(don't) Waste Water! | Water Tech to Solve the World

On April 30, 2026, CRH plc (NYSE: CRH) announced a $700 million agreement to acquire Axius Water from KKR and XPV Water Partners - instantly making the Irish-American building materials giant one of the largest water infrastructure players in North America. If CRH acquires Axius, what's next?Most investors missed it, so I thought I'd decode it! Here are the 10 things you need to see.So you got it, CRH acquires Axius. Here's the deal in 30 seconds: • Buyer: CRH plc - a $77B market cap building materials company most water investors don't track • Target: Axius Water - a wastewater treatment platform built by KKR and XPV Water Partners through a multi-year roll-up • Price: $700M (reported) • Sellers: KKR (Global Impact Fund) and XPV Water Partners • Strategic logic: bolts wastewater treatment onto CRH's existing water infrastructure portfolio (Hydro International, Oldcastle Infrastructure) What's actually new here - and why it matters for water investors: 00:00 - On your Bingo Card? 02:30 #1: The Cast07:35 #2: The Substance11:40 #3: The Number16:23 #4: The Timing20:54 #5: The Macro Reality24:40 #6: The Credibility28:26 #7: Inside the Platform32:28 #8: The Synergy Story35:17 #9: The Risks39:58 #10: The Sector Signal📰 Sources & further reading: • CRH Q1 2026 earnings call transcript: https://www.crh.com/investors/results-presentations/• KKR Global Impact Fund: https://www.kkr.com/approach/sustainability/sustainable-investing/trends • XPV Water Partners portfolio: https://xpvwaterpartners.com/companies• Axius Water: https://www.axiuswater.com/• My newsletter on Water Infrastructure: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/us-water-bill-4x-what-everyone-thinks-antoine-walter-3rqnc/🎙️ If we don't know each other, Hi, I'm Antoine Walter! I help newcomer investors decode the water tech sector. Each week, I break down a water deal (like here, when CRH acquires Axius), technology, or company through an investor-forward lens. No acronyms, no jargon (hopefully) just the signals that matter. 🔔 Subscribe for weekly water investment briefs: youtube.com/channel/UCsMC1BYAun2JtMT177jTGOw/ 🎧 Podcast version: https://feed.ausha.co/br23DCZ1GnG3💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoinewalter1 ⚠️ Disclaimer: This video is for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing here constitutes investment advice. Always do your own research. #CRH #AxiusWater #KKR #XPVWaterPartners #WaterInvesting #WaterMA #WaterStocks #WaterInfrastructure #WastewaterTreatment #WaterTech #PrivateEquity #ImpactInvesting #ESG #WaterSectorHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

How Will Ovivo Rebuild to Full Size in 10 Years After the Ecolab Deal?🤫 Tired of stitching together Crunchbase, overpriced reports, and "a guy who knows a guy"? I built the fix. 50 Founder Seats. Join the waitlist: leviathandata.io🙌 Supporters 🙌 A big thank you to my partner SimpleLab: https://link.dww.show/simplelab ⬇️ IN THIS EPISODE ⬇️Ovivo is a global water treatment technology provider entering a transformative new chapter after spinning off its electronics division to Ecolab for $1.8 billion. Under Ski on Water's ownership, Ovivo is now positioning itself for aggressive growth through industrial expansion, silicon carbide membrane innovation, and PFAS destruction capabilities across North America and Europe.This episode features Reinhard Hubner, CEO of SKion Water with years of water industry M&A experience; Elena Bailey, Director at Ovivo North America with decades of experience in water technology who joined through an acquisition in 2006; Mike Snodgrass, membrane technology specialist with 25+ years experience; and Sebastian Andreassen, co-founder and leader of Ovivo's Cembrane silicon carbide membrane manufacturing.🌶️ KEY SPICES 🌶️🔬 Silicon carbide membranes deliver breakthrough flux rates at low pressure with hydrophilic, chemically inert properties that outperform polymeric alternatives💧 Double-digit percentage R&D investment funds innovation without a centralized research department—product managers drive patented solutions🏭 European industrial expertise from a decade of experience in operations transfers directly to North American expansion through people-first integration⚗️ PFAS destruction technology from E2Metrix leverages existing municipal customer relationships for rapid market entry🤝 Long-term ownership culture keeps acquired company founders engaged for 7-9+ years post-acquisition🥜 IN A NUTSHELL 🥜What is the 10-year vision for Ovivo? SKion Water plans to rebuild Ovivo to its pre-transaction size through industrial platform acquisitions in North America, silicon carbide membrane scaling, and PFAS treatment commercialization.Why focus on industrial water treatment? Municipal operations run independently with proven teams, while industrial requires European expertise transfer and platform acquisitions to replicate the 350 million euro success achieved through EnviroChemie.How does Cembrane's silicon carbide differentiate? Unlike polymeric membranes, silicon carbide is hydrophilic, extremely porous, and chemically inert—enabling applications in drinking water, sand filter replacement, and backwash recovery that competitors cannot match.What are the capacity expansion plans? Cembrane's manufacturing will increase 50% in 2026 and double by 2027, with Texas production providing tariff protection and BABA compliance for North American municipal projects.Where does PFAS fit the strategy? E2Metrix destruction technology pairs with existing SSE membrane installations at water plants, creating bundled solutions that leverage Ovivo's installed base relationships with municipal customers.#️⃣ Mentioned Links #️⃣Ovivo's website: https://www.ovivowater.com/en/My WEFTEC coverage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAb9bDjpOsEHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Can Cloud Harvesting Revolutionize Water Production? A Deep Dive into AirHES Technology🤫 Tired of stitching together Crunchbase, overpriced reports, and "a guy who knows a guy"? I built the fix. 50 Founder Seats. Join the waitlist: leviathandata.io🙌 Supporters 🙌 A big thank you to my partner SimpleLab: https://link.dww.show/simplelab ⬇️ IN THIS EPISODE ⬇️AirHES is a proposed atmospheric water harvesting technology that uses aerial collection systems (kites or balloons) with specialized mesh to capture cloud droplets. The collected water flows down through hoses, generating both pressurized freshwater and hydropower from the natural pressure head, claiming to potentially deliver the cheapest water and electricity on Earth.This episode features my rigorous "10th man doctrine" analysis—applying contrarian due diligence to unconventional water technologies.🌶️ KEY SPICES 🌶️☁️ Cloud-level water capture using proven fog collection mesh technology with documented efficiencies from existing literature💧 Dual revenue streams from both freshwater production (modeled at $0.10-0.21/m³) and hydropower generation from vertical pressure head🎯 Potential niche applications for remote, cloudy, inland communities needing 10-200 m³/day where traditional desalination faces infrastructure challenges🔬 Rigorous physics-based analysis revealing realistic costs of $0.30-0.60/m³ after accounting for downtime, maintenance, and operational constraints⚖️ Technology requires overcoming complex engineering trade-offs between pipe weight, friction losses, buoyancy, wind loading, and airspace regulatory hurdles🥜 IN A NUTSHELL 🥜Does the technology actually work? The mesh physics and fog collection principles are sound and well-documented, but cloud-level capture efficiency, uptime, and real-world performance remain unproven until multi-month instrumented pilots are conducted.What are the biggest technical challenges? Running kilometers of pressure hoses vertically requires solving complex trade-offs between pipe weight, friction losses, buoyancy, wind loading, and material costs—issues that significantly impact economic viability.Where could AirHES actually succeed? The technology shows promise for remote, persistently cloudy inland communities far from coastlines, mining camps at elevation, and island interiors where traditional reverse osmosis faces permitting barriers or extreme infrastructure costs.Is the electricity generation worthwhile? Power output represents only ~8% of revenue in AirHES's own models, with typical systems generating just 2-3 kW—barely enough to power a hair dryer—making it more of a distraction than a selling point.Why pursue weird ideas like this? Taking unconventional technologies seriously, even when flawed, expands the "adjacent possible" in water innovation, generates valuable insights, and prevents the sector from getting trapped optimizing only conventional solutions like reverse osmosis.#️⃣ Mentioned Links #️⃣AirHES Technology Packy McCormick's "Not Boring" newsletterSend me your ideas: antoine@dww.showHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

🤔 What Happened to Source Global's Water-from-Air Technology?🤫 Tired of stitching together Crunchbase, overpriced reports, and "a guy who knows a guy"? I built the fix. 50 Founder Seats. Join the waitlist: leviathandata.io🙌 Supporters 🙌 A big thank you to my partner SimpleLab: https://link.dww.show/simplelab My best water tech analysis straight to your inboxSOURCE (formerly Zero Mass Water) produced drinking water from air using solar-powered Hydropanels. Founded in 2015 by Cody Friesen, it raised $270 million, becoming one of water tech's most-funded companies - before turning into a Company Failure🥜 IN A NUTSHELL 🥜 What was Source Global's core technology? Solar-powered Hydropanels that extract drinking water from atmospheric humidity, requiring no electrical or water infrastructure.Why did the company fail despite massive funding? Ran out of cash after failing to raise funds, faced major quality issues from Malaysian manufacturing, and had unsustainable costs versus traditional water delivery, leading to company failureWhat were the main product problems? High failure rates within 2-3 years, frequent fan and battery breakages, and warranty quietly reduced from 10 to 5 years.Did Source attempt a business pivot? Acquired Proud Source Water and launched Sky Water, building Hydropanel farms to produce canned atmospheric water at scale.What remains of Source Global today? The founder and executives left in early 2025. Hydropanels and Sky Water are out of stock, but the acquired Proud Source Water business continues operating despite the mother company failure#️⃣ Mentioned Links #️⃣ SOURCE's SEC filings (over the years): Source on GlassdoorSource's troubles in AllensworthMy own interview with Source, four years agoSource's website (still active)Cody Friesen's LinkedIn profileProud Source Water's websiteThunderf00t's original videoHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

How Can We Afford to Remove PFAS from Our Environment When Treatment Costs Exceed Global GDP?🤫 Tired of stitching together Crunchbase, overpriced reports, and "a guy who knows a guy"? I built the fix. 50 Founder Seats. Join the waitlist: leviathandata.io🙌 Supporters 🙌 A big thank you to my partner SimpleLab: https://link.dww.show/simplelab ⬇️ IN THIS EPISODE ⬇️PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are persistent synthetic chemicals (forever chemicals) used in countless everyday products that contaminate drinking water, wastewater, and the environment. Dr. Ali Ling is a professor at the University of St. Thomas, specializing in PFAS management and wastewater treatment, with a decade of consulting experience helping industrial and municipal facilities address emerging contaminants, and expertise in big-picture systems thinking.🌶️ KEY SPICES 🌶️💰 Cost-Effective Approach - Source reduction is 1,000 times cheaper than environmental cleanup, with upstream industrial controls costing hundreds versus millions of dollars per kilogram of PFAS removed🔬 Technology Expertise - Comprehensive knowledge of GAC, ion exchange, destruction technologies, and emerging treatment solutions across drinking water, wastewater, and industrial applications📊 Data-Driven Strategy - Evidence-based analysis showing that removing PFAS at current production rates would exceed global GDP, making source control the only viable path forward🎯 Risk Prioritization - Understanding that drinking water represents less than 20% of human PFAS exposure, with diet and indoor dust contributing significantly more to health risks🌍 Future-Focused Thinking - Emphasis on persistence as a critical factor, recognizing that today's PFAS releases create irreversible accumulation threatening future generations (forever chemicals)🥜 IN A NUTSHELL 🥜Why is cleaning up PFAS from the environment economically impossible? Removing PFAS from the environment at the rate we produce it costs millions of dollars per kilogram and would exceed global GDP, while upstream source control costs only hundreds to thousands of dollars per kilogram.What's the biggest misconception about PFAS treatment? Most people focus on drinking water cleanup as a past problem, but we're still actively producing massive amounts of PFAS today, and drinking water represents less than 20% of human exposure to these persistent chemicals.Should utilities treat PFAS in wastewater effluent? Treating municipal wastewater effluent is extremely expensive and environmentally impactful, whereas addressing industrial discharges and landfill leachate at their concentrated source points is far more cost-effective and logical.How do we prevent regrettable substitution when phasing out PFAS? The European Union is implementing better frameworks that assess both persistence and toxicity before approving chemicals, while companies like IKEA and H&M have successfully phased out PFAS entirely from their supply chains.#️⃣ Mentioned Links #️⃣Ali Ling's LinkedIn profileAli's paper on the costs to remove PFAS from the environmentHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Will we die young & rich or live older & less rich? That is why Henk Ovink is formal: We will fail on climate change if we fail on water. Wanna know why? Listen to this! 🤫 Tired of stitching together Crunchbase, overpriced reports, and "a guy who knows a guy"? I built the fix. 50 Founder Seats. Join the waitlist: leviathandata.io🙌 Supporters 🙌 A big thank you to my partner SimpleLab: https://link.dww.show/simplelab And a great shout out for Sciens Water's great Rethinking Water where this interview was recorded: https://scienswater.com/ #️⃣ All the Links Mentioned in this Video #️⃣ Global Commission on the Economics of Water Final Report: https://watercommission.org/#report My conversation with Sean Davis on PPPPs modelsMy UN Water Conference 2023 coverage: Day 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOs5J6VymwE Day 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bQhz_yHN5U Day 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZZaON3Pr0c Final Coverage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gksQHzCYVA 🎙️ Subscribe and Listen to the Don't Waste Water Podcast HERE 🎙️ Podcast Channel: @dwwpodcast Main Channel: @AntoineWalterDWW Smartlink: https://smartlink.ausha.co/dont-waste-water Website: https://dww.show/podcast/ 🙋 QUESTION: What would you like me to cover next? 📝 IN THIS WEEK'S EPISODE 💸 Why choosing between dying "young & rich" vs "older & less rich" defines our water future - and the shocking GDP numbers that prove it 🌍 How 4,000 liters per person per day completely reframes everything we thought we knew about water justice (hint: it's not about drinking water) 🎯 The five radical missions that could save 25% of irrigation water by 2050 while actually increasing farmer incomes 💔 What really happened at the UN Water Conference that left me staying up all night with crushing disappointment - and why there's still hope 🔥 Why "stupidity pays off in the short term" is destroying our planet - and the 10-year tipping point we're racing towardsHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Aquatech just acquired Koch Technology Solutions’ direct lithium extraction business - Here are my 3 key takeaways!🤫 Tired of stitching together Crunchbase, overpriced reports, and "a guy who knows a guy"? I built the fix. 50 Founder Seats. Join the waitlist: leviathandata.io#️⃣ All the Links Mentioned in this Video #️⃣ Aquatech's press release: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aquatech-acquires-kochs-direct-lithium-extraction-business-integrating-li-pro-dle-into-the-pearl-technology-platform-302558347.html My conversation with Devesh Sharma: https://youtu.be/inlyb_aMtzw?si=z1uTHU6GlRvmuKPl My full exploration of the Lithium World: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeZJpBySIQo&t=1s 🎙️ PODCAST 🎙️ Website: https://dww.show/podcast/ Smartlink: https://smartlink.ausha.co/dont-waste-water 👋 SOCIAL MEDIA 👋 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoinewalter1/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwwpodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AntoineWalter7 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DontWasteWaterPodcast ⏰ TIME CODES ⏰ 00:00 Aquatech acquires Koch Technology Solutions' DLE 00:47 The Story 04:01 The Business 07:00 The Market 11:45 EpilogueHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.