Every time you turn on the tap, you're trusting a complex system to keep you safe — but what happens when that system faces threats we're still learning to understand? In this episode of Let's Talk Risk, host Anya Grondalski speaks with three researchers on the front lines of drinking water safety.

In this episode of Let's Talk Risk, Dr. Alexis Morass of The College of New Jersey breaks down Legionnaires' disease — a waterborne pneumonia with a fatality rate that dwarfs COVID-19's peak — and shares findings from a nationwide study examining how different disinfection strategies affect disease rates across U.S. water utilities. She explains why temperature, geography, and funding gaps make this research as urgent as it is complicated.

Then, research assistant Emily Julian and Dr. Jade Mitchell of Michigan State University introduce a new risk-ranking framework designed to help water utilities prioritize emerging contaminants that aren't yet on their radar through chemical properties and decision analytics to focus resources where the risk is greatest.

Listen now!