Podcasts about water industry

How did HG Ventures quietly become one of the most active water tech investors on the planet, without even calling itself a water VC?HG Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of The Heritage Group, a 100-year-old, family-owned Indianapolis conglomerate active in asphalt, quarries, environmental services and specialty chemicals. With $350M in assets, the fund deploys around $50M a year across 41 portfolio companies and 7 sectors, and ranks 5th globally in water tech by deal count despite water being only 18% of its thesis.Ginger Rothrock holds a PhD in chemistry from UNC Chapel Hill, co-founded the NASDAQ-listed pharmaceutical company Liquidia, was promoted to Managing Director of HG Ventures in December 2025, and is a Global Corporate Venturing Rising Star and Kauffman Fellow with deep expertise in industrial water, industrial wastewater treatment, and corporate venture capital in cleantech.

In this episode of the Pumps & Systems podcast, we're speaking with Guy Voss, president of the Water Collaborative Delivery Association (WCDA). He's going to tell us about collaborative delivery methods in the water industry - what they are, why they're useful and how you can learn more. Tune in the first Wednesday of every month for new episodes of the podcast! Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PEB0hAqACDQ Pumps & Systems Podcast homepage: https://www.pumpsandsystems.com/podcast/ Pumps & Systems Magazine: http://www.pumpsandsystems.com Opening music: Know Myself - Patrick Patrikios Closing music: Freeling - Lauren Duski

The First Water Sector Unicorn Wants to IPO. But Wall Street kinda forgot how to buy water... Early-stage water tech funding quadrupled in seven years. Private equity's share of water M&A doubled in a decade, with a record 165 PE-led acquisitions in a single year. The bench of PE-owned water platforms grew from 42 companies in 2015 to nearly 600 in 2025. And the sector just minted its first twice-unicorn - Gradiant - with a Series E at a $2 billion valuation on Day 1 of the Global Water Summit 2026! So, will Gradiant IPO?Four all-time highs at once... but the fifth dimension - the public market - went the other way. IPOs in the 2020s are a pale echo of the 2010. So I flew to Madrid to ask the people building the machine (the VCs, the PE platforms, the strategics, the bankers, the entrepreneurs) a single question: is this closed-loop water-capital machine a feature of a mature sector, or a $300 billion pressure cooker about to crack?

 Communication shapes how teams learn, respond, correct, and build trust. Trace Blackmore, CWT welcomes returning guest Paule Genest, Director, Sales and ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) Water and Energy TGWT / The Tannin Guys for a conversation on positive communication, temperaments, the WOW Effect, and how water professionals can use words with more clarity and care.    Communication With a Positive Impact  Paule reframes positive communication as communication with a positive impact. The goal is not fake positivity or polished language. The goal is to use the right words, tone, timing, and listening habits to create better emotional and relational outcomes.  That distinction matters in technical environments. Teams may say they want innovation, accountability, safety, or trust, but unclear or defensive communication can unintentionally create the opposite result. Paule reminds listeners that communication is not optional. It is operational.    Listening, Temperaments, and Shared Definitions  Trace and Paule revisit the temperament framework made familiar to Scaling UP! Nation through Kathleen Edelman's past appearances. Paule identifies herself as a "yellow," while Trace identifies as a "red," creating a useful example of how different communication styles can either complement or frustrate one another.  They also discuss why listening is more than waiting to respond. Paule encourages listeners to pay attention to words, nonverbal cues, context, environment, and emotion. She also emphasizes the importance of shared definitions. A word like "innovation," "courage," or "accountability" may not mean the same thing to every person in the room.    The Fizz Factor  Paule introduces the idea of "just enough fizz" in communication. Fizz is the energy, care, authenticity, and clarity that makes communication feel alive without becoming fake, overwhelming, or unclear.  Too little fizz can make communication flat. Too much can create noise. The professional challenge is learning how much energy, directness, empathy, and clarity the person and the situation require.    When Communication Gets Difficult  The conversation also addresses harder moments: tension in meetings, emotional escalation, apologies, safety corrections, and urgent technical situations. Paule encourages professionals to pause, breathe, validate, and revisit conversations when needed.  In a boiler room or safety-critical setting, direct communication may be necessary immediately. However, Trace and Paule agree that teams can still return later to review what happened, protect the relationship, and improve the system.  Better communication does not remove difficulty from technical work. It helps professionals handle difficulty with more clarity, humility, and purpose.  Listen to the full conversation above. Explore related episodes below. Stay engaged, keep learning, and continue scaling up your knowledge!    Timestamps  01:17 — Trace shares information about the Global 6K for Water and invites listeners to participate on Saturday, May 16. 02:20 — Trace introduces the episode topic: why clear, positive communication matters during busy seasons filled with projects, audits, customer calls, emails, and coordination. 03:28 — Words of Water with James McDonald 05:03 — Trace encourages listeners to visit the Scaling UP! H2O events page and highlights the 2026 Environment Systems Research Institute Conference in San Diego, California, July 13–17. 06:33 — Trace previews Legionella Awareness Month in August and explains why the podcast dedicates the month to Legionella, waterborne pathogens, expert interviews, and industry education. 08:29 — Trace introduces Industrial Water Week, taking place October 5–9, with daily themes for pretreatment, boilers, cooling, wastewater, and careers. 09:45 — Trace announces the return of Detective H2O during Industrial Water Week and reminds listeners why the week is designed to celebrate the industrial water treatment profession. 10:42 — Trace sets up the main interview by identifying miscommunication as a common professional challenge and introducing the need for better communication. 11:17 — Trace welcomes returning guest Paule Genest of TGWT Clean Technologies Inc. and references her previous appearances on Episode 192 and Episode 380 12:31 — Paule shares what she has been focused on since her last appearance, including growing relationships, improving communication, and supporting the water technologies community. 13:47 — Paule discusses her podcast-style work with power engineers and boiler operators, created to bring visibility to professionals who are often overlooked. 14:40 — Paule shares her work as an adjunct teacher at the University of Montreal, where her class on social responsibility and PR has become a required course. 15:23 — Paule talks about the Women of Water community, mentoring Abigail Coquette, and the value of documenting mentorship experiences for future learning. 16:05 — Trace reflects on an AWT Colorado Springs panel with baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z, showing how different generations respond to the same communication questions. 17:01 — Paule explains how she has learned to organize her communication around the listener and the message she wants them to take away. 18:30 — Trace introduces temperaments, with Paule identifying as yellow and Trace identifying as red, and connects the discussion to Kathleen Edelman's communication work. 19:31 — Trace explains why communication should be shaped for the recipient, using his Gen Z son and punctuation in text messages as an example. 19:54 — Paule explains that positive communication is not simply the opposite of negative communication, but a way of choosing words that influence emotional and relational outcomes. 21:40 — Paule emphasizes listening as an art and encourages professionals to pay attention to words, nonverbal cues, context, environment, and emotion. 22:43 — Paule explains why shared definitions matter, using "innovation" as an example of a word that may mean different things to different people. 23:54 — Paule discusses how people bring past experiences into present conversations and references I'm Okay, You're Okay and the child, parent, and adult framework. 26:00 — Trace asks Paule to explain her idea of "just enough fizz" in communication. 26:09 — Paule defines fizz as the energy, care, authenticity, vulnerability, and positive impact that help communication become more effective. 28:14 — Paule introduces the Fizz Factor Quiz and walks Trace through possible responses when tension rises in a team meeting. 29:29 — Paule compares communication styles to still water, espresso, sparkling water, and kombucha, helping listeners visualize different ways people show up in conversation. 30:30 — Paule explains the importance of speaking truth with empathy, checking tone and timing, and acknowledging how a message is received. 31:40 — Trace shares the example of a communication stick, where one person speaks until the other can accurately reflect what was said. 34:07 — Paule explains how to step back during emotional conversations by breathing, noticing physical cues, and returning to a listening mode. 37:10 — Paule reframes positive communication as "communication with a positive impact," focusing on the outcome it creates for both parties. 40:02 — Trace explains the three-part apology: acknowledging what happened, connecting with how it affected the other person, and asking how to make it right. 41:01 — Paule connects social responsibility with communication and explains why the outcome needs to be positive for both parties in a dialogue. 42:11 — Paule describes the communication model of speaker, listener, message, environment, noise, context, and feedback. 45:21 — After the sponsor break, Trace explains a question he uses when communication does not land as intended: "What did you just hear me say?" 45:55 — Paule suggests rating meetings and conversations by asking what each person felt, understood, and took away. 46:34 — Trace asks how communication changes in urgent safety situations, such as a boiler room issue that could lead to equipment failure or injury. 46:59 — Paule explains that direct safety communication may be necessary in the moment, but the team should revisit the conversation later to learn and preserve the relationship. 48:37 — Trace returns to the idea of "just enough fizz" and asks how to know whether the fizz is for the speaker, the listener, or the situation. 48:53 — Paule explains that fizz should respect both people, the situation, and the communication style of the other party. 50:47 — Paule shares how Melanie helped her realize that poetic communication still needs a clear action or outcome. 53:06 — Paule introduces Mathieu Laferrière's Feel, Know, Do approach as a practical structure for communication and email writing. 55:43 — Trace asks whether fizz works in email, where tone, facial expression, and visual cues are missing. 56:07 — Paule explains how to adapt the Feel, Know, Do structure for different temperaments, especially when writing to more direct communicators. 57:08 — Paule encourages listeners to ask people how they prefer to communicate, whether by email, text, Messenger, or another channel. 58:31 — Trace raises a practical technical example, asking whether fizz matters when simply reporting that a pump was out of prime. 58:54 — Paule explains that fizz is part of the experience and can still be present in technical updates through clarity, usefulness, and a human touch. 01:00:38 — Trace shares advice he received early in podcasting: it is okay to be impressed, but you have to be involved. 01:02:33 — Paule summarizes her key message: positive communication is not optional, it is operational. 01:03:15 — Paule begins the lightning round by creating a friendship holiday centered on writing a letter to yourself and to a friend. 01:04:52 — Paule shares her mantra, "Life is fragile," and connects it to people, the environment, Mother Nature, and water. 01:06:50 — Paule explains why she wishes more people understood the importance of boiler operators and power engineers. 01:10:21 — Trace summarizes the main lesson from the conversation: positive communication requires intentionally chosen words that help the other person understand the message. 01:11:16 — Trace explains how past experiences can shape miscommunication and why choosing words carefully can remove some of the "gray" in communication. 01:12:07 — Trace reflects on generational communication differences and encourages listeners to give others more grace.   Quotes "Be calm. Make sure your antennas are open and grab whatever is happening with the words, but also the nonverbal communication, the context, the environment."  "I would like to say that communication is not optional. It's operational."  "To be clear and check you know on our tone and timing, I've had to learn about my timing this year in hard ways."  "don't let kindness cloud the core message."    Connect with Paule Genest Phone: (514) 703-4317  Email: pgenest@tgwt.com  Website: TGWT: About | LinkedIn  LinkedIn: Paule (Paula) Genest, PRP, APR, Fellow CPRS, MCPRS | LinkedIn    Guest Resources Mentioned   The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting: Raising Children with Courage, Compassion, and Connection by Brené Brown PhD LMSW   Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well by Douglas Stone (Author), Sheila Heen (Author)   I'm OK--You're OK: The Pioneering and Bestselling Self-Help Guide by Thomas Harris   Paule-Cast     Scaling UP! H2O Resources Mentioned  AWT (Association of Water Technologies)  Scaling UP! H2O Academy video courses  Submit a Show Idea  The Rising Tide Mastermind   192 The One With The Best Marketing Expert In The Water Treatment Industry  380 The WOW Effect: Women Leading Transformation in the Water Industry  117 The One With Temperament Expert, Kathleen Edelman   179 Another One that Teaches Us to Communicate Better with Others  281 The One About The Power of Kindness    Words of Water with James McDonald Today's definition is an electrochemical form of corrosion that occurs when two dissimilar metals are in electrical contact with each other in the presence of an electrolyte. Can you guess the word or phrase?    2026 Events for Water Professionals  Check out our Scaling UP! H2O Events Calendar where we've listed every event Water Treaters should be aware of by clicking HERE. 

On April 30, 2026, CRH plc (NYSE: CRH) announced a $700 million agreement to acquire Axius Water from KKR and XPV Water Partners - instantly making the Irish-American building materials giant one of the largest water infrastructure players in North America. If CRH acquires Axius, what's next?Most investors missed it, so I thought I'd decode it! Here are the 10 things you need to see.So you got it, CRH acquires Axius. Here's the deal in 30 seconds: • Buyer: CRH plc - a $77B market cap building materials company most water investors don't track • Target: Axius Water - a wastewater treatment platform built by KKR and XPV Water Partners through a multi-year roll-up • Price: $700M (reported) • Sellers: KKR (Global Impact Fund) and XPV Water Partners • Strategic logic: bolts wastewater treatment onto CRH's existing water infrastructure portfolio (Hydro International, Oldcastle Infrastructure) What's actually new here - and why it matters for water investors: 00:00 - On your Bingo Card? 02:30 #1: The Cast07:35 #2: The Substance11:40 #3: The Number16:23 #4: The Timing20:54 #5: The Macro Reality24:40 #6: The Credibility28:26 #7: Inside the Platform32:28 #8: The Synergy Story35:17 #9: The Risks39:58 #10: The Sector Signal

Every analyst, every think tank, every consulting deck has an opinion on AI's water footprint (and overall on AI and Water)But nobody bothered to ask the people actually watching the videos, posting the comments, and shaping the narrative. You'd need to be mad to do that, right?So I read 2,540 of them.

Everyone says AI is drinking the planet dry, right? Well, the numbers say your morning coffee uses 29,600× more water than a ChatGPT prompt! In this episode, I sit down with Alex Passini to pressure-test the dominant narrative around AI's water footprint - and what we found completely flips the story the media is telling. Here's what most "AI water crisis" headlines miss: → A single ChatGPT prompt uses roughly 16 milliliters of water. One cup of coffee uses ~140 liters when you count the beans. That's a 29,600× gap. → Of the water a hyperscale data center consumes, ~75% isn't used by AI at all — it's used upstream for the energy that powers it. Blame the grid, not the GPU. → One banana = ~6,250 ChatGPT prompts. One almond = ~12 prompts. The water-per-prompt math is rounding-error territory next to your lunch. → Florida already reuses 800 million gallons/day of treated wastewater. Data centers aren't the threat - they're an accelerant for the water reuse capex the sector has been waiting twenty years for. If you're an investor trying to figure out whether AI's water story is a real thesis or a media artifact, this episode gives you the framework (and the numbers) to decide.

Who Buys the First Data Center Water Company? And When Does the Repricing Start? Data center water treatment is a $1.1 billion market growing nearly 15% per year, with 60% of spending recurring - generating an "infinite money glitch" for the righty designed water tech companies. So, strategic buyers, private equity sponsors, and VC-backed platforms are racing to consolidate water tech expertise. Meanwhile, hyperscalers spending $50 billion a year on infrastructure have made zero water acquisitions... for how long?

What Is the Real Water Problem Behind AI Data Centers - and Where Is the $1.3 Billion Opportunity? AI Water seems to concern everybody, while data center water treatment is the fastest-growing industrial water vertical in the world - $1.35 billion in 2025, growing at 13.3% per year. But the media is chasing the wrong story. The real problem isn't consumption volume — it's the concentrated industrial wastewater that cooling towers produce. This episode maps the opportunity most investors are missing. A

Why Did a Broke Football Club Owned by Gucci's Family Invest Millions in Water Reuse? Stade Rennais, the French football club owned by the Pinault family behind Kering (Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta...), buried a €1.5 million closed-loop water system under its renovated La Piverdière training complex in February 2025. This investment, during French football's worst financial crisis, reveals a widening gap between what water costs and what water is truly worth - using water reuse as its vehicle.

How Much Does The USA Really Need to Fix Its Water Infrastructure? And Why Is Nobody Talking About the Real Number? (Hint: the US EPA has it wrong!)I built a bottom-up predictive model spanning 32 federal datasets, 433,000 water systems, and 15.1 million regulatory violations to determine the true cost of bringing US water infrastructure back to shape. The answer: $3.9 trillion over twenty years (that's three times the EPA's official estimate of $1.25 trillion)

In this episode of the Pumps & Systems podcast, we're speaking with Kevin Lysyk, chief technology officer of Aquatic Informatics, who's going to tell us about AI and digital twins in the water industry. Tune in the first Wednesday of every month for new episodes of the podcast! Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/i7NV3pnrt70 Opening music: Know Myself - Patrick Patrikios Closing music: Freeling - Lauren Duski

Can Europe's Sewage Plants Replace Russian Gas? (aka: the €1.9 Billion Biomethane Opportunity) Europe's wastewater treatment plants are sitting on a massive untapped energy reserve. With the right upgrades, roughly 1,900 facilities across Europe could produce 13.4 billion cubic meters of biomethane per year — matching Russia's remaining pipeline gas deliveries in 2024. Let me break down the economics, the technology, and the investment landscape driving this shift.

How Did Pierre Côté Build Two Unicorn Water Technologies - and Why Is He Now Betting on Algae? Pierre Côté is arguably the most successful water technology inventor alive. With over 100 patents across four decades, he created ZeeWeed (the membrane that launched the $3.63 billion MBR market) and co-invented ZeeLung (anchoring the ~$500 million MABR market). Now in his seventies, he's co-founded AlgaFilm Technologies to tackle nutrient removal with algae biofilm.

Can 4 Volts of Electricity Replace 60 Bars of Pressure in Seawater Desalination? ilion Water Technologies is a 2025 spinout from the Physics Laboratory of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Their VIRO (Voltage-Induced Reverse Osmosis) technology claims to replace the high-pressure pump train in seawater desalination with an alternating electric field applied to engineered composite membranes, operating at atmospheric pressure.

As we move towards Total Systemic Change, shifting from the death cult of predatory capitalism towards a future we'd actually be proud to leave behind, our absolute baseline non-negotiable foundations must be Clean Air, Clean Water, Clean Soil. We talk a lot about regenerative agriculture on this podcast, and how we can rebuild living soils from the inert growing media we've created in the hellscapes of Industrial Agriculture.  One day, we'll talk about Clean Air.  Today, we're talking about water, that utterly essential part of our biological and spiritual lives.  It should be clean. It should be safe to drink, to swim in, for us and all the species with whom we share our beautiful blue pearl of a watery planet. As we all know… it's not.  It's not because our system values profit over the vibrancy of life. It's not because people in suits have found that if they treat our rivers as open sewers and our oceans as waste dumps they can get away with it.  It's not because for too long, we've believed the stories that say there is no alternative and this is the way the world has to be. But the masks are coming off and activism is increasingly being seen as an act of radical, necessary resistance that can bring people together, bridging across the false, toxic cultural divides that the establishment creates so that we fight ourselves instead of working towards a world founded on different values.  The push for clean water is one of the most unifying drives we have.  It doesn't matter where you are on the political spectrum, you don't vote for sewage to be poured into the rivers, for the dead zones in the oceans to grow and join up, for the rain to be full of forever toxins so that some suit in a company C-suites can buy themselves a new private jet and an invitation to Jeffrey Epstein's private parties. In the UK, we're in an almost unique position because back in the 80s, Margaret Thatcher saw Pinochet privatising the water and sewage companies in Chile and decided this was a fine idea and imported it wholesale to the UK. Our water and sewage companies were privatised at a steal in 1989 and pretty much everyone is agreed this is an incredibly bad idea. Except successive governments.  So people got together and formed their own activist groups based around the rivers near them - there's always at least one - and they are conducting citizen science, holding people's assemblies and generally making enough of a nuisance of themselves that those in power have to take notice.  All this being the case, it's World Water Day on March 22nd every year and this year - we're recording in 2026 for those of you who listen years later - we're talking to Claire Kirby co-founder of Up Sewage Creek and a member of the Sewage Campaign Network.  I first met Claire when my last dog was young - so nearly 20 years ago.  She has a degree in Environmental Science from King's College London and then went on to become a Pet Behaviour Specialist who used to run rather wonderful puppy training classes.  In 2020, following an episode of this podcast, she undertook a training with Trust the People and went on to co-found Up Sewage Creek, an activist group based around the River Severn in Shrewsbury on the borders between England and Wales.  More recently, she has become an active part of the Sewage Campaign Network and is actively campaigning against the latest Government White Paper on the Water Industry which as much of a greenwash/whitewash as you'd expect.  This was a lively conversation, a lot of it focussed on the situation in England, mainly because we live here and it's pretty bad.  But wherever you are in the world, you have water somewhere near you and I guarantee it's not clean - and there will be people around you who care that it become cleaner.  Clearly if you're in a war zone, even if it's an as-yet undeclared civil war, this is not your highest priority and I really do want to honour the people of Minnesota, Maine and Oregon who are taking to the streets in freezing weather to face the Terrorist gangs unleashed by the US government. You have other things to think about than the quality of your water, though not far away in Flint, Michigan, there is one of the most egregious failures of local politics ever to express itself in the quality of the water, so this is clearly a universal problem.   We each do what we can. For those of us not facing pepper spray, uniting our communities so that nobody is ever prepared to join up to the government's shock troops might be the front line.  If testing water is your thing, please do it.  And to find out how and why to connect and converge, let's talk to Claire Kirby of Up Sewage Creek. LinksWorld Water Day https://www.unwater.org/our-work/world-water-dayCastCo https://castco.org/Trust the People https://www.trustthepeople.earth/Top of the Poops (!)  - to help you connect with your MP https://top-of-the-poops.org/constituenciesSewage Campaign Network https://www.sewagecampaignnetwork.org.uk/Up Sewage Creek https://www.upsewagecreek.com/USC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/upsewagecreekhttps://www.windrushwasp.org/single-post/new-vision-for-water-a-mirage-or-worse?cid=1dfba32d-7702-4cde-974a-08a8580126ffLeft Foot Forward Article https://leftfootforward.org/2026/01/public-ownership-of-water-is-the-only-way-to-deliver-security-efficiency-investment-and-value-for-money/National Security Briefing on BioDiversity Loss in the UK https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nature-security-assessment-on-global-biodiversity-loss-ecosystem-collapse-and-national-securityOther Accidental Gods water-related podcasts River Dôn Project Tim Smedley 'The Last Drop'BooksDrinkable Rivers - https://drinkablerivers.org/drinkable-rivers-book/About Accidental Gods If you'd like to support us, come along and join the Accidental Gods Membership. Here, you can share in the ideas, the programme that will help you connect to the Web of Life in ways that will last—and you can come to the Gatherings half price. Or if that doesn't appeal, come along to one of the Gatherings. Or buy a subscription/Gathering for a friend... do something that feels like a good exchange of energy and minimises our connection with old economic paradigm. Remember that if any of this is difficult, contact us and we'll find something that works for you. Details below: We offer three strands all rooted in the same soil, drawing from the same river:

Why Are Water Testing Methods Dangerously Outdated - And What's the Fix?Tired of stitching together Crunchbase, overpriced reports, and "a guy who knows a guy"? I built the fix. 50 Founder Seats. Join the waitlist: leviathandata.io

How Did H2O Innovation Build a Water Empire Through 18+ Acquisitions (M&A) and What Happens Now Under Private Equity?More #water insights? Get my free mapping of 267 water investors here: https://investors.dww.show

How is Cycle H2O (a new Water VC) De-Risking Early Stage Water Tech Investment?More #water insights? Get my free mapping of 267 water investors here: https://investors.dww.show

What Wastewater Products Can You Actually Buy for Christmas?

How Will Ovivo Rebuild to Full Size in 10 Years After the Ecolab Deal?

How Is Aqua Membranes Scaling 3D-Printed Water Membranes Spacers from Garage Startup to 200,000 Square Foot Manufacturing Facility? Let's find out!More #water insights? Connect with me on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoinewalter1/

Can Cloud Harvesting Revolutionize Water Production? A Deep Dive into AirHES Technology

Get stuck in – Michael Bourgeois, CWT How do standards get written in ways that working water treaters can actually meet? In this conversation, AWT Past President, current Related Trade Organization (RTO) Committee Chair, and Chemco Products Company Operations Manager, Michael Bourgeois CWT, explains how AWT's liaisons collaborate with peer organizations, so guidance reflects field reality—operations, risk, and achievable compliance.  From Field Bags to Board Rooms: Why RTOs Matter  Bourgeois outlines the purpose of AWT's RTO structure: volunteer liaisons track and influence work at groups whose missions overlap with industrial water—CTI, ABMA, ASHRAE, AWWA, ASHE, and others. The aim is simple and practical: make sure member voices are heard so guidance advances health outcomes (e.g., Legionella control) and day-to-day feasibility for service providers and suppliers.  Turning Reaction into Proaction  Historically, the industry learned about new rules after they landed. Bourgeois details how AWT is shifting to co-authoring cooling-water guidelines with CTI and re-engaging ABMA, so boiler-water limits and methods reflect current technologies and operations. The model: clarify shared goals, contribute content expertise, and formalize collaboration so members get usable documents at member pricing.  Concrete Moves: Boiler Water, Healthcare, and More  Examples include AWT's role on ABMA's Boiler Expo steering committee (with a focused water-treatment training block) and early conversations with ASHE on pathogen control in building and healthcare water systems. He describes how liaisons feed updates into a formal committee cadence, so the AWT Board and members see progress—not just headlines.  When working professionals help write the playbook, outcomes improve clients, operators, and public health—and members stop "reacting" to standards they had no hand in shaping.  Listen to the full conversation above. Explore related episodes below.   Stay engaged, keep learning, and continue scaling up your knowledge!     Timestamps   00:02:28 - Trace Blackmore shares his AWT excitement & community shout-outs  00:05:16 - Water You Know with James McDonald  00:06:44 - The magic of the Scaling Up buttons (why & how to use them)  00:20:25 - North Metal Quarterly Magazine (Grab physical copy by visiting Booth 212)  00:27:00 - Interview starts: Mike Bourgeois (Chemco; AWT Past President; RTO Chair)  00:33:58 - What is the RTO Committee and why it exists  00:36:31 - The 10 formal collaborators + 4–6 informal  00:36:43 - AWWA/ASDWA (Joe Hannigan); Premise plumbing link  00:38:19 - ASHE (healthcare engineering) early wins (Reid Hutchinson)  00:38:47 - ABMA (boilers) momentum (Steve Jobin) + Women of Boilers  00:40:28 - CTI (Mike); CDC (Patsy Root); WEF (Brian Liotta)  00:40:46 - AMPP (formerly NACE) (Jay Farmerie); WQA (Chuck Hamrick)  00:41:19 - ASHRAE (Bill Pearson) & the impact on Std 188  00:45:26 - Principle: Be proactive so standards are achievable for members  00:47:34 - Boiler Expo: half-day on water treatment (economics, pretreatment, failures, regs)  00:50:56 - Where to learn about RTO work  00:54:19 - Volunteers needed: attributes of great liaisons  00:58:48 - Breakthrough: ABMA boiler water guideline refresh (toward ASME alignment)  01:01:02 - Potential collaboration with ASHE on pathogen control guidance  01:01:39 - What Mike's most excited to see at the Broadmoor  01:02:22 - Mike's session: new OSHA walk-around rules  01:02:51 - Theme of the conversation: "Get stuck in" (join committees)    Quotes  "The button is magic—it breaks the ice for you and starts real conversations."  "Talk to every single booth. A year from now, you'll remember exactly who can help."   "RTO stands for Related Trade Organization—our way to shape the standards that shape us."   "Why write a standard no one can achieve? AWT's role is to make it achievable."   "If you want to help AWT, get stuck in. Volunteer. It pays back 10 to 100-fold."   "AWT's RTO liaisons keep members' interests represented before rules and guidelines are finalized—so they're practical and achievable."  "Look for committees aligned with your strengths."    Connect with Michael Bourgeois Email: mbourgeois@chemcoprod.com   Website: Home | Chemco Products Company  LinkedIn: Michael Bourgeois, CWT | LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/company/chemco-products-company/     Guest Resources Mentioned   ABMA's Boiler Water Quality Requirements and Associated Steam Quality for Industrial/Commercial and Institutional Boilers  Atlas Shrugged (Centennial Ed.) Hardcover – April 21, 2005 by Ayn Rand  AWT Committee  AWT Get Involved  Cancer Ward: A Novel (FSG Classics) Paperback – April 14, 2015 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Author)  Cooling Technology Institute (CTI)  Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas--Not Less Hardcover – by Alex Epstein   Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design Paperback – Illustrated, June 22, 2010 by Stephen C. Meyer  WTG-126: The Use of Non-Oxidizing Biocides in Cooling Water Systems    Scaling UP! H2O Resources Mentioned  380 The WOW Effect: Women Leading Transformation in the Water Industry  447 Unlocking Team Potential with Culture Index with Randi Fargen  ASHE's "Water Management in Health Care Facilities: Complying with ASHRAE Standard 188"  ASPE's Engineering Methodologies to Reduce the Risk of Legionella in Premise Plumbing Systems  ASSE 12080 Training & Certification, Get certified to the ASSE/IAPMO/ANSI 12080 Standard: Professional Qualifications Standard for Legionella Water Safety and Management Personnel  AWT (Association of Water Technologies)   AWT's Legionella 2019: A Position Statement and Guidance Document  North Metal & Chemical Co Quarterly Magazine Issue 3 -page 8 for Trace Blackmore Story  Scaling UP! H2O Academy video courses  Start with Why Simon Sinek - TedTalk  Submit a Show Idea  The 6 Types of Working Genius  The Rising Tide Mastermind    Water You Know with James Questions: What do you call the physical property of matter that is defined as the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a unit mass of a substance by one degree?    2025 Events for Water Professionals  Check out our Scaling UP! H2O Events Calendar where we've listed every event Water Treaters should be aware of by clicking HERE.   

How Does Water-as-a-Service Drive Billion-Dollar Exits in Infrastructure Investment?

How Can We Afford to Remove PFAS from Our Environment When Treatment Costs Exceed Global GDP?

How Do 32+ Electrochemical Water Oxidation Technologies Compete for PFAS Destruction Market Share? Listen to this!More #water insights? Connect with me on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoinewalter1/

What's to remember from WEFTEC 2025? Here are my 5 Water Tech picks, 3 Marketing Tips, the State of the Union on the Water/AI Nexus, and much more. Wanna get 3 Days at WEFTEC summarized in 70 Minutes? Listen to this!More #water insights? Connect with me on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoinewalter1/

How did SKion Water turn a $142M "apple tree" into $1.8B gold with the carve out of Ovivo's Electronics division to Ecolab? Let's find out! My best water tech analysis straight to your inbox: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=6884833968848474112

Could this new material finally change Reverse Osmosis for the better? Let's dig into it! More #WaterTech insights? Get my free water investor database: https://investors.dww.show

Aquatech just acquired Koch Technology Solutions' direct lithium extraction business - Here are my 3 key takeaways! #️⃣ All the Links Mentioned in this Video #️⃣ Aquatech's press release: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aquatech-acquires-kochs-direct-lithium-extraction-business-integrating-li-pro-dle-into-the-pearl-technology-platform-302558347.html My conversation with Devesh Sharma: https://youtu.be/inlyb_aMtzw?si=z1uTHU6GlRvmuKPl My full exploration of the Lithium World: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeZJpBySIQo&t=1s

How did some of the greatest content creators raise $41.5 Million in one month for Water Access? Watch this! More #WaterTech insights? Get my free water investor database: https://investors.dww.show

Wanna know why 86% of Investors treat water tech like Portfolio Insurance? Watch this! More #WaterTech insights? Get my free water investor database: https://investors.dww.show

Making water from thin air at 1¢/liter? Listen to this!More #WaterTech insights? Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=6884833968848474112

Wondering How to Extract Lithium Without Mining or Massive Water Use? Listen to this!More #WaterTech insights? Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=6884833968848474112

Ever wondered why Smart Utilities Let Their Assets Break? Then listen to this: It will show you how Physics beats AI in Asset Management! More #water insights? Subscribe to my newsletter, for free! https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=6884833968848474112

The state of the UK's water sector is barely out of the headlines at the moment and today a major review into the water industry in England and Wales said the regulator Ofwat should be scrapped. Sir Jon Cunliffe, who led the review, also warned that household bills will rise by 30% over the next five years. Nuala McGovern is joined by Esme Stallard, the BBC's climate and science reporter, and by two women campaigning for clean water on a local and a national level - Jo Robb, member of the Henley Mermaids wild swimming group and District Councillor for the Green Party in South Oxfordshire, and Erica Popplewell, Head of Communities at River Action, a UK-wide environmental campaign group.Harriet Webb is best known for her roles in Channel 4's Bafta-winning series Big Boys, and Michaela Coel's I May Destroy You. She is back on our screens this week playing Kirsty in series two of the Bafta-winning Sky Original Mr Bigstuff, starring alongside Danny Dyer and the show's creator Ryan Sampson. She joins Nuala to discuss why comedy can be the best place to discuss difficult issues like grief, trauma and, even, erectile dysfunction.In a new report, the community interest company Five Times More illustrate how black women in the UK continue to face disproportionately high risks during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period. Despite a growing body of research and increasing policy attention, the gap in outcomes between black and white women shows little sign of closing. Tinuke, the co-founder of Five Times More, explains what changes they had found since their first report three years ago and what still needs to happen.Molly Jong-Fast is an author and special correspondent for Vanity Fair. She is also the only child of Erica Jong, author of the 1970s feminist autobiographical novel - Fear of Flying. A sensual exploration of female sexual desire, it catapulted Erica to international fame. Molly has written a memoir, How to Lose Your Mother, and she talks to Nuala about growing up in the spotlight, their intense mother-daughter relationship and her mother's heartbreaking descent into dementia.Economic abuse is at “national emergency” levels yet more than half of UK women don't know anything about it - with a third only knowing ‘a little' - this is according to a new report published today by the charity Surviving Economic Abuse. Sam Smethers, CEO of SEA, joins Nuala to explain the types of economic abuse they have uncovered, the implications of their findings and what they want the government to do.Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Emma Pearce

Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey discuss the government's plans to overhaul the water industry. Will they be able to clean up the waterways of England and Wales, and what could it mean for bills? Plus, what is Keir Starmer's latest move to help restore public trust in politics? And, as MPs break for summer, Pippa and Kiran hand out their end-of-year awards …. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/politicspod

Ofwat is to be scrapped as part of a radical overhaul of a “broken” water regulatory system Environment Secretary Steve Reed confirmed today, following the publication of a major report from the Independent Water Commission. Giles Bristow, CEO of the campaign group Surfers against Sewage, responds to the news - and Paul Powlesland, Barrister at Lawyers for Nature, explains why he decided to become a guardian of the River Roding in East London, to spot illegal sewage leaks. And in part two, Sadiq Khan has called London ‘the undisputed capital of music”, but are this summer's huge gigs the full story? The Standard's Head of Culture Martin Robinson questions whether it's good for the music industry. *This episode contains one example of mild explicit language Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Water Industry and Local Government Finance.

What if Google had the solution to save 1 billion people... and just threw it away? Let's find out! Google spent 4 YEARS secretly developing a device that pulls safe drinking water from thin air using only sunlight. They proved it worked. They proved it could help over 1 BILLION people without clean water. Then they just... quit and open-sourced everything in 2021.

PFAS destruction for a lower cost than PFAS removal: Transformational or Questionable? Let's find out! For more water tech insights, subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6884833968848474112/

What if electron-rich Water Gas Molecules could target and destroy PFAS... for cheaper than PFAS removal technologies? Check it out! For more water tech insights, subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6884833968848474112/

What's the Water Secret that 99% of Climate Investors are Missing? Listen to This! Wanna dive deeper into water investment? Get my FREE exhaustive list of water tech investors (that cut 2+ checks) here: https://investors.dww.show/

3 Radical Approaches Solving Water Scarcity Today, in just one video! More #water insights? Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6884833968848474112/

Why do we choose expensive over affordable in Water? Let's use the Permian Basin's example to make a point: wastewater reuse is the way!More #water insights? Subscribe to my newsletter on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=6884833968848474112

Wanna know why Big Pharma is Knocking on This French Startup's Door? Listen to this!More #water insights? Connect with me on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoinewalter1/

I analyzed 139 publicly traded water companies and discovered a simple formula that predicts their valuations using just three parameters: position on the "boring-to-hype spectrum," percentage of digital revenue, and percentage of recurring revenue. This formula reveals systematic market mispricing that creates 8-25% annual return opportunities by exploiting Wall Street's ignorance of water industry fundamentals. Wanna find out? Listen to this!More #water insights? Connect with me on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoinewalter1/

Have you ever wondered how technology could help solve the growing challenges in the UK's water industry? With increasing cost pressures and rising consumer demands, the water sector is at a critical juncture. In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I'm joined by Sandeep Bhattarai, Utilities Value Advisor at SAP UKI, to explore how digital solutions can help water companies navigate these turbulent times. SAP's latest research reveals that 34% of water company leaders are grappling with challenging cost pressures, with 94% believing that investment must rise to meet customer expectations. Sandeep shares his insights into the root causes of these financial strains and how a lack of digital infrastructure is slowing progress. He explains how technology adoption, or the lack thereof, is impacting the industry's ability to meet the stringent requirements of AMP8, a five-year regulatory framework starting in 2025. As we unpack the complexities of the water network, Sandeep highlights how digital transformation can streamline operations, reduce inefficiencies, and improve service delivery. But can technology truly be a silver bullet? Sandeep addresses this question head-on, offering practical solutions for overcoming the skills gaps, operational silos, and knowledge barriers that continue to hinder digital adoption. Looking ahead, we discuss what the future holds for the UK water industry post-AMP8. Will the sector embrace the digital revolution required to meet evolving demands? How can leaders harness technology to ensure sustainable growth and customer satisfaction? Tune in to this insightful conversation and share your thoughts—what role do you think technology should play in shaping the future of water services?

Keir Starmer plans to rapidly increase the amount of artificial intelligence used in the public sector. But what is the environmental cost? Helena Horton reports. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus