For many people, the history of water in the West centers on early-20th-century events like the construction of Hoover Dam and the California water wars. In fact, that history goes back to the times when Native Americans were the only residents of what is now the western United States. The full scope of that history, in all its social, political, and legal detail, is at the heart of the courses Professor Matt Makley teaches at the Metropolitan State University of Denver. In this conversation, Dr. Makley tells Municipal Water Leader about this fascinating history and its continuing importance.   

Dr. Elizabeth McVicker’s Water Law course is one of the three that make up the Water Studies certificate program at the Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver). It takes a broad view of hydrology, history, and legal doctrine and gives students a fundamental understanding of water law in the West, including the prior appropriation principle. In this interview, Dr. McVicker tells us about her background and how she came to teach this class.   

In 2018, the Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver) developed an online Water Studies certificate program for water professionals and those interested in learning more about water. The program comprises three courses, each in a convenient self-paced online format: Water Law, U.S. Water Concerns, and Colorado Water and the American West. Participants can take all three courses and earn a certificate or take just one or two courses if they prefer. In this interview, Terry Bower, MSU Denver’s associate vice president of innovative and lifelong learning, tells us about the certificate program’s genesis.   

Perfect Pipe and the Perfect Lined Manhole are two new lined-concrete products manufactured by Northwest Pipe Company. Easy to install and maintain and with a long lifespan, these products promise long-term savings, and their corrosion resistance makes them ideal for conveying storm water or wastewater. In this interview, Heather Christensen, the technical marketing manager of Geneva Pipe and Precast, a Northwest Pipe Company; Scott Montross, the president and CEO of Northwest Pipe; and Mike Wray, the vice president and general manager of Geneva Pipe and Precast, tell Municipal Water Leader about the virtues of the Perfect line of products.   

Simplicity, effectiveness, and versatility are often the hallmarks of innovative technologies and people. Greg Yeoman, Mike Hannah, and their Enviropod company embody those traits. Starting out with the goal of reducing plastic contamination in waterways, they discovered that they could bring their innovative filter technology directly to plastic manufacturers to stop contamination before it began. Since its founding in 1996, Enviropod has become a global force in the effort to clean up beaches, plastic manufacturing sites, and storm water systems. In this interview, Mr. Yeoman tells Municipal Water Leader how the company came to be, the advantage of its products for combating plastic contamination, and how it has expanded from…

LiveRoof ’s products allow companies and cities to make better use of rooftops in ways that reduce storm water runoff, improve environmental conservation, and enhance quality of life. The company is also managed in a way that encourages, and in fact requires, innovation among its employees, partners, and customers. In this interview, Amber Ponce, LiveRoof ’s business development manager, tells Municipal Water Leader about how the company’s green rooftop projects are revolutionizing the management of infrastructure and storm water runoff.   

Working with varied stakeholders on complicated issues to produce innovative, effective solutions is a considerable challenge, particularly for water-related issues. But John Verduin has made a career of doing exactly that, particularly in his current role as managing partner of Anchor QEA, a company that uses innovation and collaboration to solve complex environmental and water issues ranging from irrigation and municipal water supply to storm water, wastewater, and green infrastructure. In this article, Mr. Verduin tells Municipal Water Leader about Anchor QEA’s origins, the company’s approach to the challenging projects it undertakes, and how it has created a culture of innovation and collaboration both internally and externally.   

Sergie Albino’s career has truly gone to the moon and back. After helping NASA with its effort to search for water on the moon, he wanted to find ways to improve the water on Earth. With that in mind, he started ecoSPEARS, a company that has developed technologies to clean up environmental contamination. These include the use of ultraviolet (UV) technology to clean contaminated water and alcohol and absorbing spikes to treat soil and sediments. In this interview, Sergie Albino tells Municipal Water Leader about ecoSPEARS’ cost-effective treatment solutions and the importance of a holistic approach to environmental protection.   

Innovation can take many forms, and these can include making existing technology work better and more efficiently. Swirltex is committed to doing exactly that. The company produces custom, modular wastewater treatment systems that use buoyancy-based membrane filtration to more efficiently separate solids and liquids, producing higher-quality effluent and better production rates while requiring less energy. Swirltex’s technology is designed to augment existing wastewater infrastructure, eliminating the need for expensive capital upgrades. In this interview, Swirltex CEO Melanie McClare tells Municipal Water Leader about how Swirltex is driving innovation across the wastewater management sector.   

Reducing and reusing waste material are important conservation issues for both the water and the food industries. Bryan Eagle cofounded Glanris to develop a new technology that employs discarded rice hulls to create a filter material that can remove metals and organic material from water systems, all without any plastic or artificial components and with the added benefit of sequestering carbon after its use. In this interview, Mr. Eagle tells Municipal Water Leader how the Glanris technology works, its advantages over other filter materials, and the crucial role it can play in addressing climate change.