Water Leaders Discuss Sector Trends and Emerging Issues in WEF Podcasts

The Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) “Words on Water” podcast series presents insights from leaders in the water sector. Stream online podcast episodes and download audio files on iTunes and the Android Words on Water app.

In recent episodes:

• Chris Mahoney, vice president of capital markets for Andritz Separation Technologies (Graz, Austria), shares his perspective on how the goals of water treatment have changed during the past several decades as well as the important role of equipment in water treatment.
• Dinesh Kumar and Wayne Lem, market managers for TrojanUV (London, Ontario), discuss the importance of the Ganges River to the people of India and ongoing efforts to reduce pollution and increase public awareness about disinfection and construction of treatment facilities along the river.
• Joe Witlox, director of decentralized water and wastewater solutions at Newterra (Brockville, Ontario), explains the challenges small communities face with wastewater treatment, how decentralized technology can provide essential services, and the concept of modular design.
• Tom Kunetz, president of the Water Environment Federation (Alexandria, Va.), discusses his priorities for the next year as WEF president, his work as assistant director of monitoring and research for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, the rebound of the Chicago River, and his involvement in comedy.
• Ghassan Korban, executive director of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, discusses the work needed to improve water infrastructure in New Orleans, the benefits of green infrastructure, and the challenge of shaping a workforce and creating a better image for the utility.
• David Wachal, director of the Esri (Redlands, Calif.) Global Water Practice, talks about digital transformation of the water sector, ways utilities use geographic information system data, workforce implications of the digital era, and the rate of digitization around the world.
• Ronit Erlitzki and Richard Cavagnaro, both directors at AdEdge Water Technologies (Atlanta), discuss how the state of science and technology make it an exciting time to work in water as well as several other water sector issues such as emerging contaminants, the evolution of desalination, transferring technology to the market, and marketing water careers to the next generation.