Host: Matthew Klein
Guest: Reese Tisdale | President & Co-Founder | Bluefield Research
Category: 🤖 Technology
Podcast’s Essential Bites:
[1:36] “I would say [there are] three things [that are mainly influencing the water sector]. [First] is technology, […] even outside of water. I'm not just talking [about] reverse osmosis membranes, […] chemical treatments for water and wastewater. I'm talking about […] the Internet of Things, […] connectivity, […] smart home. […] Number two is just climate. […] And […] lastly, […] changing business models. [...] So I would say those are three areas of change in the water sector that will definitely play a much bigger role on decisions, whether it be procurement or adoption of solutions, and ownership of water, wastewater, or even industrial water systems in the next 10, 15, 20, 30 years.”
[5:41] “[Regarding] smart homes, […] people increasingly want to know and expect to know what's happening in their realm. Whether it be how much water they're using, how much water does their […] dishwasher or hot water heater use, [are] their kids showering too much. […] It all costs money [and] rates are rising. […] I have a thermostat in my home [that] gives me information, but more importantly, it also gives the utility information [or a third party like] like Nest, owned by Google, […] or even Honeywell. […] Electricity at these times [is] far more precise with that data. There's no reason that that won't and will not happen in the water sector. I think it's valuable. And I think even if the added value of understanding more precisely what's happening with water, and even wastewater, as it flows out of the house, if there's monitoring solutions for that, [it]'s valuable.”
[9:57] “We're seeing […] wastewater based epidemiologists [and] even Bluefield, we're talking to several companies that are either looking to get into [things like smart toilets] or are already involved in wastewater epidemiology and the benefits. It's not just for COVID. In fact, COVID may be the spearhead for the discussion. But once we get past the pandemic, [there is] the opportunity to better understand things like […] opioid use by whether it be by building, city block, community. […] Big names, [including] Google, […] Amazon, […] Apple [will] acquire the up and coming solution providers.”
[29:09] “We've been doing some research on […] water and […] drought. […] It was only 2018 and Cape Town [..] said basically, […] we're almost out of water. […] Hundreds of thousands of people that are potentially […] moving into water rationing. […] Day Zero, as I call it, we've seen that happen in Turkey, […] even London [has] its water problems or Jakarta, Indonesia.”
[30:11] “When [most people] think of climate and water, they think drought, [but] don't necessarily think about […] freeze outs in places like Texas, [or] wildfires [in California]. […] When there are wildfires, one, you need to put the fire out, so is there a water supply to do so? The second part of that is, […] can you even monitor your tank levels [in] utilities [to know] how much water they have in the tank [and what about] backup generation? […] And then the back end of the wildfires, […] the runoff, […] the ash that goes into water supplies, and how to deal with that.”
[33:29] “We've looked at recently […] the automotive sector […] and how the water is used across the automotive supply chain from the big brands all the way down. And […] they are looking at water not only just from a corporate sustainability or ESG perspective, but from an operating perspective. […] Tesla has patents for water treatment that it uses at its own facilities. So it sees it as an issue. They made great strides in how much water they use. […] I think historically, […] the past […] two decades, they've been more focused on carbon, […] but I think now they're realizing [that] water is part of the equation.”
[36:55] “When rich people are impacted, so when they're finding PFOAS in their […] salad bowl that they got from the store down the street, and they realize that they're being impacted, […] they're more, there's more likely to be action. […] It's sort of like opioids. […] There's no […] economic divide. […] Opioids are touching all social and economic classes. And I think that's what's happening with water quality as well. And […] those with means will ultimately be able to or try to secure their own supplies, to the potential risk or loss of others, and that's […] where someone is ultimately gonna have to step in and […] manage the situation.”
[38:42] “Speaking of the future and back to technology, [an promising example is] atmospheric dehumidification. […] Will that happen at an industrial scale in 20, 30 years from now? I don't see why not. […] I mean, there's water in the air, so if you're looking for drinking water and you can capture it out of the air that seems like that's a good way to go.”
Rating: 💧💧💧
🎙️ Full Episode: Google | Spotify
🕰️ 42 min | 🗓️ 04/21/2021
✅ Time saved: 40 min
Additional Links:
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