Words on Water

What does innovation really mean for the water sector? Listen as we talk with Max Storto, Director of Innovation Strategy and Venture Capital at Xylem, WEF’s Global Sustainability partner, to unpack the trends from WEFTEC and New York Climate Week and what it takes to move promising solutions from pilot projects to measurable impact. 

Looking for a great way to rock into WEFTEC 2026! WEF's Jammin'4Water is the place to be Saturday, September 26th, in New Orleans. Take a listen to WEF's Alexie Kindrick and J4W organizers Lorene Bruns and Brian Liotta on how to join the fun in New Orleans.

Join Operations Challenge Community Chair, Kim Furry and WEF Staff Member, Jessica Rozek, as they break down everything you need to know about Operations Challenge at WEFTEC 2026. Learn how the competition works, get a preview of this year's schedule, hear about new initiatives and events, and find out which teams to keep an eye on as they compete for top honors.

The Rocky Mountain Rivalry brought together 12 elite Operations Challenge teams from across the country for one of the toughest qualifying competitions of the year. In this episode, competitors and volunteers share their experiences, challenges, and highlights from the 2026 event in Brighton, Colorado, as teams prepare for WEFTEC.

In this episode, we head to IFAT Munich, the world’s largest environmental trade fair, where World Water Skills brings operators from around the globe together for an international skills competition inspired by WEF’s Operations Challenge. Since 2016, teams representing WEF and the Operations Challenge community have competed on this global stage. We’ll explore how World Water Skills compares to Operations Challenge, what it takes for two-person teams to prepare, the professional benefits of competing, and how the WEF teams finished in the standings. 

RSP Engineers is improving how to manage and operate infrastructure—everything from water and wastewater systems to utilities and public sector projects. Listen to Rudolfo Sucre, President of RSP Engineers and RSP AI Technologies, discuss an AI platform called Atlas, which brings together data from maps, regulations, engineering systems, and operations into one place.

The 2nd Annual WEF/WateReuse Industrial Water Solutions Conference kicks off June 8-10th in Chicago. Business and utility leaders will come together to collaborate on the latest in the Circular Water Economy. Listen to our discussion with Heather Cheslek, Associate Vice President and Global Industrial Water Solution Leader at Black & Veatch, and Nyima Dansira, Senior Project Manager, specializing in industrial water systems.  

Business and utility leaders come together June 8–10 in Chicago for the 2nd Annual Industrial Water Solutions Conference. Courtney Tripp, Director of Sustainability and Strategy, shares why Grundfos is backing the event—and how water is powering the next economy.

Environmental Engineer and Director of the Southwest Environmental Finance Center at UNM, Heather Himmelberger, discusses her new book on how utilities can develop and implement a robust asset management program without feeling overwhelmed. 

The 2026 Operations Challenge qualifying season officially kicked off at the South Carolina Environmental Conference (SCEC), co-hosted by the Water Environment Association of South Carolina and the South Carolina Section of the American Water Works Association. Held in March, the competition brought together 15 Operations Challenge teams from nine states and the District of Columbia—making it the largest South Carolina Operations Challenge in history. From the debut of the new safety event to the high-energy pipe cut relay, this episode features firsthand insights from the competing teams, along with SCEC Operations Challenge Event Coordinator Seth Duncan, as they reflect on the challenges, highlights, and overall success of the event.