BlueNotes
Short on time, big on staying informed? BlueTech Research brings you BlueNotes, the podcast that makes knowledge bite-sized and easy to digest!
Join dynamic hosts Divya Inna and Rhys Owen for 10-minute conversations packed with insights on the latest breakthroughs in BlueTech. Listen while you commute, walk the dog, or unwind – it’s the perfect way to stay ahead of the curve without getting stuck to a screen. Subscribe now and unlock a smarter, more informed you!
Episodes
85 episodes
Would you drink this? From wastewater to drinking water.
Direct potable reuse has always been technically possible — but rarely trusted. In this episode, Rhys Owen examines the Hofstade DPR scheme in Belgium, where
Horry County and the PFAS endgame: landfill, incineration or SCWO?
A proposed landfill expansion in Horry County, South Carolina, has reignited a familiar question: what actually happens to PFAS once it’s disposed of?In this episode, <...
Phosphorus recovery: why Kemira walked away and Haskoning stepped in
A few years ago, phosphorus recovery looked like a growing opportunity. Today, the momentum feels quieter. In this episode, Martino Finotelli unpacks
Special: BlueTech Forum Ignite x Nike
Water is entering a phase where proven innovation is aligning with credible pathways to scale. How do technologies that have demonstrated success finally translate into repeatable, system-wide adoption? The shift is from isolated lighthouse pro...
From Nobel prize to deployment: can MOFs bridge science and scale in water?
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are moving back into focus. In this episode, Research Analyst Bilal Asif explores why renewed attention on Prof. Omar Yaghi points to something bigger: the emergence of MOFs as a platform technology with applicat...
Rethinking reverse osmosis: a new operating model?
Reverse osmosis is one of the most established processes in water treatment. But what if its fundamentals are being rethought? Research Director Rhys Owen examines
Veolia’s PFAS play in Australia
PFAS in Australia is moving beyond site cleanup into a broader, compliance-driven market. In this episode, Dr Rafael Borobio explains why Veolia’s AUD 220M acquisition of EnviroPacific signals a shift toward integrated, end-to-end PFAS p...
When water regulation gets specific, markets move
What if the real trigger for investment isn’t funding — but certainty? Research Analyst Lovejit Singh explores how the EU’s March 26 decision locks in regulatory benchmarks, remov...
Catalytic membranes, subsea Desalination, and the push toward integration
Subsea desalination and PFAS destruction are converging toward deployment, but both expose the same constraint: scaling promising physics into reliable infrastructure. Why are energy savings and destruction rates now credible, yet still insuffi...
The €1.7 trillion PFAS question: treat or ban?
PFAS regulation in Europe is forcing a fundamental question: treat the problem — or eliminate it at source? In this episode, Research Analyst Dr. Bilal Asif unpacks new EU cost da...
How South Korea is tackling storm-driven wastewater surges
More intense rainfall is pushing wastewater systems beyond their design limits. In this episode, Martino Finotelli explores Tomorrow Water’s new high-rate treatment facility in South Korea and what it signals for the grow...
When cloud companies start acting like water utilities
Amazon recently announced a $400 million investment in water infrastructure in Louisiana as part of its $12 billion data center expansion. In this episode, Dr Vishal Wagholikar, Senior Research Analyst, examines what this signals ...
Could greywater recycling reshape urban water demand?
A cluster of recent developments—including funding for building-scale greywater recycling—may signal a broader shift toward distributed water systems. In this episode, Prof Glen Daigger, Professor of Engineering Practice at the University of Mi...
Compliance gridlock in rapid microbial monitoring
Online microbial monitoring remains commercially stalled despite transformative performance gains. Why does a technology that compresses Legionella detection from ten days to four hours still sit at just $16–20 million annually within a $4–6 bi...
The EU court ruling that locked in micropollutant funding
A recent EU General Court ruling has dismissed industry challenges against Extended Producer Responsibility under the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. This week, Research Analyst Bilal Asif explains why the decision reduces regulatory unce...
Electrifying chemistry: bipolar membranes, MD and what’s scaling now
Bipolar membranes are finally stepping out of the lab and into commercial relevance, reframing saline waste streams as feedstocks for on-site acid and base production (see the
PFAS pressure points and the membrane shake-up
The proposed EU PFAS ban is poised to reshape the membrane landscape, pulling PVDF into the regulatory crosshairs and forcing utilities, industrials and suppliers to rethink long-term planning. Rhys and Divya unpack what a universal restriction...
Ceramic cembranes, VBact innovation, and Xylem’s reset
This episode spotlights three themes driving BlueTech’s current research cycle. Rhys and Divya open with the momentum behind ceramic membranes, ahead of the 11 December web bri...
The quiet revolution in electrodialysis and lithium recovery
Electrodialysis is making a comeback. Once niche, ED and EDR are being reinvented with smarter membranes, modular stack designs, and solar-powered operation. BlueTech Analyst Dr. Vishal Wagholikar joins Rhys and Divya to explore how these innov...
WEFTEC Special
WEFTEC is where the future of water takes shape, and in this BlueNotes special, we cut through the noise. From the 281 submitted abstracts, our analysts have curated the top 60 that will define industry conversations this year: PFAS...
EDR, microfibers, and PFAS: signals to watch
Electrodialysis Reversal (EDR) is getting a second life. Once overshadowed by reverse osmosis, new designs, capacitive approaches, and ceramic membranes are opening doors in brackish desalination, food and beverage, and even lithium recovery. C...
PFAS sensing, Ecolab’s big bet and playmakers: the signals to watch
PFAS sensing is heating up—but still waiting for a true breakthrough. Dr. Kim Wu joins to explore a market set to hit $480M by 2026, with field-based sensors potentially swelling to $750M by 2030. Demand is surging, regulations are tightening, ...
Potable reuse goes global. And Political.
BlueTech's TAG expert Dr. Sebastien Tillman joins Rhys and Divya to unpack a wave of projects in places as unexpected as Belgium and the UK, challenging the “it rains here” mindset. The driver? Not just technology, but trust. Public outreach re...
BlueTech’s summer stack: from Unicorns to PFAS, Plasma and more
Autonomous water plants are here—and 49 of them are already running in China, serving 17 million people with no one on-site. Dr. Kim Wu unpacks this jaw-dropping stat and what it signals for digital twins, smart networks, and the new edg...
From CO₂ to CPUs: what net zero and AI are doing to water
Did you know there are at least 16 different ways to capture carbon—and some of them actually generate water? Others, however, could increase water consumption at power plants by up to 30%. In this episode, Rhys and Divya unpack the complex rel...
