The Water Values Podcast

  In the fourth session of The Water Values Podcast, Mike McGuire joins us to talk about safe drinking water. Mike is a California-based engineer, author, blogger and water historian. He provides a terrific interview and reveals some little known history about safe drinking water. He also relates a story about drinking water from his travels to China and how Chinese culture approaches drinking water. In this Session, You’ll Learn about: Dr. John Leal, the man responsible for bringing safe drinking water to the masses George Warren Fuller, the sanitary engineer who designed the world’s first chlorine feed system Waterborne diseases prevalent in turn-of-the-century water systems that proliferate today where safe drinking water is not available Chemophobia The turn-of-the-century Jersey City, New Jersey, water supply and the public-private partnership that led to the chlorination of drinking water How a court case led to the widespread chlorination of drinking water The research behind Mike’s book, The Chlorine Revolution, that uncovered information that would otherwise be lost to history Why Chinese culture provides that drinking water should be served hot Resources and Links Mentioned in this Session Include: Wikipedia page on Mike McGuire Safe Drinking Water blog This Day in Water History blog Link to The Chlorine Revolution: Water Disinfection and the Fight to Save Lives Moses Baker’s book The Quest for Pure Water American Water Works Association Google Books Wikipedia page on Dr. John Leal Wikipedia page on George Warren Fuller Water History Group on LinkedIn NOTE: At present, none of the above are affiliate links. Transcript Click here to download the Transcript for Session 4 of The Water Values Podcast. Thank You! Thank you to so many people for the enthusiastic reception for The Water Values Podcast! I’ve really enjoyed all the great feedback and thoughtful comments. You guys are awesome!

In the third session of The Water Values Podcast (and first recorded), I welcome Jenn Vervier, the Director of Sustainability and Strategic Development for New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado. Jenn shared a tremendous amount of information about New Belgium’s conservation and sustainability efforts as they relate to direct and indirect use of water in the brewing process, to the water-energy nexus, and to society in general. She provided a fantastic interview and displayed great knowledge of New Belgium’s water processes and substantial efforts on the water sustainability front. In this Session, You’ll Learn about: New Belgium’s sustainability focus and unique and refreshing approach to business What hard-piping a brewery means and why it conserves water The rise in popularity of hoppy beers and why those hoppy beers are very water intensive to brew The water footprint of a glass of New Belgium beer The importance of water quality to the brewing process The factors New Belgium considered when siting its second brewery and the location of that second brewery The water-saving processes New Belgium has implemented in its brewery New Belgium’s waste water treatment process and its place in the water-energy nexus New Belgium’s water philanthropy and activism Resources and Links Mentioned in this Session Include: Colorado House Bill 13-1044 authorizing graywater use under certain conditions: http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2013a/csl.nsf/fsbillcont/7A5BB9369AB7D2F787257AEE005725A9?Open&file=1044_01.pdf Colorado Graywater Rule Promulgation Information (i.e., Reg 86): http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/CDPHE-WQ/CBON/1251630013219 Save the Colorado: http://savethecolorado.org/ NRDC’s Brewers for Clean Water: http://www.nrdc.org/water/brewers-for-clean-water/ Jenn’s “Clean Water is Good for Business, and for Beer!” post on The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jenn-vervier/clean-water-act_b_1434511.html www.newbelgium.com New Belgium on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Belgium-Brewing-Company/108014059227334 New Belgium on Twitter: @newbelgium Transcript Click here to download the Transcript for Session 3 of The Water Values Podcast Thank You! Thank you to so many people for helping get The Water Values Podcast off the ground! Your help and encouragement has been instrumental in this endeavor!

  In the second session of The Water Values Podcast, I welcome Jack Wittman, a hydrogeologist with INTERA. As described in the podcast, Jack has significant experience in all kinds of water issues and has worked all over the United States. He is a terrific resource on a host of water topics Today, we discuss water planning with Jack (more topics were on the list, but we ran out of time) in this session of The Water Values Podcast. In this Session, You’ll Learn about: The primary requirements needed for a water plan Coordinating a water plan over a statewide area that consists of diverse geographies, soil types, uses and hydrologies The importance of collaboration in water planning The paramount importance of data in water planning The difficulty in applying quality, local but scattered data across a broader area The elements of a water plan The relationship between water planning and public infrastructure investment Some differences between water use in the West and water use in the East Resources and Links Mentioned in this Session Include: Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining: https://oilgas.ogm.utah.gov/ The Yakama Nation: http://www.yakamanation-nsn.gov/ The myth of the water-budget: http://aquadoc.typepad.com/files/bredehoeft-water-budget-myth.pdf Indiana water withdrawal records: http://www.in.gov/dnr/water/4841.htm Virginia groundwater withdrawal permitting program: http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/WaterSupplyWaterQuantity/GroundwaterPermitting.aspx www.intera.com Jack’s email: jwittman@intera.com Transcript Click here to download the Transcript for Session 2 of The Water Values Podcast Thank You! Thank you to so many people for helping get The Water Values Podcast off the ground! Your help and encouragement has been instrumental in this endeavor!

In the first-ever session of The Water Values Podcast, I’m happy to welcome Matt Klein. Matt’s wide-ranging experience with water issues demonstrates why I wanted him as my first guest. Matt has been an environmental regulator, an environmental lawyer, the Executive Director of Indianapolis Water and the Executive Director of Technical Operations for the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, his present position. Today, we’re talking about water issues from the perspectives of each of these positions. Matt and I initially met when he was the Executive Director of Indianapolis Water. His work as the Executive Director of the utility earned praise from many sectors. During his tenure, he changed the culture of the utility and implemented significant changes for that utility from energy audits at the utility’s facilities, to a new public bidding regime for capital projects, to preparing the utility for the transfer of its assets, and many more changes. Matt did a terrific job at Indianapolis Water, and we’ll learn about his experiences there and his environmental experience in the water arena in this session of The Water Values Podcast. In this Session, You’ll Learn about: A high-level overview of the regime of environmental statutes affecting water, like the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and other environmental statutes. The interplay between federal and state environmental regulation A high-level overview of how a drinking water utility operates and distributes water from its treatment facilities to its customers A high-level look at rate case issues How revenue-funding improvements contrasts with bond-funding improvements How Indianapolis Water implemented a new public bidding mechanism The importance of non-revenue water The importance of customer meters and meter reading Resources and Links Mentioned in this Session Include: Safe Drinking Water Act Clean Water Act Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (referred to as RCRA or “rickra”) Underground Storage Tank regulation Indiana’s environmental regulations pertaining to drinking water: 327 IAC 8 Non-revenue water The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor Matt’s Twitter handle: @themariner1220 – FOLLOW HIM! Matt’s email: MKlein@oucc.IN.gov Transcript Click here to download the Transcript for Session 1 of The Water Values Podcast   Thank You!   Thank you to so many people for helping get The Water Values Podcast off the ground! Your help and encouragement has been instrumental in this endeavor!