A Guiding Hand In The Water/Wastewater Marketplace

Deb LaVelle, president of Bestt Consulting and the first female chair of the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association (WWEMA), talks about the mission of WWEMA and the benefits the organization provides in today’s challenging economic and regulatory environment.

The following is an excerpt from a Q&A with Water Online Radio. Click on the Radio Player above to hear the full interview.

Todd Schnick: What are the one or two top issues that WWEMA is working and focusing on right now?

Deb: The most interesting one, I think, is fair trade discussion, and I can’t tell you how many times people have come up to me and said “Well, what’s your position on ‘Buy American’?” And, I think from our position, what we would really like to have people think about is fair trade.

It’s making sure that we don’t do anything in our country that prevents us from exporting, because it’s not just about the ‘Buy American,’ but it’s also about being able to sell America to the rest of the world.

We try to get a happy balance in that particular area and make sure that if those kinds of regulations come down, our members are aware of them, how to address them, and how to support them.

Todd Schnick: You’ve talked about regulatory environment, fair trade, and those are a couple of the obvious major trends that folks have to deal with. What other trends are you observing that are significant, or things you may anticipate?

Deb: Actually, we’re seeing a lot of new companies coming into being, and new technologies. Certainly there are issues on the horizon, like looking at the harvesting of nutrients and trying to do more with making sure that the whole water cycle is developed.