
Trace Blackmore brings back Jim Lauria, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at the Mazzei Injector Company, and Adam Tank, Chief Customer Officer at Transcend H2O, to the Scaling UP! H2O Podcast. This time, the hosts of the Water Online sponsored podcast Water We Talking About? will discuss how mindmapping, creative storytelling, and teamwork allowed their podcast to elevate the water industry.
The Water We Talking About? podcast started during the pandemic as a way to tell water stories in a meaningful way. Now, 30 episodes in, Jim and Adam have plenty of experience hosting a podcast about water stories, and today we are fortunate enough to hear the things they’ve learned along the way.

Water We Talking About in this episode:
Why did Jim and Adam decide to do the podcast, and how do they feel now that they have 30 episodes under their belt?
What benefits did they get working with Water Online and vice versa?
Why did they decide to join forces rather than have their own individual podcasts?
How do Jim and Adam keep up with their engaging and cohesive banter?
What have they learned since starting the podcast?
What is writing to Jim and Adam, and what is their advice to those hesitant to write?
What do they wish people in the water industry would STOP doing?
Why should people in the water sector tell water stories?
Bottom line: Jim Lauria and Adam Tank share how they educate everyone, both those in and outside of the water industry, by telling water stories.
Timestamps:
Happy Halloween to the Scaling UP! Nation and Upcoming Events for Water Treatment Professionals [01:00]
Thinking On Water With James [08:56]
Inspiring interview with the hosts of the Water We Talking About? podcast, Jim Lauria, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at the Mazzei Injector Company, and Adam Tank, Chief Customer Officer at Transcend H2O [09:52]
Closing thoughts on podcasts about the water industry [39:18]
Thinking On Water With James:
In this week’s episode, we’re thinking about resin traps. First, what is a resin trap? Why would resin need to be caught in a trap? What can cause resin to even make it to such a trap? Are resin traps only for capturing resin, or can they be installed on other water treatment equipment with other types of media? What are the various designs for resin traps? How are they cleaned? Do any of your systems have resin traps installed? Take this week to think about resin traps and the benefits they may provide.
Quotes:
“In the beginning, I was very intent that if we are going to do the podcast, people are gonna learn actual tactics on how to tell water stories in a meaningful way.” – Adam Tank
“The podcast is a partnership.” – Jim Lauria
“Jim and I both appreciated the way each other presented our story.” – Adam Tank
“Talk about general trends in the water industry, and you will get more engagement.” – Jim Lauria
“If our industry could tell better stories, we could radically elevate the conversation about water globally.” – Adam Tank
Connect with Jim Lauria:
Email: jimlauria@teamchem.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimlauria
Website: www.mazzei.net
Newsletter: To Know Water Is To Love Water
Connect with Adam Tank:
Email: atank@transcendh2o.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamtank/
Website: www.transcendh2o.com
Newsletter: At Water’s Edge
Listen to ‘Water We Talking About?’ on all major podcast streaming platforms, or on Water Online, where you can watch all 30 of Jim and Adam’s episodes!
Events:
Check out our Scaling UP! H2O Events Calendar where we’ve listed every event Water Treaters should be aware of by clicking HERE or using the dropdown menu.
While nanobubbles and venturis are good designs for aeration of water, there are several issues that need to be discussed on this topic. First let’s discuss nanobubbles. The purpose of aerating water is to deliver dissolved oxygen needed for biological treatment and improving the quality of water. Nanobubbles have a very large surface area and hence can deliver oxygen into the water effectively. However, the issue with nanobubbles is that they stay in the water for hours, and essentially they either supersaturate the water with nitrogen gas and become nitrogen gas bubbles. Nitrogen gas dissolved in water is useless, since it is not needed for biological treatment. Also, nanobubbles have a negative charge on their surface which prevents these bubbles from coalescing to become bigger bubbles. Also, carbon dioxide, formed due to biological treatment, diffuses into these nanobubbles, which also allows the pH of the water to reduce below 6.0, which inhibits biological treatment.
What the world needs are not nanobubbles ( less than 1 micron in size) but microbubbles which are in the 30-65 microns in size. They carry negligible negative charge, so they coalesce forming larger bubbles, which allows them to take the useless nitrogen gas and carbon dioxide out of the water.
Now regarding venturis for water treatment. In venturis the maximum air to water ratio is around 2.1 -2.5, which does not provide enough oxygen needed to treat wastewater with a Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) higher than 300 mg/L. Typical BOD for sewage water is in the range of 400-500 mg/L. Hence, venturis, while providing intense mixing, does not provide enough dissolved oxygen for wastewater treatment. There are other operational difficulties with venturis, such as any back pressure on the exit side of the Venturi substantially reduces the volume of air driven by the liquid velocity.