The Future of Water

The clock is running out on the Colorado River. Lake Powell sits at 23% capacity. Towns are hauling water by truck. The 2025–26 snowpack is the lowest on record. After decades of missed deadlines, the federal government is now being forced to act. A binding record of decision—determining how the river will be operated going forward—must be in place by October 1, 2026. At the same time, the 2007 in...

The U.S. investor-owned utility (IOU) market just posted its strongest opening quarter in three years. Bluefield Analyst Megan Bondar joins host Reese Tisdale on The Future of Water to dig into what's driving that activity. The conversation covers the structural differences between greenfield and peer-to-peer transactions, why the geographic map looks completely different from Pennsylvania to Texa...

Utilities, contractors, equipment suppliers, and investors have a lot of questions about federal water infrastructure funding right now. How is money moving, where is it landing, and what does project activity look like over the next few years? Bluefield's Senior Analyst Charlie Suse joins host Reese Tisdale to walk through the federal funding landscape, from State Revolving Funds (SRF) and Infras...

Europe's stormwater crisis has been building for decades—and the numbers are now impossible to ignore. The last three decades rank among the worst for flooding in 500 years of European records. In 2024 alone, floods killed more than 330 people, displaced 413,000, and caused €18 billion in damages. Bluefield Research has sized the European stormwater market at €643 billion in projected CAPEX throug...

Australia is living what much of the world is still bracing for. A decade-long drought forced sweeping national action, and the country has been building toward a system-wide digital response ever since. Today, the results are visible in full-scale smart metering rollouts, rising investment in leak detection and customer engagement software, and a US$17 billion cumulative market opportunity throug...

What do water investors, utilities, and infrastructure planners most want to know right now? In this episode, Reese Tisdale is joined by Bluefield's VP & Managing Director Keith Hays to tackle the top questions submitted by listeners on LinkedIn in this mailbag episode. From climate finance and sustainable bonds to irrigation infrastructure, emerging technology, and energy costs, the conversat...

U.S. household water and sewer bills rose 5.1% in 2025—the steepest annual increase in five years and a 24.2% jump since 2020. Rates are rising faster than general inflation, with chemicals, energy, labor, and construction all contributing to sustained upward pressure. Bluefield analyst Megan Bondar joins Reese Tisdale to unpack new data covering 50 major U.S. cities. The conversation examines why...

At more than 70% of U.S. water withdrawals, agriculture is one of the most significant drivers of water demand in the country. In this episode, host Reese Tisdale sits down with Bluefield Analyst Olivia Kranefuss to unpack her newly released report, Water for U.S. Agriculture: Irrigation Trends, Technology Adoption, and Market Forecasts, 2026–2031 , and the US$84 billion transition reshaping how t...

Chemicals used to treat water is a US$10 billion market hiding in plain sight—fragmented, consolidating, and far more strategically interesting than the name suggests. Bluefield's latest water treatment chemicals analysis mapped nearly 500 companies across the space. In this episode, Bluefield analyst Caroline Vauclain joins host Reese Tisdale to unpack what she found—including why the top 10 play...

Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven data center growth is reshaping not only electricity markets, but water demand across the value chain. In this episode, podcast host Reese Tisdale sits down with Research Director Amber Walsh to discuss the broader water footprint of data centers—both onsite and offsite—and why the conversation is shifting beyond cooling towers to the power generation fleet. Whi...

Significant policy shifts are reshaping water infrastructure investment across North America. Greg Goodwin, Bluefield Research Senior Research Director, joins host Reese Tisdale to discuss his latest semi-annual policy review covering regulatory changes, budget developments, and emerging frameworks in the U.S. and Canada. The conversation examines a two-speed regulatory environment where tradition...

Energy represents one of the largest and most manageable cost centers for water and wastewater utilities—accounting for 10%–40% of operating budgets. Unlike other operational expenditures like labor, utilities can modify the amount of energy used and how much it costs by choosing the right combination of technologies. As electricity demand in the global water sector is projected to reach 4%–8% of...

As 2025 wraps up, we're closing out the year with five big questions shaping the water sector—and a few bold predictions for what's ahead. In this episode, host Reese Tisdale is joined by Bluefield VP & Managing Director Keith Hays to tackle the trends and challenges defining water investment right now. 1. Data centers are growing 12.2% annually and driving the U.S. industrial water market. Is...

Fair Market Value (FMV) has become a critical—yet often misunderstood—tool for addressing fragmentation across the U.S. water sector. Designed to give municipalities a clearer path and a cleaner valuation when selling assets, FMV is now shaping deal flow, policy debates, and competitive strategies nationwide. In this episode of The Future of Water, podcast host Reese Tisdale is joined by Bluefield...

Biosolids are an unavoidable byproduct of wastewater treatment, and U.S. utilities are facing increasing challenges managing them amid tightening landfill capacity, rising hauling costs, and growing concerns about contaminants like PFAS. With 6.3 million dry metric tons produced every year, biosolids are becoming one of the fastest-growing operating expenses for wastewater utilities. In this episo...

In this episode, host Reese Tisdale is joined by Bluefield analyst Megan Bondar to unpack the pressures and opportunities shaping water reuse—a cornerstone of resilient water supply planning that’s gaining momentum across the U.S. Bluefield's latest analysis projects US$47.1 billion in CAPEX for municipal reuse infrastructure through 2035, highlighting a shift in how utilities and cities are think...

Water systems—once considered too small or obscure to be hacked—are now squarely in the crosshairs of cyber actors. In recent months, Bluefield Research has tracked a surge of cyber activity targeting water and wastewater utilities around the world, from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) release of 32 new control system advisories to Poland’s launch of a national c...

Today's episode dives into one of the most critical—yet often overlooked—pieces of the U.S. energy and water puzzle: midstream water in oil and gas. Host Reese Tisdale is joined by Sophie Washington, Senior Analyst at Bluefield Research, who recently authored Bluefield's new Insight Report: U.S. Midstream Water for Hydraulic Fracturing: Market Trends, Opportunities, and Forecasts, 2025–2030 . In t...

Abu Dhabi’s TAQA is acquiring Spain-based GS Inima for US$1.2 billion, creating one of the most interesting moves in the global water sector this year. TAQA has long been known as a power and desalination leader in the Gulf, while GS Inima brings decades of experience managing water projects across Europe and Latin America. Together, the companies form a new global player with nearly 50 assets acr...

Bluefield Senior Analyst Charlie Suse joins host Reese Tisdale to unpack Bluefield’s latest analysis of municipal utility capital improvement plans (CIPs) across the U.S. and Canada. Covering 777 utilities across all 50 U.S. states and 8 Canadian provinces, the study captures over US$400 billion in planned investment through 2034. With five years of data (2021–2025) and more than 40,000 projects s...

This week, podcast host Reese Tisdale takes the mic solo to ask a question that’s been bothering him: Why does no one care about water? Reese steps away from the usual market forecasts and company strategies to dig into the bigger picture—the hidden value of water, the cracks showing in our systems, and why the most essential resource on earth is so often overlooked. From the invisible gallons beh...

This week, podcast host Reese Tisdale is joined by Boston-based Senior Analyst Amber Walsh and Barcelona-based Analyst Zineb Moumen to compare two of the world’s largest industrial water markets. With the release of Bluefield’s new industrial water forecasts and market trends analysis, they explore how the U.S. & Canada and Europe stack up across market size, growth, and opportunity. From semi...

From bold new initiatives in Canada to proposed federal budget cuts in the U.S., major policy shifts are reshaping the water landscape across North America. In this episode, Bluefield’s water experts unpack what these changes mean for funding, regulation, and the future of water infrastructure. Canada’s launch of a national Water Agency and CAD$650M Freshwater Action Plan marks a turning point, wh...

In this episode of The Future of Water , Bluefield Senior Analyst Amber Walsh joins host Reese Tisdale to break down Grundfos’s recent acquisition of Newterra and what it signals for the future of decentralized water treatment. Amber not only unpacks the deal itself—Grundfos’s fifth treatment-related acquisition since 2020—but also explores the broader competitive landscape for onsite treatment so...

Today’s guest, Bluefield Analyst Megan Bondar, joins host Reese Tisdale to unpack the growing role of investor-owned utilities (IOUs) in the U.S. water sector. From calculating market share to tracking M&A activity and geographic expansion, Megan brings fresh insights into how IOUs are positioning themselves in a fragmented market of 49,000 drinking water and 18,000 wastewater systems. Though...