Water Values Podcast

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 backgrounds of industry segments and geographies served by our panelists Key takeaways from 2023 in the water sector from our panelists Use of technology to address climate adaptability and improve customer engagement The panelists’ experiences using technology to improve customer engagement Why climate change impacts aren’t always apparent, especially to customers The impact on affordability and equity our panelists saw in 2023 How engineering and capital planning decisions impact affordability and equity The use of a regulator device in the context of water equity Our panelists’ thoughts on the big issues for the water sector in 2024 Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include: Vic’s LinkedIn page Raj’s LinkedIn page Sarah’s LinkedIn page Trinnex’s website Kyl Center for Water Policy Arizona Water Blueprint Thank You! Thanks to each of you for listening and spreading the word about The Water Values Podcast! Keep the emails coming and please rate and review The Water Values Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher if you haven’t done so already. And don’t forget to tell your friends about the podcast and whatever you do, don’t forget to join The Water Values mailing list!

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. Plus, Reese Tisdale joins us for another Bluefield on Tap segment. In this session, you’ll learn about: Tillie’s unique background Tillie’s awesome water origin story How Tillie came to host a TV show The rivers Tillie has been on Tillie’s definition of “time on the river” How Tillie has seen rivers change over time Some of the river restoration projects Tillie has been involved in How river restoration projects do more than just improve environmental outcomes The “Blue Mind” effect Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include: Tillie’s LinkedIn profile ‘Wild Rivers with Tillie’ website Thank You! Thanks to each of you for listening and spreading the word about The Water Values Podcast! Keep the emails coming and please rate and review The Water Values Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher if you haven’t done so already. And don’t forget to tell your friends about the podcast and whatever you do, don’t forget to join The Water Values mailing list!

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 organizations. What Tacoma’s been up to since his last guest appearance The BIG news at MentorAPM Why prioritization problems are not unique to utilities The ISO 55000 asset management standard The “minimum level of service” concept How a holistic approach helps organizations refine their values and “own” them Building consensus with stakeholders, both internal and external How getting different business units communicating helps organizational efficiency and asset management How criticality analyses assist utilities with prioritization Dynamic versus endemic risk Pulling all aspects of the utilities business together to prioritize decision-making Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include: Tacoma’s LinkedIn page MentorAPM’s website Thank You!Thanks to each of you for listening and spreading the word about The Water Values Podcast! Keep the emails coming and please rate and review The Water Values Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher if you haven’t done so already. And don’t forget to tell your friends about the podcast and whatever you do, don’t forget to join The Water Values mailing list!

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 that utilities face every day. In this session, you’ll learn about: Dave’s unique background and how he came across the pond from Ireland What sparked Dave to found Klir Dave’s perspective on constraints facing utilities and water management Why Dave thinks data management is a huge hurdle for utilities and water management Dave’s thoughts on AI and its use in utilities Why utilities need holistic solutions rather than piecemeal applications Why knowing where your organization “hangs out” is so important “Pilot fatigue” – why the water industry has more pilots than the airline Why change management is key for utilities Dave’s observations on the labor force and people’s desire for work with a purpose How to build customer engagement and trust Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include: Dave’s LinkedIn page Klir’s website Thank You!Thanks to each of you for listening and spreading the word about The Water Values Podcast! Keep the emails coming and please rate and review The Water Values Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher if you haven’t done so already. And don’t forget to tell your friends about the podcast and whatever you do, don’t forget to join The Water Values mailing list!

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 communities in which it does business, by 2030. In this session, you’ll learn about: Will’s varied background in the water sector How Will became the Global Lead for Water Sustainability at AWS AWS’s Water Positive program How AWS proposes to return more water in the communities in which it does business than it uses, by 2030 How AWS uses water in its facilities AWS’s use of IOT data to efficiently use water How evaporative cooling provides greater efficiency than air conditioning Why liters per kWh is the metric of choice for water efficiency measurement How AWS recycles cooling water and harvests rainwater in its facilities Will’s perspective on how AWS interacts with local communities on social license issues How AWS supported invasive species removal to help increase local water availability How geographic locale and temperature drive water usage at AWS’s facilities Organizations AWS partners with in order to improve sustainability Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include: Will’s LinkedIn page AWS’s Water Sustainability website Thank You!Thanks to each of you for listening and spreading the word about The Water Values Podcast! Keep the emails coming and please rate and review The Water Values Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher if you haven’t done so already. And don’t forget to tell your friends about the podcast and whatever you do, don’t forget to join The Water Values mailing list!https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/natural-resources/water

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 much more in this wide ranging interview. Plus, Reese Tisdale joins us for another Bluefield on Tap segment. In this session, you’ll learn about: Tom’s non-traditional path to the water sector Capture6’s carbon removal and fresh water production technology How the technology used renewable electricity to capture carbon from the air How salt in salt water turns into a carbonate that can be permanently sequestered The byproducts of the technology, including hydrogen, fresh water, and pure carbon dioxide The carbon removal credits that are available through the process How the technology differs from zero liquid discharge The carbon removal potential and factors affecting carbon removal How the chemical bond of the carbonate helps ensure sequestration The circular nature of the process when paired with a wastewater treatment plant How the synergy between carbon removal and fresh water production reduces the cost of each Tom’s bathtub analogy for carbon markets Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include: Tom’s LinkedIn page Capture6’s website Thank You!Thanks to each of you for listening and spreading the word about The Water Values Podcast! Keep the emails coming and please rate and review The Water Values Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher if you haven’t done so already. And don’t forget to tell your friends about the podcast and whatever you do, don’t forget to join The Water Values mailing list!

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 solutions can solve utility challenges that analog attempts simply cannot solve and much, much more. In this session, you’ll learn about: Sai’s background in digital transformations from the financial, telecom, aerospace, health and other sectors Sai’s observations on what the water sector can learn from other sectors digital transformations How other highly regulated industries successfully navigated digital transformations Sai’s perspective on why the health care sector took the digital leap before the water sector The challenges facing the water market that only digital solutions can solve Why digital solutions can solve those challenges How digital solutions can aid talent attraction and retention What challenges water utilities need to overcome to adopt digital solutions How utilities can start down the road to digital transformation Why avoiding silos of data, IT infrastructure and applications is so important Concrete examples of how digital solutions have helped utilities save money How different sized utilities can take advantage of digitalization Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include: Sai’s LinkedIn page Xylem’s website Ripple Effect: A Movement Towards Digital Transformation Bluefield was pleased to collaborate with Xylem on this White Paper. View the full White Paper and its associated resources here. Thank You! Thanks to each of you for listening and spreading the word about The Water Values Podcast! Keep the emails coming and please rate and review The Water Values Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher if you haven’t done so already. And don’t forget to tell your friends about the podcast and whatever you do, don’t forget to join The Water Values mailing list!

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 Tisdale joins us for another Bluefield on Tap segment discussing the recent New York Times feature on groundwater depletion in the United States. In this session, you’ll learn about: Rodney’s simple yet complex background in the water sector How desalination has changed over time from thermal desalination to membrane based desalination, such as reverse osmosis Why desalination is energy intensive How energy recovery systems can reduce energy consumption by up to 60% Given energy savings, how energy recovery systems make desalination affordable How energy recovery systems interface with zero liquid discharge and minimal liquid discharge systems Why energy recovery presents a sustainable solution for desalination Applications beyond desalination that can utilize energy recovery systems Why Rodney sees fertile ground in the wastewater sector for energy recovery opportunities The opportunity in refrigerant decarbonization for energy recovery applications Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include: Energy Recovery’s website Rodney’s LinkedIn page Thank You! Thanks to each of you for listening and spreading the word about The Water Values Podcast! Keep the emails coming and please rate and review The Water Values Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher if you haven’t done so already. And don’t forget to tell your friends about the podcast and whatever you do, don’t forget to join The Water Values mailing list!

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 over the years, and much more. Don’t miss out on Jim’s fantastic insights! In this session, you’ll learn about: Jim’s background and 4 careers in the water sector Jim’s involvement in water issues on the Colorado River, as well as all over the United States and internationally How Jim’s perspectives developed during his earlier careers helped inform him in his role at Denver Water Why Jim chose to step away Important leadership skills according to Jim How Denver Water’s H2O Leadership Academy develops skills in future water leaders Why a legal background is a much needed skill for water leaders The challenge Jim undertook when starting at Denver Water How the role of CEO changed over time Jim’s thoughts on “solving” the Colorado River Why engagement is so important Jim’s words of advice for water leaders Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include: Jim’s bio on the Water Foundation website Denver Water’s website

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 communities achieve success and sustainability. In this session, you’ll learn about: Olga’s background in the water sector serving rural communities The Rural Community Assistance Partnership’s mission for the last 50 years How RCAP helps small rural utilities and communities RCAP’s history and connection with the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act How technical assistance providers diagnose a utility’s needs How RCAP ensures the project for the community fits the community’s needs How RCAP is funded How RCAP helps communities develop the capacity to undertake and manage projects Some of the challenges affecting small systems Olga’s terrific insights on regionalization  Why Olga thinks small systems need to embrace change even though change is uncomfortable Olga’s views on why we need to invest in human capital and how RCAP can bring solutions to rural America over the next 50 years Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include: Olga’s bio on the RCAP website RCAP’s website Thank You! Thanks to each of you for listening and spreading the word about The Water Values Podcast! Keep the emails coming and please rate and review The Water Values Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher if you haven’t done so already. And don’t forget to tell your friends about the podcast and whatever you do, don’t forget to join The Water Values mailing list!