Ryan Beltrán, founder of elequa and the Make Water program, is an award-winning filmmaker and innovator with unique experience connecting DIY water technology, student collaborators, and creative storytelling. His early film experience included interning for Oscar-winning director Michel Gondry on productions with Kanye West, White Stripes, Conan O’Brien, Daft Punk and more. Over the years Ryan has taken his ideas to the White House Water Summit, Flint Michigan, and impoverished communities in Colombia.

So how does a filmmaker rubbing elbows with Kanye and Richard Linklater get involved in water? Sometimes you come across a story that just has to be told and water’s story spoke to him. Ryan shares with us his involvement as a mentor on the open source technology team for the teen Impact education program at San Antonio Water System.

Although he claims not to have a water “a-ha” moment where it all just clicked, he definitely felt drawn to water’s story through a culmination of experience around the world related to issues surrounding clean drinking water. This led him to his passion for electrocoagulation as a potential solution. As a true believer in collaboration, he shares all of the innovation and technology coming out of his company, elequa, by practicing open source technology via his involvement with maker spaces and his Make Water film series to be released beginning in 2018. You can check out the work of he and his high school Impact teams at makewater.org.

Resources Mentioned:

Make Water Project

Water, Texas Film Project

Republic of Makers Maker Space

San Antonio Water System’s Impact Program

Reply All Podcast

Gimlet Media Podcast

Rocket Book

Please consider rating the podcast with 5 stars and leaving a one- or two-sentence review in iTunes or on Stitcher.  This helps tremendously in bringing the podcast to the attention of others. We give a shoutout to everyone who rates the podcast with 5 stars in future episodes.

Give us some love on Twitter by tagging us @THE_H2duO or by using the #WaterInRealLifePodcast

If you know someone you think would benefit, please spread the word by using the share buttons on this page.

Thank you for sharing some of your time with us. We know how precious those minutes are. Share your story, you never know who needs to hear it and remember, “Those who tell the stories, rule the world.”

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or...