The Water Entrepreneur Podcast
This podcast program features a series of interviews exploring the origin stories of startup founders, early adopters, and innovation champions related to their personal professional, technical, business, organizational, and financial journeys. We will explore how the guests decided to get into the water business, who their mentors are, and how they selected a technology to develop from an idea to an invention, and finally to a commercially viable innovation.
Sponsored by ASTERRA: the leader in remote Earth observation technology for the water industry, Aquarius Spectrum: an industry-leading supplier of innovative leak detection solutions, and IMAGINE H2O: envisioning and building solutions with the world’s best water entrepreneurs.
Meet your host
Paul Gagliardo
Mr. Gagliardo is well known throughout the United States, in Europe and Asia for his defining work on indirect potable reuse as a scheme to supplement the potable water supply in San Diego, California. He has pioneered the efficacy testing and use of new technologies in businesses that vary from energy conservation, hazardous waste remediation, solid waste resource recovery, water treatment, wastewater treatment, contaminant monitoring and strategic planning. He has authored over fifty technical papers on subjects ranging from low and high-pressure membrane systems, monitoring systems, UV disinfection systems, strategic planning and watershed management. He has given presentations on five continents and in ten different countries and has been the invited keynote speaker on multiple occasions.
During his twenty-plus years at the City of San Diego, Paul created and managed the Aqua2000 Research Center. This program focused on the testing of new technologies for use in the water and wastewater business. The Aqua2000 Research Center helped develop the membrane bioreactor system from a novelty to the de facto technology of choice for recycled water applications. Paul’s team developed the performance test protocols that are being used by the California Department of Health Services to determine if systems can be used in specific potable water and recycled water applications. He prepared and submitted performance analyses to the California DHS for acceptance on over twenty new technologies.
Since leaving the City of San Diego he has continued to assist innovators in the development of their new products and help them become commercialized. Currently, Mr. Gagliardo is the Manager – of Innovation Development for American Water. In this position, he is responsible for identifying new technologies that can be incorporated into American Water’s various business enterprises. The IDP’s primary objective is to look for innovations that enhance American Water’s water and wastewater services, increase operational efficiencies, lower operational costs and position American Water for growth in the areas of reuse, desalination and wastewater bioenergy. Paul is responsible for the identification and screening of ideas and navigating those selected ideas through a Stage-Gate process toward eventual commercialization inside and outside of American Water facilities.
Mr. Gagliardo is a registered engineer in the state of California and has a Master’s Degree in Public Health. He was appointed to the State of California 2003 Water Plan Update Advisory Committee, and, was instrumental in fundraising for the successful proposition 50 Water Bond campaign.
If you have any questions about the water entrepreneur podcast or would like to apply to be interviewed please email us at thewaterentrepreneur@gmail.com.
The water entrepreneur 