Garver welcomes Dan Villhauer to lead Water growth in Virginia

Dan Villhauer, PE, Assoc. DBIA, has joined Garver as Mid-Atlantic Water Business Team Leader to lead the firm’s water business growth in Virginia. A Virginia native with a career dedicated to supporting municipal utilities, Villhauer will focus on building long-term client relationships while expanding Garver’s water and wastewater planning, design, and delivery capabilities across the Commonwealth.

Villhauer has more than 20 years of experience with wastewater treatment facilities and pump stations, including nutrient removal and process mechanical design across a wide range of water and wastewater facilities. Throughout his career, Villhauer has served as both a technical lead and local business leader, guiding utilities through complex infrastructure decisions while building long standing, trust-based partnerships with municipal clients. 

“Dan understands Virginia utilities because he’s spent his career working alongside them,” said East Region Water Director Brian Shannon, PE. "We’re excited to support him as he builds our water presence in Virginia.” 

In evaluating his next chapter, Villhauer was drawn to Garver’s collaborative culture, entrepreneurial mindset, and decentralized operating model. Garver’s water design center delivery model provides access to specialized technical expertise while empowering local leaders to focus on client relationships and market growth. That balance closely aligned with Villhauer’s goal of building a strong Virginia-based practice supported by Garver’s national water and wastewater resources. 

Villhauer will concentrate on the Virginia market, introducing clients to Garver’s expanded technical capabilities. With increased capacity and access to national expertise, he will be able to support a broad range of projects — from smaller facility improvements to larger, more complex treatment plant upgrades — while helping utilities plan for long term needs and challenges (both regulatory and those due to aging infrastructure).

“With Garver, I get to focus solely on the Virginia market, which I know well and am passionate about serving. Starting a new geography with a company that has the reputation, backing, and skill set Garver brings, especially in advanced water and wastewater treatment — yet is still new to Virginia — is a fun challenge. It’s the best of both worlds: having Garver’s support while maintaining the autonomy to build something new.”

A key part of Villhauer’s role will be building a Virginia based water and wastewater team. He is focused on recruiting technically proficient, client facing engineers who are energized by the challenge of growing in a new geography while leveraging Garver’s delivery capacity and support network. That entrepreneurial approach reflects Villhauer’s belief in pairing local relationships with scalable technical resources.

Looking ahead, Villhauer sees Virginia utilities placing increasing emphasis on resiliency and long-range water supply planning as population growth, regulatory change, and climate variability continue to shape infrastructure decisions. His experience supporting water supply resilience projects positions him to help utilities think proactively about future needs, drawing on Garver’s national experience delivering innovative water solutions in both water-rich and water-constrained regions.

Villhauer earned a master’s degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Virginia. He is a member of the American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Federation.