Leadership

Jeremy Pelczer, Chairman. Former CEO of Thames Water, the world’s 3rd largest water company, and former CEO and President of American Water, the largest US water company. Previously Chair of the charity WaterAid International, he has profound dedication and experience bringing high quality water to people across the world. 

Stephen Howard, CEO, Director.  Including work at Harvard University in Post-Industrial Engineering, has decades of senior corporate experience in taking technology from the laboratory into the field, establishing manufacturing and building supply chains within a range of industries and manufacturing operations such as Courtaulds.

Brian Allum, Head of Engineering, Director.  Former Engineering Procurement Manager and Head of International Consultancy at Thames Water. Experienced in introducing innovative technologies into the global water and wastewater sectors. Degree in Civil Engineering (BSc).

Martin Edelstein PhD, Director.  Co-founder. Creator of the one-atomic-layer thick membranes from which Agua Via products are built, Edelstein is overseeing the productization of the technology to produce the desalination product. He has taken multiple pharmaceutical products through the US FDA, a process similar to taking product through the EPA and international equivalents.

Gayle Pergamit, Director. Co-founder. CEO of Covalent. Expertise in the creation and introduction of disruptive technologies including as co-founder of AMiX (the American Information Exchange) which pioneered e-commerce and the models that underlie Amazon, eBay and Priceline. Co-founder of ARC Technologies, the pioneering rocket company that successfully privately funded, privately built and sea-launched the Dolphin rocket, and laid the regulatory framework that opened the frontiers to commercial space launch. With K. Eric Drexler, the father of nanotechnology, co-wrote the first book on the field for the non-technical reader. Among her publications is the award winning children’s audio-visual educational series, To Love the Sea.

Ian Blake Thomas, Director. Financial Officer. Formerly, a partner with Deloitte, Haskins & Sells. 

Viscount Christopher Portman, Director. Co-founder. Chairman of the Portman Settled Estate Ltd, which manages 110 acres in central London, he has deep experience in atomically-precise technologies, biomedical devices, pharmaceuticals, and strong commitment to medical and environmental issues.

Floyd Wicks, CEO of Agua Via (North America) Inc. Previously CEO of American States Water, a NYSE company, with water industry and water engineering experience in multiple States throughout the USA. Formerly President of the National Association of Water Companies, a trade association representing the private water sector in the U.S. 

Tony Rachwal, Chairman of the Technical Advisory Group. Considered one of the world’s leading experts on desalination. Former head of Thames Water R&D. Now an Industrial Business Fellow (Water) at the University of Surrey, and a member of the UK Natural Environment Research Council.

Chris Rockey, Technical Advisor. Currently head of Water Quality at UK-based South West Water. 

Hemang Shah, Technical Advisor. Senior Vice President of UEM, a Toshiba Group Company, providing international Engineering, Procurement & Construction, and Operations & Maintenance services for water and wastewater.

We mourn the recent loss of former US Secretary of State George P. Shultz. An Advisor to the Agua Via Board on issues of water’s role in war, peace, and prosperity, and an Agua Via shareholder, he “had been looking for practical, cost-effective desalinization technologies for years because of the importance of water in blobal conflict.” In the Agua Via technology, he had found “a scalable solution to an urgent problem.” He felt that “widespread use of this new technology could play a significant role in reducing conflicts surrounding water issues throughout the world.” As economist, statesman, a businessman who led first bringing desalination to the Middle East, and famously as U.S. Secretary of U.S. Secretary of State a strongly effective champion of peace, he will be sorely missed by the world at large. Agua Via will always remember his wisdom and honour his memory as we implement the benefits to people, planet and peace that he saw so clearly.