Dr. Hubert Fleming: Connecting People, Policy, And Water Security
A resilient partner supporting projects that recycle, reuse, and secure water for the future!
Some people grow up with a sense that their work should mean something. For Dr. Hubert Fleming, that feeling arrived young. Childhood days in the mountains of West Virginia brought him close to rivers and the natural world, and a deep respect for the natural world. Water felt essential to dignity, health, and daily comfort.
That awareness stayed with him through every decision he made later in life.
He moved through life with a simple desire: To contribute to society in ways that matter. Water held that possibility. It influenced homes, cities, industry, and the environment all at once. He chose to dedicate his career to water and the environment, driven by fascination and a love of developing and executing projects that serve people.
A Journey Across Science, Engineering, and Finance
Hubert began his journey with environmental science. He studied how water and energy move together, how natural systems support human life, and how fragile those systems can become without care.
Curiosity led him further. He realised that ideas alone could never deliver clean water. Infrastructure must be designed, built, and managed. So he developed an engineering background, gaining the tools to turn concepts into large-scale solutions that increase availability and improve quality for communities and industries.
With time, it became clear thatajor water projects succeed only when financial planning equals technical planning. Investors must see value. Risks must be understood. Successful projects require both.. Hubert embraced finance, working with investors and investing directly in projects and companies that could deliver meaningful results.
Each discipline strengthened the next. Science revealed the challenges. Engineering created pathways. Finance carried those pathways into real life.
A World Reaching Critical Pressure
Through decades of experience, Hubert watched global water systems reach a pivotal stage. Much of the world faces insufficient supply or insufficient wastewater treatment. Entire regions are stressed. Even large parts of the United States experience serious pressure from poor practices and limited infrastructure.
Hubert believes future resilience will rely on several key themes. Smaller decentralised facilities will extend and relieve overloaded city networks. Recycling and reuse will move into everyday operations. A newer opportunity lies in recovering valuable materials from wastewater for true circular use.
Another growing reality sits alongside technology: time drives decisions. Data centres, semiconductor facilities, and water-scarce municipalities, among others, require rapid solutions. For many projects, the primary concern often becomes the time to installation rather than cost. Effective work, therefore, depends on stronger cooperation among governments, financiers, and technical providers, creating holistic responses instead of isolated fixes.
Choosing Projects With Meaning and Long-Term Value
As a result, Hubert, and his firm Upwell Water, created TurnClear. In partnership with Nuveen, TurnClear is an entity for development and execution of financed water and wastewater systems, including design, construction, delivery, and operation. Every project that Hubert and TurnCleardevelop and support must meet several clear conditions. It must create significant value for customers and communities. It must contribute to long-term sustainability or support a long-term plan. And it must deliver fair financial returns for investors and shareholders. After all, the best projects succeed where social value and financial responsibility meet for a truly sustainable solution.
A Milestone That Still Inspires
Among the many milestones across his career, the Western Corridor project in Australia stands out. It became the largest wastewater recycling and reuse initiative in the world at the time, with an investment of $2.3 billion. It earned recognition as Global Water Project of the Year in 2009.
What impressed Hubert most was teamwork. Multiple cities, industries, and government leaders worked as one. Design, funding, and construction applied innovative solutions, executing with remarkable speed. The achievement demonstrated that cooperation, urgency, and shared vision can deliver water security at scale.
The Space Between Policy and Innovation
Working across countries, he has seen many different approaches. Some sectors move forward under strong public policy. Others surge ahead through private innovation.
The rise of data centres across the United States offers a clear example, creating huge demand for water and wastewater services while policy tries to keep up. The space between policy and market needs often produces the most interesting opportunities.Water systems spread across wide regions. Pipes stretch for miles. Facilities work day and night. Digital tools now allow smarter monitoring. Asset management systems predict reliability, detect early warning signs, and support remote responses in real time.
Technology increases productivity, reduces failures, and keeps water services dependable. It gives communities confidence that infrastructure can carry them forward with fewer disruptions.
Leadership That Sees Farther
Hubert believes leadership in infrastructure begins with vision. The field is complex. A leader must read the wider environment, understand market direction, and guide teams with clarity. After vision, he values authenticity, steady energy, self-awareness, and the capacity to unite people behind a shared purpose.He treats leadership as service, guided by listening and an honest appreciation for every contributor.
Entrepreneurial Lessons
Years of entrepreneurial work taught him something simple. Every project generates distractions. Successful delivery depends on steady focus and a strong will to move through obstacles. Creative thinking sometimes matters more than familiar methods.
He supports creative thinking when challenges appear. He encourages teams to avoid a zero-risk mindset because meaningful outcomes require responsible courage and thoughtful action.
Partnerships That Serve Everyone
Global water projects rely on alliances. Governments, companies, and communities each hold essential roles. Hubert approaches partnerships with one principle at heart: every side must benefit.Transparency supports trust. Clear communication prevents confusion. Regular alignment keeps teams moving together. When this happens, even complex undertakings find momentum.
The Future: Water at the Centre of Public Life
Over the coming decade, water will stand at the centre of public conversation worldwide. Governments and industries appreciate its influence on growth, health, and social stability.
Recycling and reuse will become standard. Recovery of valuable products from wastewater will expand. Desalination, both from oceans and inland sources, will grow. Public and private players will collaborate more closely, recognising that industrial water needs directly affect surrounding communities.
Personal Motivation that Stays Strong
Two forces continue to energise him. First, the work feels more interesting than ever. Every project involves creativity and the management of real complexity. Second, water management creates deep value for society. It stands at the centre of sustainable progress and human wellbeing.
Each decision, each partnership, each piece of infrastructure adds to that mission: reliable water for people, for industry, and for the environment they share.
Across every chapter of his journey, Hubert has worked as a scientist, engineer, adviser, investor, and collaborator. Each step has been guided by respect for nature, commitment to communities, and an unwavering belief that thoughtful people can build systems that sustain life.
Hubert continues to contribute on a world stage. Recognized over the past forty years as key developer of membrane technology for both drinking water and wastewater treatment he is now recognized as a global thought leader for where water management is heading. Hubert is recognized by governments, and remains a senior advisor to organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank, U.S. and several governments and their sovereign wealth funds, as well as major financial and investment organizations, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, to name a few. He also contributes professionally, as a Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, board of directors of the International Desalination and Reuse Association ,and many more organizations.
His career shows how steady purpose, disciplined leadership, and thoughtful collaboration can carry water projects from vision to operation. And as the world turns its eyes toward water with new urgency, Hubert continues to stand at that intersection of technology, finance, and environmental responsibility, working with patience, creativity, and resolve for a future where every community trusts the flow that sustains daily life.