In addition to showing off and discussing his company’s newest products at the Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions booth at WEFTEC 2025, Mike St. Germain, the company’s vice president of process industries, made time to share some insights on topics and trends shaping the water and wastewater industry.
Q: What are some of the important topics and emerging trends that are shaping the water/wastewater industry?
A: The water and wastewater industry is changing quickly under the combined pressure of workforce shortages, sustainability goals and technical demands. Many utilities no longer have the staff to run or maintain complicated systems, which makes simplicity and reliability essential. Equipment that installs easily, runs without constant oversight and requires little maintenance is now a necessity rather than a preference.
Environmental concerns are just as urgent. With global water scarcity expected to intensify in the next decade, utilities must find ways to treat, reuse and manage resources more effectively. That focus extends to the products they buy. Durability and overall lifecycle cost now weigh as heavily as recyclability when utilities evaluate solutions.
The municipal market adds another layer of complexity since every project must align the interests of operators, engineers and contractors. Local representatives who know the landscape are often the key to moving projects forward. Across all of these pressures, the industry is shifting toward technologies and partnerships built on simplicity and long-term reliability.
Q: Why is the utilities sector moving away from diaphragm pumps and toward smarter dosing solutions?
A: The utilities sector is increasingly replacing diaphragm pumps with dosing solutions like peristaltic pumps. This change reflects the operational and technical limitations of older technologies and the growing need for reliability and precision.
Staffing shortages have also made maintenance a critical concern. Diaphragm pumps, with their many components, often require frequent repairs and downtime. Peristaltic pumps, by contrast, have a simpler design with no valves, impellers or seals to fail. Maintenance is fast, safe and sometimes tool-free, making them ideal for understaffed facilities.
Peristaltic technology also handles difficult chemicals more reliably. It provides accurate, repeatable flow even with off-gassing substances like sodium hypochlorite and can pump abrasive or viscous materials consistently. Modern models include intelligent features such as alarms, automatic shutoff and error reporting, further reducing risk and optimizing chemical use.
For utilities, switching to peristaltic pumps delivers more than convenience. It ensures robust, low-maintenance and precise dosing that meets the demands of modern water and wastewater treatment while protecting water quality and operational efficiency. The use of peristaltic pumps simplifies installations by reducing the need for accessories such as strainers and dampeners. It’s not just to eliminate the cost of these components, but also to streamline the ongoing maintenance they require. This leads to fewer potential points of failure in the system, improving reliability and uptime. In many cases, it also shortens installation time and reduces overall operational complexity.
Q: How do the educational challenges differ between the mature municipal water market and the broader industrial sector?
A: In the municipal market, peristaltic technology is well understood, so the focus is on reinforcing brand reputation and navigating a complex, multi-stakeholder sales process involving operators, engineers and contractors. In contrast, many industrial customers are unfamiliar with modern peristaltic pumps or associate them with outdated, lower-quality products. Educating this audience requires demonstrating how contemporary pumps handle abrasive, viscous and off-gassing fluids reliably, while improving efficiency, reducing maintenance and ensuring process safety. In this context, building trust is just as important as explaining the technology itself.
Q: Why are more communities and industries turning to modular or decentralized wastewater systems?
A: Decentralized and modular wastewater systems are gaining traction, especially in smaller communities, industrial sites and rapidly growing urban areas. These systems reduce reliance on large, centralized infrastructure while offering scalable, low-maintenance solutions. Remote monitoring and automated controls allow limited staff to operate treatment units safely and efficiently. Many decentralized systems also enable resource recovery, such as energy from biogas or nutrients for fertilizer, supporting both sustainability and cost-effectiveness. By combining flexibility, reliability and environmental benefits, decentralized treatment is helping utilities meet regulatory standards and community needs without the complexity and expense of traditional large-scale plants.
Q: What is Watson-Marlow showcasing at WEFTEC this year?
A: At WEFTEC, we’re showcasing our chemical feed solutions for the water and wastewater treatment industry, educating attendees who stop by on our diverse range of precision-engineered peristaltic pumps and hoses that help deliver cost savings, lower maintenance and sustainability benefits.
Also on display are our diverse range of peristaltic pumps, tubing and hoses have been developed for a range of challenging applications from versatile and accurate chemical dosing, to handling abrasive sludge and slurries:
- Bredel Heavy Duty Pump — recently launched, it's built for abrasive, high-solid slurries and corrosive fluids.
- Qdos H-FLO Pump + Pressure Sensing Kit — the newest in the Qdos range, it's engineered for higher flow rates and real-time pressure monitoring to make chemical dosing simpler, safer and more cost-effective.
- Bredel APEX Hose Pump — a low-maintenance option for aggressive or abrasive applications with quick hose changes and longer service intervals.
Q: How are Watson-Marlow products helping address sustainability, efficiency and process safety in water/wastewater treatment?
A: Our eco-design program and focus on product durability helps reduce environmental impact while providing customers with carbon data to support their net-zero goals. Pumps are designed to conserve resources by enabling reliable water reuse, reducing energy consumption and minimizing chemical usage through precise, repeatable dosing.
Efficiency is also built into our technology. Peristaltic pumps deliver accurate flow even with off-gassing, abrasive or viscous fluids. Their simple, low-maintenance design eliminates valves, impellers and seals that can fail, reducing downtime and making them ideal for facilities with limited staff. AI-enabled features predict tubing wear before failures occur, preventing costly clean-ups and process interruptions.
Additionally, process safety is integral to our designs. Quick, tool-free maintenance limits operator exposure, while leak containment, intelligent alarms and remote monitoring protect both staff and water quality. These features make Watson-Marlow pumps particularly valuable for remote or understaffed sites.
By combining sustainability, reliability and safety, Watson-Marlow provides solutions that help the utilities sector operate efficiently, protect the environment and maintain the highest standards of water quality.