Liquid Assets

A podcast about the business of water

Photograph G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0

Stanford water expert Newsha Ajami on why AI data centers strain local water, a US national water strategy, and water's hidden role in the economy.

Water had no dedicated seed fund until 2020. Tom Ferguson on the S-curve, $11B in 2025 exits, and what running the first water VC actually costs.

USDA Organic only certifies what's grown, and water isn't grown. Clara Sieg on sourcing, treatment, and what actually separates one bottle from another.

It still contains things the EPA has no mandate to remove. Zach Hamilton on PFAS, reverse osmosis, and why filtration has to happen at your tap.

A pool chemistry expert explains why the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool keeps turning green, and what its 1920s design got fundamentally wrong.

Gates FoundationTess RussoAddressing Global Water ScarcityGates Foundation Newsha AjamiAI Data Centers and WaterStanford Doerr School Ceres ImagingRamsey MasriModern Agriculture & Ceres ImagingCeres Imaging Alec AjnsztajnDestroying PFAS, Not Just Filtering ItCoFlux Purification Clara SiegWhy Water Can Never Be OrganicLoonen XylemAlexis de KerchoveThe Invisible Emissions in WastewaterXylem Tom FergusonA Trillion Dollars Hiding in Plain SightBurnt Island Ventures HRSDJay BernasBeyond the FlushHRSD TranscendAdam TankFuture Proofing Our CitiesTranscend Terry ArkoWhy the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Turns GreenHASA NANO NuclearJames WalkerMicro Nuclear ReactorsNANO Nuclear Zach HamiltonWater Is a SoupAqueduct Research World Water Film FestivalRobert StrandCinema, PFAS, and Water PolicyWorld Water Film Festival USAIDJames WinterWater Security: Challenges and OpportunitiesUSAID Anushree SreedharUtilities Are Careful for a ReasonPartnership Fund for NYC Carbon CollectiveZach SteinA Guide to Building a Greener 401KCarbon Collective
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Water is a $1.6 trillion business.

Almost nobody covers it as one. Ravi Kurani talks to the founders, scientists, investors and regulators who move it, about how the money actually works.

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Ravi Kurani asking a question at Theorist Studios, New York
Ravi Kurani · Theorist Studios, New York

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Policy & ScarcityWho decides where water goes, what it costs, and what happens when there is not enough of it. Water Tech & InnovationThe sensors, software and hardware being built to measure water and move it. PFAS & Water QualityWhat is actually in the water, how it got there, and who is working to take it out. Climate, Energy & AgricultureWhere water meets power generation, farming, drought and a changing climate. Reuse & WastewaterTreating what we flush as a supply rather than a problem. Finance & FoundersThe people putting money into water, and the ones building companies with it. Desalination & the OceanMaking seawater drinkable, and what that is doing to the sea. All episodesThe whole run, newest first, filterable by any of these.