Water Values Podcast

Eric Thornburg, President and CEO of Connecticut Water Company, relates his experiences from a Water for People trip to Rwanda, Africa. Eric explains how Water for People is helping countries in need and how they are making a difference and transforming those communities to provide a significant service of healthy and safe drinking water. He also discusses water sustainability initiatives and infr...

Ken Kirk, Executive Director of the National Association of Clean Water agencies, discusses the important role that NACWA plays in various areas of the water industry, from the federal government, other utility industries, and to small communities across the United States. Ken also talks us through the various programs that NACWA has created & implemented to be educational for other industries...

Bob Iacullo, Executive Vice President with United Water, discusses the history of the public-private partnership model in the water sector, how the model has changed and what innovations are taking place. Bob discusses a recent United Water’s P3 agreement with a New Jersey municipality that helped the city save money and earn a better credit rating. Bob also discusses the impact the IRS has on P3...

Lisa Sparrow, President and CEO of Utilities, Inc., a water and wastewater utility company with a national reach, joins The Water Values Podcast to discuss acquisition strategy, her approach to finding solutions to important problems, and a discussion about women as contributors in the utility industry and about attracting women to the field.

Thought leaders in the water industry join Dave McGimpsey to discuss important questions and systemic challenges facing the water utility industry. Hear how the panel and the event audience exchange ideas about the latest impact of regulations on water utility funding and operations, and how to best to educate consumers and communicate across the industry to better meet water challenges together.

Peter Yolles, CEO & Founder of WaterSmart Software, shares his perspective about how cloud-based, water efficiency technology can advance sustainable water management in water utilities – allowing utilities to connect directly with customers about usage strategies to save water & money. Peter describes the three primary benefits of WaterSmart Software: customer engagement, water efficiency...

Dave Nettles, the Division Engineer with the Colorado Division of Water Resources’ Water Division One, provides a background on Colorado water law and why augmentation plans are needed. He outlines how an augmentation plans are created, what the issues are, models used to predict future groundwater flows, and how augmentation plans are implemented. Dave also discusses the latest developments in au...

Mary Ann Dickinson, the President and CEO of the Alliance for Water Efficiency, examines a range of current issues involving water efficiency and to discuss her organization’s advocacy for water efficiency. She identifies a number of issues and describes how water efficiency actually is the least cost alternative for holding down rates. Mary Ann explains how water and energy are interrelated. She...

Chris Peacock, water sector entrepreneur and founder of the Water Innovation Project, takes us on a journey in search of “smart water”. He shares what he has learned about the water market over the years and how new information technologies are helping us better understand how to manage our vital water resources. Chris also announces details about his book release, a compilation of 25 essays by th...

Margaret Palmer, University of Maryland Professor and Director of the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, shares with the impact that mountaintop removal coal mining is having on inland streams and rivers. She discusses the scientific evidence she brings to the courtroom to illustrate the reality of what is happening in the environment. Margaret also relates how the National Socio-Envir...

Chmn. Alaina Burtenshaw of the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (also a Co-Vice Chair of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ (NARUC) Committee on Water), explains how state utility commissions are helping water utilities improve operations and how the NARUC gets state water utility interests seen and heard at the national level. Chmn. Burtenshaw identifies a number o...

Beth Toot-Levy, Senior Environmental Specialist with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, discusses environmental issues faced in the wastewater treatment process by the Cleveland area sewer utility serving over a million customers. Beth addresses water quality & other issues affecting the Great Lakes. Beth shares the area’s current wastewater research & efforts to treat and elimina...

Donna Vincent Roa, a communication specialist, water sector communication expert and Managing Partner at the Vincent Roa Group, comes on The Water Values Podcast for a discussion on the importance and effectiveness of communication using storytelling, visual and symbolic elements, and language to educate and engage the public about water and water utilities. Donna uses her own storytelling in this...

Alison Kastama, a communication manager with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and Heather Pohl, a project manager at SFPUC for the Automated Water Meter Program, explain the initiatives behind the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) program, the technology and tools used to educate customers on water usage reduction and the process to roll out AMI. This episode provides val...

Alison Kastama, a communication manager with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and Heather Pohl, a project manager at SFPUC for the Automated Water Meter Program, discuss the deployment of SFPUC’s advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) project. Alison and Heather explain the initiatives behind the AMI program, the technology and tools used to educate customers on usage reductio...

Michael Deane, the Executive Director at the National Association of Water Companies, identifies important issues for investor-owned water utilities. He describes how both the private and public sectors can work together to solve today’s water challenges. With a career dedicated to this vital resource, Michael shares his perspective about how previous generations have paved the way for our nation...

Ken Mercer, the American Water Works Association’s (AWWA) Senior Manager of Technical and Research Programs, comes on The Water Values Podcast to discuss the AWWA’s State of the Water Industry Survey. Ken does a deep dive into how those in the water industry perceive the industry from a variety of perspectives. Check this episode out and see how the industry thinks it’s doing! And if you’re not pa...

Ken Mercer, the American Water Works Association’s (AWWA) Senior Manager of Technical and Research Programs, discusses the AWWA’s Rate Survey and it Utility Benchmarking Survey. Ken fills us in on the trends that the AWWA’s Rate Survey reveals and some interesting metrics that the Utility Benchmarking Survey tracks, as well as how benchmarking can be used by utilities. Check this episode out and t...

UC Berkeley professor, David Sedlak, discusses the revolutions in urban water systems and to forecast what the next generation of our urban water systems will look like, which he calls Water 4.0. Dr. Sedlak takes us through the circumstances that surrounded the development of major technological revolutions in how water was supplied, treated and disposed of, and he’s got intriguing and provocative...

Forbes Guthrie, a good friend of The Water Values Podcast, discusses how to clean up water from industrial processes. We had a wide-ranging discussion that covered the basic process his company, Stewart Environmental, employs using ceramic filters, and the different types of water that need to be cleaned up, from water from industrial processes to mine water, to brackish water. We even get into te...

Wall Street veteran Debra Coy joins us on The Water Values Podcast to talk about a number of issues concerning water finance. She brings a wealth of experience as a water analyst and as a water consultant to our discussion about financing water utilities, assessing the current state of the market, evaluating the importance of rates to utilities, surveying industry consolidation, and much more.

Phil Wilson, the General Manager and CEO of the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) in Texas, addresses the impact of the drought on the LCRA, infrastructure funding and P3 issues, the energy-water nexus and more in this interview. (Phil also is a former Texas Secretary of State and former Executive Director of the Texas Department of Transportation). Phil does a great job explaining how LCRA is...

Steve Berens, CEO of Clear Comfort Water, LLC, discusses water tech and his company’s innovative water treatment solution. Clear Comfort is the world-wide licensee for pools and spas of a patented technology used for water treatment. Steve discusses a broad range of issues in the water tech space, explains the benefits of using the technology over chlorinated treatment, and describes the numerous...

Professor Neil Grigg of Colorado State University and the River Master of the Pecos River joins The Water Values Podcast this week. Neil has been involved with water for over 50 years and bestows just a fraction of his knowledge and experience on us in this interview. He discusses a wide range of water conflicts from small-scale to large-scale and relates stories of water conflict from both the Ea...

Marshall Davert, the President of Government & Infrastructure for the Americas and Asia/Pacific for MWH Global identifies key water infrastructure issues and provides his insights into the relative health of our water infrastructure. Marshall also compares and contrasts the models for funding infrastructure in the Americas and in the Asia/Pacific region. This is a “can’t miss” session of The W...