Make Water Work Podcast

Megan Glover & Isaac Pellerin

Make Water Work is a podcast dedicated to the people shaping the future of our most precious resource.

  1. 1d ago

    Catalyst Collab: George Schuler | Make Water Work 041

    Most water networks feel like a tight-knit community. The data says otherwise. In this episode of the Make Water Work Catalyst Collab, host Isaac Pellerin sits down with George Schuler — co-founder of Connecting for Change, systems strategist, and Catalyst 2026 guide — to explore what's actually happening inside the water sector's most critical relationships, networks, and institutions. George has spent nearly three decades mapping how influence, trust, and coordination move through complex systems. What he's found should change how every water professional thinks about collaboration.   In this episode: • Why the formal structure and the lived structure of most water organizations have quietly drifted apart — and what that gap costs us • How George built a board game with The Nature Conservancy to force the conversations that data alone could never start • What a network analysis of the 2023 UN Water Conference revealed about how fragile the global water network actually is • The institutional incentives that quietly prevent nonprofits, utilities, and funders from truly collaborating — even when they want to • Why "relational infrastructure" is the missing investment in the water sector • The Delaware River Basin story: what happens when the people who hold the trust relationships retire • How Gmail's early growth is a blueprint for building bridges in the water movement   Attend Catalyst 2026 — San Diego, August 31–September 3 Reserve your seat at catalysth2o.org George is one of the guides at Catalyst, the immersive experience for water communicators hosted by Rogue Water Lab.   Connect with George Schuler: Website: georgeschuler.me LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/georgeschuler   Connect with Make Water Work: Subscribe, leave a review, and follow along for new episodes in the Catalyst Collab series every week leading up to the conference.   #MakeWaterWork #CatalystCollab #WaterSector #WaterCommunication #NetworkAnalysis #PublicTrust #Catalyst2026 #WaterLeadership #ConnectingForChange #WaterInfrastructure #SystemsThinking

    Catalyst Collab: George Schuler | Make Water Work 041

  2. Jul 23

    Catalyst Collab: Lily Lopez | Make Water Work 040

    In this episode of the Make Water Work & Catalyst Collab, Isaac sits down with Lily Lopez, Director of External Affairs and Sustainability at Walnut Valley Water District and founder of Latinas in Water, a growing professional community built to connect and empower Latina women across the water sector. Lily is also a co-host of Catalyst 2026, where Walnut Valley Water District joins as a presenting partner. In this episode, we cover: • How Lily went from a PR firm in downtown LA to a director-level role in water — without the traditional background • Why curiosity is the one quality that separates communicators who thrive in the water sector • The founding story of Latinas in Water — what gap she noticed, and why she built it with longevity in mind • What Catalyst has meant to Lily's career, her team, and the communicators she brings with her each year • How the 2026 theme of "showing up" connects to the larger challenge of earning a seat at the executive table • What Lily hopes every attendee walks away from Catalyst 2026 feeling Catalyst 2026 takes place August 31–September 3 in San Diego at the Westgate Hotel. Learn more and reserve your spot at catalysth2o.org. 🔗 Connect with Lily Lopez: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lily-lopez-h2o/ 🔗 Learn more about Catalyst 2026: catalysth2o.org #MakeWaterWork #CatalystCollab #WaterIndustry #WaterCommunications #LatinaLeadership #WaterSector

    Catalyst Collab: Lily Lopez | Make Water Work 040

  3. Jul 16

    Catalyst Collab: Chelsea Boozer & Greg Wukasch | Make Water Work 039

    Most water conferences are built to inform. Catalyst was built to make you feel something. In this first episode of the Catalyst Collab, a new mini-series exploring what makes water communication work, host Isaac Pellerin sits down with Chelsea Boozer (Executive Director, Rogue Water Lab) and Greg Wukasch (External Affairs Manager, San Antonio Water System) to unpack the experience design behind Catalyst, the immersive event reshaping how the water sector approaches public trust. In this episode, we cover: What Catalyst actually is, and why "content and context" matters as much as the material itself The four pillars of public trust: transparency, relationships, showing up, and earning advocates • Why strategic communication deserves to be treated as an asset, just like a pump or lift station • The "soul moment" of Catalyst, and why vulnerability is part of the curriculum • What to expect at Catalyst San Diego, August 31–September 3, 2026 • Why sponsors and attendees alike walk away calling it a movement, not a conference If you work in water communications, government affairs, or utility leadership, this conversation will change how you think about your next event, and maybe your next community meeting too. 👍 Like this episode if it gave you a new way to think about communication as a craft 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode of Make Water Work 💬 Drop a comment: what's one moment where a communication strategy built (or broke) trust with your community? Learn more about Catalyst and register: https://catalysth2o.org Connect with our guests: Chelsea Boozer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-boozer/ Greg Wukasch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-wukasch-b9739623/ Connect with Isaac Pellerin and 120Water: https://www.linkedin.com/company/120water #MakeWaterWork #WaterIndustry #WaterCommunications #PublicTrust #Catalyst #WaterUtilities #120Water #WaterLeadership

    Catalyst Collab: Chelsea Boozer & Greg Wukasch | Make Water Work 039

  4. Jul 9

    Travis Kennedy: Trust, AI, and Telling Water’s Story | Make Water Work 038

    The water sector is one of the most operationally resilient industries on the planet. Systems delivering clean water 24/7 under aging infrastructure, workforce shortages, and increasing regulatory pressure — and for the most part, they work. So why doesn't anyone know that? Travis Kennedy has had a front-row seat to this industry for over 20 years — not as an operator or regulator, but as Chief Industry Officer, Water & Environmental Markets @ WATER ONLINE, the water and wastewater industry's go-to digital media platform reaching more than one million unique visitors annually. He's interviewed hundreds of engineers, operators, regulators, and solution providers. In this conversation, Isaac flips the mic. What we cover: • How Travis found his way into water in 2003 — and why he's never left • What Water Online was talking about in 1995 vs. today (and what's actually changed) • Why AI won't replace the field workforce — and the auto mechanic analogy that explains it perfectly • The three-stage buyer's journey that every water solution provider needs to understand • Why "doing the work well" is no longer enough on its own — and what has to come with it • Communication, trust, and why those two things are the foundation of everything in this market Connect with Travis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/travis-k-0424768/ Water Online: wateronline.com The Water Online Show: wateronline.com/solution/water-talk-a-water-online-podcast

    Travis Kennedy: Trust, AI, and Telling Water’s Story | Make Water Work 038

  5. Jun 12

    Data Centers Are Coming. Is Water Ready? | Make Water Work 037

    One data center operator hired over 100 people just to solve their water problem. Another operator of equal size hired two. That gap tells you everything about where this industry is right now. Data centers are the hottest topic in water. And over the past several months, we've collected five perspectives from guests who are thinking about this differently — from community planners to state regulators to investors to infrastructure economists. In this special compilation episode, host Isaac Pellerin brings those voices together for the first time. Here's what's covered: • Why water reuse is one of the most practical responses to data center growth — and why climate makes it more urgent • How to design the stakeholder table before a data center breaks ground — and why economic development and water need to talk much earlier • Why not all data centers are created equal — and what that means for utilities negotiating leverage • The difference between direct and indirect water use — and why both matter for communities and utilities evaluating a new facility • Where standardization stands right now — and why 92% of last year's incremental GDP growth makes the answer critical Five voices. Five angles. One of the most important conversations the water sector is having right now. Learn more about 120Water: https://120water.com Featured voices: Bruno Pigott| Water Reuse Association Michelle Stockness | Freshwater Anthony DeRosa | Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA) Damian Georgino | Dentons Peter Yolles | Echo River Capital #MakeWaterWork #DataCenters #WaterIndustry #DrinkingWater #WaterInfrastructure #WaterTech #AIandWater #WaterPolicy #Sustainability #WaterInnovation

    Data Centers Are Coming. Is Water Ready? | Make Water Work 037

  6. Jun 4

    SWAN 16th Annual Conference: Make Water Work 036

    This week's episode is a special on-location field report from the SWAN Conference — the Smart Water Networks Forum — held in Tampa, Florida. SWAN is a global annual event bringing together utility leaders, engineers, practitioners, and innovators to push the conversation on how the water sector adopts new technology. I had the chance to facilitate a two-hour roundtable with Anthony DeRosa of ASDWA, exploring one of the most important and underexplored tensions in the sector right now: how does regulation fit into digital transformation? Here's what we covered: Why the water sector's regulatory framework was built for a different era How governance lags are leaving utilities to modernize at their own risk The funding misalignment that's blocking solution adoption Why solving the most common problem — not the hardest one — is the key to scaling innovation What it means to design tools for field workers, not just desk workers Why deployment funding without sustainability is a dead end If you work at a utility, an engineering firm, or anywhere in the water sector, these conversations matter. The decisions being made now about how we govern, fund, and adopt technology will shape the next decade of water infrastructure.

    SWAN 16th Annual Conference: Make Water Work 036

  7. May 21

    Adam Tank: Anti-Disruption: Selling Innovation to an Industry That Hates Risk | Make Water Work 035

    The water industry doesn't want to be disrupted. And that's not a problem — it's the whole point. In this episode, Isaac sits down with Adam Tank, co-founder and Chief Communications Officer at Transcend, to talk about what it actually takes to build and sell technology in one of the most risk-averse industries in the world. Adam has spent his career at the intersection of water, startups, and design thinking — from GE's venture group to a water robotics company spun out of General Electric, to leading Suez's smart cities group, to co-founding Transcend in 2019. The conversation covers what the water industry still gets wrong about innovation, why the real opportunity might be in energy rather than water, and why the single most important word when selling to a utility isn't "efficiency" or "savings" — it's risk. Adam covers: → How Ralph Exton and a GE internship started it all → Why solving non-revenue water isn't about finding the leaks → The single most important thing early-stage water entrepreneurs get wrong → Why "disruption" is the worst word you can use with a water utility → Risk mitigation as the real language of utility decision-making → The toilet-to-tap PR failure and what it says about water communication → Why over 50% of California's energy is water-related — and what data centers are forcing us to reckon with → How AI is about to change who can innovate in the water sector → Why Transcend is focused on the planning phase — and why 80% of project outcomes are decided there The technology exists. The talent is there. What's missing is the ability to communicate value in the language utilities actually speak. Connect with Adam Tank: linkedin.com/in/adamtank | adamtank.com | transcendinfra.com Learn more about 120Water: https://120water.com

    Adam Tank: Anti-Disruption: Selling Innovation to an Industry That Hates Risk | Make Water Work 035

  8. May 14

    Laura Vidal: Rural Water Always Finds a Way | Make Water Work 034

    85% of water systems in the United States operate with three or fewer employees. They manage treatment, distribution, compliance, reporting, and public communication — often while also handling parks, snow removal, and everything else a small community needs. They are rarely celebrated. And when everything is working, they are almost invisible. This episode is for them. Make Water Work is launching a new series dedicated entirely to rural water — the small systems, the circuit riders, the association staff, and the utility operators who make clean water happen for millions of Americans every day. And there is no better person to kick it off than Laura Vidal, Association Partnership Director at 120 Water and a 17-year veteran of the Alliance of Indiana Rural Water. In this episode, Isaac sits down with his new co-host to hear her story, understand how rural water associations actually work, and set the stage for the conversations ahead. In this episode: • How Laura went from an investment brokerage firm to 17 years in rural water • What makes rural water utility professionals genuinely different from anyone else in the industry • How the National Rural Water Association and state associations support small systems • What circuit riders actually do and where that term comes from • The real challenge of the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions for systems with three or fewer employees • Why rural water associations are the connective tissue between utilities, regulators, and solution providers • What it looks like when utilities, associations, state agencies, and technology partners all work from the same data • What's coming next in the Make Water Work Rural Water Series These are the unsung heroes of the water industry. It's time to tell their stories. Learn more about 120 Water: https://120water.com #MakeWaterWork #RuralWater #WaterIndustry #DrinkingWater #WaterUtility #SmallSystems #WaterInnovation #SafeDrinkingWater #WaterPolicy #PublicHealth

    Laura Vidal: Rural Water Always Finds a Way | Make Water Work 034
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Make Water Work is a podcast dedicated to the people shaping the future of our most precious resource.

Information

  • Creator
    Megan Glover & Isaac Pellerin
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    42
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Make Water Work Podcast

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