Prof. Wiebe M. de Vos, leader of the research group Membrane Surface Science at Twente University, tries to solve complex water treatment problems through interdisciplinary and creative research. In this episode, he shares his three research pillars with us: 1- Complex fouling mechanisms occurring when treating e.g. produced water from O&G, 2- Coatings, layer by layer and polyelectrolyte membranes, and 3- A fully aqueous membrane synthesis platform. We also talk about the research edges and opportunities in ion exchange membranes.

Imagine whenever you go to the supermarket, you can find the water consumption of any food product on its label! The amount of water that was consumed from its planting to its harvesting. Wouldn’t that help you make a sustainable choice? Why food?! because agriculture consumes above 60% of the total water consumption across industries. According to the United Nations, above 12 million hectares are becoming desert every year or as Ole Kristian Sivertsen said, “about one football field of fertile land disappears every two seconds”. One nonchemical way to return desert to fertile land has been developed by Desert Control. Ole Kristian Sivertsen, CEO of Desert Control, explains in this episode how big and challenging the desertification problem and how Desert Control solution can stop and recover dying lands to green land. The solution is called Liquid Natural Clay (LNC) that can be produced onsite and sprayed directly to sand or arid soil to form a structure like sponge, which enables the sand to capture water for a long time and improve its mineral composition contents for agriculture. As a result, LNC saves up to 50% of water and fertilizer consumption.

Urban population growth, economic development and change of consumption patterns increase water demand. The challenge is how can water utilities continue using old water infrastructure to maintain the increase of water demand at lower cost? Daily urban water consumption is processed by algorithms to predict the exact needed water amount that should be supplied to the right underground reservoir and at the right time. This water supply via pumps consumes electricity which makes 30-40% of the total tap water cost. Electricity price in Europe and abroad changes every hour of the day for 24 hours. Processing all these data to reduce the water supply cost by more than 3% is one of SCUBIC achievements. Bruno Abreu, co-founder of SCUBIC, discusses in this episode how his platform deploys mathematical algorithms that benefit water utilities making intelligent decisions to cut the water supply cost and reduce the overuse of water infrastructure.

Professor Mathias Wessling from RWTH Aachen University in Germany, winner of the Leibniz 2019 price, is innovating four pillars of membrane technology: 1-hollow fiber NF, 2-layer by layer membranes, 3-AI backward design recipes, and 4-water treatment inverse problems. We (Rhea Verbeke and I) talked about the contributions of his research that have been made it from lab scale to pilot scale to industrial products.  His membrane innovations are either licensed to companies such as Evonik or transformed into new companies such as Con-vergence, furthr-research, Amovion and Biothrust. Currently, his team is developing a novel membrane for dialysis that has thepotential to shift the dialysis market. Enjoy this episode that bridges valuable insights for academics, industrial experts and investors active in water field and beyond!

According to HydroIQ, half of the water supplied by utilities in Africa is lost before reaching the consumer due to leakages. Hence, there is a need for an online platform layer between water suppliers and consumers to visualize the exact consumed amount of water and pay for this amount frictionless. Victor L. Shikoli, co-founder of HydroIQ, shares in this podcast episode how HydroIQ assist homes, utilities, businesses and industries to use, manage, report, bill and pay for water efficiently.

Professor Mihail Barboiu belongs to the pioneers of biomimetic membranes. Via supramolecular chemistry, he designs artificial channels, embedded in membranes, through which water or ions can selectively permeate. In this episode, we dive into Prof. Mihail’s journey: his inspiration, the working mechanisms of artificial channels, the upscaling of these membranes, and the impact they can have on society as they can reach  2 LMHbar output. These membranes seem way ahead of the game implying they can cut CAPEX and OPEX of seawater desalination by half! We also touch on other applications such as the selective removal of lithium from sea water and the potential of artificial water channels in medical applications. This episode contains many insights, all the way from nano to macro!

"I have a dream: safe water for all children" professor Andrea Iris Schäfer, KIT. In this episode, Rhea and I hosted Prof. Andrea Schaefer who develops reliable drinking water systems at an affordable price for several communities in Africa and abroad. These decentralized systems combine membrane technology with renewable energy. Moreover, she is researching and developing low pressure reactive membranes to remove endocrine disrupters from wastewater. It was inspiring to learn how her academic career started and how it developed over the years. Her vision and the key insights she shared with us in this episode can be valuable for junior researchers who would like to pursue an academic career.

“Our ideas are our art as scientists” professor Jeffrey McCutcheon at the University of Connecticut, USA. In this episode, my co-host Rhea Verbeke and I discuss Prof's breakthrough research on additive manufacturing methods for water purification membranes. We talk about the gaps between academia and industry, about the hype cycle of new water technologies and the opportunities that lay in convergence research. He also shares interesting new research directions and talks about what you need to become a good academician.

''Thousands have lived without love, not one without water'' W.H.Auden was a poet (1907-1973).  The Wyland Foundation, a non-profit organization, brings artists, scientists and teachers together to raise environmental awareness through education programs, public arts projects, and community events. Steve Creech, president of The Wyland Foundation, shares in this episode the tools and the key lessons of the US Mayor’s Challenge to save water across the US.

In water, the business of science and engineering is to transfer skills that straddle both academia and industry towards solving urgent firm water challenges. In these regards, Wetsus is a platform coordinating multidisciplinary experts from both industry and academia to skill young water solutionists and deliver innovations applicable to the society. Jan Post, program director at Wetsus, discusses in this episode how Wetsus impacts water sector and what is going on its innovation pipelines focused on four research themes: 1-drought resilience, 2-healthy environment, 3-recovered resources and 4-sustainable water.