In between a dazzling number of exhibitors, I walked the halls of RAI Amsterdam at Aquatech 2025. A fair for the water industry, I entered a world unknown to me with open curiosity. I attended motivational speeches for aspiring water industry leads, tried to make sense of all the technical installations, admired the material character of water filters, became hopeful with a few student projects that seemed more conceptual in nature, sat in on a keynote by a famous weather presenter and meteorologist stressing the importance of water and tried to follow highly specialized presentations on the latest water purification techniques. The fair, and with it every stand, was slathered in the same bright blue with swirls and bubbles, suggesting purity and cleanliness all around.

The technosolutionist character prevailed, as did the capitalist mindset. Water is good business; this much became clear. The waters, though, are very much troubled, and I did sense a genuine concern and a deep sense of responsibility shining through. On the other hand, the companies I encountered during my fieldwork, some of them heavy polluters, stood here preaching to that genuine crowd, pitching their latest solution for exactly the pollution they helped enter the world. A Kafka-esque afternoon, for sure.