The Executive Exchange

In this episode of the Exec Exchange podcast, host Piers Clark speaks with Ringo Mok, Director of Drainage Services Department at Hong Kong SAR, about how Hong Kong is shaping itself into a flood resilient coastal city. Ringo shares his career path into public service and outlines the Drainage Services Department’s scale, missions, and major achievements, including the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme and the Regulation of Shenzhen River project. He explains how climate change, intense rainfall, and Hong Kong’s compact, low-lying geography require a holistic, integrated flood management approach beyond infrastructure alone, framed as the “Resilience Commons” with shared community responsibility. Ringo details the department’s Adaptation Resilience Management (ARM) framework and describes the response to Super Typhoon Ragasa in 2025, highlighting preparedness, real-time monitoring, rapid recovery, and public engagement.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
00:31 Ringo’s Career Journey
01:32 What DSD Does
02:14 Scale and Operations
03:28 Signature Projects
04:10 Flood Risk Evolution
06:02 Resilience Commons Concept
06:31 ARM Framework Overview
06:52 Pillar 1 Adaptation
07:30 Pillar 2 Resilience
08:30 Pillar 3 Management
09:27 Case Study Typhoon Ragasa
11:47 Lessons and Future Approach
12:15 Advice to Younger Self
14:12 Wrap Up and Thanks

In this episode of the Exec Exchange podcast, host Piers Clark speaks with Criselle Alejandro, President of Balibago Waterworks in the Philippines, about Balibot, the company’s AI-enabled digital twin for preventive maintenance and asset management. Criselle shares her unconventional path from communications and government work to fashion operations and eventually joining her father’s utility, describing how they manage professionalism in a family business. She outlines Balibago’s scale as the fourth-largest private water utility in the country, operating 93 municipal franchises across 24 provinces, serving 1.5 million people. Criselle shares Balibago's digital transformation journey with TeamSolve and Balibot’s evolution from a WhatsApp-based pilot to a more powerful platform, early adoption results across 7 sites, and lessons about data preparation, form design, and AI training.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
00:49 Criselle’s Unconventional Path
02:31 Family Business Dynamics
04:14 Balibago Waterworks Overview
05:24 What Is Balibot?
06:38 TeamSolve Pilot Lessons and Upgrades
08:03 Early Results and Behavior Change
11:08 Advice for AI Adoption
12:49 What I Owe My Parents
13:50 Wrap Up and Thanks

In this episode of the Exec Exchange podcast, host Piers Clark speaks with Hans Goossens, CEO of De Watergroep, about the company’s direct potable reuse scheme in Hofstade. Hans shares his background moving into leading Flanders’ largest public water company, which serves about 3.6 million people. He explains how water scarcity and Flanders’ Blue Deal prompted De Watergroep and fellow public utility Farys, through their Waterunie cooperation, to use wastewater treatment plant effluent with advanced treatment and aquifer storage and recovery. The plant has operated since mid-2025 at 1,000 m³/day with plans to double capacity, with ongoing work to stabilize stored-water quality, transparent public communication, and use of continuous online monitoring and chlorination as safeguards. The conversation also delved into the benefits of continuous online monitoring through flow cytometry and a mention of bNovate's BactoSense. 

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
00:27 Hans Career Journey
01:33 About De Watergroep
02:20 Why Direct Potable Reuse
04:08 Farys Partnership and Merger
06:20 Hofstade Plant Performance
07:22 Costs Versus Other Sources
08:24 Public Acceptance and Outreach
10:03 Monitoring and Flow Cytometry
11:50 Final Advice and Wrap Up

In this episode of the Exec Exchange podcast, host Piers Clark speaks with Rebecca West, Chief Executive Officer of Renewable Water Resources (ReWa) in South Carolina, about the importance of community engagement in maintaining a utility’s license to operate. The conversation explores how ReWa emphasizes on a more outward-facing organization, focused on resource recovery, long-term infrastructure planning, and public trust. Rebecca explains how growth, rising costs, and changing customer expectations have made engagement more important than ever, and shares examples of how ReWa is bringing the community into discussions about major capital projects, biosolids, and the future of water in upstate South Carolina. The episode highlights the value of transparent, practical, and hands-on communication in building support for essential infrastructure investment.

00:00 Introductions
00:35 Meet Rebecca West: background and past roles
02:04 Geography and service area: Greenville and five upstate South Carolina counties
02:42 ReWa’s name change and focus on resource recovery and biosolids
03:57 Why community engagement matters amid growth and rising costs
05:18 Energy intensity, nutrient removal, and the push toward energy neutrality
07:05 Public-facing infrastructure engagement: Swamp Rabbit Trail event
10:40 Biosolids outreach, farmer advocates, and extra mile to build trust
12:24 Advice for newcomers: “Jump in” to the water sector and get fully immersed

In this episode of the Exec Exchange podcast, host Piers Clark speaks with John Ikeda, Chief Mission Officer at the Water Environment Federation (WEF). The conversation explores the emerging Water–AI Nexus™: how AI’s explosive growth intersects with water use in data centers and how AI can be harnessed to solve complex water and wastewater challenges. John traces his unconventional path from journalism and microfinance to global water work at the World Bank and WEF, and explains why WEF convened utilities, hyperscalers, and academics to align on shared principles for sustainable water use and AI deployment. The episode covers insight reports on data center cooling and utility AI use cases, the risks of AI, and how AI can instead act as an operator co‑pilot that makes frontline work more efficient, attractive, and impactful. John also introduces WEF’s free “AI 101 for Water Professionals” course and closes with leadership advice about embracing imperfect answers and building consensus to drive real change.

00:00 Introductions
00:35 Meet John Ikeda: how water found him
01:58 What is the Water Environment Federation and John’s role as Chief Mission Officer
03:52 Launching the Water–AI Nexus and why the AI and water communities need each other
05:31 Data centers, water–energy trade‑offs, and making reuse the default for cooling
07:40 AI for utilities: operator co‑pilots, workforce impacts, and creating real market signals
10:22 The potential in an unconstrained world
11:31 “AI 101 for Water Professionals” and how water leaders can get started today
13:05 Final Thoughts and Advice

To learn more and access the resources, visit the Water–AI Nexus™ Center of Excellence website at water-ai-nexus.org

In this episode of the Exec Exchange, host Piers Clark speaks with Bob Taylor, Chief Executive of Portsmouth Water, about innovative network management and leakage detection. Bob shares his 40 plus years in the water industry and describes Portsmouth Water’s resilient, distributed supply system supported by high service reservoir storage and pressure management for consistent operation. The conversation focuses on reducing non-revenue water in a network that is only partly sectorized into district metered areas (DMAs), and Portsmouth Water’s trials with Dutch company HULO, whose AI and hydraulic modeling uses existing pressure and flow monitoring to detect deviations from steady state conditions. In six trial areas, HULO successfully detected simulated leaks in 5 out of 6 tests, informing Portsmouth Water’s decision on further rollout versus installing more district meters. Bob closes with advice to new entrants to value the sector’s importance, career variety, and major UK infrastructure program including new reservoirs and transfers.

00:00 Welcome and guest intro
00:32 Bob Taylor background
01:15 Why Portsmouth is resilient
03:03 Leakage and smart networks
05:00 DMAs versus open networks
05:59 HULO concept explained
07:51 Trial results and next steps
10:36 Leakage passion and digital future
11:37 Advice for new entrants
13:04 Wrap up and thanks

In this episode of the Exec Exchange podcast, host Piers Clark speaks with Jon Lamonte, former Chief Executive of Watercare, about his path from defense and transport leadership into New Zealand’s largest water utility and the shifting landscape of national water reform. Lamonte describes Watercare’s Auckland-scale operations, its move toward customer focus and data, and the fragmented pre-reform sector of many council-run providers. He explains the Labour Government’s compulsory Three Waters Reform proposal, the controversy around co-governance with Māori, and the later reform that shifted toward 10 entities before being repealed after the 2023 election. The new voluntary Local Water Done Well approach is creating a mixed set of council-controlled organizations and groupings, alongside stronger regulation from Taumata Arowai and the Commerce Commission, new funding flexibility, and hoped-for investment after years of neglect.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
00:36 Jon’s Career Journey
01:49 Why Watercare Hired Him
02:56 Watercare and Auckland Overview
04:16 New Zealand Sector Landscape
04:53 Three Waters Reform Plan
05:53 Why Reform Became Controversial
07:13 Affordable Water and Election Reset
08:13 Local Water Done Well
09:20 New Entities and Mixed Bag Future
12:05 Regulators Funding and Optimism
13:22 Lessons Advice and Wrap Up

In this episode of the Exec Exchange podcast, host Piers Clark speaks with Dr. Marcus Rink, Chief Inspector at the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI), about his career path from medical science into the water industry and his progression at DWI to Chief Inspector in 2015. Marcus explains the statutory role of DWI across England and Wales in policing drinking water quality, sufficiency, security, emergency management, and network information systems to ensure wholesome water delivery, describing the inspector-led audit and investigation model, staffing, and workload. He discusses regulatory transition toward a more unified approach, limited post-Brexit change to water quality rules, and the use of guidance to address PFAS. The conversation highlights risk-based regulation enabling innovation such as real-time microbial monitoring via flow cytometry, and future priorities including water reuse and system connectivity.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
00:26 Marcus Career Journey
01:29 Joining the DWI
02:22 Chief Inspector Role
04:08 How DWI Polices Safety
05:16 Team Size and Workload
06:05 Regulatory Transition Plans
07:19 Brexit and PFAS Approach
09:17 Innovation and Monitoring
11:03 Future Horizon Reuse
12:00 Regulation Meets Research
13:00 Advice to Younger Self
14:10 Wrap Up and Thanks

Dr. Marcus Rink mentions flow cytometry as an innovative way to undertake continuous monitoring of bacteriological contamination. One of the leading suppliers of flow cytometry equipment is bNovate.

bNovate Technologies SA is a Swiss technology company transforming microbiological water monitoring from a delayed laboratory process into real-time operational insight. Its automated BactoSense platform, powered by proprietary flow cytometry technology, delivers reliable microbial water quality data within minutes instead of days, helping operators detect change early, respond faster, and stay in control. Used across drinking water, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and industrial applications, bNovate’s solutions support safer water, stronger compliance, and more efficient operations. Connected through BactoCloud, data becomes instantly accessible, traceable and audit-ready across sites and teams.

With more than 500 installations worldwide, over 70 peer-reviewed publications, and growing global adoption, bNovate is helping water professionals move from manual, reactive testing to continuous, data-driven microbiology.

Please contact [email protected] for more information or visit www.bnovate.com

In this episode of the Exec Exchange podcast, host Piers Clark speaks with Dr. Jo Burgess, Chief Executive of the Tech Ascend Foundation, about “Pilot Heaven” and how to escape “Pilot Purgatory” in the water sector. Jo explains Tech Ascend’s Trial Reservoirs Initiative, an evergreen revolving fund providing repayable grants that de-risks full-scale trials through a trial and purchase agreement with pre-agreed KPIs. Examples include KenWave with Brabant Water, Desolenator with Silal in the UAE, and EnBiorganic Technologies in Canada, contributing to a 72.5% success rate. Jo also mentioned Tech Ascend’s 2026 Keeling Curve Prize finalist recognition.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
00:27 Jo’s Activist Roots
01:44 South Africa Career Journey
02:28 Tech Ascend and Trial Reservoirs
04:01 How the Model Works
04:42 Pilot Heaven Explained
05:55 Case Study KenWave Brabant
07:46 Case Study Desolenator UAE
09:39 Case Study EnBiorganic Canada
10:55 Success Rates and Why
12:29 Recognition and Momentum
12:57 Advice and Closing

In this episode of the Exec Exchange podcast, host Piers Clark speaks with Mehul Patel, Executive Director at Orange County Water District in Southern California, about the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS). Mehul explains OCWD’s role in managing the Orange County Groundwater Basin, which supplies 19 municipal agencies and serves 2.5 million people, and describes how OCWD partnered with Orange County Sanitation District to treat their secondary effluent using the full advanced treatment process of GWRS. The resulting purified water is injected to prevent seawater intrusion and spread in recharge basins to replenish groundwater. Mehul also highlights the major effort needed in public outreach to move the project forward.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
00:33 Mehul’s Career Origin Story
01:56 Mentorship and Taking Over
02:39 What OCWD Does
03:29 GWRS Overview and Treatment
06:47 Scaling Up to Full Reuse
08:34 Underground Travel Time
09:48 Public Outreach and Acceptance
11:29 What If GWRS Didn’t Happen
12:16 Football Scarves and World Cup
13:37 Advice to Younger Self
14:32 Wrap Up and Sign Off