For 15 years, Dean Amhaus has led The Water Council in Milwaukee as CEO and president, but just earlier this year he announced his retirement. In this episode, co-Host Bob Crossen speaks with Amhaus about his career, how far the water industry has come, and where it's headed. Over his tenure, Amhaus has witnessed trends and shifts in businesses, and advancements in technology while helping The Water Council become a destination for water technology innovators and businesses seeking to make meaningful connections for their solutions. 

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Wastewater Digest (WWD), WaterWorld and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and interviews with experts across the municipal water industry. New episodes of the podcast are released every other week. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.      

Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.  

In this episode of Talking Under Water, the hosts discuss recent industry news, including President Trump’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, which amounts to $4.2 billion in a total funding reduction across the entire agency in 2026 compared to 2025 for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Additionally, the hosts discuss recent U.S. Geological Survey grants to 12 state agencies to support landslide risk reduction and hazard mitigation projects; and the EPA’s latest strategy update on addressing PFAS chemicals. Finally, the hosts share news on the EPA extending compliance deadlines for PFOA and PFOS and rescinding the Hazard Index. 

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Wastewater Digest (WWD), WaterWorld and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and interviews with experts across the municipal water industry. New episodes of the podcast are released every other week. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.      

Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.  

In this episode of Talking Under Water, Co-host Mandy Crispin speaks with Frederick Johnson, cybersecurity practice lead at Stantec. Johnson helps utilities, government agencies, and private sector clients prepare for technological challenges. The cyber-attack on Wichita, Kansas, was about a year ago, and the cybersecurity issue in Arkansas City, Kansas, was about six months ago. Considering these events, the interview sheds light on the greatest threats to cybersecurity right now, any potential changes in regulation, and how utilities can address cybersecurity.  

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Wastewater Digest (WWD), WaterWorld and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and interviews with experts across the municipal water industry. New episodes of the podcast are released every other week. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.      

Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.  

While many big utilities have largely implemented and installed advanced metering infrastructure for their distribution systems, medium and small systems are still making their way into that digital future.

The technology of today offers a lot of benefits for utilities as well as their customers. Custom alerts for when a leak is detected so a costly water bill can be avoided. Data on water usage throughout the year to better understand habits and improve conservation. Temperature readings to track water quality.

But each of those also results in a lot more data for the utility to process and analyze. So how have these AMI transformations impacted utilities around the U.S.? What are some of the pitfalls to avoid when planning an upgrade, and how does a water utility director identify what data points matter to them? 

The sponsor for this episode is Kamstrup, which offers these AMI solutions and more to water utilities around the world. Dive into the details of AMI integration with Travis Smith, VP of North American Sales from Kamstrup.

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Wastewater Digest (WWD), WaterWorld and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and interviews with experts across the municipal water industry. New episodes of the podcast are released every other week. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.

In this episode of Talking Under Water, the hosts discuss recent industry news, including construction and discharge updates at the international boundary; the completion of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) work in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene, the EPA announcing a public hearing for an updated draft of the MS4 general permit in Massachusetts, what to expect for PFAS regulations under the new administration; and a ban on fluoride in drinking water.   

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Wastewater Digest (WWD), WaterWorld and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and interviews with experts across the municipal water industry. New episodes of the podcast are released every other week. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.      

Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.  

In this episode of Talking Under Water, the hosts dive into the results from the American Society of Civil Engineers 2025 Infrastructure Report Card. Overall, the country received a “C,” which is its highest grade ever. The hosts zoom in on the drinking water, stormwater and wastewater grades, all of which received the same grades as 2021, and discuss the overlap in goals from ASCE on raising the grades in the future, including asset management, resiliency and funding.  

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Wastewater Digest (WWD), WaterWorld and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and interviews with experts across the municipal water industry. New episodes of the podcast are released every other week. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.      

Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.  

In this episode of Talking Under Water, Karen Dettmer, Americas director of Water Resources for Ramboll, discusses water industry trends, her former work with both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the public sector in Milwaukee, where she was the first woman public works commissioner. Dettmer also discusses her work with policy, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Wastewater Digest (WWD), WaterWorld and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and on-site interviews with experts across the municipal water industry. New episodes of the podcast are released every other week. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.      

Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.  

In this episode of Talking Under Water, Co-host Mandy Crispin chats with Kaitlin Spiridellis, a Vanderbilt University Michael B. Keegan traveling fellow. Spiridellis has worked for over three years within Vanderbilt’s Drinking Water Justice Lab and focuses on the disparities in how people experience drinking water in different communities.  In the summer of 2024, she began touring various continents to gain a better understanding of the disparities in how people experience drinking water. In this episode, Crispin and Spiridellis start by discussing her trip to Latin America, and Spiridellis will be writing articles for WaterWorld on her experiences, called World of Water.

World of Water

Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.  

In this episode of Talking Under Water, the hosts summarize several actions of President Trump during his first month after reassuming the presidency and what those might mean for the industry, and they touch on the nomination of Jessica Kramer to the office of water at EPA as its assistant administrator. Finally, the episode ends with an update on the California Wildfires. 

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Wastewater Digest (WWD), WaterWorld and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and on-site interviews with experts across the municipal water industry. New episodes of the podcast are released every other week. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.      

Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.  

In April of 2022, Maine banned land application of biosolids due to concerns of PFAS. It has become a point of contention in the state, causing wastewater systems to scramble for alternatives with much of it going over the border to Canadian landfills as Maine landfills refuse to accept the waste or run into capacity issues. 

Nearly two years later, U.S. EPA released a long-awaited risk assessment of two PFAS chemicals — PFOA and PFOS — in sewage sludge and land-applied biosolids on January 14, 2025. While this assessment is not a regulation, it suggests a degree of risk that could one day include a regulation.  

So what do wastewater leaders need to do now and what does this assessment mean for them? Endeavor Business Media Water Group Editor Alex Cossin caught up with Kyle Thompson, the PFAS national practice lead for Carollo Engineers, to get the details. 

Talking Under Water is the premier podcast for the water industry, including municipal water and wastewater, residential water treatment, storm water management and erosion control. It is produced in coordination between Wastewater Digest (WWD), WaterWorld and Storm Water Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential, storm water and erosion control markets. Talking Under Water highlights news, trends, new technologies, industry discussions and interviews with experts across the municipal water industry. New episodes of the podcast are released every other week. Logo Images: Anatoly Tiplyashin / Romolo Tavani / stock.adobe.com.      

Contact the Talking Under Water podcast editors by emailing [email protected] engaging with them on Twitter @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.