanced and critical sector of water and water technology, VC’s role is both celebrated and scrutinized. We’ve often covered here the VC’s point of view, let’s look at the other side of the coin today:

with 🎙️ Brian Iversen – Founder & Managing Partner @ Cimbria Capital

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In today’s rapidly changing environment, water resilience has emerged as a critical aspect of sustainable development and disaster preparedness. The frequency of natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and droughts underscores the importance of ensuring that water utilities can withstand and quickly recover from such events. This imperative is not just about managing a precious resource but also about safeguarding public health, supporting economies, and protecting ecosystems.

Against this backdrop, Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, stands out as a beacon of innovation and resilience. With a comprehensive approach to water resource management, Mekorot ensures the continuous supply of safe, high-quality water, even in the face of adversity.

The company’s efforts align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG6, which aims for the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, and SDG11, which focuses on making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

Mekorot’s success story is not just about its technological prowess but also about its commitment to resilience, sustainability, and global cooperation, let’s explore it:

with 🎙️ Yossi Yaacoby – Vice-President of Engineering at Mekorot

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In “Water For All” David Sedlak offers a compelling exploration of the multifaceted water crises facing our world today. At a time when pessimism could easily take hold, Sedlak encourages a different view—one of optimism and innovative problem-solving.

Through a detailed examination of past and present water crises, he provides a roadmap for overcoming the challenges posed by water scarcity, pollution, and climate change. As I wanted to dive deeper into Sedlak’s insights, focusing on how small-scale solutions could be the key to securing water for all in a rapidly changing world, I sat down with him on the mic. Here’s the result:

with 🎙️ David Sedlak – Professor at UC Berkeley & Author of Water 4.0 and Water for All

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In the wake of MrBeast’s impactful 100 Wells initiative, the spotlight has turned towards the critical issue of water development in rural areas, especially within the challenging landscapes of sub-Saharan Africa. While such high-profile projects ignite conversations and inspire action, understanding the complexities of providing clean, sustainable water supplies demands a deeper dive.

Enter experts like Sean Furey and Kerstin Danert, whose experiences and insights offer invaluable lessons in navigating the multifaceted challenges of rural water supply. let’s explore the essential do’s and don’ts in the realm of water development, paving the way for more effective and lasting solutions.

with 🎙️ Kerstin Danert – Founder & Director @ Ask for Water

with 🎙️ Sean Furey – Director @ Rural Water Supply Network

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Venture Capital has long been said to not be a fit with Water endeavors. As the water sector is deemed to be conservative, success stories in water entrepreneurship were thought to be unpredictable and irrational, hence impossible to invest in. Yet, with the rise of specialized funds such as Burnt Island Ventures, all these preconceptions may well be proven wrong.

In 2022, Tom Ferguson closed Burnt Island Venture’s first fund, with the thesis to find, fund and support the best water entrepreneurs. Did he succeed in these endeavors? Why? What’s the secret sauce? What can you replicate in your investing or entrepreneurship path?

Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ Tom Ferguson – Founder & Managing Partner @ Burnt Island Ventures

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Let me write that sentence I hate: water is essential for life. But beyond hydration, what if it also played a crucial role in enhancing public health? That’s the promise of micro-dosed lithium. This trace mineral, we usually associate with mining for the battery supply chain, is now being spotlighted for its potential health benefits when present in tap water.

Research suggests that areas with naturally higher levels of lithium in water might see notable reductions in suicide rates, violent crime, and even Alzheimer’s disease. In other words, it could turn a simple, everyday act of drinking water into a key to not just physical, but also mental well-being.

Let’s explore the evidence and implications of adding micro-dosed lithium to tap water and how it could represent a groundbreaking approach to public health.

with 🎙️ Sudhir Gadh – CEO & Founder @ Third Element Water

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In an era where technology seamlessly blends with daily life, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are not just buzzwords but pivotal tools reshaping industries. The water sector, the critical component of our environmental ecosystem you know so well, is no exception.

At the forefront of this technological revolution is True Elements, a company that’s introducing the concept of “water intelligence” by leveraging the power of AI. So today, let’s dive into how AI and machine learning are not just modernizing but revolutionizing water management strategies, providing deeper insights and smarter solutions for a sustainable future. As Kimberly Nelson tells in today’s release of the podcast (you’ll find just here ⬇️): “We are just at the beginning of people starting to appreciate and understand the importance of this kind of information and intelligence.”

Let’s dive deeper…

with 🎙️ Kimberly Nelson – COO @ True Elements

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In the face of escalating water scarcity and the pressing demand for sustainable solutions, the concept of water reuse has surged from a niche environmental concern to a central economic opportunity. No longer just a conversation about conservation, water reuse has evolved into a narrative of smart economics, where the value of reprocessed water is recognized not just in terms of environmental benefits, but also in cold, hard cash.

So why is this shift happening now? As industries, municipalities, and agricultural enterprises grapple with the financial burden of water acquisition and the risks of unpredictable supply, water reuse stands out as a beacon of efficiency and reliability. The economic incentives of the water reuse revolution are becoming too potent to ignore, promising not only cost savings but also a competitive edge.

After the social dynamics of water reuse earlier this (special) week, today we dive into the economics of water reuse, uncovering the incentives that are driving its adoption at an accelerating pace. We’ll explore how this revolution is not just sustaining the environment but also swelling the wallets of those who have the foresight to invest in it.

with 🎙️ Aaron Tartakovsky – CEO & Co-Founder @ Epic Cleantec

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In an era where water scarcity is becoming an increasingly pressing issue, the concept of water reuse should emerge as a beacon of hope. But while technological advancements have made water reuse a feasible solution, there’s a critical aspect that often goes overlooked – the social dynamics influencing its adoption.

Today, we’re looking at water reuse, not from a technological standpoint, but through the lens of societal, policy, and human behavior factors that play a pivotal role in its implementation and acceptance.

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

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Let’s face it: water is often taken for granted. Yet, behind every drop of clean and accessible water is an intricate network of water professionals dedicated to its management and preservation. The water industry, while crucial, is frequently overlooked when considering dynamic and rewarding career paths. Let’s explore the hidden potential and myriad opportunities within that water sector…

(Wanna get direct water job insights from a specialized head hunter? Then listen to this episode’s twin here)

with 🎙️ Kendra Morris – President Northeast Region at Veolia North America

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Happy New Year! With the start of a new year, it’s the perfect time to look at new job opportunities, especially in the water industry. This field is about to see a big change. Many experienced people are retiring, leaving room for new talent to step in. This change, often called the ‘silver tsunami,’ is a big deal for the water sector. But it’s not just about people leaving; it’s also about new chances for innovation and technology.

This is where you come in. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to shift gears in your career, the water industry offers exciting and important job opportunities. Let’s talk about all the changes happening in the water world and what they mean for jobs. From understanding the impact of retiring experts to the growing role of technology, we’ll (hopefully!) cover it all. If you’re curious about where a career in water can take you, read on!

(Wanna get direct water job insights while reading? Then listen to the dedicated podcast episode ⬇️)

with 🎙️ Lyle King – Owner & Director at Influx Search

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Let’s explore five paths a water professional can follow to reduce the water sector’s carbon impacts.

This year alone, I’ve traveled to six continents, I’ve taken 56 planes, and I’ve emitted nearly 12 tons of CO2 equivalent from that alone.

As I started having a hard time looking my kids in the eye and telling them I was doing all of that for good, I decided to compensate for my carbon emissions by planting trees! 

We’ve had that dead tree in the garden for two years now, so I could totally uproot and replace it with a couple of new ones and balance out my travels, right? 

So I looked up what gargantuan amount of CO2 a tree could absorb in a year to figure out how much I should plant in my garden, and… I have a problem.

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I dived into 23 years of M&A records in the Water Industry (and sat down with a bunch of first-hand experts 😉): 3 major trends stand out:

1️⃣ The most active players are American utility consolidators. Within the top 10 M&A fanatics, 6 respond to this description, and a 7th is also consolidating utilities (although not in the US).

2️⃣ There’s a new wave of “Water Tech Aggregators” that’s rising under the lead of SKion Water, Nijhuis Saur Industries and Evoqua Water Technologies.

3️⃣ 12 companies are playing the “Wayne Huizenga” game – super actively consolidating a very specific section of the water food chain.

with 🎙️ Tom Rooney – Chairman at Sciens Water

with 🎙️ Alex Buehler – CEO at Integrated Water Services

with 🎙️ Damian Georgino – Partner at Womble Bond Dickinson

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Dive into the microscopic world where Ginkgo Bioworks is redefining the boundaries of biotechnology, transforming cells into high-performance solutions for the water industry and beyond. In this episode, we unravel the revolutionary tech that’s turning biological cells into the next-generation toolkit for environmental sustainability.

with 🎙️ Kimberly Kupiecki – Senior Director at Gingko Bioworks

💧 Ginkgo Bioworks is the software company for biology, coding DNA to create custom cells that solve real-world problems.

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We’re diving deep into a topic that’s been swept under the rug for far too long: the media’s coverage of water issues – or lack thereof. Are journalists dropping the ball, or is the water sector failing to make its case?

with 🎙️ J. Carl Ganter – Managing Director at Circle of Blue

💧 Circle of Blue is an award-winning team of leading journalists, scientists, data experts, communications designers, and facilitators that reports challenges and solutions to global resource issues with emphasis on the fierce and growing competition between Water, food, and energy in a changing climate.

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It’s not the plastic straws! The greatest threat to the Oceans that’s living in all our homes is more discreet but much more harmful: it’s the washing machine. 30% of the plastic that enters the sea every year is actually microplastics, and a good chunk of it gets emitted when we wash synthetic fabric at home. What can and shall we do about it? Let’s find out:

with 🎙️ Adam Root – CEO & Founder at Matter

💧 Matter is an innovation company pioneering technology solutions for capturing, harvesting, and recycling microplastics

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What happens when chemistry meets purpose, and sustainability isn’t just a buzzword but a $500 million bet? That’s the riddle we dive into today, as water treatment is getting a revolutionary makeover—from purpose-driven chemistry to game-changing partnerships, all while making a bold leap into a bio-based future.

with 🎙️ Tuija Pohjolainen-Hiltunen – President Industry and Water Segment at Kemira

💧 Kemira markets safe and sustainable chemistries that are part of a good life, ensuring hygiene, safe water, food safety, and more.

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Let’s unpack Evoqua’s intricate approach to Open Innovation – a strategy that significantly optimizes technological adoption and capital efficiency. We’ll get an expert breakdown, offering insights into strategic intellectual property development, the nuances of their merger and acquisition strategies, and why the Product Vitality Index should become your next key performance indicator:

with 🎙️ Ann Perreault – Vice President for Strategic Marketing & Growth at Evoqua Water Technologies

with 🎙️ Joshua Griffis – Director of Technology & Innovation at Evoqua Water Technologies

💧 Evoqua is a global leader in helping municipalities and industrial customers protect and improve the world’s most fundamental natural resource: water

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You may recall how we covered the Xylem Innovation Labs’ inception last year with Sivan Zamir, which led to many questions as to how they actually work! Let’s open the hood and explore how Xylem scouts the best prospects, multiplies their commercial references by 10 and propels them to new heights all of that… without taking any equity. Crazy? Let’s review:

with 🎙️ Max Storto – Lead Innovation Analyst at 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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Is AI a force for good or a double-edged sword? In this comprehensive look, we’ll discuss everything from the ethics of AI to its transformative role in sustainability. Are you ready to understand the complexities of an “AI Sustainable Future?” Let’s dive right in:

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 had been with us for their first book “the Sustainability Puzzle,” and are back for an in-depth exploration of the AI world and its potential impact on Societal Progress and a Sustainable Future. Which is the topic of their second book: Fast Forward, written with Florian Schütz and Jeroen Dobbelaere.

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Mangrove Lithium started as a Water Technology play, yet it rapidly became evident that Lithium refining was an even stronger product market fit! Mangrove’s clever pivot was rapidly rewarded with a powerful business angel: Breakthrough Energy Ventures. What’s so sexy about electrochemical lithium refining that it attracted Bill Gates? Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ Saad Dara – CEO and Founder of Mangrove Lithium

💧 Mangrove Lithium produces battery-grade lithium hydroxide or carbonate from a wide array of raw sources

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Everybody wants to be the big dog one day! But how do you ensure staying on top once you’ve secured the number 1? That’s what we explore today, as we prove innovation to be key, at the intersection of membrane filtration, digital twins, and sustainability. Let’s wander the ever-evolving landscape of the global water industry and its pressing challenges, with a very special guide:

with 🎙️ Glenn Vicevic – CTO at Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions

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

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In a rapidly changing environment, how does a company that’s around for over two centuries ensure to stay on top of the game? How does an old unicorn work in symbiosis with a bubbling start-up ecosystem? How does it apprehend new tidal waves such as the lithium and EV revolution? Let’s find out:

(Also check my entire Lithium deep dive!)

with 🎙️ Andreas Müller – CEO at GF

💧 GF is a sustainability and innovation leader aiming to provide superior customer value across three Divisions enabling the safe transport of liquids and gases, lightweight casting components, and high-precision manufacturing technologies.

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Ready for an epic journey? Strap in as we rock’n roll from deep-down brine to powering our future through lithium! We’re plunging into the buzz around Direct Lithium Extraction and companies like Standard Lithium who are making magic happen. Water and lithium – it’s a wild ride, let’s follow our guide this week:

(Find out more with my entire Lithium deep dive.)

with 🎙️ Andy Robinson – President and COO of Standard Lithium

💧 Standard Lithium coins itself America’s 21st century Lithium Company. They’re expected to become the first lithium developer in the World to produce direct-extracted lithium at a commercial scale in El Dorado

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Humans are the third pillar of sustainability, and for too long, they’ve been left out of the equation of sustainable lithium production. So it’s about time to integrate all shareholders and first nations in particular in the lithium revolution discussion. How? Let’s explore:

(Also check my entire Lithium deep dive!)

with 🎙️ Christopher Brown – CEO at Helios Corporation

💧 Helios acknowledges that the World’s current trajectory is unsustainable and focuses its expertise in Energy, Power, Biomass, Capital Markets, and the latest environmental technology to achieve more, using less.

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Aquatech is in business for 40 years, yet it is on the verge of taking a new dimension through two spectacular contracts in lithium refining: Lithium America’s Thacker Pass and Controlled Thermal Resources’ Hell Kitchen. Couple it with the company’s rise in Water as a Service (30% of its revenue today, soon to reach 50%) and you’re in for an explosive mix! Is Aquatech an untold water unicorn? Let’s explore.

(Also check my entire Lithium deep dive!)

with 🎙️ Devesh Sharma – CEO at Aquatech

💧 Aquatech helps the world’s most recognized companies solve important water challenges such as lithium refining, desalination or food and beverage.

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Membrane filtration is a fast-moving scene striving for innovation and quite differentiated approaches. But has it ever been as disruptive as 3D-Printed spacers and graphene coating that puts performance on steroids? Let’s dive into one of the most fascinating takes on the matter in years:

(Also check my entire Lithium deep dive!)

with 🎙️ Chris Wyres – CEO at Evove

💧 Evove aims to take membranes to the next level, overcoming the inherent flaws in conventional architectures, hence transforming membranes, transforming separation, and filtration.

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Battery-grade lithium can have a significant carbon impact through its production, refining, and transport stages. Yet, an Australian company with a European project may well have found the solution with its Zero Carbon Lithium: Vulcan Energy Resources. And its product is flying off the shelves… years ahead of its actual production. How’s that possible? Let’s explore:

(Also check my entire Lithium deep dive!)

with 🎙️ Cris Moreno – Deputy CEO at Vulcan Energy Resources

💧 Vulcan aims to decarbonize the transition to electric mobility through its world-first Zero Carbon Lithium Projects for electric vehicle batteries and its renewable energy business.

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Have you ever heard of the Lithium King? That’s the title Shale Magazine gave to EnergyX’s founder and CEO, Teague Egan. So what got him that recognition? It could be the company’s patents along the entire battery supply chain, their differentiated direct lithium extraction technology, or the company’s claim that they offer the best complement to existing evaporation pond. Let’s find out!

(Also check my entire Lithium deep dive!)

with 🎙️ Teague Egan – CEO & Founder of EnergyX 

💧 EnergyX is on a mission to become a worldwide leader in the global transition to sustainable energy

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There’s a company that can boast having worked on turning any possible source of Lithium to battery grade: Veolia. How does the Water Giant double down as a lithium refinery builder? Let’s find out.

Find out more with my entire Lithium deep dive.

with 🎙️ Jim Rieke – VP of Process Engineering at Veolia Water Technologies

💧 Veolia Water Technologies specializes in water treatment solutions while providing a complete range of services for industrial & public authorities

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😮 Anaergia’s flagship asset, the Rialto Bioenergy Facility, just filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. What happened? What are the problems? What’s next? Let’s review ⬇

with 🎙️ Antoine Walter, Podcaster in Chief at GF Piping Systems

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Standard Lithium shall become the first company ever to run a Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) process at a commercial scale by the mid-decade in El Dorado, Arkansas. How did they manage to fast-track this project? Let’s dive into their DLE secrets.

Find out more with my entire Lithium deep dive.

with 🎙️ Robert Mintak – CEO of Standard Lithium

💧 Standard Lithium coins itself America’s 21st century Lithium Company. They’re expected to become the first lithium developer in the World to produce direct-extracted lithium at a commercial scale in El Dorado

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When you visit a foreign country, it’s often a smart move to start by getting the basics of language and culture. That’s our agenda for today: let us break down the fundamentals of lithium processes!

Find out more with my entire Lithium deep dive.

with 🎙️ Tony Strobbe – EV supply chain Projects Director

💧 Every Monday, Tony compiles a dedicated content piece he shares on LinkedIn that covers one aspect of that said supply chain

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Lithium Mining shall get from 500’000 tons per year to at least 2 if not 3 or 5 million tons by 2030. How will we get there? We’ll need a lot of planets to align… and heavy support from the Water Industry!

Find out more with my entire Lithium deep dive.

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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Water Companies can face a wide array of events: creation, expansion, profit, losses, and sometimes even death. Yet one specific change is maybe the most transformative: getting sold and transferred to a new owner. If that’s well documented for large water groups, it’s a much different story for smaller water companies: let’s explore it!

with 🎙️ Karl Michael Millauer, Founder of KMM Consulting and a former C-Level executive in some emblematic water groups like BWT, Christ Water Technology, Aquatech International, and Aquarion AG.

💧 KMM Consulting helps clients around the globe leverage opportunities in the world of water through mergers & acquisitions, finance & funding, business development, and strategic support.

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The top 10 risks ranked in the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report all relate to Water. If that’s not a sign that it is time to get your Water Risk Assessments right, I don’t know what is! Not convinced yet? Let’s dig further:

with 🎙️ Jennifer Möller-Gulland, Water Risk Expert and Water Economist for the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme

💧 Jennifer is the founder of the Water Risk Assessment Blueprint Training, a 12-week online course that helps water professionals to know the Water Risks, convince decision makers to consider and address them, be part of the solution, and accelerate their career.

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Zwitterions are weird beasts with two fascinating perks: being simultaneously positively and negatively charged turns them highly hydrophilic and very resistant to non-specific adhesion. Wouldn’t that make them the best special sauce to pump up a membrane filtration system? Let’s find out!

with 🎙️ Alex Rappaport, CEO and Co-Founder of ZwitterCo. 

💧 ZwitterCo leverages the benefits of Zwitterions to build Membranes that treat the world’s toughest wastewater. 

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When marketing focuses on “Promotion” only, it limits itself to 8% of its possible spectrum. And it has consequences! Product-market Fit, go-to-market strategies, or strategic directions for the company might suffer from that tropism on the last link in the tactics chain. Who is to blame? Most of the time, top management.

with 🎙️ Björn Otto, Founder, and Managing Director of Interius Solutions. 

💧 Interius Solutions supports Water Technology Companies with outsourced marketing solutions and a very special touch – it’s marketing done by water professionals that understand water technologies. 

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with 🎙️ Paul Gagliardo, Judge and advisor at Imagine H2O, and Principal at Gagliacqua.     

💧 Paul also runs the Water Entrepreneur, an incredibly good water podcast that is one of my personal favorites and which also turns out to be a family business as Paul will elaborate on later on in the conversation.

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Everybody predicted Water Wars would eventually happen one day, and for many places in the World, we’re far past the days where these conflicts would just be a concept. Yet, the scenes that we experienced in France over the past few days came as a surprise, in a water-rich first World country. What does it reveal?

with 🎙️ Antoine Walter, Podcaster in Chief at GF Piping Systems

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with 🎙️ Ben Kimura Gross, CEO of Systemics Academy, Negotiation Trainer, and Mentor.     

💧 At Negotiation with Goliath, Ben trains sustainability professionals and entrepreneurs to get decision-makers on their side and make your goals their goals.

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Ozone is a water technology that has been around for over a century. Its players are established (and entrenched), it’s a $1.4 billion sub-section of the disinfection sector, and it doesn’t seem to be much left for technical disruption. And maybe against the odds, it’s a fertile ground for a great entrepreneurial venture! How? Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ Michael Doran, President & Co-Founder of Aclarus Ozone.    

💧 Aclarus Ozone aims to solve complex water problems with advanced ozone technology.

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Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) provides a systematic framework to identify and assess environmental impacts associated with a product or service, including energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, waste generation, and as probably most interesting for us, water use.

Hence, LCA is a powerful decision-making tool that helps identify opportunities to reduce environmental impacts, improve efficiency, and promote circularity. Let’s explore it:

with 🎙️ Dubravka Skunca, LCA Representative and Expert for the European Commission, but also an SME Support leader at the European Regional Development Fund, Business Consultant, and Council Representative at various EIT groups.    

💧 Dubravka is also LCA Leader for Green Protein, a European project which aims at a major innovation in the fields of protein production and food loss reduction in the EU by producing high-added value, food-grade functional proteins, and other ingredients out of green field waste.

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Many decisions we make may look good on a small scale, yet as soon as we zoom out, we realize that they were the wrong choice in the end. That’s all fine when it’s about eating the last chocolate chunk in the box, but it’s an entirely different story when it comes to Water, its use, and its management worldwide! Why do we have so many wrong incentives? Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ Gonzalo Delacámara, Consultant on Natural Resources Economics for the United Nations and Water Policy Advisor for the OECD, the European Commission, and the World Bank   

💧 Gonzalo is also Director of the Center for Water & Climate Adaptation at IE University, aiming to reinvent education and train the people who will change the World tomorrow.

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Membrion is on track to become one of the loveliest success stories within the Water Industry. That’s everything but a coincidence: it is instead the result of a methodical build-up of the customer link. And you can actually steal this methodology today, as my guest rolls it out for you:

with 🎙️ Greg Newbloom, CEO and Founder of Membrion.   

💧 Membrion strives to help industrial water users who aren’t satisfied with processes that are thousands of years old, and who’ve been searching for a better and lower-cost way to recycle or reuse their wastewater.

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When we discuss the water crisis in America, we often focus on a certain section of the Water Cycle: residential water. Yet, that’s only a fraction of the challenge and probably not the one where water is valued the most. Indeed, could you imagine industrial production without water? That’s why it’s a risk, and the reaction to have once you acknowledge it is something we covered:

with 🎙️ Damian Georgino, Partner at Womble Bond Dickinson

💧 Womble Bond Dickinson is a leading law firm that provides support to organizations operating within the fast-moving, challenging, and dynamic energy, water, and food nexus.

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There are a lot of parameters to consider when planning infrastructure for today and the decades to come. It is a compound of existing assets, communities, social issues, vulnerabilities but also water and climate data. This is why democratizing access to all those datasets is so crucial to solving the water crisis in America! And we’ll get to understand how and why:

with 🎙️ Sarah Kapnick, Chief Scientist at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration

💧 The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) aims to enrich life through science. From the sun’s surface to the ocean’s depths, the Agency works to keep the public informed of the changing environment around them.

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15% of America’s water is already in private hands. For some, that’s a concern! For others (including me) that’s a proof of concept to ask for more. How could private capital help solve America’s water crisis? That’s what we’ll explore:

with 🎙️ Henry Cordes, Principal at Sciens Water

💧 Sciens is a research-driven investment fund that identifies uncovered, under-researched, or misunderstood water sector opportunities that are undercapitalized.

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How does an investor decide to fund a water technology or a water company? Are they sitting in a Shark Tank environment and following their instinct to make a decision in minutes? That’s very unlikely, right? Yet, you won’t know before you actually ask about the research and due diligence process. That’s what we explore this week:

with 🎙️ Meshal Alduraywish, Vice President at Sciens Capital Management

💧 Sciens is a research-driven investment fund that identifies uncovered, under-researched, or misunderstood water sector opportunities that are undercapitalized.

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

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There’s a treasure in the sewer, and we barely notice: wastewater and its pee and poo are an incredible source of water, energy, and a bunch of additional resources. Better: it could solve the World’s water needs and help balance the Zero Carbon energy equation. How? Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ Antoine Walter – Podcaster in Chief at (don’t) Waste Water

💧 (don’t) Waste Water is the Water Industry’s reference podcast pursuing this simple mission: Understand Water, Solve the World!

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At the exact point in time where governments are heavily investing in renewing their central water infrastructure, distributed water treatments still grow at a 3x faster pace! Does this mean we will soon all have a Water Filter ordered from Amazon and screwed under our sinks? Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ Upmanu Lall – Director of the Columbia Water Center

💧 The Columbia Water Center aims to creatively tackle water challenges of a rapidly changing world where water and climate interact with food, energy, ecosystems, and urbanization.

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

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If Climate Change was a shark, water would be its teeth – once we’ve said that, what happens? Not much. Still, 70% of Climate Change’s consequences will be felt through water. Isn’t it time to better prepare for Climate Change Adaptation? Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ Lauren Enright – Founder of Axiom Climate LLC

with 🎙️ Michael Stanley Gallisdorfer – Water Sustainability Strategist

💧 Lauren, Michael, and Indrani Pal will lead a Session Day at the upcoming American Geophysical Union Meeting in Chicago: “Adapting to Climate Change: Innovative Solutions for Building Water Resilience to Long-term Meteorological & Hydrological Change.”

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With 50’000 water and 35’000 wastewater utilities, the US Water Sector is highly scattered. This has consequences: 63 million Americans are potentially exposed to unsafe drinking water! This is where consolidation and especially the one happening on the smaller system’s level, sparks hope.

I got to meet with US’s largest consolidator – in less than a decade; they changed the fate of 800 distressed communities across ten states. Why, how, and for which results? What comes next? Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ Josiah Cox, founder and president of Central States Water Resources

💧 Central States Water Resources transforms how water utilities work by acquiring small, often non-compliant systems and then using expertise, technology, and innovation to quickly assess and turn them into reliable infrastructure.

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

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Philanthropic Capital could be the third source of investment the Water Sector desperately needed to find a balance. How will the blend of philanthropy into private funding and federal grants change the name of the game? Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ Sean Davis, founder and managing director of Merton Capital Partners, adjunct professor at the Palm Beach Atlantic University, and Author of “Solving the Giving Pledge Bottleneck.”

💧 Merton Capital Partners develops innovative investment strategies to unlock philanthropy’s potential by incentivizing corporations to generate large-scale good in their core businesses.

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

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The Water Challenge is three-dimensional. We face broken pipes, broken policies, and broken economics! Yet, if we get to the bottom of it, the economic one seems to be the root cause of all the other problems. What if Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs actually explained it? That’s what we’ll uncover:

with 🎙️ Tom Rooney – Chairman and Operating Partner at Sciens Water

💧 Sciens is a research-driven investment fund that identifies uncovered, under-researched, or misunderstood water sector opportunities that are undercapitalized.

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

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De Nora Water Technologies entered the water business in 2015 – with a bang. Under the lead of Mirka Wilderer (since 2019), the company further grew up to a successful IPO in July 2022. What’s to learn from it? What’s on De Nora’s and Mirka’s plate for the next months and years? Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ Mirka Wilderer – CEO at De Nora Water Technologies

💧 De Nora is a leading provider of equipment, systems, disinfection, and filtration solutions for water and wastewater treatment.

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

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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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Patrick Decker became Xylem’s CEO in 2014. At the time, the company was a renowned product supplier in the Water Industry. Yet under its lead, Xylem further expanded to become a solution provider fostering and nurturing its surrounding ecosystem.

Patrick was kind enough to spend some time with me to review some of the hot topics in our sector, yet he was awaited on stage for a speech, so we had to be fast. Yet it was such as pleasant experience (as you’ll discover) that I’ll make sure to bother him a bit to back for a deeper dive!

with 🎙️ Patrick Decker – CEO at Xylem

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

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

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New York City did a bold move in the 1990s by betting on Nature-Based Solutions to protect its drinking water quality. Yet new challenges arise: how can nature help the Big Apple on its path to Climate Change adaptation? Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ Paul Gallay – Lecturer & Co-Director at the Columbia Climate School

💧 Columbia University is a global leader in climate and sustainability education, aiming to bring an interdisciplinary knowledge base for future climate leaders to work with businesses, communities, governments, and civil society to address the climate crisis.

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

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Climate Change recalls us every day how important it is for the World to accelerate on its path to decarbonization. Today, the Water Industry is everything but carbon neutral: yet this could change today and at scale if we do it right! How? With a carbon-negative fuel.

You already know that fuel: we’re talking about biomethane. But with a twist! By leveraging synergies across a city’s departments, biomethane production can grow on steroids at scale and today. How can waste and wastewater better work together? Let’s explore:

with 🎙️ Kunal Shah – Chief Growth Officer at Anaergia and council member of the World Biogas Association, the Singapore Water Association, and Imagine H2O Asia.

💧 Anaergia ambitions to convert waste into a carbon-negative fuel for a sustainable future.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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