The board of Insituform Technologies Inc. has appointed John J. (”Joe”) Burgess as president and chief executive, effective April 14.

Burgess succeeds Alfred L. Woods, who has been serving as interim CEO since Aug. 13. Woods will continue to serve as chairman of the board of directors for Insituform.

Burgess has also been appointed to the company’s board.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome Joe Burgess to Insituform and are fortunate to have a leader of his caliber, vision and experience,” Woods said in a statement. “Over the past seven months, our board of directors has conducted an extensive search for a candidate with the right balance of industry knowledge and operational expertise to effectively capitalize on the growth opportunities in our markets.

“In particular, he brings considerable experience working with municipalities, the federal government and industrial clients that will strengthen Insituform’s customer relationships,” Woods added.

The Chesterfield-based company rehabilitates city water and sewer systems without having to dig them up.

Burgess, 49, currently is president and CEO of Veolia Water North America, which provides water and wastewater services to municipal, federal and industrial customers.

He has more than 20 years of experience in the water, energy and petrochemical industries.

Before joining Veolia Water in 2002 as the vice president and general manager for its Northeast business center, Burgess served as executive vice president for water systems operations for Ogden Projects (later renamed Covanta Water), a subsidiary of Ogden Corp. that specialized in waste-to-energy projects for municipalities.

He began his career at Monsanto Co. in 1981.

Burgess is a co-founder of the Water Partnership Council, a trade association for non-regulated U.S. water companies. The Water Partnership Council is committed to helping communities and companies meet water and wastewater needs in the safest, most environmentally sound and cost-effective manner possible.