Meet Gary. A vice president at Rockwell Automation, Gary also serves on the board of directors at Harbor District, Inc. and has taught as an adjunct professor at the UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences. Rockwell was an early adopter of what is now The Water Council. When it was first created, Gary served as Rockwell’s representative. “We viewed that as a very sensible alliance between academics and government and industry coming together all centered here in Milwaukee to help us create a water hub of expertise and a center of excellence for water quality,” Gary says. Rockwell itself serves industrial customers in the global water sector. “One of the beauties of Rockwell products is that we can sell them to a wide variety of customers,” he says. “They are used to control industrial processes. So we sell our products from customers as varied as Disney World or Broadway shows to mechanize the movement of amusements. And, in a similar vein, they can be used for oil & gas or automotive plants. You name it.” Rockwell has built up expertise in water and wastewater systems. “We have developed a core team of engineers who are knowledgeable about the industry of water how to clean it, how to desalinize it—if you are using saltwater—how to measure it for pressure, quality, quantity, etc.”

Local customers of Rockwell technology products include the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD)—the public entity responsible for cleaning the wastewater we flush down the drain and internationally recognized as a leader in promoting green stormwater infrastructure—and also the Milwaukee Water Works, the publicly owned water utility that supplies Milwaukeeans and neighboring communities with treated tap water from Lake Michigan. As a global firm, Rockwell’s water impact extends much farther afield. According to its 2019 corporate sustainability report, for example, Rockwell retrofitted outdated wastewater systems serving Lima, Ohio to expand the plant’s capacity. Their tech upgrade saved the city money and reduced sewage overflows into the Ottawa River, whose waters ultimately flow into Lake Erie. As the shallowest of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie is also surrounded by a watershed with intense agricultural usage that contributes excessive nutrients—which drive harmful algal blooms that turn the lake into a toxic green sludge during the hottest summers. Rockwell’s business in Ohio is just one example of private-sector technology making a small but measurable difference in Great Lakes water quality.