Alex Churchill is the CEO and a board member at InfoSense, a Charlotte, North Carolina-based company developing acoustic inspection technologies for wastewater systems. Over the past eight years, he's been leading the company's growth from an NSF-supported research partnership with Charlotte Water to a global provider serving more than 2,000 municipalities and inspecting over 500 million feet of pipe. A Chartered Manager and Chartered Physicist, Alex brings a background in engineering, manufacturing, and business leadership, with prior senior roles in operations and consulting, including at Booz & Company.
In this episode…
Most people don't think twice about what's happening beneath their feet until something goes wrong. Aging sewer systems, limited budgets, and reactive maintenance have quietly become one of the biggest infrastructure challenges facing communities today. Can we replace guesswork with data that shows exactly where problems are hiding? How would that change utility operations if data could reveal exactly where problems lie?
According to Alex Churchill, a longtime innovator in wastewater technology and operations, the answer starts with useful information and a willingness to rethink old habits. He explains that most sewer systems don't fail evenly; instead, a small portion of pipes cause the majority of problems, while the rest often don't need attention at all. Drawing from years of field experience, Alex describes how rapid acoustic screening helps utilities focus their time, money, and crews where it actually matters. He also shares how initial skepticism from utilities pushed the technology to improve through rigorous testing and real-world validation. Ultimately, his approach is about removing uncertainty, enabling leaders to move from guesswork to informed, confident decision-making.
In this episode of Saving Our Sewers, Kwin Peterson interviews Alex Churchill, CEO at InfoSense, about the evolution of smart sewer technology and what it takes to modernize wastewater systems. Alex discusses the origins of the Sewer Line Rapid Assessment Tool (SL-RAT), lessons from scaling a niche technology, and why leadership buy-in is critical for change.