SWAN 16th Annual Conference: Make Water Work 036

SWAN 16th Annual Conference: Make Water Work 036

This week's episode is a special on-location field report from the SWAN Conference — the Smart Water Networks Forum — held in Tampa, Florida. SWAN is a global annual event bringing together utility leaders, engineers, practitioners, and innovators to push the conversation on how the water sector adopts new technology. I had the chance to facilitate a two-hour roundtable with Anthony DeRosa of ASDWA, exploring one of the most important and underexplored tensions in the sector right now: how does regulation fit into digital transformation? Here's what we covered: Why the water sector's regulatory framework was built for a different era How governance lags are leaving utilities to modernize at their own risk The funding misalignment that's blocking solution adoption Why solving the most common problem — not the hardest one — is the key to scaling innovation What it means to design tools for field workers, not just desk workers Why deployment funding without sustainability is a dead end If you work at a utility, an engineering firm, or anywhere in the water sector, these conversations matter. The decisions being made now about how we govern, fund, and adopt technology will shape the next decade of water infrastructure.

Adam Tank: Anti-Disruption: Selling Innovation to an Industry That Hates Risk | Make Water Work 035

The water industry doesn't want to be disrupted. And that's not a problem — it's the whole point. In this episode, Isaac sits down with Adam Tank, co-founder and Chief Communications Officer at Transcend, to talk about what it actually takes to build and sell technology in one of the most risk-averse industries in the world. Adam has spent his career at the intersection of water, startups, and design thinking — from GE's venture group to a water robotics company spun out of General Electric, to leading Suez's smart cities group, to co-founding Transcend in 2019. The conversation covers what the water industry still gets wrong about innovation, why the real opportunity might be in energy rather than water, and why the single most important word when selling to a utility isn't "efficiency" or "savings" — it's risk. Adam covers: → How Ralph Exton and a GE internship started it all → Why solving non-revenue water isn't about finding the leaks → The single most important thing early-stage water entrepreneurs get wrong → Why "disruption" is the worst word you can use with a water utility → Risk mitigation as the real language of utility decision-making → The toilet-to-tap PR failure and what it says about water communication → Why over 50% of California's energy is water-related — and what data centers are forcing us to reckon with → How AI is about to change who can innovate in the water sector → Why Transcend is focused on the planning phase — and why 80% of project outcomes are decided there The technology exists. The talent is there. What's missing is the ability to communicate value in the language utilities actually speak. Connect with Adam Tank: linkedin.com/in/adamtank | adamtank.com | transcendinfra.com Learn more about 120Water: https://120water.com [https://120water.com]

Laura Vidal: Rural Water Always Finds a Way | Make Water Work 034

85% of water systems in the United States operate with three or fewer employees. They manage treatment, distribution, compliance, reporting, and public communication — often while also handling parks, snow removal, and everything else a small community needs. They are rarely celebrated. And when everything is working, they are almost invisible. This episode is for them. Make Water Work is launching a new series dedicated entirely to rural water — the small systems, the circuit riders, the association staff, and the utility operators who make clean water happen for millions of Americans every day. And there is no better person to kick it off than Laura Vidal, Association Partnership Director at 120 Water and a 17-year veteran of the Alliance of Indiana Rural Water. In this episode, Isaac sits down with his new co-host to hear her story, understand how rural water associations actually work, and set the stage for the conversations ahead. In this episode: • How Laura went from an investment brokerage firm to 17 years in rural water • What makes rural water utility professionals genuinely different from anyone else in the industry • How the National Rural Water Association and state associations support small systems • What circuit riders actually do and where that term comes from • The real challenge of the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions for systems with three or fewer employees • Why rural water associations are the connective tissue between utilities, regulators, and solution providers • What it looks like when utilities, associations, state agencies, and technology partners all work from the same data • What's coming next in the Make Water Work Rural Water Series These are the unsung heroes of the water industry. It's time to tell their stories. Learn more about 120 Water: https://120water.com [https://120water.com] #MakeWaterWork #RuralWater #WaterIndustry #DrinkingWater #WaterUtility #SmallSystems #WaterInnovation #SafeDrinkingWater #WaterPolicy #PublicHealth

Rodney Clemente: Water Bankruptcy & The Cost of Doing Nothing | Make Water Work 033

75% of the world's population lives in water-insecure countries. The amount of fresh water on the planet is fixed. And we are spending it faster than nature can replenish it. The UN calls it global water bankruptcy. And according to Rodney Clemente, Senior Vice President of Water at Energy Recovery, the bill is coming due. In this episode, Rodney breaks down what desalination actually is, why it costs 5-10x more to build a plant in the US than in Saudi Arabia, and why the real question isn't "can we solve the water crisis" — it's "what's the cost of doing nothing?" From a small garage startup in Virginia Beach to a dominant global player with 40,000+ devices deployed worldwide, Energy Recovery has spent 30 years making desalination more affordable and more efficient. Rodney brings that perspective to one of the most important conversations in water today. In this episode: • What the UN's Global Water Bankruptcy report actually means • How reverse osmosis desalination works — and why energy is its Achilles heel • Why a desalination plant in the US costs 3-5x more than one in the Middle East • The case for a diversified water portfolio: desal, reuse, recycling, and conservation • Why companies keep paying fines instead of building treatment plants • What Singapore's water strategy can teach the rest of the world • Brine valorization and the circular economy of desalination • Where the global desal market is headed in the next 5-10 years #MakeWaterWork #Desalination #WaterScarcity #WaterInnovation #CleanWater #WaterTech #Sustainability #ClimateTech #Infrastructure #WaterCrisis

Damian Georgino: Rethinking Water | Make Water Work 032

Water is the one infrastructure you cannot live without — and it got a D-minus rating from the American Society of Civil Engineers. In this episode, we sit down with Damian Georgino, Partner at global law firm Dentons and a 30-year veteran of the water industry, to talk about why everything you think you know about water is wrong — starting with the tap. Damian shares his journey from selling water businesses for Alcoa under Paul O'Neill to joining the early days of US Filter, and how water captured him for good. We explore the trillion-dollar global water market, the shift from centralized to decentralized water systems (and what that means for your business), the massive water demands of AI data centers and chip plants, and why private capital may be the only path forward for America's crumbling water infrastructure. Whether you're an investor, a water professional, or just someone who turns on a faucet every day — this conversation will change how you see water forever. Topics covered: Why any business is a water business The energy-water nexus (75% of water costs are energy) Decentralized water: learning from energy deregulation AI, data centers & the looming water crisis The $800B infrastructure gap — and why $55B isn't enough Private capital, infrastructure investing, and mid-teens IRRs Why municipalities resist innovation — and what might change that What water looks like if we rethink it from scratch 📋 Show Notes Guest: Damian Georgino, Partner, Dentons LLP Host: Isaac Pellerin Co-Host: Megan Glover, Founder, 120 Water About Damian Georgino Damian Georgino is a Partner at Dentons, one of the world's largest law firms, where he focuses on water infrastructure, capital transactions, and economic development. His water career began at Alcoa, where he led the sale of five water businesses to the then-upstart US Filter, founded by Dick Heckman. He has served on the President's National Infrastructure Advisory Council and is a frequent speaker on water finance, infrastructure policy, and the energy-water nexus. Dentons sponsors the Rethinking Water Conference and runs an infrastructure think tank focused on reimagining water systems.