Senior Dir., Water Research & Dev.
Benjamin Stanford, Ph.D., is Senior Director of Water Research and Development, at American Water. Previously, he was Director of Applied Research at Hazen and Sawyer, P.C. Stanford has over 50 peer-reviewed publications, and was awarded the 2012 Publications Award by the American Water Works Association.
Water might be called the "hidden utility." It can be taken for granted. If the lights don't come on when we flip the switch or the gas stove doesn't light when we want to cook dinner, it's an immediate problem for our household. Our water supply, it seems, is different. It's always there, for most of us in the United States in the twenty-first century. It's not a problem unless there is a system failure of some kind.
We can get by without microwaves and even without hot water. But life itself depends on clean water that we can drink safely. That puts water in a special category.
PUF Editor-in-Chief Steve Mitnick spent a day with members of the American Water team, learning how strongly they feel about their mission.
PUF's Steve Mitnick: Tell us about your research and development group at American Water.