Episodes – Tap Talk

June 11, 2026June 11, 2026

TT081 – The Other Side of Vermont’s Flash Drought: Stories from Public Water Systems

The promotional graphic for Tap Talk episode #81, featuring a photo of guest Sille Larsen; and a quote from Sille: "87% of our water systems fall in that category: very small, serving 500 or fewer people. When you think about drought emergency response — economy of scale is a thing. They still have to do all the same operational requirements and monitoring requirements, but just with much less resources available.".

TT080 – What We Can Learn from Vermont’s Flash Drought

The promotional graphic for Tap Talk episode #80, featuring a photo of guest Tom DeBell; and a quote from Tom: "The drought last summer was, by any measure that we could look back in the record and see, the most severe we've experienced. That August was the driest month Vermont had ever had, going back to 1895. Unlike other droughts, this developed really quickly. ".

May 28, 2026May 27, 2026

TT079 – The Septage Catch-22: When Better Maintenance Creates Bigger Problems

The promotional graphic for Tap Talk episode #79, featuring a photo of guest Sara Heger; and a quote from Sara: "Rules are in place for a reason, right? To protect public health and the environment, and there's science behind all of that.".

May 21, 2026May 15, 2026

TT078 – Building the Future Workforce with Rural Water Apprentices

The promotional graphic for Tap Talk episode #78, featuring a photo of guest Shannan Walton; and a quote from Shannan: "If we don't start changing things, all of us are going to be hurting. I love water. I love to drink it straight out of the tap. I just want the future of America to be able to have faith in our drinking water.".

May 14, 2026May 14, 2026

TT077 – Discussing the History and Impact of the National Ground Water Monitoring Network (Part 2)

The promotional graphic for Tap Talk episode #77, featuring a photo of guest Bob Schreiber; and a quote from Bob: " We would love for you to fortify what we're asking as professional societies: that we need to have financial assistance to private well owners to be able to do treatment, and more importantly to get the initial testing done.".

May 7, 2026May 7, 2026

TT076 – Discussing the History and Impact of the National Ground Water Monitoring Network (Part 1)

The promotional graphic for Tap Talk episode #76, featuring a photo of guest Bob Schreiber; and a quote from Bob: "Because of the National Ground Water Monitoring Network, there is now a groundwater markup language, a set of standards that data providers can use for flowing the data. That was achieved through collaboration across international boundaries.".

April 30, 2026April 29, 2026

TT075 – Raising Your Hand: The Value of Industry Involvement

The promotional graphic for Tap Talk episode #75, featuring a photo of guest Hunter Adams; and a quote from Hunter: " Just get involved wherever you are, especially as a small system operator. Don't be complacent. Don't do this as just a paycheck. You can come in every day, you can learn something new. You can make yourself better and that's going to make your system better.".

April 23, 2026April 23, 2026

TT074 – Mitigating Legionella Risks in Water Systems: Lessons from a Microbiologist

The promotional graphic for Tap Talk episode #74, featuring a photo of guest Katie Maegli; and a quote from Katie: "You might have that safe sample, that negative Legionella in your water sample. But that does not necessarily indicate that there are no problems occurring or there aren't problems lurking. That's the gap between compliance and safety.".

April 16, 2026April 9, 2026

TT073 – Behind the Scenes of Water and Environment Reporting

The promotional graphic for Tap Talk episode #73, featuring a photo of guest Michael Phillis; and a quote from Michael: "If PFAS really is everywhere, it's really difficult to get it cleaned up fully. People don't know what to do. It's going to take years for the town of Stella to deal with the problems they have, and they're not sure exactly how good it's going to be at the end of it all."

December 4, 2025April 9, 2026

TT072 – Build Trust Before a Crisis: Communication Basics for Water Systems (Part 2)

The promotional graphic for Tap Talk episode #72, featuring a photo of guest Mike McGill; and a quote from Mike: "When we talk about communications, I always say that utilities need to be reliable, available, and transparent with their information. Being reliable is whenever I want to get information, I can go to a website and find it."." "When we talk about communications, I always say that utilities need to be reliable, available, and transparent with their information. Being reliable is whenever I want to get information, I can go to a website and find it."