What we’re trying to do is create an ecosystem — I know that word can be really overused a lot — but that really does describe what we’re trying to create: A collaboration around water. It’s having people here, having active R&D, a lot of workforce training (which is a big underpinning of what we do) all in one space…it’s just a different way to collaborate and solve tomorrow’s future challenges.
In this latest episode of Distilled with a brand new guest, host Will Sarni, CEO of Water Foundry, hears about the unique ways of creating the future workforce, scaling a non-profit on a national level, why fieldwork is an important piece of the wider puzzle, and the challenges facing the water industry — as well as exploring the guest’s background and career path within the water sector.
Melissa L. Meeker, CEO and Founder of The Water Tower, joined Will to uncover her journey in the world of water. To begin, Will began by asking Melissa about what The Water Tower has set out to achieve.
Watch the full video episode below or keep reading for the write-up.
Melissa on The Water Tower’s mission
Will kicked off the discussion by asking Melissa to describe the mission, makeup, and focus of The Water Tower.
Melissa began by saying that although The Water Tower is a non-profit — located northeast of Atlanta — it’s much, much more than that. The Water Tower is a campus consisting of demonstration areas, state-of-the-art laboratories and classrooms, conference spaces and co-working spaces for entrepreneurs and startups, and a floor of engineering and consulting firms.
She explained that The Water Tower was formed to create an ecosystem of collaboration around water, including R&D, classes taught by experts, workforce training, and hands-on experiences for both adults and children. Ultimately, she said that the organization’s goal is to collaborate and solve tomorrow’s future challenges.
Delving deeper, Will asked Melissa specifically about the focus on the workforce within the ecosystem. Touching on staffing challenges in the water industry and the so-called “silver tsunami”, Melissa mentioned how utilities are struggling to find qualified operators, which she attributes to a lack of education and awareness among the current generation regarding the importance of water at large.
She said that the current generation doesn’t fully understand that there would be no quality of life without water and that the key to getting this message out there is to start having compelling conversations that they can connect to.
As an example of how The Water Tower tries to foster this interest and excitement in water among the generation, they recently invited 220 high school students to the campus to demonstrate water products and technologies. The wider goal of this is to attract the younger generation — born with a cell phone in hand — to a career in the water industry.
Melissa on unique methods of outreach and working with the local community
Responding to Will’s question about the organizations that The Water Tower works with, Melissa said that she starts every pitch with the fact that utilities are data-rich and knowledge-poor. Acknowledging the power of predictive analytics, she wants to use this as another motivation for people to join the industry.
She also explained how The Water Tower works with local social service nonprofits with unique focus areas, including Boy With A Ball and RED (Rehabilitation Enables Dreams). Boy With A Ball, for example, works with the Latino population, where many people’s second language is English. She sees this as an opportunity to link the future workforce with the campus and wider water industry, citing the fact that Gwinnett County water utility recently launched its first full Spanish-speaking operations team.
Melissa on scaling The Water Tower as an organization
Will then asked Melissa to elaborate on The Water Tower’s plans for national expansion. She said that she regularly receives phone calls from people who want to understand the organization’s business plan and funding model, including utilities from across the country.
They plan to partner with the West County Wastewater utility in California to provide them with building plans for hands-on things they can build locally, match them with non-profits in the area, and guide them through the whole process.
Melissa also explained how they regularly hold large events attended by people from all over the country, but that despite the hyper-local focus on collective action and collaboration, she’s also experienced pushback about presenting The Water Tower as a ‘competitor’. Despite this, Melissa said she intends to keep her head down and continue with The Water Tower’s mission.
We’re just trying to get our word out, trying to do something different. It’s funny: I actually get my hand slapped every once in a while because we’re seen as competition. But we’re not competing, I’m trying to augment and improve what’s already out there and you know just carry it to the next level. Again, if everybody was doing what they think they’re doing then we wouldn’t have a need — and we clearly have a need. So there’s room for everybody to come together and work together.
Melissa on her journey into the world of water
Melissa remembers walking on the beach with her mother, which is where she felt centered and at peace. She knew early on that she wanted to work in water, first working with dolphins in Orlando and then working on a research vessel at sea. She then went into regulatory environmental compliance in Florida before moving into consulting, starting at the local level and progressing into a national role. On the political side, she also worked for three different governors.
I never said no to a challenge. I accomplished what needed to be accomplished and then used that as a platform to get to something different and something exciting. So The Water Tower kind of brings all of that together.
As part of The Water Tower’s mission, Melissa believes that fieldwork is crucial to understanding why the policy element is so important. She said on top of that the campus is surrounded by streams and woods, and that students can take part in many activities and test different technologies as part of the goal of educating the younger generation.
Melissa on the challenges facing the water industry
Melissa believes that one of the biggest challenges to the water industry is that the industry as a whole is still very conservative and very slow — but acknowledged that they’re much more receptive than they were ten years ago. She advocates for utilities to be more open to conversations, particularly in terms of providing exposure to the demonstrations held on the campus. These demonstrations illustrate how processes can be enhanced for greater efficiency.
She said that they’re trying to foster this change by developing strong case studies with third party validation of data. She also referenced a research project, comprising 35 utilities across the country, aimed at developing a roadmap of innovation.
Finally, Will asked Melissa what she sees in the future of the industry. She said that she believes that the water sector is getting better at communications with their constituents and that she believes there will be a transformation in the way that utilities reflect their communities. She said that there should also be a focus on how to make technology more affordable while still enabling them to accomplish the goals at hand.
Interested in more Distilled content?
Hosted by Water Foundry CEO Will Sarni, Distilled is a video podcast series that features water leaders from around the world. Each one-on-one conversation explores the guest’s unique career path, discusses the challenges and opportunities facing the water industry, and considers what’s next for water.
You’ll find more episodes here.
