Ep. 2 - All About Water - With Peter Mayer, Urban Water Expert

Ep. 2 - Peter Mayer [00:00:00] Rajeev: Hello and welcome to episode 2 of Politics, Ecology, and Everything Else in Between, and I'm your host, Rajiv. Today, we are going to talk about water. Water is essential for all life forms and human development. Our lives depend on it. Sometimes our livelihoods depend on it too. With climate change, the supply of water has the potential to influence geopolitics, diplomacy, and even conflict. [00:00:26] Rajeev: To discuss this very topic, I am talking to Peter Mayer from Boulder, Colorado. Long time friend of Madurai, my hometown, and an expert in the science of water management. He heads an organization called WaterDM. Over his career, Peter has worked with hundreds of water utilities and organizations across the US and Canada. [00:00:48] Rajeev: So, without further ado, cue music. [00:00:52] Rajeev: [00:01:00] So, hello, Peter. Welcome to the show. Hello. Hey, Peter. It's been a while since we've been in touch. So, just to begin with, for our listeners, could we start with a brief intro about yourself and what you do? [00:01:17] Peter Mayer: Sure. So, my name is Peter Mayer. I'm a professional engineer. I have a degree in civil engineering, and my specialty is in water resources, and particularly in water management, and on the demand side of water management. [00:01:37] Peter Mayer: So I got interested. First in water when I was living in India, actually in Madurai, and that decided I needed to get a technical degree in order to pursue a career in water. And so I got my civil engineering degree and then I ended up studying where people use water as part of my master's research and using [00:02:00] small devices. [00:02:01] Peter Mayer: called data loggers that record the flow of water as it enters the house through the water meter. And then we are able to, to then use computers to, to interpret that high frequency flow data and actually measure water use inside the house, including toilet flushes and clothes washer machines and dishwashers, faucets and showers and irrigation systems. [00:02:26] Peter Mayer: And to break all these different water uses into categories and quantify them for the. for the, uh, accurately for the first time. So that really launched my career. I started doing that type of research for water utilities, and it's really led to a variety of different interesting projects and things that I've worked on over the years, including testifying at the U S Supreme court as an expert in, uh, municipal and urban water use on behalf of the state of Georgia, where I understand you used to live. [00:02:56] Peter Mayer: And so they're actually still, uh, Georgia and Florida are [00:03:00] still engaged in a, in a legal dispute over, over the river, and I was hired as the expert from Georgia. So, I, I view, I have a lot to, to say about water, and I'm interested to have a discussion with you. Interesting. [00:03:14] Rajeev: So Peter, how did Madurai inspire your interest in water? [00:03:18] Rajeev: Well, [00:03:19] Peter Mayer: my first thought was that I wanted to do international development work that I really uh, Amanda and I my wife Amanda We really enjoyed living abroad. And so that's initially what we thought we would we wanted to do And I determined that the water was the most one of the most critical resource issues. [00:03:36] Peter Mayer: It was just so obvious and really Living in mother, I really brought it to the surface. You see the river that would dry up every year, essentially go from some points being bank to bank and then other points just being completely dry trickle and then also the groundwater changes and everybody is constantly worried about groundwater levels, seawater intrusion, so many issues related to [00:04:00] water and so that, and then, you know, when I also think back at it, I also had an inspiration from my childhood. [00:04:06] Peter Mayer: A man named Gilbert White, who was a family friend who was really one of the most eminent floodplain scholars and researchers. And so he lived in Boulder. And so, so I, there's sort of these combination of factors led me, I would say in, into it, but it was pure chance that I ended up studying water use and then how everything else kind of emerged. [00:04:30] Peter Mayer: I'm a real believer in sort of, you have to. Seize opportunities. You never know where opportunities might exist. [00:04:38] Rajeev: Absolutely. So the first question that I have for you comes from one of the James Bond films. [00:04:46] Peter Mayer: Ahahahahaha! Bum ba dum bum bum bum bum bum ba dum bum ba da [00:04:50] Rajeev: da da da! [00:04:51] Peter Mayer: Yeah, [00:04:53] Rajeev: ahahaha! So this, in 2008 there was a film came out, uh, called, uh, Quantum of Solace. [00:04:59] Rajeev: It starred, I [00:05:00] mean, it's a James Bond film, and, um Daniel Craig. Daniel Craig, yes. And he's pitted against an evil criminal syndicate. It's bent on global domination, right? So typical of a James Bond ...