454 Water Recycling, Innovation, and Industry Wisdom with Dr. Kelle Zeiher
Release Date: 12/12/2025
468 Born into Water Treatment: Tom Brandvold on AWT’s Origin Story and a Life in the Industry
Scaling UP! H2O
Tom Brandvold, CWT, has lived industrial water treatment from the inside out. In this conversation, he traces that path from sweeping floors and running sample bottles as a kid to leading Premier Water and Energy Technology and serving as a former president of . The result is not just a career story. It is a useful look at how credibility, collaboration, and standards are built over time in this industry. How Association of Water Technologies (AWT) was formed One of the most valuable parts of this discussion is Tom’s explanation of how Association of Water Technologies (AWT) began. The...
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467 From PhD to Pump Rooms: Jake Elliott on Wastewater, Efficiency, and Saying “Yes” Wisely
Scaling UP! H2O
What happens when a water chemist leaves the lab and heads to the pump room? knows firsthand. A former PhD researcher who studied resource recovery from trade‑waste customers, Jake now manages accounts at in Melbourne, working with cooling towers, boilers, chemical dosing rigs and wastewater treatment systems. He joins host Trace Blackmore to discuss how rigorous research, regulatory compliance and process automation translate into practical field work for industrial water treatment professionals. From PhD Research to Industrial Practice Jake’s academic background informs the way he...
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466 Stories, Math, and “Never Again” Moments: Inside AWT Technical Training with Dan Merritt (Part 2)
Scaling UP! H2O
AWT’s in‑person technical training is a keystone for developing competent water treaters. Yet classroom knowledge only matters when it survives the drive home and emerges later in the field. In this second conversation with —National Sales Manager at and head of AWT’s education committee—Trace Blackmore uncovers how stories, math, and memorable mistakes turn theory into intuition. Why training keeps evolving Dan explains that the rewrites courses every year. Instructors refine content, delivery and demonstrations, not for novelty’s sake, but because...
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465 From Classroom to Cooling Towers: Teaching Water Treatment with Dan Merritt (Part 1)
Scaling UP! H2O
Industrial water training only works when the knowledge transfers. That means the material lands with the audience, survives the drive home, and shows up later in the field when decisions get made. , Sales Manager at , brings a rare perspective to that problem. He started as a teacher (chemistry, calculus, physics), entered industrial water treatment on February 5, 2002, and later became part of the AWT training team. This conversation follows the path from classroom instruction to boiler rooms and cooling towers, then uses that journey to examine what makes technical training...
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464 Corrosion Coupons, Brand Building, and Having Fun at Trade Shows with Will Ritter
Scaling UP! H2O
"Don't be afraid to say I don’t know. - Will Ritter” Corrosion is expensive, relentless, and easy to underestimate—until a “lasagna battery” turns aluminum foil green and reminds you what electrochemistry can do in the real world. This conversation reframes corrosion coupons as what they actually are: a repeatable field test that can sharpen your decisions—if you treat the process with consistency. Respect the coupon, protect the data Trace breaks down why coupons became non-negotiable in his systems: they turn guesswork into usable...
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463 Mapping the Future of Water Innovation with Paul O’Callaghan
Scaling UP! H2O
“If you say something over and over often and enough, it becomes true because perception is reality.” has built a career at the intersection of water science, wastewater realities, and the practical question every operator and executive eventually faces; what actually moves innovation from idea to adoption. As Founder and CEO of, Paul explains how his team helps decision-makers put capital to work more efficiently in water by reducing uncertainty and separating signal from noise. He describes patterns he’s watched repeat across water entrepreneurs, pilots, and...
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462 From Lab Chemist to Field Mentor: Water, Culture, and Representation
Scaling UP! H2O
Industrial water work rewards people who can move between precision and practicality. brings both. She started as a lab chemist, then transitioned into field service with , where much of her work supports healthcare facilities and high-accountability programs. Lab habits that protect your tools and your data Katie describes the first surprise of field work: a central plant is “very dirty,” and the job demands good technique without chasing lab-level perfection. She shares a couple of simple practices that prevent expensive problems. Use proper lab wipes on...
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461 Corrosion, Lead, and Algae: New Tools for Old Water Problems
Scaling UP! H2O
Corrosion rarely announces itself as a “big water problem.” It shows up as leaching at the tap, residual loss in the field, premature equipment replacement, and the slow, expensive erosion of decision-quality. (CEO) and (chemist/Chief Science Officer) of lay out a system-wide view of corrosion control—starting with what changed in Flint from a technical standpoint and moving into why many utilities still struggle to meet expectations when standards and risk assumptions shift. System-wide corrosion control starts with chemistry...
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460 Building Boiler Talent: Fundamentals, Online Training, and Better Partnerships with Eric Johnson
Scaling UP! H2O
Boilers can feel intimidating the first time you step into a boiler room—the heat, the noise, the pressure gauge, and the weight of knowing that mistakes can be costly. Trace Blackmore opens with a reminder that boilers deserve respect, not fear—and that learning fundamentals is how you replace mystique with clarity. The talent gap behind the boiler room door , Founder and CEO of , explains why boiler expertise is becoming harder to replace. He points to the shrinking pipeline of boiler-trained technicians—historically strengthened by Navy steam...
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459 From Wastewater to Resource: Water Reuse with Dr. Veronika Zhiteneva
Scaling UP! H2O
Industrial water professionals are increasingly pulled into conversations about scarcity, resilience, and “where the next gallon comes from.” , CEO and Co-founder of frames water reuse as an implementation challenge more than a technology gap—and explains where the practical starting points are when the scope feels overwhelming. Moving reuse forward when the technology already exists Waterloop Solutions was founded to accelerate implementation: clarifying end-use quality, identifying post-treatment needs on the back end of...
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Industrial cooling is one of the biggest levers industrial facilities can pull on water use—and it’s getting harder to ignore as data centers and other high-heat operations grow. Returning guest Dr. Kelle Zeiher (Project Manager at Garratt Callahan) breaks down what water reuse looks like when you move past slogans and into the realities of pretreatment, concentrate management, footprint, and cost.
Cooling water reuse: the scale of the opportunity
Dr. Zeiher reframes “drought” beyond rainfall, emphasizing aquifer recharge and the limits of focusing only on household restrictions. She contrasts domestic use (~12%) with the much larger share tied to cooling (~50%), then connects that to why optimizing industrial cooling matters—especially when operations sit in arid, desert-like regions with limited water availability. She also shares a data-center statistic that puts “the cloud” into physical terms: ~53 gallons of purified water per gigabyte of data stored to keep environments cool enough for microchips.
Higher cycles, RO blending, and the concentrate question
The conversation moves into practical tower strategy: driving cycles up as far as the water and metallurgy allow. Dr. Zeiher describes a case moving from three cycles to six with RO blending and pretreatment, resulting in millions of gallons saved annually. From there, the engineering problem becomes unavoidable: higher cycles create a concentrated cooling-water stream, and RO adds its own waste stream. The key operational question is how to manage both streams without trading water savings for disposal and reliability issues.
Minimal liquid discharge, and the AEROS approach
“Zero liquid discharge” (ZLD) remains a theoretical target, but Dr. Zeiher is clear about the realities: ZLD can require large equipment and high energy demand. She shares a cost example where a 20 gpm ZLD concept came in at nearly $8 million in capital. Her team’s approach focuses on minimal liquid discharge (MLD)—recovering roughly 80–90% of water rather than 98–99%, while reducing energy intensity and footprint. She introduces AEROS (Aqueous Recovery Optimization System): rapid precipitation/conditioning, followed by sequential mechanical and membrane filtration, then an RO polishing step to return purified water.
Industry wisdom: proof-first projects, relationships, and AI
You’ll also hear Dr. Zeiher’s “proof-first” pathway—bench-style testing, then a 5–10 gpm flow-through evaluation in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (with BioLargo)—plus a process guarantee framework and how credits can apply toward a final system. She closes with leadership lessons on documentation, continuity of customer care, and practical guidance for working with AI: feed it strong technical inputs, then apply human critical thinking before recommendations reach customers.
Listen to the full conversation above. Stay engaged, keep learning, and continue scaling up your knowledge!
Timestamps
02:40 — End-of-year reflection becomes a professional challenge: keep learning fast enough to keep systems stable and clients confident.
05:50 — “Dry December” as a discipline story—used to tee up Trace’s broader point: habits beat calendar-based resolutions.
12:00 — Water You Know
13:10 — The events page pitch: planning early protects training time and reduces last-minute operational fire drills.
17:00 — Dr. Kelle Zeiher returns after Episode 351; AWT Louisville hallway energy turns into a deep dive on reuse.
18:40 — Mystery novels as technical storytelling: The Cupcake Caper, real lab practices, and a pen name built for a non-scientific audience.
20:50 — Data centers and water: 53 gallons per GB stored reframes “the cloud” as heat management with real resource costs.
23:40 — Macro water math: 50% of U.S. water use tied to cooling vs. 12% domestic—why industrial optimization moves the needle.
27:50 — “Pretreatment is everything”: RO’s tiny flow channels make debris control and scale prevention non-negotiable.
30:10 — Cycles example: 3 to 6 cycles with RO blending/pretreatment, plus the caution that RO-softened blends can increase corrosion risk.
31:30 — ZLD vs. MLD: energy-heavy evaporation/distillation compared to a lower-energy recovery target that still returns most water.
33:50 — AEROS explained: rapid precipitation + filtration + RO polish, with solids handling designed to keep water moving back to the front end.
37:00 — Customer pathway: bench demos → Oak Ridge pilot (5–10 gpm) → engineered system; upfront testing credits toward purchase.
43:20 — Performance accountability: process guarantee includes refund/take-back if promised performance can’t be met.
47:40 — Trust and continuity: plant presence, documentation, and relationship handoffs prevent “solution drift” when people change roles.
54:40 — Working with AI: feed it strong data, then apply human critical thinking so recommendations don’t outpace experience.
Quotes
“Water is not a limitless resource. It’s a finite resource, and we simply purify it and reuse it over and over again.”
“We have to learn to work with AI when it’s still a toddler before it grows up into the 6th grade bully and beats you up for your lunch money.”
“Persistence overcomes almost anything.”
“An AI will give you a great outline for a presentation, but it won’t give you a full presentation.”
Connect with Dr. Kelle Zeiher 
Phone: (630) 660-3457
Email: kzeiher@g-c.com
Website: Water Treatment Expertise Since 1904 I Garratt-Callahan
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelle-zeiher-6bab221/
Guest Resources Mentioned
The Cupcake Caper (Undercover Cat Mysteries) by Kelle Z Riley
Process Heating and Cooling Show Paper (Cooling Tower Cycles & MLD)
Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI Paperback by Ethan Mollick
Scaling UP! H2O Resources Mentioned
AWT (Association of Water Technologies)
Scaling UP! H2O Academy video courses
351 Maximizing Water’s Potential: Tech and Water Treaters in Perfect Harmony
Water You Know with James McDonald
Question: How much heat energy does it take to heat 1 pound of liquid water by 1 degree Fahrenheit?
Events for Water Professionals
Check out our Scaling UP! H2O Events Calendar where we’ve listed every event Water Treaters should be aware of by clicking HERE.
