In this episode of Talking Underwater, co-hosts Mandy Crispin and Bob Crossen explore the forces shaping the water and wastewater sector as the industry looks ahead to 2026.

The conversation opens with insights into new research on the growing water demands of data centers in Texas. Drawing from a recent white paper by the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), Crispin outlines how existing and planned data center development could significantly strain drinking water supplies if water planning and policy fail to keep pace with rapid growth.

Crossen then shares insights from a January poll on wastewater capital spending priorities. Results show utilities are primarily focused on treatment process upgrades and collection system improvements, while resilience and emergency preparedness rank surprisingly low.

The episode wraps with a broader look at 2026 industry forecasts from the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA). Key themes include workforce development, the rise of the circular water economy, policy efforts around PFAS and the “polluter pays” principle, funding through state revolving funds, and affordability programs such as LIHWAP. Together, these perspectives suggest a shift from big‑picture concepts toward practical action as utilities confront emerging challenges and opportunities in the year ahead.

• Thirsty Data and the Lone Star State: The Impact of Data Center Growth on Texas’ Water Supply
• What is perchlorate in drinking water?
• Poll results: 2026 wastewater capital spending priorities
• Looking forward: WEF’s strategics priorities and collective action for the wastewater sector
• NACWA’s clean water initiatives focus on liability, affordability and infrastructure
• AWWA outlines federal priorities for water and wastewater utilities in the 119th Congress
• Poll: What is your biggest workforce challenge in 2026?
• WWD Emerging Leaders submissions
• WW Emerging Leaders submissions
• StormCon 2026 registration

• 00:28 – Introduction
• 01:05 – Overview of HARC white paper on Texas data centers and water use
• 01:42 – Projections for data center water demand by 2030
• 04:13 – Policy recommendations
• 06:23 – January capital spending poll overview
• 07:55 – 2026 WEF priorities
• 09:15 – 2026 NACWA policy and legislative focus
• 09:34 – State Revolving Fund reauthorization
• 10:08 – Low‑Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP)
• 11:15 – Housekeeping announcements and closing reminders

About the Podcast

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 (WW) and Stormwater 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 Talking Under Water co-host Bob Crossen speaks with Gabriel Collins, the Baker Botts Fellow in Energy and Environmental Regulatory Affairs at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, about the evolving pressures on industrial water use and the widening implications of the AI boom. Drawing from his cross-sector expertise, Collins unpacks why water is an inherently hyper‑local resource and how industries — ranging from semiconductor fabrication to refineries and petrochemical plants — are adapting to shrinking supplies and rising costs.

The conversation explores how data centers are straining municipal systems and, in some cases, driving new water‑reuse investments. Collins shares real‑world examples illustrating how creative contracting and industrial partnerships can help utilities upgrade critical infrastructure. He also highlights the increasing viability of air‑cooling technology as an alternative in water‑scarce regions.

Shifting to oil and gas, Collins explains how produced water, seismicity concerns, and disposal challenges are prompting operators to rethink water management strategies. Throughout the discussion, he stresses the importance of “fit‑for‑purpose” water use and the opportunities for circular water practices that avoid mixing contaminated and freshwater streams.

The episode closes with a look at the logistical and economic barriers that still limit a truly integrated one‑water approach.

• Gabriel Collins, Ann Baker Institute for Public Policy
• Gabriel Collins on LinkedIn
• The Sinews of Civilization Substack
• WWD Emerging Leaders submissions
• WW Emerging Leaders submissions
• StormCon 2026 registration

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 01:39 – Industrial Water Use in 2026
• 03:04 – Blind Spots vs. Barriers
• 05:07 – Water Reuse, Recycling, and Sector Differences
• 06:34 – Fit‑for‑Purpose Water & Evolving Standards
• 09:02 – Costs, Margins, and Sensitivity to Water Price
• 11:03 – Data Centers & Municipal Pressure
• 14:25 – Policy Levers & Infrastructure Investment
• 17:34 – Oil & Gas: Produced Water, Disposal, and Seismicity
• 20:19 – One Water & Virtual Water Displacement
• 22:08 – Barriers to Circular Water
• 26:35 – Housekeeping

About the Podcast

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 (WW) and Stormwater 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, Mandy Crispin and Bob Crossen discuss the EPA’s proposal to establish a national primary drinking water regulation for perchlorate under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The hosts break down the proposed rule, monitoring requirements, cost implications, and what utilities should prepare for, plus give updates on PFAS treatment research and recent wastewater spills.

• EPA proposes national drinking water rule for perchlorate
• Federal Register: Proposed national primary drinking water regulation for perchlorate
• What do the new PFAS MCLs mean for the water industry?
• Steps water systems can take to address perchlorate in drinking water (2020 EPA guidance document)
• New copper-aluminum layered double hydroxide technology offers sustainable PFAS remediation
• Georgetown isolates 42-inch wastewater line failure after San Gabriel River spill
• Houston reports wastewater spill exceeding 100,000 gallons following collection system failure

• 00:00 – Cold open
• 00:54 – Introduction to episode and overview
• 01:32 – EPA proposal for perchlorate regulation explained
• 03:49 – Comparing perchlorate MCLs to PFAS standards
• 05:00 – Binning approach for monitoring frequency
• 07:21 – Waiver process for reduced monitoring
• 09:41 – Initial monitoring requirements and costs
• 10:02 – Public comment deadline and hearing details
• 11:04 – PFAS treatment research update
• 12:23 – Wastewater spill reports
• 15:29 – Housekeeping

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 (WW) and Stormwater 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 the state of the industry surveys from each water brand — Wastewater Digest and WaterWorld — with some data points. The hosts provide some analysis of the results, including what some of the biggest challenges and trends are moving into 2026.

• 2025 State of the One Water Industry
• 2024 State of the One Water Industry

• Cold open | 0:00
• Episode summary | 1:01
• Financial trends | 6:29
• Organizational health | 9:45
• Key industry issues | 32:05
• Housekeeping | 40:24

• WWD Videos
• WW Magazine Subscription
• StormCon Registration

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 talkingunderwater@endeavorb2b.com 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 as Kaitlin Spiridellis shares insights from her year-long global fellowship exploring water challenges and solutions across five continents. From Europe’s luxury water market and Vienna’s century-old gravity-fed system to sanitation campaigns in Indonesia, equity efforts for First Nations in Australia, and innovative partnerships in Africa, this episode uncovers surprising patterns in water stress and highlights emerging technologies shaping the future of “One Water” management. Kaitlin also reflects on the emotional impact of her journey and her optimism for global collaboration in building resilient, equitable water systems.

• World of water landing page
• The Water Chronicles: A Journey to Understand the World’s Water Disparities

• Cold open - 0:00
• Host introduction and episode summary - 0:53
• Europe segment - 2:04
• Australia - 15:04
• Africa - 19:00
• Global themes & future outlook- 22:44
• Personal reflection - 33:00
• Housekeeping - 36:55

Talking Under Water, a production of Endeavor Business Media, a division of EndeavorB2B, 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 Stormwater Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential, stormwater 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 talkingunderwater@endeavorb2b.com engaging with them on X @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 the resignation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) acting administrator, David Richardson; a newly proposed rule of Waters of the United States from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corp; the EPA proposing to revise PFAS reporting under the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Water Infrastructure Modernization Act; and investments from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) into resource recovery research and some patent-pending research for Purdue University surrounding PFAS chemicals.

• Search for the PFAS reporting rule change under docket #EPA-HQ-OPPT-2020-0549 here.
• View a prepublication version of the PFAS reporting rule change proposal here.
• Water Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2025 aims at expanding intelligent water infrastructure
• FEMA acting chief resigns amid disaster response concerns
• EPA, Army propose new WOTUS definition aimed at clarity and regulatory certainty
• Purdue researchers develop rapid PFAS screening and replacement method
• DOE invests $25 million to recover critical minerals from U.S. wastewater

• Cold open - 0:00
• Host introductio nand episode summary - 0:52
• FEMA Administrator resigns - 1:38
• EPA releases proposed WOTUS rule - 2:15
• EPA proposes TSCA PFAS reporting updates - 3:44
• Water Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2025 - 6:21
• Purdue research on PFAS chemical alternatives - 7:56
• DOE invests $25 million into wastewater resource recovery - 9:02
• Housekeeping - 10:16

• WWD webinars
• WaterWorld November/December digital edition
• SWS digital update

Talking Under Water, a production of Endeavor Business Media, a division of EndeavorB2B, 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 Stormwater Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential, stormwater 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 talkingunderwater@endeavorb2b.com engaging with them on X @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media. 

The water meter is the cash register for a water utility. For those how have worked win the water business for any amount of time, they've likely heard that adage. But how does a water system choose the right meter for the utility? Should utilities pick the cheap option because they cash-strapped? What is the difference if they are willing to pay for higher quality?

In this sponsored interview with Kamstrup, Jake Piccioni, solution manager for Kamstrup, talks about the company’s “culture of quality” to ensure their customers have the very best meters in their systems. Learn how high quality meters can lead to long-term savings with total cost of ownership, and that’s even before considering the benefits that newer modern meters offer utilities in terms of accuracy, pressure and other measured parameters.

• Learn more about Kamstrup: https://www.kamstrup.com/en-us/water-solutions

• 00:00 – Introduction to episode and guest
• 01:10 – What challenges do utilities face when lower quality meters are used? How can that increase the total cost of ownership?
• 03:29 – What about the Kamstrup designs sets these meters apart?
• 06:24 – What about the materials? What are your meters made of?
• 08:00 – Given this scrutiny Kamstrup places on the design and materials, how then does that cultural of quality translate to manufacturing of the meters? What rigors do these meters go through for QA and QC?
• 10:54 – What are the dangers of having poor or inaccurate data for a utility? What can utilities realize when they have good data?
• 14:16 – Outro

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, co-host Katie Johns spoke with Dr. Jeremy Hoffman, director of Impact Evaluation and Community Science at Groundwork USA, about water's role in climate resilience. Dr. Hoffman spoke about his research with Groundwork USA, including heat and flood data; touches on the importance of community engagement and shares what challengees the industry is facing when it comes to resiliency.

• Cooling urban heat islands with smart stormwater systems
• Resilience isn’t one-size-fits-all: Rethinking resilience for locally impactful solutions
• New report finds water infrastructure investment could add $3.9 trillion to U.S. GDP
• Transforming wastewater into renewable natural gas and advancing the circular water economy
• Groundwork USA

• Intro | 00:08
• Hoffman's climate science background | 01:06
• Overview of Groundwork USA and its mission | 04:09
• NOAA’s Urban Heat Island Mapping Campaigns | 05:06
• Water’s central role in climate resilience | 08:47
• Challenges of addressing climate change |16:42
• How environmental conditions drive disparities in life expectancy across neighborhoods | 19:03
• Defining climate resilience | 21:01
• Closing thoughts | 23:55
• Housekeeping | 25:26

• WWD Q3 Trump Performance Poll
• WaterWorld Subscription
• StormCon Call for Abstracts

Talking Under Water, a production of Endeavor Business Media, a division of EndeavorB2B, 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 Stormwater Solutions (SWS). The podcast covers topics under the One Water movement including the municipal and industrial water and wastewater, residential, stormwater 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 talkingunderwater@endeavorb2b.com engaging with them on X @TUWpodcast. Join the conversation by commenting or using the hashtag #talkingunderwaterpod on social media.