(don't) Waste Water!

Saad Dara is the CEO and Founder of Mangrove Lithium. Mangrove Lithium develops an innovative approach to Lithium Refining which is using electrochemical processes to reach battery grade from diverse raw sources. 

The decarbonization of our World oftentimes resembles a set of Russian Dolls. First, we needed electric cars, so the manufacturers started shifting their internal combustion lines to EV ones. Then, batteries were on the critical path, so the World frantically built Gigafactories. As a result, Lithium became the bottleneck, and over the next decade, we'll try to catch up. But in doing so, we may well bump into the next problem: missing chemicals.

Don't roll your eyes too fast: I do know that Soda Ash, for instance, is pretty commonplace and shouldn't be an issue. Except if you are in the middle of the high Andes, and especially on the Argentinan side, where dozens of junior lithium companies are currently cutting their teeth. 

If you don't have enough Soda Ash, you can't refine your Lithium Chloride to Carbonate, and why is that a problem, well, that means you have to truck large volumes of concentrated brines away, and reach a place where chemicals are available. Not a big deal? Well, except if you compound in the absence of paved roads around most of the Salars that will enter into production in the next years, or simply the fact that bringing a truck up to an altitude of over 4'000 meters is not that easy. 

While I was up in Olaroz, Cachi, and Jama, I crossed two different trucks in two different places that had rolled over onto the side of the road. So again, I'd say, not a piece of cake.

But if evaporation ponds are so efficient in the high Andes, it's, of course, thanks to widely available solar energy. Something energy companies start to leverage by installing solar farms.

So what if it were possible to use that electrical energy right where it's produced, to refine the concentrated brines that evaporation ponds output into battery-grade carbonate or hydroxide? 

Well, some companies have started to explore that electrochemical road, and you would have guessed, that's where Mangrove Lithium is focusing. 

Their technology was born as a water treatment and desalination play, yet the ideal product-market fit seems to rather be in the lithium industry - once again, a proof of the high porosity between those two worlds. 

Let me avoid spoiling you all of my conversation with Saad Dara, but what I can already tell you is that we had good fun recording, I hope you'll enjoy it as well, if you do, please remember to take that episode and share it with a friend, a colleague, your boss or your team, wherever you're listening or watching that, make sure to like and subscribe, and I'll meet you on the other side!

➡️ Check out the entire article on how Mangrove Lithium is the Jewel in Bill Gates' crown on the (don't) Waste Water website!

with 🎙️ Glenn Vicevic - CTO at Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions 

💧 Veolia WTS provides Industry-leading water technology and process expertise to solve the toughest water, wastewater, and process challenges

What we covered:

💦 Why the Membrane Filtration Sector is a Thrilling Space and What's to learn from its evolution across the past three decades 

🏭 What it Takes to Drive Innovation in the Water Industry and what we can learn from A Peek Inside Veolia's R&D 

💼 How Building a Career in Water Treatment Can Lead to Impactful Work, and what we learn from Glenn Vicevic's Journey from Zenon to Veolia through GE Water and SUEZ, all without switching company 

🌍 Why The World Should be Paying More Attention to the Role of Water in Climate Change (and How) 

🧑‍🔬 How Researchers are still Pushing the Boundaries in Membrane Science - and how the next big thing seems to revolve around MABRs  

🚰 What Veolia's Smart Water System Teaches Us About the Future of Water Management 

📈 Why Veolia's ‘Digital Twin’ Could Be a Game Changer for the Water Sector - and to which extent 

💼 How Veolia's Organizational Structure is Setting It Up for Future Success - in the packed context of a long M&A history, especially on the once Zenon part of the business 

🏞️ Why Zenon's Water Treatment Project in Indigenous Communities is an Unforgettable Experience 

🚀 Glenn's special trick to Leap Out of His Comfort Zone to Drive Innovation at Veolia (and how you can apply this to your team TODAY) 

📊 Why Traditional Wastewater Indicators May Not Be Enough in the Modern Age 

🤝 How Collaboration and Communication are Vital for Success in the Water Sector: Lessons from Glenn Vicevic 

👨‍💻 Remote Work, using your own medicine, micropollutants, micro-electronics, What Halloween and Water Treatment Have in Common, Stage and Gates, the high cost of failure as a Water Giant... and much more! 

🔥 ... and of course, we concluded with the 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🔥

🔗 Come say hi to Glenn on LinkedIn 

🔗 Check Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions' website

➡️ Check out the entire article on how the World's Largest Water Company fosters innovation 

➡️ Reach out to me: antoine@dww.show 

Suggested episodes:

🚀 My interview with Glenn's first boss and founder of Zenon: Andrew Benedek 

🔋 Glenn's colleague and Lithium Refining guru: Jim Rieke 

Glenn Vicevic s the CTO of Veolia Water Technologies and Solutions. Veolia WTS provides Industry-leading water technology and process expertise to solve the toughest water, wastewater, and process challenges.

Innovation as a water start-up is an uphill battle. If you've ever listened to this podcast, we've covered that topic through many examples: you'll have to commit for years to decades to push your technology through, and it will require a lot of grit, persistence, confidence, and much more. 

To describe that Sisyphus-worthy path, we've often taken a few examples on that microphone that illustrate well this entrepreneurship journey, and arguably the n°1 example is Zenon's story. 

I guess we don't have to dive into the details here, because we did that extensively with the legendary Andrew Benedek, the founder of Zenon, when he was my guest about 15 months ago. 

But Andrew's trajectory is just one of the possible outcomes. Grow your company until it's almost too big to stand alone, exit, and use your well-earned money to start again and strive to save the World. 

Yet, when Zenon merged with GE Water, and Andrew Benedek went on to acquire Anaergia, Zenon's Technical Director stayed with the company, and kept growing with it, as it went on to merge with Suez and last but not least, Veolia.

You would have guessed it, this former technical director is Glenn Vicevic, my guest today, and Veolia WTS's chief technical officer.

And what's fascinating about today's conversation is that it gets us to understand the next part of a technological company's path. What do you have to do to stay on top of the game? How do innovation and R&D tick at a different pace and follow different rules once you're a water tech giant, compared to your early steps as an agile Start-Up. What's cooler than exploring the innovation engine of the World's largest water tech company? Let's find out, trust me, you'll get to love Glenn's openness and eagerness to share several nuggets.

➡️ Check out the entire article on how the World's Largest Water Company, Veolia, fosters innovation

with 🎙️ Andreas Müller - CEO at GF 

💧 GF is a sustainability and innovation leader aiming to provide superior customer value across three Divisions enabling the safe transport of liquids and gases, lightweight casting components, and high-precision manufacturing technologies.

What we covered:

🔍 How a 222-Year-Old Company Innovates the secrets of GF and its three divisions 

🚗 Why Lithium Production Needs a Leap Frog, How GF is Helping and which solution comes with the best odds 

🌎 What Sustainability Means for Lithium Production and EVs, and GF's perspective to that challenge 

💡 How Old Unicorns Interact with Cool Kids: GF's Approach to Startup Collaboration, and what it Takes to Lead a two-century old corporation 

🤝 Why the Future of Lithium Production Hinges on Symbiotic Relationships between the various actors in the value chain 

🌟 How GF's Strategy Aims to Balance Profitability and Environmental Impact and Why People are at the Heart of GF's Success 

💼 Why a 'Startup Spirit' is Crucial in Large Corporations and what lessons from GF you can apply in your own business 

🎯 What the Key Success Factors in Direct Lithium Extraction Projects are and how one can influence those 

💥 How you can Tackle the Challenge of 'Cultural Clash' with Startups by copying some of GF's tactics 

🎢 Why 'Stopping' can be as Important as 'Starting' in a Business Journey - and how that's maybe the best business advice you will ever get 

🌳 How we need to reinvent Sustainability in the industrial sector and how GF and others are leading the pack and showing the way 

🔬 Why Ultra-Precision is the New Gold Standard in e-Mobility 

🔄 How GF is Closing the Loop: From Water Reclamation to Non-Revenue Water 

🚀 Why GF Believes Profitability and Sustainability are Two Sides of the Same Coin and how that translate in very concrete terms 

🌍 Why Going Global is Essential in Today's Business Environment to have a substantial impact and how GF's experience and support can be game changers 

📊 Why GF is Targeting Non-Revenue Water: A Look at the Future of Water Management and how GF's Clean Water Foundation is Changing Lives Across the Globe 

🚀 The EV Revolution from a GF Piping Systems, Casting Solutions & Machining Solutions perspective, the Water Sector trends GF is watching out for, building a cool place to work, water scarcity as a powerful shaping for the Water Sector, what GF does to solve the pressing need for clean water in remote areas... and more!

🔥 ... and of course, we concluded with the 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🔥

🔗 Come say hi to Andreas on LinkedIn 

🔗 Check GF's website

➡️ Check out the entire article on GF, the 222 Year Old Start Up on the Don't Waste Water Website 

➡️ Reach out to me: antoine@dww.show 

More episodes in this Series:

1 - Why Water Technologies Matter in Lithium Mining (And Why You Should Buy Now!)

2 - The Shocking Requirements of Spodumene Processing (and other Lithium 101 stories)

3 - Standard Lithium's 10 Simple Secrets to DLE Success (and how that rolls out in El Dorado)

4 - How 'Reverse ZLD' made the World's Largest Water Company a Lithium Refinery Expert 

5 - The Game-Changing Company with 60 Patents That's Disrupting the Battery Industry 

6 - Vulcan's Clever Strategy to take off its Zero Carbon Lithium: Sell it Years Ahead!

7 - How to Eradicate Dead Zones, Cut Energy Needs by 80% and Double Lithium Selectivity

8 - How Lithium Refining & Water as a Service spark Growth for a Family Business 

9 - Sustainable Lithium Production Has an Overlooked 3rd Component 

10 - The 5 Rules to a Successful Direct Lithium Extraction

Andreas Müller is the CEO of GF. GF is a sustainability and innovation leader aiming to provide superior customer value across three Divisions enabling the safe transport of liquids and gases, lightweight casting components, and high-precision manufacturing technologies.

If you've listened to this Season 9 of the podcast, you've noticed how we covered the lithium and water nexus topic from a wide variety of angles. We've had the helicopter view with Tony Strobbe, the project developers' inputs with Robert Mintak, Christopher Brown, Cris Moreno, and Andy Robinson, and the technology stories with Teague Egan, Devesh Sharma, Ben Sparrow, Chris Wyres, and Jim Rieke.

Spoiler alert, given the success of this season and the topics we covered, we will continue the exploration as one of the topics of the next ones, so stay tuned; I'm currently interviewing more fascinating companies, and as I'm recording this, I'm about to take off to Argentina partially for that.

Still, there's one aspect we had not covered so far, despite regular hints across all the episodes. Direct Lithium Extraction is a high-flow high-stakes application. Evaporation Ponds involve a lot of water as well, and when it comes to lithium refining, be it from hard rock or evaporation ponds, you've got a sizeable bunch of waterish processes, which require to convey fluids, water, and chemicals.

As a process person, that's the boring part. I know it; I'm a process person. Because what can a piping system do, right? Work smoothly, and then it gets zero praise; it just exists, and nobody cares. Or not work, being blocked, leaking, becoming a hazard, and a net loss, and then everybody's aware, and everybody is pissed. 

So I thought it might be worth looking into a piping system company's view on that lithium green field. To discuss how they're in to help, how, at what stage, and what they have to propose. Of course, I'm a little bit biased in that story, as I am working for a piping system company. 

But there's more than just pipes, fittings, valves, sensors, engineering, prefabrication and process automation in today's episode, as I reached out to the CEO of GF to come discuss all of that on my microphone, which means not only GF Piping Systems, but also Casting Solutions and Machining Solutions, which offers an interesting glimpse into the new Electric Vehicle vertical.

➡️ Check out the entire article on GF, the 222 Year Old Start Up on the Don't Waste Water Website 

with 🎙️ Andy Robinson - President and COO of Standard Lithium 

💧 Standard Lithium coins itself America's 21st century Lithium Company. They're expected to become the first lithium developer in the World to produce direct-extracted lithium at a commercial scale in El Dorado

What we covered:

🌊 How a bromine plant in Arkansas is being converted into a lithium extraction mine to create a revolution in lithium production 

🔋 Why lithium plays an integral role in clean energy initiatives, powering everything from electric cars to grid storage 

💡 What challenges are faced when extracting lithium from natural brine, and how innovative companies are overcoming them 

🌍 How Standard Lithium is integrating sustainability into its lithium extraction process to make it more environmentally friendly 

⚙️ Why Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) may become the preferred method in the lithium industry, potentially shaping the future of the sector 

🚘 What role lithium plays in the electric vehicle revolution, and why is it indispensable for battery production 

💰 How we can exploit the significant financial potential of lithium production, as hinted at by industry leaders like Elon Musk (which I may still have outsmarted) 

🔄 Why a full disclosure of the entire flow sheet, from resource to end-product, is essential for building investor confidence in lithium extraction 

📈 What the future of lithium demand looks like, and how production companies are preparing for a potential structural deficit of lithium chemicals 

🌱 How the incorporation of carbon capture technology into lithium extraction processes reduces the environmental footprint and promotes a more sustainable industry 

🧪 How continuous chemical processing redefines lithium extraction methods and raises industry standards 

💼 What the key factors considered by Standard Lithium are when identifying potential lithium extraction sites 

👥 Why stakeholder approval and local government permitting is crucial for the success of lithium extraction projects 

🏭 How the use of existing infrastructure in Arkansas simplifies the permitting requirements for new lithium extraction plants 

🛰️ What a day in the life of a lithium extraction plant looks like, and what's the path of lithium from entry to final product

🔥 ... and of course, we concluded with the 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🔥

🔗 Come say hi to Andy on Linkedin  

🔗 Check Standard Lithium's website 

➡️ Check out the entire article on the 5 rules to a successful direct lithium extraction  adventure on the Don't Waste Water Website

➡️ Reach out to me: antoine@dww.show 

More episodes in this Series:

1 - Why Water Technologies Matter in Lithium Mining (And Why You Should Buy Now!)

2 - The Shocking Requirements of Spodumene Processing (and other Lithium 101 stories)

3 - Standard Lithium's 10 Simple Secrets to DLE Success (and how that rolls out in El Dorado)

4 - How 'Reverse ZLD' made the World's Largest Water Company a Lithium Refinery Expert 

5 - The Game-Changing Company with 60 Patents That's Disrupting the Battery Industry 

6 - Vulcan's Clever Strategy to take off its Zero Carbon Lithium: Sell it Years Ahead!

7 - How to Eradicate Dead Zones, Cut Energy Needs by 80% and Double Lithium Selectivity

8 - How Lithium Refining & Water as a Service spark Growth for a Family Business 

9 - Sustainable Lithium Production Has an Overlooked 3rd Component 

Andy Robinson is the President and COO of Standard Lithium. Standard Lithium coins itself America's 21st century Lithium Company, and indeed, they shall become the first lithium developer in the World to produce direct-extracted lithium at a commercial scale in El Dorado.

It's now several weeks that we're exploring together the depth of the lithium World, and we've heard quite a lot of things about Direct Lithium Extraction, or DLE. For instance, we've heard from Cris Moreno, the very recently-appointed CEO of Vulcan Energy Resources how: DLE is already commercial and accounts for 10% of the World's Lithium.

And yet, you've heard many of my other guests on that microphone discuss with me how DLE is not yet commercial, and might be the next big thing, assuming it gets to that commercial scale. So where's the truth?

Well, everybody's right here. What Cris Moreno refers to is that in Argentina and China, companies have been using DLE as one step of the lithium extraction process while still leveraging evaporation ponds as a sequel step. 

What's still not reached yet, though, is a company or process that would be leveraging DLE and getting rid of evaporation ponds. And that is the game-changer that would unlock many more geographies and resources across the World, hence the legit excitement around it. 

Now, excitement often comes as well with wide-ranging creativity, and right now, the DLE scene is blessed with blossoming companies trying out a wide range of technologies, let's face it, it's also because of that, that the lithium field is so thrilling for a water nerd like me. 

But before further exploring these technical takes, I thought it would be worth following Ben Sparrow and Robert Mintak's advice and getting Andy Robinson on the microphone. Why so? Well, because if Standard Lithium is set to be the first company in the World to bring DLE to the commercial scale, without any evaporation ponds, it's probably because of him.

As you'll hear in a minute, he won't admit it, and he'll refer to luck, as Robert Mintak did before him. But still, from picking the right place to go all-in on DLE, to testing out a bunch of processes from lab to demo-scale continuously over the past three years, to the next steps on the horizon from lithium carbonate to hydroxide conversion and to carbon capture, it takes a sound methodology, and a cool head approach, which can probably inspire many in that field.

So without further due, let me leave the floor to Andy, to explore his 5-step rule for a good lithium project and learn from his learnings in El Dorado.

➡️ Check out the entire article on the 5 rules to a successful direct lithium extraction  adventure on the Don't Waste Water Website

🥗 Welcome to my garden, a lush green oasis thriving on an unexpected secret - human urine! In this video, I reveal my secret weapon for growing the greenest of gardens - Aurin, a fertilizer commercialized by VUNA, an Eawag start-up and derived from human urine.

♻️ Let's delve into why this natural nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium source is perfect for all gardeners. 

(🚽 ...and let's explore the link between our toilets and our gardens and how redesigning one can revolutionize the other.)

Does the nutrient cycle in your garden mean that soil becomes poorer over time? 

That's our lucky day: our body evacuates essential nutrients through pee and poo, let's recycle them back into our gardens!

We'll swiftly look at the fascinating history of human waste as fertilizer, its benefits, and its drawbacks. And, of course, learn about Aurin, a safe and efficient fertilizer produced by Vuna, an EAWAG spin-off.

🚾 I'll explain how urine-based fertilizers are an excellent example of a circular economy done right, making you an environmental superhero while feeding your strawberries.

We'll also discuss feces management and how it differs from urine treatment. Finally, we'll look at how clever toilet design can separate urine from feces, enabling us to start our liquid fertilizer production journey.

Join me in this exploration of sustainable gardening. Let's feed our gardens, not just our bodies, and turn our waste into wealth. 

(this is not a sponsored video by any means, but hey, Vuna, if you want to sponsor me in the future... 😉)

#Aurin #SustainableGardening #CircularEconomy #greenrevolution 

00:00 The Secret of my Garden

00:13 An urine-based fertilizer

00:32 The rich content of human urine

01:29 Pay your Groceries with Urine!

01:50 Fertilizers feed the World

02:19 This is actually nothing new

02:55 Is it dangerous?

03:19 How is it made?

03:36 Archaic or Forward-Looking?

04:10 And what about the feces?

04:56 Shall we redesign our toilets?

05:42 Where to start your Circular Economy Journey?

06:15 And what about the energy trapped in Wastewater?

Are America’s water pipes broken? For millions of citizens across the country, it may seem so. The well-documented examples of Flint, Jackson, New Orleans, or Baltimore may well seem alarming. But in fact, they are just the tip of an iceberg that reveals more every day. The Water Crisis in America is not looming: it’s already there.

Over the past year, I met with 20 subject matter experts to not only identify the problems but also come up with solutions. From academics to investors through politicians, water industry leaders, influencers, and NGOs, I spent months interviewing them, recouping their inputs, synthesizing their thoughts, connecting them to existing research, and enhancing it with dozens more insights I’ve collected over the years.

The result is:

🎙️ The Full Synthesis you'll find here

📽️ This same piece in a monumental video piece right here 

😮 The massive infographic – or cartoon – you'll find for free on the (don't) Waste Water website. 

None of this was free to make, for sure, but it will be free for you to listen, watch, read, digest, and share forever.

All I ask, if you find it of interest, is to spread the word! Share it on your social media, link to it from your websites, or recommend it to your colleagues and friends. Thanks for your help!

with 🎙️ Christopher Brown - CEO at Helios Corporation 

💧 Helios acknowledges that the World's current trajectory is unsustainable and focuses its expertise in Energy, Power, Biomass, Capital Markets, and the latest environmental technology to achieve more, using less.

What we covered:

💡 How geothermal energy can revolutionize lithium extraction and how it may actually do it 

⚡️ Why the future of lithium production is tied to reducing carbon intensity and the secrets behind low-carbon lithium extraction 

🌎 What the key to sustainable lithium mining is and how HeliosX is bridging the gap with eco-friendly practices 

📈 How to invest wisely in the thriving critical minerals industry while still not being investment advice (hey, this is a podcast!) 

🧪 How DLE technologies are reshaping the lithium extraction landscape and how groundbreaking lab experiments can give us a glimpse of the future 

🚀 How long it takes from lab to commercial production, and the timeline to make lithium extraction profitable 

🔋 How lithium extraction can and shall be both profitable and environmentally friendly 

🌱 Green goals vs. economic reality: the real cost of an accelerated EV program and its challenges for the electrical grid. 

🔄 Scaling up lithium extraction: How can companies transition from lab success to field operations? Let's break down the logical steps 

🤝 Collaboration in the critical minerals industry: the ideal partners for driving positive change and their shared philosophies. 

🌍 Impact metrics that matter: how to contribute to economic development and low carbon intensity while integrating the human dimension 

💰 Investing in critical minerals and the associated risk, the winning formula to sustainable mining, how revolutionizing battery production is a race, the next big thing, first nations, zooming out before we zoom in… and much more!

🔥 ... and of course, we concluded with the 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🔥

🔗 Come say hi to Christopher on LinkedIn 

🔗 Check Helios Corporation's website

➡️ Check out the entire article on How Sustainable Lithium Production Has an Overlooked 3rd Component on the Don't Waste Water Website

➡️ Reach out to me: antoine@dww.show 

More episodes in this Series:

1 - Why Water Technologies Matter in Lithium Mining (And Why You Should Buy Now!)

2 - The Shocking Requirements of Spodumene Processing (and other Lithium 101 stories)

3 - Standard Lithium's 10 Simple Secrets to DLE Success (and how that rolls out in El Dorado)

4 - How 'Reverse ZLD' made the World's Largest Water Company a Lithium Refinery Expert 

5 - The Game-Changing Company with 60 Patents That's Disrupting the Battery Industry 

6 - Vulcan's Clever Strategy to take off its Zero Carbon Lithium: Sell it Years Ahead!

7 - How to Eradicate Dead Zones, Cut Energy Needs by 80% and Double Lithium Selectivity

8 - How Lithium Refining & Water as a Service spark Growth for a Family Business 

Christopher Brown is the CEO and co-founder of Helios Corporation. Helios acknowledges that the World's current trajectory is unsustainable and focuses its expertise in Energy, Power, Biomass, Capital Markets, and the latest environmental technology to achieve more, using less. 

Over the past episodes, we've discussed why we need more lithium, where to find new sources, and how to unlock them from a technical standpoint. We've discussed fascinating projects and drawn a line toward a more sustainable future for the decade to come.

But sustainability isn't only environmental and financial impact; it's also the human dimension. And even when lithium is literally found in deserts, those places still belong to someone and to a culture, and they historically had a role and use that wasn't lithium extraction for several centuries. 

That is true wherever you are on earth, from South America's first nations to Canada ones, through local communities in all the places where unconventional sources of lithium are to be mined in the future.

Everything in life can be done against someone else or instead in concertation. And to that extent, what we discuss with Christopher today offers a framework for comprehension, best practices, and way forwards. 

As I mentioned in my intro, when Helios acknowledges that the World's trajectory is unsustainable, it's also important to ensure that the remedy is better than the plague. So sustainability is a keyword, for sure, and an ambitious one. From Argentina to Canada through the US, today's exploration is one of the deepest we've had in this mini-series, and I'm really thankful to Christopher for the incredible openness he demonstrated and the great pedagogy you'll get to experience in just a second.

Right before that, let me remind you that if you like what you hear, you can help others benefit from it by sharing this episode with a friend, a colleague, your boss, or your team, thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I'll meet you on the other side!

➡️ Check out the entire article on How Sustainable Lithium Production Has an Overlooked 3rd Component on the Don't Waste Water Website

with 🎙️ Devesh Sharma - CEO at Aquatech 

💧 Aquatech helps the world's most recognized companies solve important water challenges such as lithium refining, desalination or food and beverage.

What we covered:

💡 How Aquatech is a Private Powerhouse in Industrial Water Treatment You Need to Know About 

🏗️ How Aquatech delivers complex projects and how they tackle challenges in remote locations 

🌟 Why Being the Best Matters More Than Being the Biggest: Aquatech's Winning Philosophy  

🤝 How Aquatech and Ecolab Join Forces in a Strategic Partnership and how the company maintains a balance as a middle-sized global player 

📈 Impact Metrics Unveiled: Aquatech's CEO Shares the Key to Their Success  

🌍 Energy Transition and Green Revolution: How Aquatech is Shaping the Future, and how that involves lithium endeavors 

🏭 How Aquatech won North America's most-awaited lithium refining contract at Thacker Pass and how they won Lithium America's confidence on the way 

🎯 Planning for Success the Company's Short to Medium-Term Goals  

🚀 Game-Changing Projects: From Trash to Jet Fuel - Aquatech's Mind-Blowing Endeavors  

💧 Water Technology-as-a-Service: The Future is Here, and Aquatech Leads the Way  

🔮 How Reuse and Digital Revolution might be The Next Big Trends in Water 

💬 Aquatech's Secrets to Effective Communication and Recruitment, and how you could Join the Aquatech Family - exciting endeavors ahead?  

💰 The importance of in-person connections, multitasking overload, ensuring modularity, creating memorable moments for employees - that feel like family, identifying the right growth opportunities, measuring impact... and much more! 

🔥 ... and of course, we concluded with the 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🔥

🔗 Come say hi to Devesh on LinkedIn 

🔗 Check Aquatech's website

➡️ Check out the entire article on How Lithium Refining & Water as a Service spark growth for a Family Business on the Don't Waste Water Website

➡️ Reach out to me: antoine@dww.show 

More episodes in this Series:

1 - Why Water Technologies Matter in Lithium Mining (And Why You Should Buy Now!)

2 - The Shocking Requirements of Spodumene Processing (and other Lithium 101 stories)

3 - Standard Lithium's 10 Simple Secrets to DLE Success (and how that rolls out in El Dorado)

4 - How 'Reverse ZLD' made the World's Largest Water Company a Lithium Refinery Expert 

5 - The Game-Changing Company with 60 Patents That's Disrupting the Battery Industry  

6 - Vulcan's Clever Strategy to take off its Zero Carbon Lithium: Sell it Years Ahead!  

7 - How to Eradicate Dead Zones, Cut Energy Needs by 80% and Double Lithium Selectivity 

Devesh Sharma is the CEO of Aquatech. Aquatech helps the world's most recognized companies solve important water challenges.

There's a fine line between risk-taking and putting all you have at stake, between perseverance and obstinacy, and between grit and recklessness. And it's only when the dust settles that you'll know on which side of the line the ball decided to fall.

When I started my career in the water industry, veterans were telling me: keep your fingers off the industrial market. It's a "who's the cheapest" game, and they're so short-term-minded that it's depressing.

Yet, at the same time, these veterans opted out of the industrial game; Aquatech was created as an almost pure-play dedicated to that very specific end of the market. Risk-taking or putting all you have at stake? 

A couple of decades later, and long before it was hype, that same Aquatech ventured into Water as a Service to speed up the adoption of its technologies. Perseverance or obstinacy? 

And while the world of Water consolidates in a fashion we've probably never experienced before, Aquatech trusts it can keep growing and build its path as a private, family company. Grit or recklessness?

Well, I don't have all the answers, but what I can tell is that as the dust settles, the industrial end of the Water Market is the one thriving right now, as it's faced with the hottest challenges ever, which in turn generate new opportunities. 

And as Devesh will explain in a minute, 30% of Aquatech's revenue today comes from its Water as a Service; said differently, they have a 30% - probably high-margin - annual recurring revenue with a plan to expand it to 50%. That's a ratio that kind of turns a hardware company into a software/tech type of play. And with that mix, Water suddenly becomes a much more scalable business - as we've seen with Gradiant recently turning into the water sector's first unicorn. 

Well, Gradiant and Aquatech are certainly not the same, but they have similarities in the technologies they develop and the markets they serve. And Gradiant claimed its unicorn status, thanks to a 225 million dollar series D raised at that billion-dollar valuation. I'm throwing Gradiant in the discussion here because we're debating the possible next steps for Aquatech with Devesh today. 

And my napkin calculations and estimates indicate to me that Aquatech is probably already a unicorn, given its revenue mix, proprietary technology, and turnover somewhat double of Gradiant's. Take it with a pinch of salt; none of these companies are public, so it's pure guestimates.

Now, I mention dust settling, and I'm using that metaphor on purpose. Because Aquatech was chosen by Lithium Americas to build the lithium refinery at its upcoming Thacker Pass lithium mine, which is extracting this "While Oil" from clay, so settled dust. And Aquatech has the perfect portfolio to take on this 2020s challenge because it tripled down on industrial water and zero liquid discharge since the 1980s - something we'll dive into much deeper with Devesh in today's conversation. 

Finally, I think Aquatech's story is inspirational on many more levels. It's also the tale of a family business, taken to its today's shape and successes by two brothers that were respectively 24 and 14 when they took over. So let me avoid spoiling everything, and leave the floor to Devesh, just after reminding you that if you like what you hear, please take this episode and share it with a friend, a colleague, your boss, or your team, and also don't forget to subscribe.

➡️ Check out the entire article on How Lithium Refining & Water as a Service spark growth for a Family Business on the Don't Waste Water Website

Over the past months, Thames Water:

- announced a £1 Billion loss

- received a £51 Million fine

- kept serving 15 million customers

- let raw sewage spill for 75'000 hours

- piled up £14 Billion in debt

- lost 10'500'000 wheelbarrows of water

- lost its CEO

How concerning is all of this for UK's largest water company? Let's review!

00:00 Thames Water is in Troubled Water

00:21 Thames Water got fined for repeated failure

01:11 Thames Water's n°1 Problem

01:41 The history of the UK Water scene

02:08 Is Water a License to Print Money?

02:57 Thames Water's owmership history

03:54 Why so much debt?

04:43 Thames Water's infrastructure is in bad shape

06:05 the Thames Water investment paradox

07:38 What's next for Thames Water?

08:27 What's to learn from Thames Water's trouble?

▶️ Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube     

with 🎙️ Chris Wyres - CEO at Evove 

💧 Evove aims to take membranes to the next level, overcoming the inherent flaws in conventional architectures, hence transforming membranes, transforming separation, and filtration.

What we covered:

🥇 How G2O Water Technologies was founded around the use of graphene to coat membranes, how that was game-changing by itself and how Evove still took it to the next level 

🗝️ What the problem with incumbent membrane technologies is, and how Evove's technology aims to correct it 

🆙 How Evove's technologies multiply a membrane's specific surface by three, reduce energy consumptions up to 80%, improve desalination's yield by 30% and double the membrane's selectivity 

🖨️ How 3D-printed membranes at scale may disrupt the world of membrane filtration as we know it, and how they may unlock localized manufacturing 

0️⃣ How producing lithium and green hydrogen is a great thing to do, but if it comes at the expense of heavy carbon and environmental impacts, it doesn't make sense 

🚏 How Evove went down a different path than other companies developing graphene membranes and why 

💪 How the company picks applications where existing tech struggle to leverage their specific edge 

🕸️ How in the case of direct lithium extraction in particular, Evove's superior selectivity is an asset to sort out white oil from calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium and all other salts 

↔️ How Evove didn't "just" design a lithium-catered membrane, but an entire end-to-end solution for effective production of lithium carbonate 

📏 How the company tailors its solution to every specific case, within 30 days, and supporting its customers end to end 

🦄 How Evove intends to become the water sector's first unicorn (well, second to Gradiant, but still, that's a bright and bold ambition!) 

💰 Precision engineering membrane pore size, preventing fouling and scaling, revamping the direct lithium extraction process train, Evove's business strategy, sub-sea desalination as a way to power green hydrogen, speeding up the pace of innovation adoption, advocating for increased capital focus on the water sector... and much more! 

🔥 ... and of course, we concluded with the 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🔥

🔗 Come say hi to Chris on LinkedIn 

🔗 Check Evove's website

➡️ Check out the entire article on How Evove precision engineers its membranes (and contributes to a disruption) on the Don't Waste Water Website

➡️ Reach out to me: antoine@dww.show 

More episodes in this Series:

1 - Why Water Technologies Matter in Lithium Mining (And Why You Should Buy Now!)

2 - The Shocking Requirements of Spodumene Processing (and other Lithium 101 stories)

3 - Standard Lithium's 10 Simple Secrets to DLE Success (and how that rolls out in El Dorado)

4 - How 'Reverse ZLD' made the World's Largest Water Company a Lithium Refinery Expert 

5 - The Game-Changing Company with 60 Patents That's Disrupting the Battery Industry 

6 - Vulcan's Clever Strategy to take off its Zero Carbon Lithium: Sell it Years Ahead! 

Chris Wyres is the CEO of Evove. Evove aims to take membranes to the next level, overcoming the inherent flaws in conventional architectures, hence transforming membranes, transforming separation, and filtration.

In the middle of the 19th century, a Belgian inventor, Adolphe Sax, conceived what's known today as the saxophone, which is today the fourth most popular instrument, just behind the piano, the guitar, and the bass. Yet, it wasn't Sax's only invention, as he also conceived Saxtrombas, Saxtubas, considerably improved the bass clarinet and invented the Saxhorns that also still somewhat live today. 

Yet, have you ever heard of the Ophicleide? Or of the serpent? I could keep naming many more less successful instruments, and if you want to get an anthology of all of them, look up an original score from Mendelssohn or Berlioz: Romantic era composers really leveraged that wave of new ways to produce all kinds of sounds. 

Each of these inventions addressed specific needs, but not all overcame their flaws or found a clear use case, like the saxophones with the military orchestras. And so, only a few stood the test of time. 

To me, the membrane world today resembles a lot of the mid-19th century orchestras. It's tingling with incredible ideas, new takes, new materials, radical approaches, and blooming innovation. 

We've addressed several of them on that microphone, from Membrion's ceramic ion exchanging membranes to Zwitterco's zwitterionic material, through Cembrane, LiqTech, a membrane anthology with Graeme Pearce, or the history of MBRs with Andrew Benedek.

But with the boom in membrane applications, there are also new needs, new challenges, and new markets to address, which keeps incentivizing and rewarding innovation and differentiated approaches. 

Evove actually ticks all these boxes. They're actively developing new application fields, such as lithium extraction or green hydrogen production while building the rocket on the go with their Enhance and Separonics product lines. They're also bringing new perks to membrane applications in desalination or food and beverage. And they're inventing a new type of company: decentralized, finely adapted to each vertical, and frankly ambitious:

"We want to be the Water Sector's first Unicorn!"

I won't spoil you too much of what Chris very openly shares in today's interview, don't worry; I'll leave him the floor just after reminding you that if you like what you hear, if this is of any value to you, please take that episode and share it with a friend, a colleague, your boss or your team. Thanks a lot to all the ones I see doing it every week; that's heartwarming to me. Is Evove a saxophone or an Ophicleide? Time will tell, but you can build an Idea for yourself by listening to the full episode!

➡️ Check out the entire article on how Vulcan enabled its Zero Carbon Lithium project by selling its products years ahead, including a teaser, a slider, and a full transcript on the (don't) Waste Water website!

According to the US Government, the Salton Sea could produce up to 600'000 tons of Lithium per year, which at today's spot price would be worth $26 Billion a year.

For a Sea that's turning into a chemically polluted swamp, that's an unexpected twist of fate!

Especially when it doubles down to being a pretty green way to produce that lithium, as direct lithium extraction technologies would co-locate with geothermal energy production.

But wait: isn't that too good to be true? Aren't Berkshire Hattaway, Controlled Thermal Resources, and Energy Source Minerals struggling a bit to unlock that resource? Didn't Simbol Materials actually... die on that spot as a company in that endeavor?

Well, it seems like Salton Sea lithium projects are about to seriously accelerate, as Controlled Thermal Resources just announced a $1 billion contract with Aquatech International to build the Lithium Refinery the site will need to reach battery-grade products for their customers, Stellantis and General Motors. 

Let's cut through the fog and review this aspiring Salton Sea miracle!

More information:

Vulcan's Project in Germany: https://dww.show/vulcans-clever-strategy-to-take-off-its-zero-carbon-lithium-sell-it-years-ahead/

The mysterious company that may well work with Berkshire Hattaway at the Salton Sea (my pure speculation): https://dww.show/the-game-changing-company-with-60-patents-thats-disrupting-the-battery-industry/

▶️ Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube    

with 🎙️ Cris Moreno - Deputy CEO at Vulcan Energy Resources 

💧 Vulcan aims to decarbonize the transition to electric mobility through its world-first Zero Carbon Lithium Projects for electric vehicle batteries and its renewable energy business.

What we covered:

🥇 How Vulcan aims to become the world's first integrated lithium chemicals company while also producing renewable energy... 

0️⃣ ... and how they do all of this with net zero greenhouse emissions and without using any fossil fuels in their process 

🔁 How Vulcan's Zero Carbon Lithium projects feature a 24'000 t/y first stage and what might be the next ones 

💰 How Vulcan leapfrogged its path by acquiring an existing geothermal power plant in Hinsheim, Germany 

👨‍🔬 How the company tested various Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) methodologies to end up developing a proprietary sorption process 

🇪🇺 How this sorption material belongs to the Dow / Dupont / FMC / Livent family, but with the added touch that it's made in Europe 

🌊 How Vulcan desorbs it with fresh water, and how water availability is one of the perks of producing in the Upper Rhine Valley 

🤑 How the company plans an 84% EBITDA on its Zero Carbon Lithium product, despite a forecasted lithium price way below the current spot 

🚗 How, to whom, and under which conditions Vulcan sold its Zero Carbon Lithium product to battery and car manufacturers years ahead of actually producing it 

🏗️ How 2023 shall be pivotal for Vulcan to transform from a development company into an actual production company 

📈 How the Company has €120 Million in its bank account... and actively looks to increase its financing in order to cover for the first phase of the project 

🫰 How the Upper Rhine Valley is Europe's largest lithium resource, and a globally relevant one and how CAPEX might be the only thing to slow it down to cover for the entirety of Europe's lithium needs 

🛢️ How DLE combined with geothermal energy production might be seen as a complex mining project... or as a very easy oil and gas one! 

📅 Kicking off production in 2025, producing renewable power & heat, next projects in the Upper Rhine Valley - and on the French side, building the right team to execute the project, kicking off the commercial scale in Q3 2023... and much more!

🔥 ... and of course, we concluded with the 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🔥

🔗 Come say hi to Cris on LinkedIn 

🔗 Check Vulcan's website

➡️ Check out the entire article on How Vulcan plans to take off its Zero Carbon Lithium assets in the Upper Rhine Valley

➡️ Reach out to me: antoine@dww.show 

More episodes in this Series:

1 - Why Water Technologies Matter in Lithium Mining (And Why You Should Buy Now!)

2 - The Shocking Requirements of Spodumene Processing (and other Lithium 101 stories)

3 - Standard Lithium's 10 Simple Secrets to DLE Success (and how that rolls out in El Dorado)

4 - How 'Reverse ZLD' made the World's Largest Water Company a Lithium Refinery Expert 

5 - The Game-Changing Company with 60 Patents That's Disrupting the Battery Industry 

Cris Moreno is Deputy CEO at Vulcan Energy Resources. Vulcan aims to decarbonize the transition to electric mobility through its world-first Zero Carbon Lithium™ Project for electric vehicle batteries and its renewable energy business.

This exploration of the Lithium World has taken me far from home. Canada, USA, Mexico, Australia, Argentina, Bolivia, UK... But one of the most exciting projects in this new wave actually happens to be a dozen kilometers away from where I cut my wastewater engineering teeth, and Vulcan, the project developer, just signed an off-take agreement with a car factory I can see if I climb up my village's hill.

And this makes sense for a ton of reasons! First, the Rhine Valley used to be a Salt Flat, exactly like the Atacama Desert nowadays, and this was just 35 million years ago. So on the geological scale of things, it makes sense. 

Then, it is a geothermal region, and Germany actively pushes to add more geothermal plants to its energy mix, which means thousands of cubic meters of water that are pumped from that lithium-rich aquifer anyways, which allows you to emulate the example we heard from Standard Lithium, piggy-backing on Lanxess' Bromine business. 

But maybe most importantly, Europe is actively building about 30 battery gigafactories. And that's a staple in the zero-carbon transition of mobility! But to feed those factories, Europe will need lithium at some point. Today, 97% of that lithium is imported from China. And with China's own plans to further build up the battery value chain, they may well use all their lithium themselves, which would leave Europe without any white oil.

So Vulcan's endeavors in the Upper Rhine Valley, today on the German side and anytime soon on the French side, would not only be one of the largest lithium projects in the World. But from 2026 on, it might also be Europe's EV strategy lifeline - as long as I'm not fully up to speed with my own backyard project. 

So what's Vulcan's plan to a - quote unquote - "Glorified Water Processing Facility" able to deliver 24'000 tons of lithium hydroxide in its first phase, but also 300 GWh of renewable power and 250 GWh of renewable heat? Cris will be our guide, just after this reminder that if you like what you hear, if all of this is of any value to you, please take this episode and share it with a friend, a colleague, your boss, or your team, and I'll meet you on the other side!

➡️ Check out the entire article on how Vulcan enabled its Zero Carbon Lithium project by selling its products years ahead, including a teaser, a slider, and a full transcript on the (don't) Waste Water website!

with 🎙️ Teague Egan - CEO & Founder of EnergyX 

💧 EnergyX is on a mission to become a worldwide leader in the global transition to sustainable energy

What we covered:

🌵 How the story of EnergyX started in the salt flats of Uyuni with Teague Egan's initiatory journey to Bolivia 

🗓️ How EnergyX has a masterplan and how this one goes beyond "just" supplying lithium extraction technology to the World 

🔒 How the company's claims of a disruptive approach to direct lithium extraction are backed by an impressive amount of patents all along the value chain 

☀️ What the problem with existing lithium evaporation ponds is, and how that offers significant potential for improvement for new technologies 

📜 How lithium-ion battery legend and Nobel Prize recipient John Goodenough endorsed EnergyX's efforts in the battery space and how the company breeds his legacy 

4️⃣ The four key aspects to consider when working on a lithium extraction process 

🚱 How EnergyX's take at Direct Lithium Extraction needs water neither on the membrane nor on the solvent extraction side 

🛑 How the company got kicked out of Bolivia's lithium tender for questionable reasons, and how they might come back in the game given their unique technological perks 

🚼 How pure end-to-end DLE probably is the future of lithium extraction, but how DLE enhanced ponds are the best hybrid for a smooth transition 

💰 How Global Emerging Markets Group placed a $450 million check on the table for the day EnergyX goes public, what it enables, and what it involves 

🚀 How you scale a lithium extraction approach from pilot to demo and ultimately down the road to commercial-scale applications 

👨‍🔬 EnergyX's Edisonian approach, the special sauce to the company's lithium extraction process, the lowest permissible lithium concentration for their technology (and why it's different than their competition), the company's bet as to the place where it will go full-scale first... and much more!

🔥 ... and of course, we concluded with the 𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 🔥

🔗 Come say hi to Teague on LinkedIn

🔗 Check EnergyX's website

➡️ Check out the entire article on How the Lithium King and his 60 Patent-Company may well disrupt the Battery Industry

➡️ Reach out to me: antoine@dww.show 

More episodes in this Series:

1 - Why Water Technologies Matter in Lithium Mining (And Why You Should Buy Now!)

2 - The Shocking Requirements of Spodumene Processing (and other Lithium 101 stories)

3 - Standard Lithium's 10 Simple Secrets to DLE Success (and how that rolls out in El Dorado)

4 - How 'Reverse ZLD' made the World's Largest Water Company a Lithium Refinery Expert