Advancing a One Water Future Through Collaboration

by Phil Rolchigo, Ph.D.

This week, hundreds of top water leaders are gathering at the One Water Summit in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Pentair’s main U.S. offices are located. With a focus on exploring the big trends and issues facing the water sector, the One Water Summit serves as an opportunity for thoughtful dialogue and knowledge sharing on how best to secure a sustainable water future for all. As a global water leader dedicated to delivering smart, sustainable water solutions, Pentair is proud to be a platinum sponsor of this important event.

At Pentair, we believe the health of our world depends on reliable access to clean, safe water. It is estimated that by 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas. And while many of us living in the United States, and especially in Minnesota which is known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” may take for granted reliable access to clean water, we are facing challenges as well whether due to water availability and drought, pollution or aging infrastructure.

To help address these challenges, Pentair has long supported a culture of collaboration within the business community and beyond with partners across the private, academic and nonprofit sectors. By coming together to identify and implement collaborative solutions, we have the opportunity to help solve some of the most pressing water challenges:

Water Accessibility - Pentair's philanthropic programs are working to transform the way safe water is sustainably delivered to people in need. Through Project Safewater, our holistic approach to providing safe water solutions, the Pentair Foundation collaborates with a range of partners with innovative approaches—combining education, micro-enterprise business models, technology, and scientific research—to provide sustainable access to safe water.

Water Innovation – At Pentair, we cast a very broad net when looking for new ideas to drive innovation.  One of the ways we identify new opportunities for innovating is by looking to universities and start-ups outside of our industry. For longer range ideas we are actively engaged with several universities in the U.S., as well as in Europe. For instance, we collaborate with the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science at University of California, Davis (UC-Davis) through a learning laboratory dedicated to advancing water stewardship in food and beverage processing. Our goal with this learning laboratory is to accelerate new innovations from idea to commercialization for the recovery of valuable by-products such as nutraceuticals, water and energy from food and dairy waste streams.

Water and Environmental Stewardship – Our focus at Pentair is delivering smart, sustainable water solutions, including solutions that are water efficient, and also that minimize the impact on the environment. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to move water, and so we have collaborated with the U.S. Department of Energy to create efficiency standards for pool pumps and have applied these learnings across our flow and treatment portfolio. We are also mindful of the footprint our products may leave after use. To that end, we have formed a collaboration with Terracyle to offer a free program for consumers to recycle our Pentair Everpure filtration cartridges.

At Pentair, we believe that the innovations of tomorrow will come through intimate collaboration with our customers and innovation partners, and we are proud of our role in helping to create a healthier world for all.

Phil Rolchigo currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Pentair. He participated in the opening plenary at the One Water Summit, “Minnesota’s Culture of Collaboration—Finding Our Way Together.”