💧 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐒𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 — 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝

If you’ve worked in this field, you’ve likely heard:

“We can’t afford the risk”

“Let’s stick with what works”

“Maybe next year”

These aren’t excuses — they’re real constraints. Water systems are built for reliability and compliance, not rapid change. But that slows progress, even when innovation offers big gains.

🛑 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐔𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 

𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬 & 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐤-𝐢𝐧: Most systems are built to last decades, which makes change feel risky and expensive.

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: You need validation to get deployed, but can’t get validation without real deployments.

𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜-𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭t: Lowest-cost bids often win — even if better tech exists.

🏭 𝐀 𝐁𝐢𝐭 𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫: 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 

Industries like food & beverage, energy, and manufacturing are often quicker to test new tech — if the ROI is clear (and that’s hard to prove without a long track record):

• A brewery might try water reuse tech if it significantly cuts discharge costs.

• A chip fab will invest in ultrapure water if it protects yield by a large %.

• A refinery may pilot electrocoagulation if it reduces sludge hauling a ton.

Even here, uncertain ROI = no adoption.

🔁 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡 

Innovators are gaining traction by:

• Building 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫, 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡,

• Starting with 𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬

• Partnering on 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭-𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬-𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬.

 ✅ 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 “𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤”

The bigger risk may be doing nothing. We need:

-Leaders ready to test and learn,

-Vendors showing value, not just tech, and

-Policies that reward outcomes — not just price.

💬 What’s working (or not) in your world? Let’s compare notes down below or on LinkedIn.

Reminder: I will be at ACE25 in Denver next week. Let’s connect!