Talking Under Water's top 10 episodes of 2024

The past year for the water industry was dominated by regulatory action and discussions that will impact water professionals for years to come. From the publishing of the PFAS Maximum Contaminant Levels to Supreme Court rulings on Chevron Deference and Waters of the United States, the hosts of Talking Under Water podcast conducted interviews with experts to keep listeners informed.

Below are our Top 10 most downloaded episodes published in 2024.

1. What do the new PFAS MCLs mean for the water industry?

On April 10, 2024, the EPA announced the final National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for six PFAS contaminants. This is the first brand new Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) set by the EPA since arsenic was updated in 2001. In this episode, four industry professionals; Miles Menyhert,  liquid phase applications engineer at Jacobi Carbons; Ken Sansone, partner at SL Environmental; Kyle Thompson, national PFAS lead at Carollo Engineers and; Tom Muilenberg, chemical engineer and the global product manager at De Nora, discuss what this means for the water industry.  

2. SCOTUS overturns Chevron deference: Now what?

In June, the United States Supreme Court overturned a 40-year-old precedent called “Chevron deference” in the “Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo” case. Chevron deference essentially meant that in cases where interpretation of a law developed by Congress was grey the courts would yield their decisions to the primacy agency in charge of enforcing the law. With this latest ruling, deference will not be given to those agencies, however, and the courts will be the ones to decide the outcome.  

To better understand the impact this might have on the water industry, this episode features two interviews. In the first, Co-host Bob Crossen spoke with Jessie Rosell, a partner in Lathrop GPM's PFAS practice, about the impacts of Chevron on PFAS regulations and how the regulatory process may shift and change in the wake of this latest Supreme Court ruling. In the second interview, Co-host Katie Johns spoke with Seth Brown, executive director for the National Municipal Stormwater Alliance, about the impacts he anticipates seeing and what it means for the water sector.  

3. What California’s new direct potable reuse regulations mean

On December 19, 2023, the state of California passed new regulations for direct potable reuse. In this episode of Talking Under Water, Co-host Mandy Crispin, editor-in-chief of WaterWorld, talks with David Pedersen, the president of WaterReuse California, and Rosario Cortes, WaterReuse California’s regulatory affairs director about what direct potable reuse is and how and why the regulation was developed.

4. PFAS Progress Report for 2023

In this episode of Talking Under Water, co-host Bob Crossen talks with Radhika Fox, assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water, about the agency’s annual Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Progress report, which was released on Dec. 14, 2023. Crossen and Fox discuss UCMR5; the proposed Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation; PFAS in stormwater; updates on the EPA's Risk Assessment of PFAS in biosolids and other wastewater streams; and more.  

5. The intersection of water & food processing

This episode’s interview is with Andy Hanacek, the senior editor for Food Processing, a business-to-business brand covering the food processing industry, which is part of Endeavor Business Media just like Talking Under Water and its associated brands. Co-host Bob Crossen spoke with Hanacek about trends in food processing related to water and larger tends that overlap with the water industry such as sustainability, decarbonization and water reuse.

6. The looming biosolids crisis in Maine

In this episode of Talking Under Water, we touch on recent industry news, including the looming biosolids crisis in Maine following the state's ban on land application due to biosolids. Incinerators and landfills have limited what they will accept and the only state-run landfill expects to run out of capacity by 2028. We also touch on funding for the Chesapeake Bay as well as some news about cybersecurity and infrastructure investments.

7. DuPont to spin off water business

In this episode, hosts discuss recent industry news, including DuPont's plans to spin off into multiple companies, in which the holding company’s electronics and water divisions will split from its core industrial chemical businesses. The hosts also discuss recent State Revolving Fund support across the water sector, Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant funding, the 2024 hurricane season and Yute Tribe water system funding.

8. Meet the new EPA water leader

In this episode of Talking Under Water, get to know the new acting assistant administrator to the U.S. EPA Office of Water, Bruno Pigott. Pigott was promoted to this role in February, and in this interview with Co-host Bob Crossen, Pigott touches on his vision for the future of water; issues to tackle, such as PFAS; how he hopes his past experiences and professional relationships can help the industry tackle certain challenges; water funding and much more.  

9. How will metering as a service work for the water industry?

In this episode of Talking Under Water, Co-host Bob Crossen is joined by Bruce Bharat, country manager and vice president of North America for Kamstrup, and Jason Hewitt, managing partner of Infrastructure for Sustainability Partners. Crossen spoke with them about metering as a service, how their business model works, the safeguards in place for utilities, and the long-term goals they have in mind.

10. One year after Sackett v. EPA: What’s next?

In this episode of Talking Under Water, Duke McCall, partner in Environmental Counseling & Litigation at Morgan Lewis, discusses the 1-year anniversary of the Sackett vs. EPA ruling. The Supreme Court’s decision on Sackett v. EPA significantly altered ‘waters of the United States,’ only allowing the regulation of wetlands that are indistinguishable from a protected body of water. In this interview, McCall discusses what has happened in the year since the ruling, work that has been done since and how the ruling has impacted it and where the industry goes from here.