Water Values Podcast
Science & Ideas
About
The Water Values Podcast series is presented in collaboration with Bluefield Research. This podcast series explores water issues from a variety of perspectives with the goal of uncovering the true value of water. Each episode will delve into one aspect of water, such as water utilities, water treatment, water resources, water reuse, and more.
Episodes
- Developing Tomorrow’s Water Workforce with NAWC’s Rob Powelson
Former FERC and Pennsylvania PUC Commissioner, Rob Powelson now serves as President and CEO of the National Association of Water Companies. He sits down to discuss water utility workforce development, the impact of AI on the water utility…
- The High Tech Partnership That’s Saving Water with Xylem’s Austin Alexander
Austin Alexander, Vice President of Artificial Intelligence at Xylem, returns to the show to discuss the unique partnership between Xylem and Amazon that saves water in Monterrey and Mexico City. Plus, Reese Tisdale joins us for another Bl…
- Deep Sea Desalination with Flocean’s Alex Fuglesang
Alex Fuglesang, Founder and CEO of Flocean, provides Flocean’s origin story and a look at Flocean’s amazing technology. Plus, Reese Tisdale joins us for another Bluefield on Tap segment discussing Bluefield Research’s brand new report on t…
- The World Cup and Water’s Cyber-Preparedness Opportunity with 1898 & Co.’s Victor Atkins
Victor Atkins, 1898 & Co.’s Director of Critical Infrastructure Security Consulting Services, presents a compelling case for utility cyber-preparedness ahead of the World Cup being held soon in North America, largely in the United States.…
- The Next Generation of Water Treatment with VVater’s Kevin Gast
Kevin Gast, Chairman and CEO of VVater, discusses VVater’s water treatment solution, the go-to-market verticals the technology serves, and much more in this phenomenal interview. Plus, Reese Tisdale gives us a Top Ten water issues list to…
- The Five Questions that Defined Water in 2025 with Reese Tisdale
Reese Tisdale, President & CEO of Bluefield Research, discusses the defining questions of the water sector in 2025. He shares insights from the past year and provides a preview of what to expect in 2026.
- Advancing Digital Solutions with Turing CEO Hiep Le
Hiep Le, CEO of The Turing AI Corporation, discusses digital solutions for water utilities and industrial facilities. Reese Tisdale reviews significant water news from October, including the merger of American Water and Essential Utilities.
- How Quantified Conservation Works with The Freshwater Trust’s Joe Whitworth
Joe Whitworth of The Freshwater Trust explains quantified conservation, using automation and data for improved environmental results. The episode also includes Reese Tisdale’s recap of UN Climate Week and the Rethinking Water 2025 event.
- Sustainable Desalination with IDE Technologies CEO Alon Tavor
Alon Tavor, CEO of IDE Technologies Group, shares insights on desalination and water use. Reese Tisdale provides an analysis of capital improvement plans and spending trends in the water and wastewater utility sector.
- Navigating the Water Sector Start-Up Lifecycle with Jim Good
Jim Good, Founder and President of Parkview Advisors, discusses the water sector start-up lifecycle. Reese Tisdale provides insights on federal expenditures in water.
- Collaborative Delivery Explained with Leofwin Clark
Leofwin Clark discusses the history and types of collaborative design. Reese Tisdale shares research on water investments and data center water usage.
- Disinfection in Latin American Water Reuse with Shimon Constante
Shimon Constante returns to The Water Values Podcast to detail disinfection practices in Latin American water reuse markets. The episode also features Reese Tisdale discussing recent research on the investor-owned utilities market.
- Smart Stormwater with OptiRTC CEO David Rubinstein
David Rubinstein, CEO of OptiRTC, discusses how smart stormwater systems benefit communities. Reese Tisdale provides a ten-year forecast for water and wastewater treatment capital expenditures.
- Water Use in Data Centers and Microelectronics Manufacturing with Rod McNelly
Rod McNelly shares insights on water use in data centers and microelectronics manufacturing, informed by his 38 years in the industrial water sector. Reese Tisdale covers the American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure grades for w…
- Innovation in Water Well Drilling with Jack Clark
Jack Clark shares his innovative methods in water well drilling, covering practical aspects of the trade. Reese Tisdale provides an industry update in the Bluefield on Tap segment.
- Water Conflict with Dr. Frank Galgano and Dr. David Stuckenberg
Dr. Frank Galgano and Dr. David Stuckenberg discuss the fundamentals of water conflict, citing historical instances and current geopolitical issues. Reese Tisdale also analyzes the Eversource spin-off of Aquarion and its potential impact o…
- Why Privately Held English Water Utilities Are Struggling (and Nationalization Isn’t the Answer) with Branko Terzic
Recently, there has been talk in England about nationalizing England’s private water utilities. Former Wisconsin PSC Commissioner and FERC Commissioner, Branko Terzic, makes the case that England’s water utilities are not struggling becaus…
- The Year in Water 2024 with Reese Tisdale
Reese Tisdale of Bluefield Research offers up his grades on Bluefield’s predictions for the water sector in 2024 and identifies some of the unanticipated water issues that made headlines in 2024. Reese also peeks around the corner for what…
- Algae-Based Wastewater Treatment with Martin Gross
Martin Gross, the CEO of Gross-Wen Technologies, provides a phenomenal look at algae-based wastewater treatment, its benefits and its eco-friendly byproducts. In this session, you’ll learn about: Martin’s dual-Ph.D. background How Martin d…
- The Importance of Earnestly Valuing Water with Alex Shannon
Alex Shannon, Senior Vice President and West Region Business Line Leader, provides a phenomenal interview focusing on valuing water, spending water infrastructure funds efficiently, and analyzing the issues from multiple perspectives: econ…
- The LCRI – What You Need to Know with 120Water’s Isaac Pellerin
Isaac Pellerin, Vice President of Marketing at 120Water, dives into the data on lead service line (LSL) inventories and explains what you need to know about the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI). Plus, Reese Tisdale provides an upda…
- Industrial Water Applications and Reuse with Gradiant Co-Founder and COO Prakash Govindan
Prakash Govindan, COO and Co-Founder of Gradiant, provides a phenomenal look at industrial water applications and reuse. Prakash describes a multitude of issues and uses relating to water in industrial settings. He does a great job putting…
- Water Use in Mining with INTERA’s Patrick Williamson
Patrick Williamson, a Principal Hydrogeochemist with INTERA, provides a phenomenal discussion on the interrelationship between water and mining. Patrick deftly addresses a range of water issues present in mining. Plus, Reese Tisdale addres…
- A Big Investment to Make Water Simple with Josh Cantone and Patrick Keaney
Josh Cantone, Managing Director of Suez Digital Solutions North America/CEO of Optimatics and Patrick Keaney, CEO of Subeca, provide a fascinating look at the Series A investment into Subeca, a tech company aiming to bring simple and cost-…
- Why Stormwater Deserves More Attention with ADS’s Brian King
Brian King, the Executive Vice President of Marketing, Product Management and Sustainability for Advanced Drainage Systems provides a tour de force interview explaining stormwater in a way you’ve probably never heard before. Plus, Reese Ti…
- Cybersecurity Threats, Resources, and Assistance with CISA’s David Mussington
David Mussington, Executive Assistant Director for Infrastructure Security at the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), gives a phenomenal interview covering cybersecurity issues relevant to water and wastewater utilities…
- PFAS Eradication with Doug Hatler
Doug Hatler comes on for his second appearance on The Water Values Podcast. Doug provides an impassioned interview on PFAS and the need to eradicate it, along with identifying levers to achieve eradication. Plus, Reese Tisdale discusses th…
- Reimagining Desalination with OceanWell’s Jonathan Haswell
Jonathan Haswell, Chief Business Officer at OceanWell, delivers a fascinating discussion on OceanWell’s first of a kind approach to desalination. Jonathan discusses the advantages of the “water farms” OceanWell seeks to deploy, including t…
- Long-Range Water Planning with INTERA’s David Jordan
INTERA’s Western Water Resources Lead David Jordan provides a terrific look at the nuts and bolts of long-range water planning, including a discussion about how it has evolved over time, the impact of technology on planning, a success stor…
- The PFAS Rule and Solving the PFAS Challenge with Xylem’s Snehal Desai
Snehal Desai, Xylem’s Senior Vice President and Chief Growth and Innovation Officer, joins us for a phenomenal discussion about PFAS. Snehal addresses the EPA’s recently promulgated PFAS rule and dives into present treatment options, inclu…
- The Blue Economy and Regional Partnering in the Great Lakes with Alaina Harkness
Water rock star Alaina Harkness, Executive Director of Current and CEO/Principal Investigator of Great Lakes ReNew, provides a phenomenal look at water’s place in economic development, building regional partnerships, and so much more. Plus…
- Reflections on the Boldt Decision with Earl McGimpsey
Growing up, I always sensed that my father was deeply involved in a significant legal case, although my understanding of it was limited as I was less than 5 years old at the time. It wasn’t until much later in life, when I attended an Amer…
- Corporate Water Stewardship and Science Based Targets with WWF’s Allen Townsend
WWF’s Allen Townsend provides an illuminating discussion on Science Based Targets and corporate water stewardship. Allen explains current guidance status, the entities involved, and where science based targets for nature and corporate wate…
- Back to the Future: Ten Years Gone and Strategic Water Foresight with Matthew Klein
Ten years ago, Matthew Klein was the first ever guest of The Water Values Podcast. Matt, now CEO and Chief Futurist at Aqualaurus Group, returns to discuss the discipline of strategic foresight and how it can benefit the water industry. In…
- Water Service and Inequity in Mobile Home Parks with UCLA’s Greg Pierce
Today’s podcast episode features Greg Pierce, Professor of Urban Planning at UCLA, Research and Co-Executive Director at UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation, Director of UCLA’s Water Resource Lab, and Director of UCLA’s Human Right Water L…
- Cybersecurity for Water Utilities with Dentons Partner Kyle Miller
Dave’s law partner at Dentons, Kyle Miller, is a cybersecurity and data privacy lawyer who provides a tremendous discussion on a wide range of cybersecurity issues for water utilities. Water utilities (and all critical infrastructure provi…
- Sustainable Water Supply with Eastern’s General Manager Joe Mouawad
Eastern Municipal Water District (Eastern) General Manager, Joe Mouawad, provides a fantastic discussion of Eastern’s Purified Groundwater Replenishment Program and its attendant benefits, as well as a discussion about water usage and wate…
- Key Water Megatrends with Art Umble
Art Umble, Director of the Stantec Institute for Applied Science, Technology & Policy, provides a fascinating discussion identifying the key megatrends impacting water and exploring the issues driving those megatrends. I n this session, yo…
- A Fresh Take on Digital Transformation with Seth Johnstone
Seth Johnstone, the Client Engagement Leader for Water Utility Digital Solutions at 1898 & Co., provides a fresh perspective on digital transformation at water utilities. Seth crushes this interview, and no matter how much you think you kn…
- The Year in Water 2023 with Rajan Ray, Sarah Porter, and Vic Kelson
An all-star panel of water leaders participate in a roundtable discussion about what happened in the year that was 2023, and provide insights on what 2024 might hold for the water sector. In this session, you’ll learn about: The diverse ba…
- “On the River” with Tillie Walton
Host of the PBS series Wild Rivers with Tillie , Tillie Walton, relates her love for water, time “on the river” and water’s restorative powers. So sit back, relax, and learn about the role water can play, making your life and world better.…
- A Multi-Faceted Approach to Asset Management with Tacoma Zach
Tacoma Zach, Co-founder and CEO of MentorAPM, delves into the problem of prioritization for utilities. Tacoma provides an insightful look at ways utilities can efficiently prioritize their asset management programs and their business organ…
- Holistic Data and Change Management for Utilities with David Lynch
David Lynch, CEO & Co-founder of Klir, provides an absolutely fabulous interview discussing how utilities manage data and AI applications, as well as delivering some key insights for holistically handling data, AI and the myriad changes th…
- AWS’s Approach to Water with Will Hewes
Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Global Lead for Water Sustainability, Will Hewes, provides an insightful look at AWS’s approach to water and discusses AWS’s Water Positive program that strives to return more water than it uses to the communitie…
- Synergistic Carbon Removal and Fresh Water Production with Capture6’s Tom Ricciardi
Tom Ricciardi, Vice President of Business Operations at Capture6, discusses its fascinating technology that removes and sequesters carbon while simultaneously producing fresh water. Tom provides details on the process, carbon credits, and…
- The Ripple Effect of Digital Transformation with Sai Allavarpu
Sai Allavarpu, Xylem’s Chief Digital Officer, shares his vast knowledge of how other industries have made the digital transformation and how the water sector can learn from that prior experience. Sai also elaborates on how digital solution…
- Energy Recovery’s Water Story with Rodney Clemente
Energy Recovery, Inc.’s Senior Vice President of Water, Rodney Clemente shares how using energy recovery technologies, the water sector saves energy, becomes more sustainable and delivers water at a more affordable price. Plus, Reese Tisda…
- An Exit Interview with Retired Denver Water CEO Jim Lochhead
Retired Denver Water CEO Jim Lochhead reflects back on his career(s) in water. In this wide-ranging interview, Jim discusses the challenges on the Colorado River, good leadership and its attributes, how a water leader’s role has changed ov…
- Fulfilling RCAP’s Mission with CEO Olga Morales-Pate
RCAP CEO Olga Morales-Pate discusses RCAP’s mission serving rural communities, highlights the needs and challenges of small rural communities and utility systems, and provides insightful commentary on how projects in small, rural communiti…
- Water’s Role in Decarbonization with Ajay Kasarabada
Ajay Kasarabada, Associate Vice President and Director of Environmental Solutions for Black & Veatch, provides a brilliant discussion on the issue of water’s role in decarbonization and net zero. In this session, you’ll learn about: Ajay’s…