At BIV, we don't usually spend our time on permanent carbon sequestration. But when it overlaps with getting more out of existing wastewater infrastructure, it is very much our speed.
Jo Katchinoff is the co-founder and CEO of CREW Carbon, and a geochemist by training. His work on the global carbon cycle led him to a much smaller environment with some of the same underlying reactions: the wastewater treatment plant.
CREW adds calcium-based alkalinity to biological treatment. The aim is to give the microbes better conditions to do their work, improve how the sludge settles, and capture biogenic CO₂ as dissolved bicarbonate. The practical question is what that means for a utility facing rising costs and tighter discharge limits.
We discuss the results that earn an operator's trust, why carbon-removal buyers keep showing up, and how Jo approached fundraising and building his team. His advice to other founders is wonderfully practical: know where you want to go, then make the next problem small enough to solve.
Please enjoy my conversation with Jo Katchinoff.
Jo Katchinoff is the co-founder and CEO of CREW Carbon. A geochemist by training, he joins Tom Ferguson to explore the connection between the global carbon cycle and the biology and chemistry inside wastewater treatment plants.
In this conversation
From geology to wastewater: how research on natural carbon cycles led Jo to an application inside existing treatment infrastructure.
Making the process work harder: calcium carbonate dosing, alkalinity, nutrient removal and sludge settling.
The utility economics: reducing operating inputs and creating the possibility of deferring major capital upgrades, with HRSD as an example.
Two sets of customers: what utilities need from the technology, and what carbon-removal buyers need from the resulting credits.
Proof before scale: moving from lab work to pilots and full-scale deployments, and earning the confidence of operators.
Measuring the result: how mass balance, sensors and sampling support monitoring, reporting and verification.
Building the company: sequencing milestones, assembling an investor syndicate and hiring people who can grow with the business.
An Arsenal detour, followed by Jo’s advice to aspiring water entrepreneurs: make the next problem smaller.
Links and further reading
Chapters
00:02:29.000 Why Geology Matters
00:04:53.491 From Yale PhD to Wastewater
00:08:23.795 Discovering the Wastewater Opportunity
00:13:32.343 How CREW's Technology Works
00:17:57.343 Customer Impact & Real-World Results
00:22:11.891 The Carbon Removal Market
00:27:40.406 Why Buyers Keep Showing Up
00:30:56.017 Deploying on Customer Sites
00:34:39.017 Measuring Impact: MRV
00:37:02.017 Fundraising the Series A
00:43:05.017 Scaling & What's Next
00:45:48.144 Hiring & Team Building
00:48:05.144 The Arsenal Story
00:50:50.404 Closing Advice for Water Entrepreneurs
