Brachlianoff: My thoughts first go to the people who were directly impacted by those fires and the firefighters who are still fighting them. We have the short-term immediate crisis, and then the mid- to long-term one, which is, how do we build resilient cities? Resilient meaning, where you can have something as critical and crucial as water provided 24/7 throughout the year at an affordable price, and whatever the circumstances—including in cases of big fires. We have to support the [crisis teams], and I conveyed that message to authorities about mobile units to be able to provide water if needed, or how to help with the cleanups, because these will be large, and you have hazardous materials within the rubble as well. So that's the more immediate crisis. 

But what's as important is what we do next. Because those type of extreme events are here to be repeated again and again, more frequently and more intensely, and because we are seeing the direct consequences of climate change. The question is, how do you plan so that consequences next time are lower, and how do we build sustainable cities? That's where water comes directly into place. We have solutions to help with water conservation, with water recycling, even desalination. It's probably a mix of solutions. There is no magic wand. There is a mix of things we can do to plan and to be able to limit the consequences of climate change. So we need to help with the adaptation of large cities such as Los Angeles. 

As a larger company working in 45 countries, we've dealt with crisis situations across the globe, from the bush fires in Australia to big flooding in Spain. This is hitting everywhere, basically, on the planet. In the U.S. last year alone, 80% of the population was directly impacted by water scarcity. 

ENR:  Water utilities often say they're overwhelmed between meeting water quality standards and just keeping infrastructure up to date. Do you have any concerns about the money piece and funding, and what are some ways to address the funding needs? 

Brachlianoff: I believe solutions have to be affordable. We have to raise drinking water standards for everybody, not only the wealthiest. You don't want water to become a luxury product. So that's why, when I talk about innovation, it's not only innovation of technology for the sake of it; it’s actually to make water supply more efficient and therefore more affordable in solutions provided. One example is reducing leakage in the water distribution network. You can do it the old-fashioned way, which is to replace pipes in a quite systematic way. Or you can do a pipe replacement just when it's needed and where it's needed on the specific section. How do we do that? By using sensors, AI and digital tools to detect leaks when they happen. That's innovation, which is a service of affordability as well as efficiency.

ENR: What are some technologies that you think are going to really take off in the water sector over the next few years?

Brachlianoff: I think a technology that’s available now, but needs to be deployed more quickly, is recycling—water recycling and wastewater recycling. It's a very good way of tackling scarcity, and it’s a resource that is growing as the population does. 

ENR: Desalination is a technology that remains expensive. Do you see water recycling eventually dominating more of the water sector market, or is there a place for desalination? 

Brachlianoff: Recycling is usually very much less expensive, although with innovation companies like Veolia have been able to cut the cost of desalination by a [factor of] five over the past 20 years. It's still more expensive, but a lot less than it used to be because it's a lot more energy-efficient now. So again you see innovation at the service of affordability.  

ENR: How important are partnerships among academia, industry and communities to be able to foster innovation?

Brachlianoff: Partnerships are paramount across various stages such as between public and private sectors. Because companies bring efficiency, they offer the ability to take what is learned in other places to provide solutions around the planet that we know already work. So that's one type of partnership. Another type of partnership is just to be community based, because there is not one fit. Solutions must be adapted to specific needs. They may not be the same in Arizona that it is in Maine. Solutions have to be developed among elected officials, NGOs, universities and private companies. 

Universities have a big role to play, not just for technology innovations, but also to develop the next generation of experts who will be here to tackle new solutions we have to find. That's quite an interesting challenge for universities and for students because we're talking about multidisciplinary learning. Students would need an engineering background, but also knowledge of social science or financial services and so on. It’s a multidisciplinary focus, which is quite new compared to the type of university program you had 10 years ago. 

ENR: Can you say more about that? I know there's a shortage of engineers entering the field. 

Brachlianoff: What we have to do is to attract more and more young students to work in engineering because everything we do is useful. Tackling the biggest problems of our planet, such as space and population, has power of attraction as well. When speaking at the University of Arizona, I met dozens of students. They had great questions and were really enthusiastic about the perspective of this industry. So yes, we have to attract more talent, but I think we have a very, very important power of attraction for our mission, which is to help cities and industries to thrive.

ENR: What are some areas of opportunity that you're seeing for Veolia over the next few years? 

Brachlianoff: I see a lot of opportunities for water technologies we deploy. We're talking about supply in Arizona and the West coast now, but I could tell you about the Middle East, Australia and even the south of Europe. There are unique opportunities across a big chunk of the planet. The other one would be to remove pollutants—what we do in nitrogen treatment to remove pollutants and decontamination, because it helps to protect human health.