Ever since he conducted water research in high school through a Water Environment Federation program, Brian Shell knew that he wanted to work in the sector. “I knew a career in water would make me feel good about what I was doing for the world at the end of the day,” he recalls. Today, he is senior vice president and the national practice leader for Water Innovative Delivery Advisory in WSP USA’s Advisory and Planning Infrastructure Strategy and Delivery Advisory group. 

His team focuses on innovative delivery methods including design-build, public-private partnerships, and construction management at risk. These approaches can be useful when utilities face challenging schedules, complex stakeholder environments or other project-specific considerations.

For the Water Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC), Shell's work provides a highly-informed perspective on trends in public-private partnerships for wastewater project delivery. His recent work involves global projects, the advantages and challenges of this delivery method, and why more U.S. utilities are considering that approach.

With the impact climate change is having on communities across the world, Shell believes it is important for the industry to explore new water supply and delivery opportunities.  

“More communities are looking to diversify their water supply because of changing climate conditions,” he explains. “We are advising clients on several desalination projects in unique areas across the United States. This is a valuable technology, whether used for seawater desalination, brackish groundwater protection, or aquifer injection. Similarly, communities are also more open to potable reuse, which recognizes that water can be treated and reused as part of a sustainable water supply strategy.”

Reuse can support more efficient use of available water supplies by reclaiming treated wastewater before it goes out into the environment. Utilities can then use it as the input for a drinking water treatment process. Shell sees this process as a significant step forward, representing a potential future path for the sector.

But even with these strides, Shell argues that the water sector still needs better public presentation. 

"The way we communicate about these projects and technologies to the public is incredibly important,” he notes. “In fact, we made a shift in the industry to refer to facilities as water reclamation facilities because that’s more reflective of reality than calling it a water treatment plant. By having a diverse portfolio of water technologies ranging from desalination to potable reuse, it's satisfying to help clients take steps toward becoming more future-ready.” 

In the future, he believes that the successful utilities will optimize their capital projects portfolio to take advantage of all the available options for funding and financing. That means considering innovative delivery methods and strategically combining available funding, financing, and delivery tools to accomplish their goals and advance priority projects.

Shell is particularly interested in the global lessons from public-private partnerships in the water sector. Sometimes called P3s or PPPs, these agreements can combine responsibilities such as design, construction, financing, operations and maintenance–often even 30 years after the project is operational.

“They’re a different way of delivering projects than we’re used to in the U.S., even amongst the innovative delivery spectrum,” Shell explains. “Public-private partnerships are not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution but for many projects they make a lot of sense. I’m aiming to generate discourse amongst the global audience at WEFTEC about where they’ve seen these methods used well.”

He hopes that these conversations will drive utility leaders in the U.S. to think about how they can better utilise all the project delivery tools available to them when improving their systems to deal with new and evolving challenges.

Ultimately, he’s optimistic about how these new delivery methods can help the industry. 

“There’s real value created for utilities when using the right delivery method and figuring that out is satisfying,” Shell explains. “Moving into architecting the procurement terms and commercial terms and negotiating with the private partner to get the project off the ground is also exciting. In the end, these delivery methods are a great way as utilities everywhere are under pressure to do more, quicker and with less.”

WEFTEC Spotlight: Read Sarah Lingley’s interview about building water resilience.

Meet Brian Shell at the WEFTEC “Global Adoption of Public Private Partnerships in Water” session on September 30, 9:00 - 9:30 AM at the Global Pavilion.  

To learn about more WSP water projects and our larger water discipline, check out the US Water hub.