Kevin Gast is the Co-Founder, CEO, and Chairman of VVater, a pioneering next-generation water treatment company dedicated to leveraging advanced technologies to address critical global water challenges. With over 20 years of executive leadership experience spanning more than 30 countries, Gast has brought transformative solutions to industries including real estate, utilities, wastewater, oil and gas, food and beverage, defense, and beyond. His visionary leadership and commitment to innovation have positioned VVater at the forefront of sustainable water management, delivering groundbreaking technologies that redefine how communities and industries access and treat water.
Gast has demonstrated a unique ability to navigate complex, cross-sector challenges throughout his career. In addition to his leadership at VVater, he has held key executive roles in the pharmaceutical, hotel, and property development sectors, building expertise across industries that intersect with water management. As Chairman of an international conglomerate operating in construction, civil engineering, property development, hospitality, and pharmaceuticals, Gast oversaw thousands of projects worldwide, ranging from mechanical engineering and aquatic facilities to industrial design and large-scale infrastructure. This diverse background has equipped him with the expertise to lead VVater’s mission to deliver scalable, eco-friendly solutions for water scarcity and pollution.
Gast’s entrepreneurial spirit and passion for innovation have driven VVater’s development of the Farady Reactor, a revolutionary water purification system that eliminates PFAS, contaminants, and microorganisms without needing chemicals, biological treatments, filters, or membranes. Under his guidance, VVater has secured millions of dollars in funding from leading investors, such as Tim Draper, and garnered significant industry recognition, including the CES 2025 Best of Innovation Award. His leadership has propelled the company into a rapid growth phase, with plans to expand into new markets and build a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and R&D laboratory near Austin, Texas.
As an entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist, and futurist, Gast is deeply committed to providing sustainable and innovative solutions that benefit humankind. His leadership philosophy, grounded in simplicity, transparency, and integrity, shapes his vision for VVater as a movement to revolutionize global water access through technology and collaboration. Beyond his work with VVater, Gast actively participates in industry forums, including the JP Morgan CleanTech Summit and the Goldman Sachs Water Symposium, and is forging partnerships with organizations like FEMA to address disaster relief and water scarcity challenges. He also plans to establish a nonprofit arm under VVater to extend clean water access to underserved communities worldwide.
For more information about Kevin Gast and VVater, visit www.vvater.com or connect with him on LinkedIn.
Company: VVater
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Kevin Gast: Thank you for having me. My career has always revolved around solving tough engineering challenges, starting with my family’s construction business in South Africa working across Africa, Europe, and Australasia. My passion for solving challenges humanity faces and the single thought of ‘how can I make it better’ eventually became a passion for solving the global water crisis and the urgent need for better solutions. That’s why I founded VVater.
At VVater, we’ve developed technology that uses electricity to treat water, eliminating harmful contaminants like PFAS, and pathogens without membranes, chemicals, or filters. Our mission is simple: Clean Water for Humankind, whether helping cities modernize their infrastructure or enabling companies to recycle water on-site to assisting industrial manufacturers in cutting costs.
How does your company integrate purpose and impact into its overall business strategy?
Kevin Gast: VVater was founded to solve the global water crisis. That’s the simple way of stating our purpose, but the problem we’re addressing is complex. The global population has doubled in the last 40-50 years, but water use has quadrupled. Out of all the water covering our planet, less than 1% can be used for drinking water, and 1% is shrinking quickly.
On top of scarcity, we also have increasing contamination of drinking water. PFAS, microplastics, disinfection byproducts (DBPS): these things aren’t being removed by conventional water treatment, and they’re causing cancer, impacting fertility outcomes, impairing neurological functions, and disrupting our endocrine systems.
The global water crisis affects everyone, from you and your family to me and mine. That’s why VVater is bringing unconventional water treatment solutions to the market. We need radical innovation to fix these problems.
Our vision is global. To get there, we provide full-service water treatment and reuse solutions to clients across the public sector, including municipalities looking to future-proof their treatment plants, real estate developers building water-resilient communities, manufacturers seeking sustainable certifications or reuse of their contaminated waters, and more. As we impact the B2B and B2G worlds, we aim to bring our innovative water treatment solutions to consumer markets. That way, people can use our technology to insulate themselves and their families from the threat of water contaminants and scarcity.
Can you share an example of how your business has successfully balanced profitability with social responsibility or sustainability?
Kevin Gast: For VVater customers, sustainability is profitability. Historically, sustainable or eco-efficient solutions relied on a long-term ROI. A large upfront capital expenditure is offset by small monthly savings that eventually add up.
Our approach to sustainability is very different: we believe in immediate results. That’s why we developed the Water-as-a-Service business model (WaaS). Using WaaS, we offer our B2B customers a contract requiring only 10% CapEx down upfront. We design, build, own, operate, and maintain a custom solution tailored to their exact water needs. The OpEx savings are immediate.
VVater’s solutions offer a 67% lower OpEx per gallon than absorptive media systems using activated carbon or ion exchange resins. Our solutions use advanced methods incorporating electricity to purify water. That means you aren’t paying for chemicals or filters, nor do you have to clean membranes and replace filter media constantly. Our technology uses less energy than the average reverse osmosis system, offering a 93% faster hydraulic retention time. In other words, you can purify more water to a higher quality much faster than any conventional water treatment system.
That’s why sustainability and profitability are the same for us.
What role does philanthropy or community involvement play in your company’s mission, and why is it important to you as a leader?
Kevin Gast: Philanthropy and community involvement are central to our company’s identity. Clean water is a fundamental human right, and while we operate as a business, we’re acutely aware of our responsibility to contribute beyond commercial interests. That’s why we’ve prioritized partnerships with organizations focused on disaster relief and underserved communities.
One of our proudest initiatives has been developing mobile water purification units that can be deployed in regions impacted by natural disasters. These units are mobile water treatment plants built into a semitrailer. They provide immediate access to safe drinking water, helping sustain communities whose water infrastructure isn’t working. It’s not just about delivering technology – it’s about showing up when it matters most.
As a leader, this work is deeply personal. Growing up in a family business taught me the importance of giving back, and that ethos drives me today. Supporting communities isn’t just the right thing to do – it strengthens our team’s sense of purpose and helps us stay grounded in the broader impact of our work.
How do you ensure that purpose-driven initiatives resonate with both your employees and your customers?
Kevin Gast: We align our initiatives with what matters to our employees and customers. For my team, it’s about making them part of the mission, not just the process. They see the impact of their work, whether it’s developing solutions for disaster-stricken areas or building water reuse solutions that contribute to circular water economies. This sense of purpose fuels our dedication.
For customers, we demonstrate that choosing VVater means choosing forward-thinking and responsible solutions. Whether it’s a municipality investing in safer water systems or a business prioritizing sustainability, we make it clear that their decisions contribute to something bigger. By being transparent and sharing success stories, we create a connection that goes beyond a transaction.
What advice would you give to other leaders looking to embed purpose and impact into their organizations?
Kevin Gast: Adding purpose and impact to a business starts with being clear and authentic. First, you need to know what your company stands for: its “why.” Our goal at VVater isn’t just about water. It’s about life, sustainability, and creating a future where resources are used to benefit everyone. That clarity guides everything we do.
The next step is to line things up. Purpose can’t just be a sentence on your website; it needs to be a part of how you run your business, your choices, and your culture. Sustainability and social responsibility are essential to VVater. They are part of our business plan and can be seen in everything from our creative water solutions to how we work with communities. Leaders must ensure their teams understand how this goal affects them personally. People are more motivated and innovative when they see how their work impacts the world. Hence, our company mission is clear: Clean Water For All Humankind.
Lastly, it’s essential to be consistent and talk to people. You have to lead by example and live by your values every day. You must also keep telling colleagues, stakeholders, and customers your purpose. When combined with action and mentality, purpose is more than something that sets you apart.
