Bob Bergman

Vice-President, Technology Fellow and Membrane Global Technology Leader, CH2M Hill

The only man who could manage to get all major RO membrane suppliers to sit down at the same table; leader of consortium membrane research and a leading engineer in his own right.

Bob Bergman – Bob Bergman
Bob Bergman – Bob Bergman

Bob had designed for Illinois consultants and engineered for a privatised water utility by the time he joined PRC in Yuma, Arizona. Having worked on the Bureau of Reclamation Desalting Test Facility, however, he never looked back, and membrane water treatment has driven his career ever since, whether it be ED, RO or NF, UF and MF.

In 1979, Bob moved to Polymetrics, where he was involved in designing some of the then biggest SWRO plants in the world on DBO contracts. Five years later he moved to CH2M Hill, where he has remained ever since. He has migrated within the company over various different roles (he still possesses three job titles!) and at least eight countries and three continents. He has also been a consistently active member of the AWWA, AMTA and the IDA.

Landmark plants:

  • Yuma Desalting Test Facility (US Bureau of Reclamation, USA, 1977);
  • Ghar Lapsi (Malta, 20,000m3/d, SWRO) – then world's largest SWRO plant;
  • Chesapeake (USA, 38,000m3/d, 1999, BWRO) – first large municipal US river water treatment plant;
  • Hargesheimer (USA, 28,000m3/d, 2003, MF-RO) – first large US surface water dual-membrane plant;
  • Englewood (USA, 1986, RO) – first RO plant to use interstage boosting;
  • Abilene (USA, 2003, RO-MF) – first large dual-membrane plant to avoid having a break tank between MF and RO stages