Rick Stover, Ph.D.
Founder, GP Water
Rick founded GP Water in 2016 to help companies solve technical and commercial water problems. He has spent 25 years turning difficult water-treatment challenges into practical products, technologies and businesses, with expertise in membrane desalination, brine concentration, osmotically assisted reverse osmosis, batch and semi-batch RO, high-pressure pumping and energy recovery.
His work spans the full technology lifecycle – from first concepts and prototypes through scale-up, product launch, commercialization and market entry. Systems and components he helped develop are in service in seawater, brackish-water and wastewater applications around the world.
His leadership roles include Chief Technical Officer at Gradiant, Executive Vice President at Desalitech, and Chief Technical Officer at Energy Recovery, where he helped develop the PX Pressure Exchanger. He holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
What does GP stand for?
Glorified Plumber
Because, at its heart, a water treatment system is a glorified plumbing arrangement. The engineering may be sophisticated, but the ultimate goal is beautifully simple: get the water where it needs to go, at the quality and quantity required.
And when it’s designed and installed right, you shouldn’t have to think about it. It just works.
How we work
We believe in delivering value at every step. We bring hands-on technical and commercial experience to complement your team’s knowledge, skills, and resources.
Our first conversation – and any immediate follow-up with your team – is on us. From there, we’ll work together to define a clear scope, schedule, deliverables, and not-to-exceed budget before the work begins.
Engagements can be as focused or comprehensive as your needs require, from an independent technical assessment to hands-on project support. Design deliverables are provided in editable formats, ready to share with vendors, subcontractors, and detail engineers.
Most consulting and technical work is performed remotely, keeping the process efficient and economical. Our goal is simple: deliver practical results that help you make better decisions and move forward with confidence.
- 2016 – presentIndependent consultant · GP Water
Strategic, business-development and technical consulting for startups, established companies, engineering firms, end users and investors in the water industry.
- 2025 – presentTechnical Advisor · Fathom Water
Process engineering and business development for a software-first water company serving semiconductors, biotech, data centers, mining and other water-dependent industries.
- 2023 – 2026Subject Matter Expert, Membranes & Desalination · Jacobs
Process-design consulting on industrial water treatment, seawater desalination, zero- and minimum-liquid discharge, and water reuse.
- 2017 – 2023Chief Technical Officer · Gradiant
Developed and commercialized CounterFlow Reverse Osmosis and led R&D, applications and process engineering, competitive positioning and technical support.
- 2011 – 2016Executive Vice President · Desalitech (now part of DuPont)
Brought Closed-Circuit Reverse Osmosis from Israel to the U.S., established the U.S. headquarters and teams, and helped grow revenue to $20 million in five years.
- 2010 – 2011Vice President of Engineering · Oasys Water
Led development of a forward-osmosis process for brine concentration and the design and construction of the company’s first prototype.
- 2002 – 2010Chief Technical Officer & Senior VP of Engineering · Energy Recovery
Hands-on design and optimization of the PX Pressure Exchanger energy recovery device; led engineering, R&D, field service and IP from market entry through the company’s NASDAQ IPO.
Recognition & service
- Best Technical Paper Award, International Water Conference, 2025, for “Water Reclamation with Reverse Osmosis – Staging and Energy Recovery”
- Best Paper Award, AWWA/AMTA Membrane Technology Conference, 2024, for “Membrane Brine Concentration for NaCl Salt Production from Seawater”
- Sidney Loeb Award for outstanding innovation, European Desalination Society, 2006
- Board of Directors, International Desalination Association, 2011 – 2018
- Co-chair, IDA World Congress 2015, and IDA President’s Award
- Chair, IDA 2017 Site Selection Committee; co-chair, IDA 2017 Energy and Environment Forum
- Author of more than 100 papers and publications, and dozens of conference presentations and workshops
Granted U.S. patents
- U.S. 12,728,389Membranes with Controlled Porosity for Serial Filtration
- U.S. 12,722,989Osmotic Methods and Systems Involving Energy Recovery
- U.S. 11,629,072Liquid Solution Concentration System Comprising Isolated Subsystem and Related Methods
- U.S. 11,534,719Membranes with Controlled Porosity for Serial Filtration
- U.S. 10,138,907Rotary Energy Recovery Device
- U.S. 8,075,281Rotary Pressure Transfer Device
- U.S. 7,997,853Rotary Pressure Transfer Device with Improved Flow
- U.S. 7,871,522Hybrid RO/PRO System
- U.S. 7,201,557Rotary Pressure Exchanger
- U.S. 6,421,205Recessed Slider Trailing Edge for Reducing Stiction
Additional patents are pending in the U.S., in Australia and through WIPO.
Further reading: Rick Stover on LinkedIn ↗·Richard Stover on Wikipedia ↗