(don't) Waste Water! | Water Tech to Solve the World | S5E13 - Radical Collaboration: 12 Staggering Ideas to Regenerate the Water World

Description

BlueTech Forum 2022's Theme was straightforward: Radical Collaboration for Regeneration.

For two packed days, the Vancouver convention center hosted the hottest and most insightful discussions on the fate of our Water World. Keynote speakers, start-up founders, end-users, industry experts, investors, and civil society gathered under the flag of "Radical Collaboration"

I was blessed with a spot next to the conference hall, which allowed me to welcome some industry legends on my microphone:

🎙️ Menno Holterman (President & CEO @ Nijhuis Saur Industries)

🎙️ Snehal Desai (EVP & Chief Growth and Sustainability Officer @ Evoqua Water Technologies)

🎙️ Ralph Exton (Chief Marketing & Chief Digital Officer @ SUEZ - Water Technologies & Solutions)

🎙️ Kimberly Kupiecki (Director & Global Leader Sustainability ESG, Advocacy, Communications @ DuPont)

🎙️ Jon LIberzon (VP & Head of Business Development @ Tomorrow Water)

🎙️ Kamakshi Sharma (Director of Marketing and Strategy @ Aquatech International)

We discussed:

🖐️ Radical Collaboration for Regeneration - What's in it for you? (00:51)

🚶‍♂️ How does Radical Collaboration translate into a company's actions? (05:59)

💰 Is M&A a way to collaborate? (11:16)

💬 Tomorrow Water & Aquatech's Elevator Pitches (17:24)

👼 Was collaboration the key to Evoqua's rebirth? (19:39)

🚀 How does SUEZ interact with the water start-up ecosystem? (22:26)

🌱 Walking the Sustainability Talk (23:41)

💽 Leveraging synergies between datacenters and wastewater treatment plants (26:31)

🎬 Reality check: where do we start from? (28:10)

🌆 How do we better integrate water infrastructure with urban design? (30:12)

💪 How does success look like in the future? (34:04)

🤝 How is it to be back to live interactions? (42:56)

🔥 Rapid Fire Questions: 🔥

😅 Can you name one thing that you've learned the hard way? (46:27)

⌚ What is the very very very latest thing you've learned? (48:32)

We mentioned:

The History of US Filter

The Veolia/SUEZ merger

The Dynamics of Water Innovation

The book "Flourish"

The (slow) rise of Reuse

Special thanks to Paul O'Callaghan, Aoife Kelleher, and Annyse Balkwill for the invite and support during this amazing Forum!

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About (don't) Waste Water! | Water Tech to Solve the World

❓ Ever wondered how the #WaterIndustry was reacting to our World's Water Challenges? Water Scarcity? #SDG6? PFAS? Climate Change? Circular Economy? Digitization and Smart Water?

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📈 We talk water investment, water tech, water entrepreneurship and water market with entrepreneurs, thought leaders, book authors, scientists, investment funds, VCs, and C-Level experts from water majors.

➡️ Leverage their insights, advice & experience and ensure to stay on top of best practices

🗓️ Tune in every Wednesday (don't miss out! 😅)

🌐 Find all the detailed episode notes, interviews, infographics, and more at http://dww.show

Currently in its 10th Season, the "(don't) Waste Water" podcast has already welcomed around 200 guests from Water Majors (SUEZ, Veolia, Jacobs, Xylem, Kemira, Evoqua, Aquatech, SKion Water...), Scale-Ups (Cambrian Innovation, Epic Cleantec, Liqtech, 374Water, Gingko Bioworks...), Start-Ups (Puraffinity, KETOS, 120Water, ZwitterCo, Membrion, Source...), Universities (Berkeley, the Columbia Water Center), Investment Funds (Sciens Water, Mazarine, Burnt Island Ventures...), Business Accelerators (Imagine H2O, Elemental...), Book Authors (Seth Siegel, David Sedlak, David Lloyd Owen...) or Market Intelligence Companies (BlueTech Research, Global Water Intelligence, World Bank, OECD, Isle Utilities...). Or simply water legends like Mina Guli or Andrew Benedek!

On the "(don't) Waste Water" podcast, I strive to make the Water Industry easy to understand for everyone, starting with water professionals, executives, and investors. Hence, he opens the microphone to seasoned, inspirational water experts to discuss their field of excellence.

No one can claim an all-around in-depth understanding of a matter as complex as Water. But piece by piece, you can rebuild the puzzle. With curiosity, patience, and passion, Antoine Walter explores topics such as Advanced Treatment Technologies, Water-Energy Nexus (Hydrogen, Lithium...), PFAS removal, Nature-Based Solutions, Wastewater Reuse, Distributed Water Treatments, Water Finance, and Water Entrepreneurship.

I actually firmly believe that regular listeners of the "(don't) Waste Water" podcast may, in the end, claim a "Water MBA!"

A particular field of interest is how innovation forms, grows and gets widely adopted in a complex and conservative field like the Water Industry. This may be one of the keys to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal n°6 - #SDG6.

ABOUT ME:

I'm a second-generation Water Professional - the legend says my dad traded excavator sessions for me in river banks against lunch invitations. I followed on this early start by completing a Master's in Hydraulics and Environmental Engineering, then won the "Golden Mission" contest organized by ENGIE (GDF-SUEZ).

This led me to travel the Asia-Pacific region for one year to explore, amongst others, water treatment in Hong Kong, desalination facilities in Melbourne, water distribution management in Jakarta, water innovation in Singapore or social water projects in New Delhi and Gujarat. All of that was documented in videos, blog articles, radio spots, and conferences in engineering and business schools (that's where I got hooked!)

I've then worked for SUEZ in Switzerland in strategic marketing, business development, and sales for the DACH and Nordic regions, with an emphasis on micropollutant removal.

I then joined GF Piping Systems in 2017 to take over the business development for the company's services in Europe, then for all Water Treatment and Lithium topics worldwide.

I've been a regular speaker at conferences on four continents, gave my first TEDx in 2022, and regularly acted as a host.

Since 2020, I've been hosting the "(don't) Waste Water" podcast and giving lectures in Business and Engineering schools.

I'm married, a happy father of three, and I'm French (nobody's perfect 😅).