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Q2
2016
Waterside Chat: Industry One-on-One Interview
Can you provide us a brief overview of Severn Trent?
Severn Trent – North America is a leading operator of water and wastewater assets, primarily for
municipalities. We provide operations and maintenance management for over 300 water and
wastewater plants, and we also provide utility management services, including meter reading,
customer service, billing, and support for collection and distribution systems. We operate
throughout the US. Severn Trent - North America is a member of the Severn Trent Plc (London:
SVT.L) group of companies, a FTSE 100 company.
WilliamMertes
Severn Trent
The McLean Group interviews William Mertes Senior Vice
President of Operations and Service Delivery at Severn Trent –
North America
Tell us about your background!
I’ve been in the water industry since 1991, having worked for a variety of water and wastewater firms. I’ve enjoyed roles in sales,
marketing, business development, general management and operations, having worked for Dow Chemical, USFilter Corporation,
Culligan International, Siemens Water Technologies, Western Reserve Water Systems and Severn Trent. Today, I am responsible for
Severn Trent’s entire field operations, which stretch across 22 states. I earned my BBA in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin
and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
What markets do you serve?
We provide O & M services for municipal water and wastewater systems, targeting communities with population ranging from 20,000 to
200,000 people.