2024 Report

2024

Annual Report

Chairman’s Letter

My first year as chairman of The Water Council has been an exciting ride. Notably, in September, The Water Council was awarded a $2.5 million contract from the U.S. Small Business Administration as a mature Regional Innovation Cluster. This contract will help us expand our services for water technology startups, small businesses and overseas businesses looking to break into the U.S. market.

This year also saw diligent efforts on our Water + Energy Forward Engine. The engine stems from the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines program, which granted The Water Council a development award of $1 million in spring 2023 to address water and energy issues for small and medium-sized manufacturers and utilities. Although we learned in fall that we will not be moving on to the next stage with a Launch Award, the engine notched several accomplishments that will have long-term impact, including the launch of the Water and Wastewater Workforce Center and the announcement of a $15 million permanent pilot facility from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.

2024 saw a major change in our annual thought leadership event. After many years of hosting the Water Leaders Summit, we combined with the Marquette University College of Business’ Sustainability 2.0 Conference to form the Nexus Sustainability Leaders Summit. The merger brought new energy and perspectives to the event, plus a solid attendance increase as we all appreciate the value of in-person networking and interactions. We look forward to an even better Nexus Summit in 2025.

On the stewardship front, we continued to grow our WAVE: Water Stewardship Verified program, adding four new companies and verifying another four. We also announced our first reverification for Watts Water Technologies and started planning for an expansion of the program in 2025. We continue to work with industry and alliance groups such as the American Chemistry Council, Suppliers Partnership for the Environment, and Great Lakes Water Innovation and Stewardship Exchange to share the principles and practice of corporate water stewardship.

And of course, we continued to convene, connect and showcase our members, who are the bedrock of everything we do. Our membership this year reached 159 members, including three new large corporations – Veralto, Wilo and Zurn Elkay. We are grateful to all our members, sponsors and supporters for helping us solve global water challenges through freshwater innovation and water stewardship.

Forward!

Scott Beightol

The Water Council Board Chairman

Innovation

The Water Council supports innovation in the water technology sector through matchmaking, member services, networking and our signature innovation programs: BREW 2.0 Post Accelerator, Tech Challenge and Pilot Program.

Small Business Cluster

In fall 2024, we were thrilled to learn that we had been selected for a Regional Innovation Cluster contract from the U.S. Small Business Administration as a mature water technology cluster. Through this five-year, $2.5 million award, we will build on our long-established innovation platform by offering increased support for U.S. water technology businesses from early-stage startups to established small and medium-sized enterprises. We also have a keen interest in assisting foreign companies that are seeking to establish operations in the U.S.

Our SBA-supported work includes enhanced offerings in our BREW 2.0 Post-Accelerator, matchmaking and training, customized support and resources for small businesses, capacity-building and providing access to new market resources. The contract also supports our European representative, Beverley Ferrara, who serves our overseas members and helps U.S. members looking to expand to the European market.

The Water Council received an inaugural Regional Innovation Cluster Award in 2014 that allowed us to create a Water Technology Center of Excellence in Milwaukee for small businesses and hire Karen Frost, who is now our vice president of economic development and innovation.

BREW 2.0

It was another strong year for our innovation programming. Our BREW 2.0 Post-Accelerator included startups from the U.S., Canada, France and Ireland in areas such as artificial intelligence for water utilities, nutrient-harvesting from algae and water-saving devices. Once again, we held an in-person week in Milwaukee in June that included a Demo Day and a curated investor event in partnership with NVNG Investment Advisors and hosted by Baird.

One of our BREW companies, GKinetic Energy of Ireland, which provides clean energy generation from manmade and natural waterways, announced plans in fall to launch its U.S. operations from The Water Council’s headquarters at the Global Water Center.

We are grateful to our BREW sponsors, Xylem and Beckhoff Automation, and Thales Water Advisors for programming support.

2024 BREW COHORT

Tech Challenge

We also ran two Tech Challenges this year, receiving applications from 11 countries.

PAGE Technologies, a water and soil monitoring platform based in Boulder, Colo., won our spring challenge focused on water quality sensors.

The fall challenge focused on microplastics and nanoplastics. Winners there were:

Lucendi, Inc., based in Los Angeles, Calif., which develops AI-powered innovations for high-performance detection and characterization of micro-objects in liquids.
PolyGone Systems, based in Princeton, N.J., which has developed an affordable, portable and environmentally friendly filtration system that captures microplastics in water bodies.

Challenge topics and winners are selected by our sponsors, A. O. Smith Corporation, Badger Meter and Watts Water Technologies. The program connects water innovators with leading water technology companies, facilitating potential partnerships and helping new ideas and technologies gain exposure in the industry.

Pilot Program

The Water Council was part of an exciting announcement in summer 2023 when the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) announced plans for a groundbreaking research and piloting facility. The $13 million, first-of-its-kind research lab will allow water technology businesses, universities, scientists and inventors to partner with the district to test new concepts and ideas on a large scale at a working treatment plant.

The Water Council is supporting the facility by gathering design input from engineering firms, startups and university researchers. The research facility further demonstrates that the Milwaukee area is a global hub for water technology and innovation. Construction is expected to begin in 2026.

The Water Council, through a connection from the Dutch consulate in Chicago, introduced the Great Bubble Barrier technology to MMSD and the City of Racine. The Great Bubble Barrier is a technology from the Netherlands which intercepts and captures plastics and microplastics over the full width and depth of rivers and prevents plastic from ending up in the ocean or larger water bodies. MMSD and the City of Racine conducted feasibility studies to identify optimal locations in both cities for future potential technology installations. MMSD, the Fund for Lake Michigan, Meijer and SC Johnson were contributors the feasibility studies.

Water Stewardship

WAVE: Water Stewardship Verified

Our WAVE: Water Stewardship Verified program continues to grow as companies increasingly realize the potential risks of too little water, too much water or poor quality in the freshwater resources at their facilities and in their supply chains. This year, we noticed more interest from companies affected by the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. By some estimates, nearly 3,000 U.S.-based companies will need to start reporting to the EU on their water and biodiversity impacts in addition to 50,000 EU companies.

In 2024, we welcomed Clearwater Paper, Milo’s Tea Company, Rockwell Automation and Zurn Elkay Water Solutions as new participants in WAVE. Clearwater Paper, Ecolab, KPMG, BlueTriton Brands and Primo Water completed WAVE verification through SCS Global Services. (BlueTriton and Primo Water merged late in the year and are now known as Primo Brands.) Watts Water Technologies became the first company to be re-verified through WAVE.

This year we also worked on expanding WAVE programming, with a new verification level expected to be launched in spring 2025.

Participating Companies

Verified Companies

Additional Water Stewardship Activities

The Water Council continued to spread the message about the importance of corporate water stewardship through articles, speaking engagements and webinars. In December, our vice president of water stewardship, Matt Howard, was featured in an episode of EARTH with John Holden focused on Primo Brands and its water stewardship efforts.

We continued our work with the American Chemistry Council (ACC) as we build out a suite of tools and resources for its members focusing on the site-level Water Body Risk Assessment protocol. We also furthered our work with Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) to advance water stewardship best practices in the automotive value chain. A key deliverable this year was a water metrics mapping exercise looking at 15 key voluntary and regulatory reporting frameworks.

Finally, The Water Council continued its support for the Great Lakes Water Innovation and Stewardship Exchange, or Great Lakes WISE, administered by the Council of the Great Lakes Region. This year, the founding corporate partners of the exchange were announced: A. O. Smith Corporation, Sloan, Veolia North America, Watts Water Technologies, and Primo Brands.

Water + Energy Forward

2024 marked the second year of progress on our Water + Energy Forward Engine. In May 2023, we received an inaugural Development Award from the National Science Foundation to build a regional innovation engine to help small and medium-sized businesses meet their water and energy needs.

Our team worked hard developing the engine, including customer discovery, defining research thrusts, adding partners and engine leaders, building a workforce development plan and inclusion strategy, and creating a finance proposal.

Although we learned this last October that we won’t receive a launch award that would have helped fund the engine in future years, many positives came out of this two-year process, including:

Launch of the Water & Wastewater Workforce Center, a collaboration between Veolia North America and The Water Council that will help address urgent workforce needs in the water sector.
Announcement from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) of a $13 million permanent pilot facility to help companies test emerging water technologies. The Water Council will continue to work closely with MMSD as it finalizes designs for the facility and seeks pilot projects.
New or strengthened partnerships with many organizations, including Microsoft, Rockwell Automation, the Water Environment Federation and Wisconsin’s top research universities.
Insight into persistent problems in the water and energy sector, including workforce development and water and energy resiliency for small businesses, and potential solutions, such as circular watershed economies.
Recognition of the need for new funding mechanisms to support water and energy technology research and adoption by small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Water Council and our other engine partners plan to keep the momentum going on key initiatives that grew out of this work.

Collaboration & International Work

Nexus Sustainability Leaders Summit

Building off our many years hosting the Water Leaders Summit, in 2024 we joined forces with Marquette University College of Business’ Sustainability Lab to host the first Nexus Sustainability Leaders Summit. We kept many of the elements from the Water Leaders Summit that has made it a success in the past, including engaging panelists and our longtime moderator, Charles Fishman, while embracing the expertise and connections formed by Marquette’s annual Sustainability 2.0 Summit. The event was a success, with a 50% increase in attendance over the 2023 Water Leaders Summit and much positive feedback.

Training Future Water Workforce

This year, we received a grant to support water workforce efforts through a federal appropriation supported by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin. The $300,000 grant allows us to work with partners such as Community Water Services, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Milwaukee Water Works and the Milwaukee Health Department to help students at three Milwaukee high schools learn about water monitoring and water sector employment. The project will continue through 2025.

Water Smart Engagement

We also continued our partnership with Phuket, Thailand, as part of the U.S. Water Partnership’s Water Smart Engagements program, funded by the U.S. State Department. CEO Dean Amhaus and our communications director, Stacy Vogel Davis, visited Phuket to meet with water officials there about challenges they face. They were shocked to see the low reservoir levels as the rainy season that was supposed to have started weeks ago hadn’t yet arrived. Afterward, they traveled with two Phuket representatives to Singapore International Water Week.

WEFTEC

As always, The Water Council team stayed busy at WEFTEC, the largest annual convention for water professionals. We led panels on our Water + Energy Forward Engine, Global Innovations for Resiliency & Sustainability, and Building the Local & Global Water Workforce, along with participating in a meet-and-greet for water innovation clusters.

Our MEMBERS

The Water Council offers its members access to an unparalleled network of water industry thought leaders, policymakers and innovators aligned through one of the most influential freshwater technology hubs in the world. We are committed to convening, connecting and showcasing our members.

This year our membership grew to 159 companies and organizations, including 23 overseas members. Included are our 37 Water Champions, companies from outside the water technology sector that support our mission to solve global water challenges through innovation and stewardship.

Our valued members are the heart of The Water Council and our activities.

Thank you for your support.

A.O. Smith Corporation

Anguil Environmental Systems, Inc.

APX10

Aquacycl

Aquagga, Inc.

Aquamonitrix Limited

Aquapriori

Aquarius Systems

Atmus Filtration Technologies Inc.*

Avivid Water Technology, LLC

Badger Meter, Inc.

Baker Manufacturing Company, LLC

bb7*

Beckhoff Automation, LLC

BloomOptix, LLC

BlueTriton Brands*

bNovate Technologies

Bradley Corporation

Business Development Pros LLC*

Cadens LLC

Cann Forecast

Cimbria Capital*

CIMICO

City of Milwaukee

Clearwater Industries, Inc.

Clearwater Paper Corporation*

Company Name

Council of the Great Lakes Region

Covanta Environmental Solutions, LLC*

Culligan International Company

Dana Investment Advisors*

Diamidex

Digital Water Solutions Inc

Discovery World Ltd.

DMR International Inc

Donohue & Associates, Inc.*

Ecolab Inc.*

ECT / Corrofix

EMCO Chemical Distributors, Inc.*

Energy Tech Innovations LLC

Enspired Solutions Inc.

Evoqua Water Technologies LLC

Filtered By

Fiola Filtration Industries Corp.

Fixed Earth Innovations Ltd.

Fresh Coast Climate Solutions*

Freshwater Collaborative of Wisconsin

Fund for Lake Michigan

Generac Power Systems, Inc.*

GKinetic Energy Limited

Global Water Works

Godfrey & Kahn, S.C.*

GOSPACE Tech s. r. o.

Greater Milwaukee Committee

Green Lake Association

Green Sports Alliance

Green Steel Environmental, LLC

Gross-Wen Technologies, Inc.

GRUNDFOS Pumps Corporation

Harbor District Inc.

Hydraloop Systems B.V.

Hydraze, Inc.

InSinkErator

ITU AbsorbTech, Inc.

Ixom Watercare Inc.

Jacobs*

Kadeya

Kohler Co.

KPMG*

Liquidcool Solutions, Inc.

MANN+HUMMEL Water & Fluid Solutions GmbH

Marlo Incorporated

Marquette University

Mathison Manufacturing, Inc.

Matthews Strategic Services LLC*

McCotter Energy Systems

Meijer*

Membership Status equals Active,In Process,Expired

Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce

Michael Best & Friedrich LLP*

Micronic Technologies, Inc.

Milo’s Tea Company, Inc.*

Milwaukee 7

Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District

Milwaukee Riverkeeper Inc.

Milwaukee School of Engineering

Milwaukee Tech Hub Coalition

Milwaukee Water Works

Molson Coors Beverage Company

Mulcahy Shaw Water*

Nasco Sampling/Whirl-Pak

Newance*

Nutrien*

NYCOA: Nylon Corporation of America*

On Track Technology Solutions*

Operational Technical Services LLC*

ORIN Technologies LLC

P4 Infrastructure

Pani Clean, Inc.

Phigenics LLC

PIPESONIC LLC

Plazer LLC

PolyGone Systems

Primo Water Corporation*

Pulsed Burst Systems LLC

Qualified Water Systems LLC

Ramboll*

Rapid Radicals

Redberry SAS

Regulosity LLC*

Riverwater Partners, LLC*

Robert W. Baird & Company*

Rockwell Automation

Roving Blue, Inc.

Rudolf Messner Umwelttechnik AG

Ruekert & Mielke Inc.*

Sage Water LLC

Samuel, Son & Co.*

SCS Global Services Inc*

SERVYECO IBERIA S.L.

Shower Stream

SIGMA DAF Clarifiers

Slater Infrastructure Group

SlaterConsult, LLC*

Sloan Valve Company

Smartd Technologies Inc.

Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission

Sudoc

Thales Water Advisors, LLC*

The Great Bubble Barrier

The Nature Conservancy

The Probst Group

The Wasmer Company, LLC

Tikal Industries Inc.

Tomorrow Water

Total Water Treatment Systems

Toyota Motor North America, Inc.*

True Elements LLC

University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee

University of Wisconsin – Whitewater

UWM Innovation Accelerator Prototyping Center

UWM Research Foundation

Vandewalle & Associates Inc.*

Veolia

Veralto

VISIT Milwaukee

Water Environment Federation

Water Resources Monitoring Group LLC

Water Warriors, Inc.

Watertronics LLC

WaterWeb Tools

Watts Water Technologies, Inc.

Waukesha Water Utility

Wellntel Inc.

WILO USA

Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation

Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association

Wisconsin Section of AWWA

Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council

Wisconsin Technology Council

Xylem Inc.

Zurn Elkay Water Solutions Corporation

ZwitterCo, Inc

*Water Champions

Our Board

Scott C. Beightol, Chair
Partner
Michael Best & Friedrich LLP

Ken Bockhorst, Vice Chair
Chairman, President & CEO
Badger Meter

Mark Mone, Treasurer
Chancellor
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Kirk Allen
President & CEO
Sloane Valve Company

Steve Booth
President & CEO
Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.

Joel Brennan
President, Greater Milwaukee Committee.
Ecolab

Scott Clawson
President & CEO
Culligan International

Lafayette Crump
Commissioner of City Development
City of Milwaukee

Karen Dettmer
Director of Water Resources U.S.
Ramboll

Stephen B. Guy
Managing Director
Baird Global Investment Banking

Missy Hughes
Secretary & CEO
Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

Elizabeth Koehler
Wisconsin State Director
The Nature Conservancy

Michael Lovell
President
Marquette University

Kim Marotta
Global Vice President, Environmental Sustainability
Beam Suntory

John Matthews
Principal
Matthews Strategic Services, LLC

Robert J. Pagano Jr.
President & CEO
Watts Water Technologies

Marc Roehl
Executive Vice President
Ixom Watercare

Rachel Schneider
Vice President of Sustainability & EHS
Molson Coors Beverage Company

Kevin Shafer
Executive Director
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District

Jim Stern
Executive Vice President
A. O. Smith Corporation

Emilio Tenuta
Senior Vice President & Chief Sustainability Officer
Ecolab

Ifetayo Venner
U.S. Wastewater Treatment Practice Leader & Infrastructure Sustainability Leader
Arcadis

Paul Jones
Board Emeritus
A. O. Smith Corporation

Rich Meeusen
Board Emeritus
Badger Meter, Inc.

Our STAFF

Dean Amhaus
President & CEO

Beverley Ferrara
European Representative

Karen Frost
Vice President, Economic Development & Innovation

Matt Howard
Vice President, Water Stewardship

Amy Jensen
CFO & COO

Dr. Barry Liner
Technical Advisor

Laura Mullen
Member Engagement Manager

Stacy Vogel Davis
Communications Director

Hattie Bray
Communications Intern

Isaac McCready
Water Stewardship Intern