After qualifying as a civil engineer at University College London, Jacob went on to study hydrogeology at Imperial College London. He was an environmental adviser to the National Farmers' Union and a water resources and water efficiency specialist at Water UK, before founding Waterwise in 2005.
Jacob has sat on a number of European Commission working groups on issues ranging from drought planning to groundwater protection, and spent five years as the UK representative on the Eurea (pan-European water industry body) Drinking Water Commission.
