Rodney Clemente: Water Bankruptcy & The Cost of Doing Nothing | Make Water Work 033

75% of the world's population lives in water-insecure countries. The amount of fresh water on the planet is fixed. And we are spending it faster than nature can replenish it.

The UN calls it global water bankruptcy. And according to Rodney Clemente, Senior Vice President of Water at Energy Recovery, the bill is coming due.

In this episode, Rodney breaks down what desalination actually is, why it costs 5-10x more to build a plant in the US than in Saudi Arabia, and why the real question isn't "can we solve the water crisis" — it's "what's the cost of doing nothing?"

From a small garage startup in Virginia Beach to a dominant global player with 40,000+ devices deployed worldwide, Energy Recovery has spent 30 years making desalination more affordable and more efficient. Rodney brings that perspective to one of the most important conversations in water today.

In this episode:

• What the UN's Global Water Bankruptcy report actually means

• How reverse osmosis desalination works — and why energy is its Achilles heel

• Why a desalination plant in the US costs 3-5x more than one in the Middle East

• The case for a diversified water portfolio: desal, reuse, recycling, and conservation

• Why companies keep paying fines instead of building treatment plants

• What Singapore's water strategy can teach the rest of the world

• Brine valorization and the circular economy of desalination

• Where the global desal market is headed in the next 5-10 years

#MakeWaterWork #Desalination #WaterScarcity #WaterInnovation #CleanWater #WaterTech #Sustainability #ClimateTech #Infrastructure #WaterCrisis