BlueNotes

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 data showing how treatment-heavy approaches can drive costs into the trillions, while upstream bans significantly reduce long-term burden. The implications for utilities, industry and policymakers are substantial.

This Analyst Spotlight is part of BlueTech&ap...

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 growing demand for compact, surge-capacity solutions.  

As climate variability increases, utilities are under pressure to manage short-term flow spikes without expanding plant footprints—accelerating interest ...

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 about the growing intersection between AI infrastructure, cooling technologies, and water systems.

As hyperscale data centers scale into the gigawatt range, managing heat, water use, and community infr...

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 Michigan and a member of BlueTech’s Technology Assessment Group, discusses how decentralised reuse could reshape how cities manage water demand.

Analyst Alerts are part of the BlueTech Inte...

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 billion water quality market? The contradiction is structural: compliance frameworks still mandate culture-based methods, forcing utilities to treat rapid systems as add-ons rather than replace...

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 uncertainty and strengthens the funding architecture for advanced micropollutant removal across Europe.

Analyst Alerts are part of the BlueTech Intelligence Platform membership.

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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 Bipolar Membranes Report and companion Web Briefing). 

Membrane distillation also gets a reality check—moving beyond desalination and hydrogen narratives to where deployment is actually happening: high-salinity, high-strength industrial wastewater and heat-rec...

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 could mean for plant design, stranded-asset risk, supply-chain readiness and the accelerating push toward ceramic and other non-PFAS alternatives. 

They also explore emerging PFAS destruction...

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 briefing with Dr. Graham Pearce and the release of BlueTech’s Ceramic Membranes 2025 Update. Once a 2% niche, ceramics now claim ~10% of the market, lifted by cost reductions, flat-sheet formats, and the EU’s proposed PFAS restrictions that could phase out PVDF....

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 innovations could enable off-grid desalination, resource recovery, and low-cost acid and base generation.

The conversation then shifts to policy, with the proposed Advancing Water Reuse Act of...

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, emissions control, digital adoption, and circular solutions. Download the full memo from here. 

We spotlight the Innovation Pavilion cohort, where next-gen leaders like Active Membranes, AlgaFilm, Chrom...

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. Costs and complexity remain hurdles, but innovation is giving EDR fresh momentum .

Another blind spot: microfibers. Over half a million metric tons entered the environment in 2023, with te...

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, yet no real-time solution exists. Kim points to electrochemical sensing paired with AI as the most promising pathway, while early players like Sense and Puri are racing prototypes into the fi...

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 remains the decisive factor between a flagship success and a stalled proposal.

The long-standing “RO is the gold standard” stance is giving way to new thinking. Carbon-based advanced t...

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 edge of AI in water. She also flags the rise of low-power IoT and how cybersecurity is shifting from afterthought to core infrastructure need. Later, we welcome Dr. Rick Woodling, the newest member of ...

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 relationship between water and carbon capture technologies, where scale-up is accelerating and trade-offs are becoming harder to ignore.

They also turn their focus to AI: data centers poweri...

Dr Vishal Wagholikar joins Rhys and Divya to break down findings from his new Horizon Scan on cooling technologies. As data centres grow more power-hungry, water use is emerging as a blind spot—and a growing concern. 

The trio unpacks liquid cooling breakthroughs, water use effectiveness metrics, and shifting industry priorities. If you’re in cooling, water, or digital infrastructure, don’t miss this. 

The full report is no...

January 2025 brought significant changes to the water industry. From extreme weather events affecting Cork, Australia, and LA, to the EPA's withdrawal of proposed PFAS limits following the new Trump administration. Bluetech will host a press briefing on the implications of these PFAS regulatory changes, particularly for biosolids management.

New research reports

Bluetech's latest research covers critical water sector c...

In this finale episode, Rhys and Divya reflect on the year's achievements, including the launch of a Market-creating Legislation and Regulation Tracker and a review of photodynamic disinfection technology. They also delve into BlueTech's Top 10 Patent Applications for 2024 and share a sneak peek at the exciting topics slated for 2025. Stay tuned for updates on Bluetech Forum Unplugged, a new event format that promises mor...