“In Texas, the Water Fund steers dollars to conservation, loss reduction, reuse, and new supply”

VVater uses electricity to treat water without chemicals, membranes or filters. What makes this technology a breakthrough in the water treatment space?

VVater’s breakthrough is easy to understand. We use electricity instead of chemicals, membranes, and disposable filters to treat water. That choice eliminates truckloads of consumables and the waste they create. It gives operators a compact system with rapid contact times and continuous data-rich control. In practical terms, it means fewer moving parts, lower ongoing costs, and a safer workplace with no bulk chemical handling, no media changeouts, and no membranes to foul. We can also drop into existing plants or serve new developments without forcing partners to re-engineer everything. The market has noticed. Our platform has been honoured at CES for innovation, and more importantly, it is proving itself in the field by delivering consistent water quality at a lower total ownership cost. The technology has wide applications from secondary treatment, tertiary treatment, disinfection, onsite reuse, aquatic facilities, data centres, to many more.

PFAS and microplastics are notoriously hard to remove with traditional systems. How does VVater’s approach tackle these persistent and emerging pollutants?

The Texas Water Fund directs dollars toward loss reduction, conservation, reuse, favouring solutions that are fast to build and easy to measure

PFAS and microplastics worry communities because they often pass through traditional systems or simply get shifted into another waste stream. Our approach is to neutralise those contaminants at the source rather than capturing them and creating a new disposal problem. The timing matters, since the EPA has finalised the first national drinking water standards for PFAS, and utilities are on the clock to monitor and comply. By destroying these chemicals without constant media replacements and addressing other emerging contaminants simultaneously, we give customers a practical path to compliance that does not saddle them with decades of disposal costs and long-term risk.

Texas’s fast-growing population is putting pressure on regions like the Edwards Aquifer and the Rio Grande Valley. Can decentralised treatment solutions help relieve that stress?

Rapid growth is straining iconic Texas sources such as the Edwards Aquifer and the Rio Grande Valley reservoirs at Amistad and Falcon. The fastest way to relieve that stress is to treat and reuse water close to where it is generated. When plants, campuses, industrial facilities, and new developments reuse more of what they already have, communities draw less from the aquifer and depend less on variable river allocations. The Edwards Aquifer Authority’s recent move to Stage Five restrictions shows how urgent the need has become in Central Texas, and low storage in the Valley has the same effect on border communities. Decentralised and right-sized treatment allows regions to act now while larger regional projects work through planning and permitting. Especially with the emergence of new generation technologies, the ability to decentralise and treat water at source has never been more applicable than now.

From your perspective, what types of technologies or projects should Texas prioritise, or avoid, as it rolls out its $20 billion water investment plan?

Our role is to make public dollars work harder by delivering verified water quality and reliable gallons, leaving systems that are simpler to run

If Texas wants quick and durable wins, the state should focus on stopping losses, reusing more water, and diversifying supply where the economics and ecology make sense. Pipe rehabilitation and smart metering are still the cheapest sources of new gallons. Decentralised reuse for both potable and non-potable applications can be deployed in months and can serve growth corridors and critical facilities, which reduces demand on rivers and aquifers immediately. When new sources are required, aquifer storage and recovery and brackish desalination can add resilience, particularly when paired with strong conservation and reuse. What the state should avoid is concentrating most of its capital on a handful of very large and very slow projects before it captures the low-cost gallons available through loss reduction and local reuse. The design of the Texas Water Fund already supports that balanced approach. I believe Texas should also prioritise the roll-out and adoption of newer generation technologies, which can cut cost, cut time, and produce a much higher quality water, but many of these technologies are being strangled by regulatory red tape.

With nearly half of Texas’s water consumed by agriculture, what innovations do you see as most promising to help farmers use or reuse water more efficiently?

Agriculture will always be central to the Texas water story, and there are practical moves that help growers right now. Treating and reusing tailwater and process water on the farm or at packing and processing sites can cut withdrawals during peak demand and improve the quality of water for the next use. Because our systems are energy efficient and do not rely on chemicals, they fit the rhythm of farm operations and can scale up or down across a season. That can mean safer wash water, cooler water for equipment, or supplemental irrigation during a dry stretch. The outcome is straightforward. Farmers get more crop per drop and rely less on stressed rivers and aquifers when conditions turn against them.

What kind of policy, funding or industry support would be most impactful in accelerating the deployment of next-generation water treatment technologies?

Policy and funding can slow innovation or speed it up. At the federal level, clarity and continuity around the new PFAS rule, combined with steady support through the State Revolving Funds and the programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, give utilities confidence to invest. A new piece of legislation called “Smart Water” is also being developed, which should include technologies like Advanced Low Tension Electroporation, which will dramatically bring relief to drought-stricken areas. In Texas, the Water Fund provides a flexible vehicle to steer dollars to conservation, loss reduction, reuse, and new supply. The state’s published guidance for direct potable reuse makes it faster to deliver a safe supply close to demand. Continued coordination among agencies, including the consolidation of more water oversight at TCEQ and clearer pathways for produced water management, will further streamline approvals while protecting public health and the environment. If Federal and State stakeholders drive advanced water treatment technologies like they have modular nuclear reactors in the last 12 months, water restrictions can be a thing of the past very fast!

Looking ahead, what is your vision for the future of water infrastructure in Texas — and how do you see VVater contributing to that transformation?

For durable wins, Texas should focus on stopping losses, reusing water, and diversifying supply where the economics and ecology make sense

My vision is a circular and electrically driven water network. Every plant, large or small, becomes a resource factory. Every drop is measured and valued. Quality is verified in real time. Texas is positioned to lead this shift because the state is combining smart planning with flexible finance and clear regulatory pathways for advanced reuse. VVater will help accelerate the transition by delivering treatment that is compact, quick to install, and affordable to operate. Cities and industries will be able to add supply where growth is happening rather than waiting years for distant projects to materialise. If we do this well, we protect treasured sources such as the Edwards and the Rio Grande while creating room for the people and businesses that will define Texas in the decades ahead.

Based on your experience as an entrepreneur in this space, what advice would you give to innovators trying to break into the water sector?

For entrepreneurs, water rewards substance over spectacle. Build for the operator’s day, for the regulator’s review, and for the finance director’s spreadsheet. Prove performance alongside today’s systems and publish the results in plain language. Align your business model so customers save from the first month rather than the fifth year. This sector moves on trust earned in the field. If you stay focused on outcomes such as quality, reliability, and cost, scale will follow. Deep Tech, Hard Tech is a slow machine; there is a significant funding shortage throughout the space, and Wall Street is only waking up to the gap in infrastructure now, with probably the first time in over 50 years, water, water treatment, and large water infrastructure gaining significant and aggressive investment. Now is the time to change how the U.S. handles water.