Tap Talk

Mar 06 2025 58 ep. 43 mins 11

Tap Talk Podcast artwork

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.

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TT058 – Solutions for Safety in Buildings' Water Systems

Mar 06 2025 39 mins

In Tap Talk's 58th episode, Dr. Andrew Whelton of Purdue University visits to discuss plumbing and water system safety in buildings. Dr. Whelton is the lead of Purdue's Center for Plumbing Safety, and among many duties, he explores solutions at the intersection of water infrastructure and public health. Listen to learn about how plumbing affects water quality, how the COVID pandemi

TT057 – Examining Well Water Standards, Sampling, and Research in Minnesota's Dakota County

Feb 26 2025 30 mins

This week we are pleased to welcome another deeply knowledgeable guest from the state of Minnesota: Vanessa Demuth, a geologist and well inspector from Dakota County, Minnesota's Environmental Resources Department. Dakota County is one of a set of Minnesota counties that has stricter standards for well water pollutants than the state. Vanessa tells Steve and Jennifer how these stri

TT056 – Bridging the Gap with Technical Assistance

Feb 21 2025 29 mins

U.S. EPA's WaterTA program is an umbrella for a range of services that directly serve the regulated community. In this episode we're chatting about how the program is reducing barriers to capacity development, including funding accessibility, by matching water system requests with local technical assistance providers. Visit drinkingwaterpodcast.org to learn more and find the full s

TT055 – A Look at Progress and Needs in the Decentralized Wastewater Industry

Feb 13 2025 58 mins

This is an exciting week for Tap Talk: Our newest episode is our first fully dedicated to decentralized wastewater and septic systems! Steve and Jennifer welcome Dr. Sara Heger, an industry expert, researcher, and trainer from the University of Minnesota's Onsite Sewage Treatment Program. Whether you're a water professional or a homeowner with a septic system, listen for an introdu

TT054 – The Many Benefits of Iowa's Private Well Grants Program

Feb 06 2025 33 mins

We're officially halfway through Tap Talk's fifth season! This week, we welcome some guests from our state's neighbor to the West: Mindy Uhle, Bureau Chief of Environmental Health at the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, and Erik Day, a Senior Environmental Specialist at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Mindy and Erik work on Iowa's Private Well Grants Program,

TT053 – How Community Engineering Corps Serves Underserved America

Jan 30 2025 38 mins

In our latest episode of Tap Talk, our guest is Molly Sullivan, a Program Engineer at Community Engineering Corps (CECorps), a partnership that provides pro-bono engineering and consulting services for infrastructure projects to communities in the United States, the US Territories, and tribal lands. A significant portion of CECorps' projects center on water and wastewater infrastru

TT052 – Exploring Best Practices for Online Operator Training

Jan 23 2025 66 mins

Next up on Tap Talk, Steve and Jennifer welcome Dr. Sidney Innerebner of Colorado-based Indigo Water Group to the show. Sidney is certified as an engineer and as both a wastewater operator and industrial operator in Colorado, and has been working in various aspects of the environmental services field since 1990. At Indigo, much of her work revolves around operator training, both in

TT051 – Resources for Well and Septic Owners to Face Florida's Changing Climate

Jan 16 2025 51 mins

This week on Tap Talk, Jennifer and Steve chatted with Dr. Andrea Albertin and Dr. Yilin Zhuang of the University of Florida Extension's Florida Well Owner Network (FWON). From intensified hurricanes to rising sea levels to eroding coasts, climate change has brought a number of significant environmental challenges to Florida. The state's millions of well and septic users — common

TT050 — Solving the Challenges of a National CEU Program

Jan 09 2025 50 mins

Tap Talk hits 50 episodes! For this landmark episode, we welcome Matt Jones to the show. Matt is the manager of the Continuing Education Credit Program for the Water Environment Federation (WEF). Steve and Jennifer discuss with him the complexities of certifying and delivering continuing education credits to operators and engineers in all 50 states, particularly for large in-person

TT049 – Bringing Water to All With Water Well Wish

Jan 02 2025 51 mins

In the premiere episode of our fifth season, Steve and Jennifer welcome Terry Morse to Tap Talk. Terry is the CEO of the National Ground Water Association, as well as its charitable arm, The Groundwater Foundation. Last year, the foundation launched Water Well Wish, an endeavor to make sure that every American has access to clean, safe water by funding the construction of wells for