The Outfall Podcast

Aquaponics is the union of hydroponics (growing plants without soil) and aquaculture (farming fish or other aquatic organisms). This combination produces both plant and fish crops from a minimal footprint. This is a perfect solution. Right? In this five-minute water short, we try to answer why we don’t see more of these aquaponic systems. Learn more and see some pictures from our visit here.

Who better to talk about the birth of Phosphorus than Phosphorus himself. Right? We gave this show over to Phosphorus to tell this crazy tale. The story begins on a cold night in Hamburg; a German physician Hennig Brandt is attempting to create gold by boiling down thousands of gallons of urine. Learn more here in the show notes.

We go underground on this show to hear first hand from the people who help design tunnels and the equipment that make it possible. We hear some stories from an underground profession ruled by geology, massive machines, and above all, passion. See all our pictures here.

David brings us a 5-minute water short about a wastewater treatment plant that smelled like turkey. Was it for real or was it a myth?   Let us know what you think and drop us a note. Listen to more of our bite-size water shorts here.

In the spring, we  published an episode  where we talked to two researchers where they described how wastewater testing can act as a coronavirus early warning system. Since this show, this research has rocketed from a handful of labs at an unprecedented speed to many college campuses around the country as a frontline public health tool. Yes, wastewater was coming to the rescue. However, there was...

The City of Charleston in South Carolina has a long relationship with water which is always being tested. They have experienced more than a foot of sea-level rise in the past 100 years, but half of this rise occurred in the last twenty years. We talk to Mark Wilbert, Chief Resilience Officer at the City of Charleston, about the problems and opportunities with flooding and sea-level rise in this fi...

  In this episode, we talk to three people who made discoveries while simply looking down. We talk to an engineer, an artist, and a local historian from around the world.   All of them shared a common trait. They discovered manhole covers not far from their homes. These discoveries impacted their lives. After you listen to this episode, you may look down and see the world a bit differently. I know...

On this dispatch, we talk with Dr. Andrew Pyle who is an associate professor at Clemson University in the Communication Department. His interests include risk, crisis communication, and social media.  We learn an unexpected secret in crisis communication. We learn how organizations can become more resilient. We also dive into social media and discuss a life-changing book. We love this book too! Le...

On this dispatch, we talk with Pam Kenel who is the Director of Water Resources at Loudoun Water. Loudoun Water is just west of Washington DC and provides drinking water and wastewater services to over 80,000 households in Loudoun County. We talk about how one transatlantic data cable caused an explosion of data centers which dramatically influenced Loudon Water’s water supply. We also talk about...

In this story episode of The Outfall, we talk to two researchers on the front lines of using wastewater to analyze the epidemiology of a community. Wastewater surveillance for the Coronavirus has huge potential. Data suggests that each person infected will excrete millions, if not billions of viral genomes into the wastewater per day. We learn more about why this research is so important, what is...

This week we get to travel the world with no passports or luggage. Our adventure begins in Brest, France and then we travel back in time to Hong Kong during the SARs epidemic. Our travel guide is the wonderful Vera Bin San who is a marine biologist and a friend of Amy's. P-Traps, Masks, and the French Police somehow make it into this conversation. We have fun producing these weekly dispatches. It...

Freaking out? You may not be alone. We're all living in a moment of uncertainty and anxiety. One of the things we have done to help ourselves these past several weeks is to reach out to our friends in a continuing series of episodes we are calling Dispatches from our Bunkers. This week Kara Klemm with Yoga Keowee joins us to help calm us down. As people become more anxious as they self-quarantine...

We are continuing to invite friends to join us in this series of episodes we are calling Dispatches from our Bunkers. This week David Baize Executive Director of the  South Carolina Water Association joined us and discussed the behind scenes decision to cancel SCEC, South Carolina's largest water conferences in March. Next, David Ladner quizzes us with a one-of-a-kind water quiz. Also David, or ot...

We were working on several of our normal monthly water stories, but then the pandemic hit. Instead of pausing, we decided it would be great to call each other, turn on our microphones and just hit record. We will continue to roll out our normal monthly stories and we will also supplement with this series we are calling Dispatches from our Bunkers. Today we share some personal stories and some of o...

David brings us a personal 5-minute water short about his home town, Silver City, New Mexico. Silver City is in a big bowl that sets the stage for us to learn about its ditch. Yes, one of the town’s most endearing and characteristic features is a ditch. Not just any ditch, it’s a BIG ditch. In fact, that’s the official name: the Big Ditch. We hear directly from Silver City’s mayor, Ken Ladner. Enj...

In this episode, we share a story about a series of pictures. These pictures were not ordinary. In three days they spread around the world. The story starts deep in the sewers of Charleston, South Carolina. It's pitch black and divers are feeling for an obstruction. Mike Saia, communications manager with Charleston Water System, tells us the story. We appreciate all the positive feedback so far. T...

It’s been a while since we produced one of our 5-minute water shorts. Well, the wait is over. This short begins with a discovery. We found out during one of our recording sessions that David has a treasure trove of water jokes he has been posting online. You can visit it here. Thanks again to @scotty_NoNo for joining us and teaching us a little about comedy!  We appreciate all the positive feedbac...

In this episode, we are hunting water unicorns with Dr. Piers Clark. Piers is the founder and chairman of Isle Utilities. They have offices all over the world and what they do is help water utilities identify and adopt new technology and innovation.   Some of the companies discussed in this episode: Mango Materials   Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc. NVP Energy   Graphene Enhanced Filtrat...

We talk with George Greene, President of Water Mission, about the Bahamas. Water mission is unique in the world of NGOs with a powerful story. They are a nonprofit Christian engineering organization that designs, builds, and implements safe water solutions. Water Mission is on the ground providing emergency safe water solutions to communities that were devastated by Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas...

"A dubious solution that plays fast and loose with Occam's razor. The prudent manner abides by the weather glass" - Mark Malsick, SCDNR Many in the Carolinas and throughout the world know Mark Malsick by his severe weather email. His email is wildly popular and gets forwarded around offices every time he sends one out. We discover who he is and his secret to his growing email list. We also discuss...

In the summer of 2017, a group of residents and environmental activist Erin Brockovich challenged Mount Pleasant’s water system claiming that the town’s water contained pesticides that might be causing brain cancer in children. Listen to Clay Duffie, General Manager of Mount Pleasant Waterworks, explain how the events unfolded, how they responded and his lessons learned.

When David Werth started this lab over five years ago he literally bet the house by maxing out his credit cards and getting an instrumental loan to start the lab. His bet paid off. David is one of those guys that is full of passion when he is describing the lab. This is one of only a few labs in the world that conducts hundreds of physical hydraulic model studies for a variety of water intake and...

Our second water short has us searching for the mysterious Blue Ghost Firefly. This Firefly is found nowhere else in the world, but the Southern Appalachians and the largest population is in Western North Carolina. While all other species of firefly blink on and off as a mating ritual, the Blue Ghost emits a steady glow lasting from 30 seconds to a whole minute with a glow intensity so bright that...

Dr. Ladner had a chance to talk with Layne Carter from NASA recently. During his 28 years at NASA, Mr. Carter has worked on the development, design, delivery, and operation of the ISS Water Recovery System (WRS), which includes the Water Processor Assembly (WPA) and Urine Processor Assembly (UPA). His current role is the ISS Water Subsystem Manager, for which he is responsible for the ongoing oper...

This week we produced our first Water Short, a short podcast five minutes or less with one big idea. This week we ask a question: When you lose weight, through which orifice does it leave? It’s something we don’t typically think about, but you may find it interesting.