Founder & History

DHP was incorporated in 1988. It was and is, to our knowledge, the only company in the world dedicated 100% to high-tech water treatment training and technical support services.

Founder

Born and raised in New Mexico, David earned a bachelor's degree in biology (1971) and a master's degree in microbiology (1978) from New Mexico State University before entering a three-year industrial water treatment apprenticeship program at Public Service of New Mexico. He spent the next six years involved in the design, construction and operation of a zero liquid discharge system at the company's San Juan Electric Generating Station, and soon developed an operator's training program for the facility's complex treatment system.

Recognizing that there was no training program available for water treatment professionals in the rapidly growing field, he formed David H. Paul (DHP) in 1988, and developed a correspondence program to teach people already in the industry what they needed to know about RO and other advanced treatment technologies. In 1998, DHP partnered with San Juan College to offer the first on-campus water treatment program, from which a graduate could earn an Associate of Applied Science degree in Industrial Water Treatment.

David Paul David Paul
1950 - 2019

That initial course evolved into a series of water treatment courses focused on membrane and high purity water treatment technologies for municipal and industrial applications. The company also offers consulting and other technical services, and has training partnerships with educational institutions, companies and organizations. DHP has now trained more than 18,000 water treatment professionals around the world.

David has been one of the most widely known and recognizable figures in the global desalination community. Ciarán Ó Cuinn, the director of the Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC) in Oman, notes, "David worked with us for many years and helped develop our original desal training course syllabus. It's been used all over the Middle East, and has been really effective in the context of developing staffing capacity for the Gaza desalination project as well as the transition of GCC desal plants to local staffing."

David Paul is the founder of David H. Paul, Inc. (DHP) and served as president/CEO from December 1988 to June 2019. His education and experience include:

  • Master of Science in Microbiology, New Mexico State University
  • Working with high-tech water treatment systems since 1977
  • Starting at a $300 million USD (today's dollars) zero liquid discharge industrial wastewater treatment plant at an 1,800 Megawatt power plant
    • 2.5 years as an operator
    • 1 year as a shift supervisor
    • 8 years as the manager
  • Founding DHP in 1988
  • Training and consulting since 1988
    • Trained over 18,000 professionals worldwide
    • Consulted at hundreds of high-tech water treatment plants:
      • Drinking water
      • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
      • Power Generation
      • Microelectronics
      • Other
  • Publishing over 160 technical papers/articles

DHP History

The following are a few of DHP's milestones:

  1. DHP incorporated in New Mexico USA
  2. First DHP Reverse Osmosis Fundamentals seminars presented in Florida and Texas
  3. First DHP High Purity Water Treatment seminar presented in California and Texas
  4. RO Water Treatment Specialist Certification program implemented. 6 books, 2,000 pages
  5. High Purity Water Treatment Specialist Certification program implemented. 6 books, 2,000 pages
  6. First on-campus, four semester Advanced Water Treatment Program implemented at San Juan College in Farmington, NM
  7. Second on-campus, four semester Advanced Water Treatment Program implemented at Arizona Western College in Yuma, AZ in partnership with the United States Bureau of Reclamation
  8. First DHP hands-on training seminars in Farmington, NM
  9. CD ROM training programs
  10. Third on-campus, four semester Advanced Water Treatment Program implemented at Hillsborough Community College's Plant City, FL campus
  11. Forth on-campus, four semester Advanced Water Treatment Program implemented at Alamo Community College's, Northwest Vista San Antonio, TX campus
  12. DHP's first online training programs
  13. DHP partners with Siemens (now Xylem) to provide hands-on training each year at its Colorado Springs, Colorado USA manufacturing plant
  14. Osmoflo licensed to provide certain DHP classroom seminars in Australia
  15. Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC) licensed to provide certain DHP classroom training in MENA (Middle East, North Africa)
  16. DHP implements a 4-level Reverse Osmosis Specialist certification program
  17. Partnership with the International Desalination Association (IDA) (now International Desalination and Reuse Association (IDRA)) to provide an International Reverse Osmosis Certification program to IDA's members
  18. 36 days of DHP classroom training & 37 days of DHP hands-on training available
  19. Dr. Linda Paul was appointed as DHP's new president and CEO
  20. Launch of DHP's Neptune World Water Treatment Resources App
  21. Three of DHP, Inc. employees purchased the company. This acquisition has been one of David Paul's goals for many years.
  22. Charles Bedford was appointed as DHP's new president and CEO, Darrell Cunningham was appointed VP of Online Training / Marketing / Software, and Dick Youmans was appointed VP of On-Site Sales / Instructor
  23. Expanded technical services lab capabilities