Tap Talk
Everyone has a role to play in protecting public health. Tap Talk, the Drinking Water in Rural America Podcast, connects professionals across the drinking water community with ideas to extend and enhance our work.
Episodes
This week's episode of Tap Talk, #91, finishes the conversation we began last week with Dr. Andrew Jacque, the founder and chief scientist at Water Quality Investigations. In Part 2 of the episode, which extensively covers water quality issues caused by biofilms in private and public water systems, we cover additional related topics like lead and copper, oversized household pipes, water system hygiene, stagnation, and more.
This week, we welcome a returning guest back to the show: Dr. Andrew Jacque, founder and chief scientist at Water Quality Investigations. Andrew previously guested on episodes TT069 and TT070 along with his colleague Emily Hefty-Dieckhoff, where they covered the basics of biofilms and the impacts they have in household water systems. In Part 1 of this new two-part episode, Andrew dives even deeper into the water quality issues that...
For Tap Talk's 89th episode, we were pleased to welcome on Gary Hawkins, a water resource management specialist at University of Georgia Extension! In this role, Gary spends a lot of his time conducting outreach and education programs for the citizens of Georgia to teach them more about their septic systems, private wells, and other water resources. In this episode, he dives deep with Steve and Jennifer on how he has built creative...
This episode welcomes back Dr. Amie Shei of The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts, joined by Jenna Day of RCAP Solutions, to share what's happened since we first discussed their private well project in TT041. They explain how sampling hundreds of wells grew into a statewide coalition, a funded MassDEP study, and a bill that would require private well testing when a property is sold.
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This week we continue talking with Heather Stevenson, the Director of Workforce Development for the Kentucky Rural Water Association. Last week, we discussed the development of Kentucky's rural water apprenticeship program. Here in Part 2, Heather, Steve, and Jennifer continue to discuss the current direction of the program, the use of VR as a training tool, the importance of on-the-job training, the necessity of building relations...
This week for TT086, our guest is Heather Stevenson, the Director of Workforce Development for the Kentucky Rural Water Association. Kentucky is one of the 35 states that participates in the National Rural Water Association's apprenticeship program, and Heather has overseen the building of Kentucky's program and the development of many successful apprentice graduates since 2019. In Part 1 of our conversation with her, Heather, Stev...
Welcome to Tap Talk Season 8! To kick off this new season, we welcome Courtney Lee to the show, who is the Director of Workforce Development at The Water Tower. The Water Tower is a nonprofit innovation hub striving to transform the future of water with res...
Today, we finish up Season 7 of Tap Talk with the final part of our conservation with Anthony DeRosa, the executive director of the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA). In this half of the conversation, Anthony discusses the changing approach of states to drinking water compliance and the challenges they face, the shifting culture of innovation and knowledge-sharing across the water sector, and some of the di...
To conclude Season 7 of Tap Talk, we bring you a two-part conversation with Anthony DeRosa, the executive director of the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA). In Part 1 of the episode, Anthony tells Steve and Jennifer about the work ASDWA does to support drinking water regulators, the evolution of the organization over the time he has worked there, and his approach to leadership in this changing technological...
This week on Tap Talk, we are pleased to welcome to the show a colleague from the Illinois State Water Survey: Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford. Trent explains the weather phenomenon of El Niño to Steve & Jennifer, including the science behind the oscillation's mechanics, the likelihood of this year's El Niño becoming a "Super" El Niño, the expected impacts on regional climates around the world, and what these impacts ca...
This week's episode of Tap Talk is a direct follow-up to last week's show, "What We Can Learn from Vermont's Flash Drought." In that episode, we primarily discussed the impact of flash drought to private well users in Vermont. This week, we hear about the challenges from the other side of 2025's water crisis: those experienced at public water systems. Sille Lar...
For the 80th episode of Tap Talk, we are pleased to talk with Tom DeBell, an environmental health engineer at the Vermont Department of Health. Tom tells Steve and Jennifer about the intense flash drought that Vermont (and other northeastern states) experienced in the summer of 2025, particularly how the drought impacted private well users in the state. They also discuss the steps that the health department took to help well owners...
The more people maintain their septic systems, the more septage gets generated. But, there's increasingly no where for it to go. Sara Heger, a decentralized wastewater expert with NOWRA, is back on the show to break down why septage disposal is becoming a bigger headache, what PFAS and other contaminants have to do with it, and what it might actually take to fix this challenge.
Visit drinkingwaterpodcast.org to learn more and find ...
Next up on Tap Talk, we are welcoming Shannan Walton, the National Rural Water Association's Director of Workforce Development, to the show. At NRWA, Shannan has been integral in running the organization's successful NRWA Apprenticeship Program for training new operators across the country. Listen to her conversation with Steve and Jennifer to learn all about the history, development, and the future of this program, as well as Shan...
This week on Tap Talk we finish our two-part series with Bob Schreiber! In this episode, Bob (a water resources engineer at CDM Smith and long-time National Ground Water Association member) continues to discuss the development and importance of the National Ground Water Monitoring Network with Steve and Jennifer. They also discuss the links between Bob's a...
Our newest Tap Talk episode is a two-parter! Today, we welcome Bob Schreiber, a water resources engineer at CDM Smith and long-time National Ground Water Association member, to the show to discuss the development and importance of the National Ground Water Monitoring Network. Be sure to tune back in next week for Part 2 with Bob!
Visit drinkingwaterpodcast.org to learn more and find the full show notes for this episode.
Today, we welcome Katie Maegli of Water Quality Investigations to Tap Talk! WQI is a private water testing lab in southern Wisconsin, where Katie serves as the lab's microbiologist with specializations in buildings' water systems and Legionella management. This conversation dives deep into Legionella; from where the bacteria is commonly found, the regulatory guidelines that help reduce Legionella risk, the actions individuals can t...
Tap Talk Season 7 is here! Today, we bring you a conversation with Michael Phillis, a water & environment reporter for the Associated Press. Michael tells Jennifer & Steve about how he got into environmental reporting, the importance and range of stories about water, and the experience of reporting the recent long-form investigation "A crisis emerges across the US as 'forever chemicals' quietly contaminate drinking water we...
Today, we finish Tap Talk Season 6 with the second part of our conversation with Mike McGill of WaterPIO! Jennifer, Steve, and Mike discuss the importance of reliable and updated websites for water utilities, the similarities and differences in communicating about lead versus PFAS contamination, how small utilities can best communicate on these subjects, and more. We hope you've enjoyed Season 6, and we'll see you back for Season 7...
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