In this episode of Make Water Work, hosts Megan Glover and Isaac Pellerin sit down with Annyse Balkwill, founder of LuminUS Group and host of Meaningful Conversations with Annyse. Together, they explore what it means to “de-robotize” water organizations and create the conditions for real transformation.

Annyse shares her journey from chemical engineer at GE Water to global facilitator helping water leaders unlock creativity, trust, and collaboration. She explains why psychological safety matters, how silos form and dissolve, and why sitting in a circle might be more powerful than another leadership training.

This conversation covers:

• How water found Annyse and why she stayed for 20+ years

• Why most organizations are optimized, not transformed

• What “de-robotizing” work actually looks like in practice

• The role of psychological safety, creativity, and trust in innovation

• Why meaningful conversations are essential for the future of water

• How elevating women’s voices strengthens the entire industry

• If you care about leadership, culture, and making water work better for people and communities, this episode is for you.

In this episode of Make Water Work, Megan Glover and Isaac Pellerin sit down with Tom Ferguson, managing partner and founder of Burnt Island Ventures, for a fast-moving conversation on AI, founder market fit, and why water is one of the most overlooked opportunities in climate tech.

Tom shares how a pro bono project in London pulled him into water, how Imagine H2O shaped his view of startups, and what led him to launch a dedicated early stage fund focused on water. He explains why public data for water is often “crap,” why that matters for generalized AI, and why the real opportunity sits in small, vertical language models built on proprietary utility data.

From portfolio strategy to predictions for 2026, Tom talks about what makes a great water founder, why fundraising is also advocacy for water, and where he believes the next wave of value will be created.

• How water “found” Tom through the first water disclosure report for the Carbon Disclosure Project

• Why the gap between water’s importance and how much people care became his life’s work

• The path from Imagine H2O to founding Burnt Island Ventures and closing a first fund in a wild market

• Why water is a $1.6 trillion and growing market, and how entrepreneurs can “lift up legacy spend and put it somewhere new”

• How Burnt Island thinks about founder market fit and what separates ideas from real businesses

• Why water is not uniquely “hard,” and what founders must understand about building in any complex market

• How AI will change water: small language models, proprietary data, and why Google cannot build this without utility data

• Why utilities are finally building real data lakes and what that unlocks for AI tools

• How Burnt Island builds a diversified portfolio across geographies, sectors, and business models in water

• Tom’s predictions for “winners” by 2026, including data platforms, incumbents, and emerging blue bond financing

• Why fundraising is a form of evangelism for water and why every dollar into the sector matters

120Water Cofounder and former lab owner and operator Dave Kohl joins Megan Glover and Isaac Pellerin to go back to the early days of 120Water and look ahead at the future of water quality, regulation, and staffing.

Dave shares how a small coal industry lab grew into CWM Environmental, how he helped build 120Water’s national lab network, and why he believes overuse of chlorine is one of the biggest drinking water issues of his lifetime.

You will hear:

• How Dave “fell into” water and built CWM Environmental into a multi-location lab and operations business

• The origin story of 120Water and why shifting from consumer kits to utility partnerships changed everything

• Why operator retirements and a shallow talent pipeline are a major risk for water and wastewater systems

• How consolidation in labs and utilities is reshaping rural water access and compliance

• The tension between disinfection and disinfection byproducts like TTHMs and HAA5

• Dave’s take on PFAS, regulatory lag, and why automation will be essential, not optional

• Why utilities need partners to handle sampling, logistics, and data so staff can focus on high-value work

If you are a water utility leader, operator, lab professional, or just curious about what it really takes to keep drinking water safe, this conversation is for you.