Building a global water portfolio with purpose.
You don’t need to be flashy to be disruptive, depth wins in water. Strategic alignment (like Skion’s portfolio play) shows how synergies across companies can strengthen our industry.
“We want to invest in water.”
That simple but bold decision marked the beginning of a fascinating journey.
In our latest episode, we’re joined by Dirk Brusis, Managing Director at Skion Water, an insightful and candid guest who takes us behind the scenes of how a holding company with a portfolio of water-related businesses operates, grows, and adapts in a challenging industry.
With around 13 companies in their portfolio and over 6,000 professionals across the globe, Skion Water has become a major player.
But the road hasn’t been easy.
The early days were marked by a fair share of setbacks, failures that, as Dirk notes, ultimately shaped their success.
Rather than focusing narrowly on individual water technologies, Skion Water takes a broader, strategic approach.
Their model?
Invest in companies that already have strong relationships with customers and can serve also as a platform for maybe promoting water technologies, understanding from the real operation how to provide the best value.
And it’s not just about buying companies. It’s about managing them, consolidating operations, navigating evolving regulations, and, crucially, building alignment, cultural fit, shared vision, and a common approach to doing business are all essential.
Dirk speaks honestly about the real-life challenges: deals falling apart at the last minute, owners getting cold feet, and (perhaps the biggest hurdle) finding the right people.
As he says, no matter how good a technology is, without the right people, it won’t take off.
He’s clearly here to stay. Dirk enjoys the people, the complexity, and the energy of the water industry.
One area he believes is worth watching? Data centers, water will undoubtedly play an important role there.
The long game of water innovation, the resilience it takes, and the vision needed to make a lasting impact.
How did this episode come to be?
Well, it all started back in November 2024, when one of our past guests, Antoine Walter, suggested we dive into this topic and bring Dirk Brusis onto the platform.
With Antoine’s strong recommendation, Dirk couldn’t really say no, and we’re glad he didn’t.
It’s a point of pride for us to have someone like Dirk as part of our community, openly sharing his perspective on water investment and beyond.
I also had the chance to meet Dirk in person at Aquatech Amsterdam 2025.
He’s impressively tall, easily over 1.90 meters! Honestly, with that presence, I’m not surprised he’s able to close the deals he goes after.
We caught up, drafted a script, and then just let the conversation flow...
Case study: Ovivo
Ovivo is one of the flagship companies in the Skion Water portfolio, and it truly is a gem.
Here’s a bit of the story behind this remarkable player in the water industry.
It was officially formed in 2010, but its roots trace back through over a century of engineering legacy.
Ovivo emerged as a specialized water treatment player, with a focus on industrial and municipal sectors, bringing together deep domain expertise, cutting-edge technology, and global execution capabilities.
In 2016, it was taken private by a consortium led by Investissement Québec and SKion Water GmbH, a move that marked a strategic realignment.
This change allowed Ovivo to operate with a longer-term vision, focusing on innovation and global positioning rather than short-term stock market performance.
This ownership shift brought new resources, patience for R&D, and strategic alignment with SKion’s water-focused portfolio, which also includes other key players in the water space.
Today, Ovivo is recognized as a global specialist in water and wastewater treatment, particularly known for:
Membrane-based technologies
Desalination pretreatment systems
Semiconductor water solutions (ultrapure water and water recovery)
Municipal MBR systems
Their technologies play an important role in high-demand sectors, from producing ultrapure water for microchips to treating complex industrial effluents.
Plus content
Dirk is an outstanding guest, and if you want even more depth, I highly recommend pairing his insights with those of another water industry star: Reinhard Hübner. CEO of Skion Water.
Although the sound quality in that conversation wasn’t perfect, I genuinely believe it’s one of the most inspiring discussions I’ve come across.
You can find it on the Aqua Agitators channel, and it’s also featured on our Water MBA YouTube Channel, where we regularly save and share standout videos we think are truly worth watching.
Water is more important than oil
This really caught my attention.
My colleague Jesper posted some pics from the event.
I quote literally his wording:
Spent the day at the World Utilities Congress in AbuDhabi, and once again, I’m reminded that the GCC region is rapidly becoming a global innovation hub for water technologies.
Here’s why this transformation is happening now:
1) Water challenges are immediate—not a distant concern.
2) Abundant deployable capital is ready to fuel innovation.
3) Strong institutional support exists for scaling new technologies.
4) Attracting and scaling technologies like AI, blockchain, and ambitions in EVs and battery manufacturing underscore the need for water efficiency and innovation.
5) Climate shifts are intensifying regional urgency.
Taqa, a major player, exposing quotes such as “Water is more important than oil,” makes me feel that the roadmap is interesting for us.
Whether you like it or not, we already talked before about the Energy Transition sparking the Veolia–Suez M&A, due to the lack of interest from Suez—Gas de France, rebranded as Engie—in focusing on the energy transition and selling Suez's water division to Veolia.
The Middle East region is having a strong influence and moving the needle.
Despite not having the same level of capital deployment as the energy market, water may benefit collaterally from all the money flowing through energy, climate, etc.
Another recent move, did you know that Spanish Oil, Gas & Chemical company “Cepsa,” currently owned by Mubadala Investment Company—the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi—officially changed its name to Moeve in October 2024 as part of its strategic transformation under the "Positive Motion" initiative, aimed at leading the energy transition in Europe?
The rebranding reflects Moeve's commitment to sustainable energy and mobility, with plans to invest up to €8 billion (this in the water industry would be like heaven), over 60% of which is allocated to green hydrogen production, second-generation biofuels, sustainable chemicals, and ultra-fast electric charging infrastructure.
IDRA High-Level Seville Colloquium on Resilient Water Solutions
Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the high-level (I'm not saying this because I attended—it was officially named this way) colloquium on desalination and reuse, held by IDRA.
I attended on behalf of my corporate job at Innovative Water Applications Company, open door to collaborate with any of you reading this words, just drop me a message.
It was a great experience, and I shared my insights from the event in our LinkedIn newsletter, so feel free to read more there.
Reminder
July and August will be our preparation period (phone calls, reading, research, time for “brain valorisation…”, etc) for the upcoming season starting in September/October 2025.
During these 2 months, you’ll receive special articles covering some of our TOP episodes from 2024 that didn’t originally have dedicated write-ups.
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