waterloop

Many people, particularly in younger generations, want careers that make a positive impact on broad issues such as social justice and climate change. The water industry is promoting that it has jobs that deliver results for people and the planet. One of the messengers is Maura Jarvis, a community outreach consultant for the Philadelphia Water Department. In this episode, Maura discusses how water...

This episode is part of a series, Funding To Fight Lead. Replacing the nation’s lead service lines in a timely manner is going to require funding beyond government dollars. The municipal bonds that utilities use for a variety of water infrastructure projects are an untapped resource for lead service line replacement. This episode about the use of municipal bonds is particularly of interest to util...

Philadelphia is one of the country’s leaders in the use of green infrastructure to manage stormwater and bring benefits to communities. Since launching its Green City, Clean Waters initiative in 2011, Philly has installed 2,800 green tools at more than 800 sites, which together capture a staggering 3 billion gallons of water. The city’s approach and accomplishments are discussed in this episode wi...

For a long time, the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. was nicknamed the Forgotten River due to a lack of investment, heavy pollution, and surrounding low-income neighborhoods. Now ecological restoration and a development boom have brought attention to the Anacostia. This episode is a ride on the river with Trey Sherard, Anacostia Riverkeeper. Trey talks about challenges such as environmental ra...

Societal events of the past few years have many water utilities working to address diversity, equity, and inclusion within the workforce. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has established an Office of DEI that is focusing on an array of work and has a top executive that reports directly to the general manager rather than the human resources department. These efforts are discussed in th...

Over the past 20 years, trust in public institutions has plummeted and sales of bottled water have skyrocketed. A new book titled Profits Of Distrust explores how these trends are related and the correlation between distrust of tap water and government agencies such as utilities. The analysis is discussed in this episode with Manny Teodoro, one of the book’s authors and a Professor of Public Affai...

This episode is part of a series The PFAS Puzzle: Lessons From A Contaminated Cape Fear. The forever chemicals were dumped in the North Carolina river for nearly 40 years before being discovered. The series explores how a community responds when it is the epicenter of PFAS pollution. This episode is about health. The emergence of PFAS has epidemiologists and toxicologists working to understand the...

What will water look like in the year 2050? Envisioning the future and the forces shaping it can help the water utility sector to plan and be proactive, as discussed in this episode with David LaFrance, Chi Ho Sham, and Joe Jacangelo of the American Water Works Association. They talk about brainstorming water in 2050 with a group of experts and the drivers of sustainability, technology, governance...

New Orleans has a complicated relationship with water. The city draws much of its identity from the Mississippi River, the bayous and swamps of southern Louisiana, and the nearby Gulf of Mexico. But the location and topography mean New Orleans has historically faced storms and flooding, which are worsening due to climate change. The traditional use of large, engineered infrastructure to manage wat...

This episode is part of a series, Funding To Fight Lead. There are perhaps 10 million lead service lines in the ground in the U.S. and it may cost $50 billion to remove them. The series explores financing lead service line replacement, technical assistance for under-resourced communities, and examples of successful approaches. This episode is about how Denver did it. When Denver Water decided to r...

This episode is part of a series The PFAS Puzzle: Lessons From A Contaminated Cape Fear. The forever chemicals were dumped in the North Carolina river for nearly 40 years before being discovered. The series explores how a community responds when it is the epicenter of PFAS pollution. This episode is about advocacy. PFAS poses difficult challenges on multiple fronts for environmental advocacy group...

For 50 years, American Rivers has worked to protect and restore waterways across the country. During the organization’s existence and through its efforts, many rivers have improved, such as the Neuse and Elwha, while others are in tough shape, like the Colorado and Snake. The progress and challenges are discussed in this episode with Tom Kiernan, President and CEO of American Rivers. Tom also talk...

Science has always been foundational to water management. That tradition continues in 2023, with a staggering breadth and depth of research underway. It’s particularly important to gain knowledge about emerging contaminants, impacts of climate change, and water reuse, as discussed in this podcast with Peter Grevatt, CEO of The Water Research Foundation. Peter explains how research can be applied t...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed drinking water regulations for several types of PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals that are pervasive in society and the environment and pose a risk to human health. The announcement was made at an event in Wilmington, North Carolina and this episode features the remarks by EPA Administrator Michael Regan and commentary by waterloop host Tra...

This episode is part of a series, Funding To Fight Lead. There are perhaps 10 million lead service lines in the ground in the U.S. and it may cost $50 billion to remove them. The series explores financing lead service line replacement, technical assistance for under-resourced communities, and examples of successful approaches. This episode is about the role of state and local policy. State and loc...

Analysis has shown a significant lack of diversity in the sources cited in media coverage. This means failing to include Black, Latino, and Indigenous water experts and to present the stories of people within impacted communities.  The Color of Water platform was created to counter this trend. It’s an online directory that journalists can use to connect with a diverse set of experts, as discussed...

Nearly two decades after Hurricane Katrina, there are continued efforts to make New Orleans more resilient to storms and climate change. A recent innovation is the green mortgage, a program that helps lower-income people buy a home and provides a budget for retrofits for water, wind, and energy projects. The green mortgage concept is discussed in this episode with Damon Burns, President and CEO of...

This episode is part of a series The PFAS Puzzle: Lessons From A Contaminated Cape Fear. The forever chemicals were dumped in the North Carolina river for nearly 40 years before being discovered. The series explores how a community responds when it is the epicenter of PFAS pollution. This episode is about the drinking water. The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority in Wilmington, N.C. found itself i...

Black people in environmental conservation have not historically received the same visibility in the media. This not only fails to acknowledge their contributions, but also leaves young people without role models in fields such as water. That’s why a conservationist is profiled each day during Black History Month by Sierra Taliaferro, founder of the Green Obsidian. In this episode, she talks about...

This episode is part of a series, Funding To Fight Lead. There are perhaps 10 million lead service lines in the ground in the U.S. and it may cost $50 billion to remove them. The series explores financing lead service line replacement, technical assistance for under-resourced communities, and examples of successful approaches. This episode is about the menu of options. The ways to fund lead servic...

This episode is part of a series The PFAS Puzzle: Lessons From A Contaminated Cape Fear. The forever chemicals were dumped in the North Carolina river for nearly 40 years before being discovered. The series explores how a community responds when it is the epicenter of PFAS pollution. This episode is about the science. Dr. Detlef Knappe of North Carolina State University is one of the leading scien...

How can the affordability of water bills be properly addressed without consistent and comprehensive data? New Jersey decided to get a clearer look at the situation. A state law now requires all water utilities to report on a monthly and zip-code basis affordability metrics including rates, customer bills, water usage, arrears, shutoffs, and tax liens sold on homes for non-payment. The law is discu...

Nonprofit media outlet waterloop is expanding its coverage of solutions to today’s critical water challenges, including features on lessons learned from PFAS pollution in North Carolina’s Cape Fear River, options for funding the removal of lead service lines to protect drinking water, and visits with people leading change in disadvantaged communities. In this episode, waterloop founder Travis Loop...

How does someone develop the mentality of a mentor and create opportunities for others? For Tim Alston it started in high school, when the people selected for a leadership program didn’t reflect the diversity of the student population. That sparked Tim to start a mentorship program for younger students of color in the local community and launched him on the path of helping others to enter STEM edu...

During the last century, large engineering projects were used to control water resources. But in many ways, that man-made infrastructure is failing to meet challenges in the 21st century such as drought, flooding, pollution, and population growth. How can a pivot back to nature provide more sustainable solutions for water management? The nature-based approach is discussed in this episode with San...