The Water Council Grows European Network

Milwaukee, WI, OCT. 9, 2025 – The Water Council, a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to advancing freshwater technology and water stewardship, signed memoranda of action (MOA) recently with water technology clusters in France and Spain, highlighting its growing international reach.

These agreements aim to facilitate collaboration and exchange of ideas, enable access to new markets for member organizations and support sustainable water technology advancement. The signings happened in Chicago during and just before WEFTEC, the world’s largest conference for water and wastewater professionals.

Karen Frost, The Water Council executive director, signed an MOA with Eric Servat, representing French water clusters Aqua-Valley and Aquanova, known jointly as Pôles EAU. The agreement pledges to promote each other’s programs, facilitate business relationships, and represent each other as key resources for companies entering the U.S. and French markets. The Water Council and Pôles EAU were MOU partners in 2014 when The Water Council began its cluster activities.

The MOA was signed at the French American Chamber of Commerce’s “Water4Future: The Great Lakes Example” in Chicago on Sept. 26. The event brought together students from French schools based in the U.S. along with their teachers, UNESCO representatives, and French diplomats and economic development specialists.

“If we’ve learned anything the last few years, it’s that water struggles can happen anywhere at any time,” Frost said. “That’s why it’s vital for The Water Council to work with clusters around the world in pursuit of a common goal: advancing water technology to solve global water challenges.”

On Sept. 29, Frost signed a similar MOA with Xavier Amores Bravo, director of the Catalan Water Partnership in Spain. This agreement renews an original agreement dating to 2018.

The partnership has borne significant results, including virtual and in-person exchanges between U.S. and Catalan companies. A Catalan company, SIGMADAF, was introduced to Clearwater Industries of Brown Deer, Wis., through this collaboration, and the businesses formed a joint venture to sell SIGMADAF’s wastewater treatment equipment in the U.S. So far, the venture has deployed four of SIGMADAF’s systems in the U.S., with more expected by the end of the year.

BGEO, another Catalan company, recently joined The Water Council and is looking to enter the U.S. market. BGEO uses open-source technology to provide utilities with digital twin solutions for water supply, urban drainage and sewerage networks, alongside services in urban infrastructure, environmental management and engineering projects.

“We treasure our relationship with the Catalan Water Partnership, one of our long-standing international collaborators, and we are excited to deepen our relationship with Aqua-Valley and Aquanova in France,” Frost said.

About The Water Council:
The Water Council (TWC) is a global hub dedicated to solving critical water challenges by driving innovation in freshwater technology and advancing water stewardship. Built on more than a century of innovation, TWC has coalesced one of the most concentrated and mature water technology clusters in the world from its headquarters at the Global Water Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Recognizing the need for smarter and more sustainable use of water worldwide, TWC also promotes water stewardship as a natural complement to water innovation in the effort to preserve freshwater resources in the Midwest and around the world. Today, The Water Council has established itself as a global leader in the water industry and one of America’s premier economic development clusters as recognized by government agencies, Brookings and the Harvard Business School.

About the “Pôles EAU”:
Under their common banner the “Pôles EAU” (French Water Clusters), namely Aqua-Valley (AV) and Aquanova (AN) Clusters, gather over 550 members – companies, research institutions and higher education organisations. Their mission is to foster innovation and support growth in the French water sector, both nationally and internationally. The “Pôles EAU” assist their members (mostly water solutions providers) in developing individual or integrated solutions, as well as in bringing innovative products, technologies, and services to market. These efforts aim to address the challenges faced by the territories’ adaptation to climate changes.

About the Catalan Water Partnership:
The Catalan Water Partnership (CWP) is the Catalan water cluster, made up of companies and knowledge centers that have been operating in the sector of sustainable water use since 2008 and whose mission is to improve competitiveness overall of its associates. Equipment manufacturers, laboratories, consultancies, engineering companies, universities and other entities related to the water sector and solutions for the sustainable use of water participate in the CWP. The cluster promotes multi-level projects and collaborations, aimed at achieving innovative solutions to global needs for quality water anywhere in the world and applicable in multiple sectors.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.