Peter Annin

A veteran conflict and environmental journalist, Peter Annin spent more than a decade reporting on a wide variety of issues for Newsweek. For many years he specialized in coverage of domestic terrorism and other conflicts, including the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City and the Branch Davidian standoff outside Waco, Texas. He has also spent many years writing about the environment, including droughts in the Southwest, hurricanes in the Southeast, wind power on the Great Plains, and the causes and consequences of the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico.

After his time at Newsweek, Annin became associate director of the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources, a nonpartisan national nonprofit that organizes educational fellowships for midcareer environmental journalists. In September 2006 he published his first book, The Great Lakes Water Wars, which has been called the definitive work on the Great Lakes water diversion controversy, and received the Great Lakes Book Award for nonfiction in 2007. From 2010 to 2015 Annin served as managing director of the University of Notre Dame’s Environmental Change Initiative, which targets the interrelated problems of invasive species, land use, and climate change, focusing on their synergistic impacts on water resources.

In 2018, Annin published an extensively revised and updated edition of Water Wars which was recognized with a Great Lakes Leadership Award in Communication Excellence from the Great Lakes Protection Fund in 2020.

He currently serves as director of the Mary Griggs Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation at Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s in international affairs from Columbia University in New York.

In 2000, a transformative climate-driven “megadrought” swept over the Colorado River watershed. By the early 2020s, levels on the river’s two largest reservoirs were hitting record lows and threatening the water supply for forty million people. Outside the West, water stocks are stressed even in states with bountiful rainfall such as Florida. From coast to coast, conventional measures to sustain the most fundamental natural resource on earth—drinking water—are coming up short. Recycled water could help close that gap.

In Purified: How Recycled Sewage Is Transforming Our Water, veteran journalist Peter Annin shows that wastewater has become a surprising weapon in America’s war against water scarcity. Annin probes deep into the water reuse movement in five water-strapped states—California, Texas, Virginia, Nevada, and Florida. He drinks beer made from purified sewage, visits communities where purified sewage came to the rescue, and examines how one of the nation’s largest wastewater plants hopes to recycle one hundred percent of its wastewater by 2035. At each stop, readers come face to face with the people who are struggling for, and against, recycled water. While the current filtration technology transforms sewage into something akin to distilled water—free of chemicals and safe to drink—water recycling’s challenge isn’t technology. It’s terminology. Concerns about communities being used as “guinea pigs,” sensationalist media coverage, and taglines like “toilet to tap” have repeatedly crippled water recycling efforts. Potable water recycling has become the hottest frontier in the race for expanded water supply options. But can public opinion turn in time to avoid the worst consequences?

Purified’s fast-paced narrative cuts through the fearmongering and misinformation to make the case that recycled water is direly needed in the climate-change era. Water cannot be taken for granted anymore—and that includes sewage.

David Sedlak

Author of Water for Water for All: Global Solutions for a Changing Climate 

David Sedlak is the Plato Malozemoff Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and director of the Berkeley Water Center. He is the author of the award-winning Water 4.0: The Past, Present, and Future of the World’s Most Vital Resource. He has written for, or been interviewed or covered by, media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Nature, the San Francisco Chronicle, the New York Review of Books, National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, Marketplace and Living on Earth.  His TEDx talk on this subject has had over a million views. He lives in Berkeley, CA.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

A fresh look at the world’s water crises, and the existing and emerging solutions that can be used to solve them

It is not your imagination: water crises are more frequent. Our twentieth-century systems for providing the water that grows food, sustains cities, and supports healthy ecosystems are failing to meet the demands of growing population and the challenges brought on by climate change. But the grim news reports—of empty reservoirs, withering crops, failing ecosystems—need not be cause for despair, argues award-winning author David Sedlak.

Communities on the front lines of previous water crises have pioneered approaches that are ready to be applied elsewhere. Some have resolved shortages by enhancing water-use efficiency, and others have used moments of crisis to resolve historic disagreements over water rights. Still others have employed treatment technologies that unlock vast quantities of untapped water resources.

Sedlak identifies the challenges that society faces, including ineffective policies and outdated infrastructure, and the myriad of tools at our disposal—from emerging technologies in desalination to innovations for recycling wastewater and capturing more of the water that falls on fields and cities. He offers an informed and hopeful approach for rethinking our assumptions about the way that water is managed. With this knowledge we can create a future with clean, abundant, and affordable water for all.

Paul Egan

Paul Egan is the VP of Sales at 8power Limited.

Based in Cambridge UK, Paul is an Experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of delivering results in high-technology growth companies. His skillset lies in business development and sales with technical expertise including industrial Internet of things (IIoT), next-generation wireless networks, sensing as a service, LPWAN, semiconductor design, Consumer Electronics, Management, Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), WiFi and Bluetooth.

8power is a Cambridge, UK based innovative technology company specialising in remote condition monitoring of rotating equipment. They offer condition monitoring at lower cost and easy installation for water/waste treatment, manufacturing industries and oil and gas industries. The 8power solution uses machine learning algorithms to spot developing reliability and failure issues coupled with multimodal wireless sensors with a10-year service life delivering high resolution data every hour.

To learn more, please visit https://8power.com

Louise Parlons Bentata

An accomplished marketing, brand and sustainability specialist, Louise is the co-founder and CEO of Bluemethane, a renewable energy company unlocking a new source of energy from hydropower. 

Louise is on a mission to expedite the renewable energy transition and reduce greenhouse emissions. Her approach is to stop 30 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions being released from water around the world by 2030. How? By capturing valuable methane from water and generating a new source of energy from these captured emissions.

Prior to Bluemethane, Louise launched Aberdare Consulting, providing strategic and operational expertise to clients across industries, primarily CPG, manufacturing, software, medical devices and the service sectors, with engagements including brand development, business integration, acquisitions, market and industry expansion, new product development, sustainability planning, marketing, customer experience, customer conversion, market sizing and pricing. Louise’s formative career focused on global brand development and marketing for L’Oréal and Johnson & Johnson, where she delivered major brand management, marketing execution, new product and innovation pipelines. In addition, Louise led the UK operations of an international fitness wear brand, Running Bare.

Juan Bravin

Juan Bravin is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kairospace Technologies. Originally from Mendoza, Argentina, Juan considers himself a generalist, embodying the qualities of a systemic thinker and a visionary with a compelling goal – to make the world a better place. His life mission is to develop transformative technologies and products across vital sectors: energy, water treatment, food production, health, and construction.  

Kairospace Technologies offers groundbreaking and innovative solutions leverage fundamental principles of physics, including plasma, electromagnetism, frequency induction, resonance, ultra fine bubbles, cavitation and fluid dynamics to enhance the physicochemical properties and structure of water without harmful chemicals. Kairospace Technologies optimizes industrial processes that use water, including agriculture and mining, and provide integrated solutions to issues related to sanitation, potability, desalination, river/lake pollution and wastewater.

To learn more about Juan and his work, please visit: https://kairospacetech.com/

Camilo Huneeus

Camilo Huneeus is an Industrial Chemical Engineer from Santiago, Chile with international experience in water engineering, public policy, and emergency response. He is the CEO of AInwater: the go-to platform for optimizing and controlling wastewater treatment systems, for both industries and utilities. Ainwater focuses on energy optimization in the water treatment sector. The company offers a software-based solution that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor and optimize water treatment systems, ensuring regulatory compliance and energy efficiency. 

EDUCATION
Yale University, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies New Haven, CT, USA
Master of Environmental Management, specialization in water resource management 2018, Honors
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago, Chile
Licentiate in Engineering Science, 2012, GPA: A+
Industrial Chemical Engineer, 2013 (Professional Degree, Equivalent to a UK master’s in engineering), GPA: A+

LEADERSHIP, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS
Leadership:

To learn more about Camilo and AInwater, please visit https://ainwater.com/en/inicio-english/

Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson, the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of LAIIER.IO, is a dedicated advocate for the transformative potential of smart materials, surfaces, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in shaping the built environment. At the helm of LAIIER.IO, Matt spearheads a team of interdisciplinary experts, collectively committed to pioneering continuous monitoring solutions that boast seamless installation, akin to the simplicity of applying a piece of tape.

Prior to his role at LAIIER.IO, Matt served as the Chief Executive Officer at Bare Conductive, the world’s foremost printed electronics prototyping platform catering to engineers and designers. Recognized as a thought leader in the realm of blue-chip companies, he played a pivotal role in driving innovation and shaping industry perspectives.

Beyond his executive responsibilities, Matt leverages his expertise as a visiting design engineering tutor at prestigious institutions such as Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art. This dual commitment underscores his dedication to nurturing the next generation of design and engineering talent.

Hailing originally from Colorado, Matt brings a wealth of experience from his outdoor pursuits, fostering a profound appreciation for the impact of nature on overall well-being. His multifaceted background uniquely positions him as a leader at the intersection of technology, design, and environmental consciousness.

Paul O’Callaghan

Water scientist, sustainability thought leader and documentary producer, Paul O’Callaghan believes the global water crisis can be solved in his lifetime and he is on a mission to help make it happen. 

After being awarded a bio-chemistry degree, Paul’s first role was for the Body Shop working alongside the pioneering environmentalist Anita Roddick. Paul then volunteered for the World Wildlife Fund in Malaysia, and after completing a Master’s degree he later returned to research the effects that deforestation was having on water quality. Paul’s next role was with Atkins, one of the globally leading engineering management consultancies who are pioneering in their approaches to projects. It was while working as an engineering consultant, that Paul first noticed how extraordinarily long it took to get water technologies to market, which gave him the initial idea for BlueTech Research.

BlueTech Research was co-founded by Paul in 2011, to support technological advancements in water management and help find the solutions needed to provide clean water and safe sanitation. The Intelligence Platform was created to improve the intelligence available on water technologies and their markets, making it easier to identify commercially viable innovation options. 

Paul acted as the executive producer for the award-winning documentary ‘Brave Blue World’. The documentary was designed to create more awareness about the solutions that already exist to solve the water crisis and has attracted the involvement on screen of A-list celebrities Matt Damon and Liam Neeson, as well as activist Jaden Smith. Since its launch on Netflix, Brave Blue World has been translated to 29 languages and is accessible to over 200 million viewers. Paul is now set to co-produce a new ground-breaking feature documentary; Our Blue World – A Water Odyssey. This film will explore humanity’s profound relationship with water and reveal how human agency can help rebalance the planet’s water systems.

Paul now divides his time between the BlueTech Research offices in Vancouver and Cork. He works with global Fortune 500 corporates including L’Oréal, Microsoft and PepsiCo on their water strategy policies. He has also recently guest lectured at Harvard and Cambridge Universities.

Paul recently completed a PhD in Water Innovation from Wageningen University. In his free time, he is a keen pianist and enjoys kayaking, ocean swimming and free diving.

Slava Libman

Slava Libman is the CEO of FTD solutions. He has more than 20 years of experience in water technology, including technology development, analytical services, operations, and management primarily within the semiconductor industry. His experience includes different technical and leadership roles with a semiconductor company, a major A&E firm, and premier analytical laboratory. He received a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. He is a licensed Environmental Engineering Professional.

Dr. Libman’s contributions include more than 50 publications and conference presentations. He is involved with semiconductor industry activities, working on semiconductor water technology roadmap and standards, organizing, and moderating conferences and seminars.

To learn more about FTD solutions, please visit http://www.ftdsolutions.net

Michael Murphy

Michael Murphy is the Director of Innovation Council & Executive committee member of the New England Water Environment Association. As both a member of NEWEA Executive Committee and the Innovation Council Director, Michael fosters connections between
public, private, non-profit, government, and academia to bring innovative solutions to market. Additionally, the Innovation Council organizes industry and knowledge-sharing gatherings showcasing innovations that exhibit a philosophy of ONE Water in New England.

Key Achievements:
Co-led the Innovation Pavilion and pitch contest featuring ten startups at the 2023 NEWEA Annual Conference.
Helped establish and currently coordinate business partnerships with both Evoqua and Watts Water.

To learn more please visit newea.org