Josiah Cox is the 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.

I bet you've never heard of Central States Water Resources. Please don't get offended; I had never heard of the company either before my interview with Alex Loucopoulos on that microphone a bit over a year ago.

I did a little Google Trend exercise before recording: I've compared the occurrences of "American Water" and "Central States Water Resources" in search terms, and AW wins by a 99 to 1 score.

Now, I hear you rolling your eyes and telling me it's an absolutely unfair and non-sense comparison, and you're widely right. Yet, last year, Central States Water Resources completed 40% of the recorded M&A moves in water and wastewater utilities in the US.

Over less than a decade of existence, the company has been closing over 80 moves a year on average - which is far more than any other water or wastewater utility company in America. 

So why does it fly under the radar? Well, simply because all of these systems are small, located in the states that rarely make the news, and aim to better the lives of communities, we all simply ignored they were such distressed about water. 

There's a major difference, though, with the projects we discussed last week with Sean Davis. CSWR isn't a charity or philanthropy. It's a private company backed by Sciens Water, and aiming to turn these non-compliant water systems not only into better, safe, and reliable services but also to make them profitable.

If you recall my discussions with Seth Siegel and Trace Blackmore some weeks ago, 85% of American utilities have three or fewer employees. This means they lack the critical scale to apply best practices, embrace innovations and new technologies and are at high risk with the upcoming silver wave.

So in a sense, Central States Water Resources is the typical portrait of a distributed water utility that may become the norm in the very near future. I'm carefully using "distributed" and not "decentralized" because you'll see that Josiah firmly refuses the decentralized concept - I'll let him explain why.

In this week's exploration, I'm scratching the surface of something that could become a major trend, and not only in the US, when you think of Germany's 10'000 utilities or Switzerland's 700 wastewater treatment plants, to just name the two first examples that crossed my mind. 

If that's a topic of interest for you, let me know, and I'll make sure to dive deeper anytime soon! How can you express your interest? Well, you know the maxim I keep repeating week after week: if you like what you hear, share it with a friend, a colleague, or simply your LinkedIn network. I'm thrilled to see the number of these shares increase because that means we're all spreading the word and coming closer to my vision: when you understand Water, you solve the World! So come on, do it, and I'll meet you on the other side!

800 Water Consolidation Moves in a Decade, Yet You've Never Heard of this Water Utility!

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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.

What we covered:

💰 What philanthropic Capital Investment actually is, and what it can do to solve water challenges 

💸 How, as surprising as it is, giving philanthropic money away isn’t that straightforward in the absence of suited dealmakers 

3️⃣ How philanthropists can build a third path beyond traditional market money and grant funds 

🎛️ How the right approach is to blend sources to aim for the maximal impact 

⌛ How it may take time for that new approach to get widely adopted, and how it is comparable with the 80’s Investment Funds status quo 

🏠 Affordable Housing, Broken Water Utilities, Inadequate Wastewater Treatment, 21 million people betrayed by their tap, Increasing Awareness… and much more!

🔥 … and of course, we concluded with the 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🔥   

➡️ Send your warm regards to Sean on LinkedIn. 

➡️ Check Merton Capital Partner's website 

➡️ A big THANK YOU to Sciens Water for enabling this episode!

➡️ Check out the entire article on philanthropic capital investment, including teasers and a full transcript on the (don't) Waste Water website!

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Sean Davis is the founder and managing director of Merton Capital Partners, an adjunct professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University, and the 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.

What the heck is the link between philanthropy and water? That may be very obscure if you're like me before meeting Sean. Yet you'll see that it will make a lot of sense in just twenty minutes. 

I've often discussed with brilliant minds on that microphone how people without safe water or cities without wastewater treatment made little economic sense. We've talked about wrong pockets issues and highlighted all the reasons why we thought something could be done. 

Yet, I was long seeking the spark that could ignite the revolution, and I fear that I'm not the only one. In their "Worth of Water" book, Gary White and Matt Damon say nothing else: they have a proven path to scale to solve the water challenges within two decades, but they lack the seed money to get the ball rolling. 

Sure, we could all wait for states to walk the talk. But if we're still discussing SDG 6 or aging infrastructure at the end of 2022 in pessimistic or alarming terms, it's probably a sign that we should not have too high hopes from that path. 

So what's left? Tears and sighs? Well, that's where the new path Sean introduces today brings a bright new hope. Philanthropic money doesn't have to be spent at a loss - and there are significant pockets of investments that look for the right vehicles. 

This is how in a minute, we'll discuss evergreen investment strategies, blended capital, helping philanthropists to get the highest bang for their buck, and much more.

My conversation with Sean made me think of many new ways to connect the Water dots, so I'm pretty sure it might do the same for you! If that's the case, spread the word and share that episode with your friends, colleagues, or LinkedIn network.

And if you want me to dive deeper into the topic, I'd be honestly delighted to, now that I've got a bit more knowledge thanks to Sean's book (the link to it is in the show notes, check it out!)

Come tell me on LinkedIn, remember to share that episode, and I'll meet you on the other side!

How to Actively Invest Philanthropy and Save the (Water) World?

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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.

What we covered:

3️⃣ The three dimensions of the Water Problem: Broken Pipes, Broken Policy, and Broken Economics

💰 How one dimension is the root cause of all the others 

💸 How one can be 500 times cheaper, chemically identical, yet deemed too expensive

📈 How it's about time for the Water Sector to get its marketing right and better roll out its value proposition 

🤯 How Maslow's psychological theory explains a lot of the Water Sector's situation (especially the less-known second half of it)

🧠 How we shall work on the psychology of Water's Value

😢 How tragedies like Flint and Jacksonville can yield positive returns if we leverage them right

❌ How Joe Biden's predictions might be wrong (and why)

🤝 How blending Private and Public know-how will deliver the best results (and why)

🏦 How Water can and shall be a profitable field (and what that enables)

⌛ How tackling the water challenges we face and foresee won't happen overnight

🏎️ Limiting bottled water to a sub-niche, the private sector's track record, the racecar analogy, … and much more!

🔥 … and of course, we concluded with the 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🔥   

⬇️ I couldn't find Tom on LinkedIn, but you can reach out to him on... 

➡️ ... Sciens Water's website! 

➡️ Sciens Water, which I'm happy to thank once again for enabling this episode!

➡️ Check out Tom's full interview on how Maslow explains water's broken economics, including teasers and a full transcript on the (don't) Waste Water website!

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Tom Rooney is 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.

I cannot name one of my about 120 guests so far that would not have taught me something during our conversation. If you've been listening to this podcast for a while, you know how intentional I am about connecting the dots. Every single new episode hence has to bring us one step closer to the "Truth" with a big "T" - given that this Truth is a moving target and doesn't really exist.

Yet, every once in a while, I collect a nugget that really shines a new light on what I thought I knew. It could be Paul O'Callaghan's take on the dynamics of Water Innovation by Season 3, Episode 3. Or Reinhard Hübner's water company M&A masterclass by Season 5, Episode 1. Or Piers Clark's debunking of the water pilot's myth by the first episode of this Season 7, to only name three.

Well, Tom's adaptation of Maslow's theories to the Water field clearly belongs to this category, as all of a sudden, it explains a lot of the undervaluation of water we experience every day. 

What is it? Well, I won't butcher the concept and let Tom explain in a minute. You'll probably enjoy as well how clear and explicit he is about the one challenge that's the root of all the other ones, and I'd bet you'll have as much fun as me listening to that conversation.

If that's the case, all I ask is that you take this episode and share it with a colleague, a friend, or your LinkedIn network! That's the best way to support me, and I'd be grateful if you took a minute of your time to do it. Can I count on you? I'm sure I can, let's meet on the other side!

How does Maslow explain a lot of America's Broken Water Economics?

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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.

What we covered:

🙌 How De Nora entered the water sector and how fast and transformational its track to IPO was 

💙 What De Nora's core is, and how it will evolve and develop in the next years 

🧑🏽‍🤝‍🧑🏽 How to go far you don't walk alone - and how Mirka wants her company to team up for success 

💪 The secret to successful M&A moves and company integration 

😊 The risk of becoming too attractive, the best success metric, company culture and employee mindset, digital transformation… and much more!

🔥 … and of course, we concluded with the 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🔥   

➡️ Send your warm regards to Mirka on LinkedIn. 

➡️ Check De Nora's website  

➡️ A big THANK YOU to Sciens Water for enabling this episode!

➡️ Check out Mirka Wilderer's full interview about De Nora, including teasers and a full transcript on the (don't) Waste Water website!

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Mirka Wilderer is the CEO of De Nora Water Technologies. De Nora is a leading provider of equipment, systems, disinfection, and filtration solutions for water and wastewater treatment.

Back in my years as a sales engineer, I used to map the competitors' landscape when working on large projects. And in my quite specialized world of advanced wastewater treatments, I was very good at predictions, or that's what I thought.

One day, on a very large project, I was discussing with the design office, and they had curious Ideas as to how to shape their process. I couldn't recognize any of the patterns; the usual suspects would have left! The reason would reveal some weeks later: there was a new kid on the block, De Nora Water Technologies.

If you recall my discussion on that microphone with Reinhard Hübner, we've already seen examples of companies rapidly built from the bottom up in our otherwise conservative sector. But DeNora is again another breed than SKion Water. The water division was created in 2015 from an M&A move involving Severn Trent Services.

And since then, the company has followed quite an aggressive track, through internal and external moves, with a double-digit growth that led to a successful initial public offering on the Milano stock exchange last summer. 

It's been a while that I wanted to address this trajectory on the podcast, and I had already approached Mirka for this around the BlueTech forum last year in Vancouver, but with the IPO on the horizon, the timing wasn't right. 

So when our paths crossed again during Sciens Water's Rethinking Water conference in New York, I couldn't let the opportunity slip away to get some valuable insight on how to successfully go public, keep and develop a hunter mindset, or grow into a fully different area as a before quite traditional family business. 

As for Patrick Dekker last week, I was a bit short on time to go into the level of depth I would have liked to. But you'll see that Mirka goes straight to the point and probably delivers a new record in insights per minute on that microphone! 

So without further due, I'll let you dive into our conversation. Just remember that if you like what you hear, please take that episode and share it with a colleague, a friend, or your LinkedIn network! Come one, do it, and I'll meet you on the other side!

How De Nora Grew from 0 to IPO in 7 Years (with Cheat Codes!)

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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.

What we covered:

🚀 How it might be time to build the SpaceX of PFAS removal, and how Puraffinity strives to do it 

♻️ How PFAS reuse fully changes the paradigm (for the better) 

🎤 What exactly changed in June 2022, and how the US EPA's announcements impact the PFAS roadmap 

📰 How miracle PFAS removal technologies that break the news have to be placed into their context 

🔬 How, with the new PFAS regulations, we enter the realm of parts per quadrillion 

⏰ How PFAS removal has greenhouse gas emission consequences and how the 2030 clock is ticking 

🔭 How Puraffinity strives to monitor what comes next in PFAS science, regulation, and roll-out 

⚖️ How Utilities' new PFAS liability may represent an unfair burden, considering they don't reap the benefit of the chemicals' first use 

🧊 How PFAS are everywhere around us in our daily lives and how it is an Iceberg we may want to address as a whole

🔥 … and of course, we concluded with the 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🔥   

🔗 Check Puraffinity's Website 

🔗 Send your warmest regards to Henrik on LinkedIn 

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➡️ Check out the full story (and an infographic) on how PFAS Recycling may turn the PFAS treatment challenge into a circular economy solution

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Henrik Hagemann is the CEO and co-founder of Puraffinity. Puraffinity is a GreenTech Company that designs smart materials for environmental applications. As you may have discovered by Season 4, Episode 1, they strive to solve the daunting PFAS / Forever chemicals challenge we face.

We all have PFAS in our blood, and this for quite a simple reason: forever chemicals are everywhere around us. For the better and, let's face it, often the worse, we use PFAS in so many parts of our daily lives that it would be almost impossible to ban them. 

This wouldn't be much of a problem if they weren't that toxic: I know, thank you, captain obvious. 

Yet, PFAS also confronts the Water Sector with a complex equation to solve. On the one hand, we'd like to protect everyone from toxic substances, and with the advancement of technology, we can, but on the other hand, doing so is still prohibitively expensive today if we were to do it on a large scale. 

Sure, promising new ways might change the name of the game; we've, for instance, discussed on that microphone how supercritical water oxidation could eliminate PFAS and everything else theoretically in an even energy-positive fashion. But we're still far from the large scale today.

Let's pause here for a second and apply some advice we heard here a while ago from Claudia Winkler and Alice Schmidt: let's zoom out before we zoom in. We need PFAS in so many of the products we use, so we produce PFAS. And then, we realize more and more how dangerous they are, so we destroy PFAS. And the cycle goes on.

Don't you think there may be a better way? Well, that's what we'll explore today with Henrik. And he'll do that much better than me, so I won't spoil you with what he explains so well!

I'll let you buckle up for a fascinating 360-degree update on PFAS, where we discuss regulations, recycling, new treatments and their limits, perspectives, and even Erin Brockovich! And remember, if you like what you hear, please share that episode around you. Send it to a friend, a colleague, or your LinkedIn network; come one, do it, and I'll meet you on the other side!

Should We Really Destroy PFAS? No! Your Fridge Knows a Better Way.

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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.”

What we covered:

3️⃣ The 3 obstacles to Water Technologies' Adoption... 

🤐 ... and the 3 secrets to overcoming them 

💪 The multifaceted perks of Private-Public Partnerships that lead to win-win-win-win-wins 

🙌 The one-billion eyeballs campaign that placed Water Challenges on the map for hundreds of millions of people 

💙 Patrick's KPI, Water Infrastructure, Allocation of Funding, Youth Engagement… and much more!

🔥 … and of course, we concluded with the 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🔥   

➡️ Send your warm regards to Patrick on LinkedIn. 

➡️ Check Xylem's website  

➡️ A big THANK YOU to Sciens Water for enabling this episode!

➡️ Check out Patrick Decker's full interview, including a short infographic, teasers and a full transcript on the (don't) Waste Water website!

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