waterloop: exploring solutions

About waterloop: exploring solutions

waterloop is a nonprofit news outlet exploring solutions for sustainability and equity in water. Hosted by journalist Travis Loop, the podcast features stories from across the U.S. about water infrastructure, conservation, innovation, technology, policy, PFAS, climate resilience, and more.

Publisher

Travis Loop

Category

news · science · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

10 Feb 2019

Latest episode

17 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

333 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   17 Oct 2026

   AI Moves From Answers To Action

   After years of collecting and organizing data, the water sector appears to be reaching a turning point: AI is helping utilities put that information to work proactively. In this episode, Seth Nickinson, Director of Product at SewerAI, brings the perspective of a software developer responding to what utilities need from AI—and what still makes them cautious. He sees adoption accelerating as people bring experience with tools like ChatGPT into the workplace, along with firsthand knowledge of their limitations. That puts trust at the center of the conversation: an AI tool needs to understand the questions utility staff are asking and work reliably with their system’s records. The practical opportunities often involve time-consuming work, such as analyzing inspection histories or preparing the same findings for different audiences. SewerAI’s new Command Center offers one example, letting users ask questions about their inspection records and digital maps in everyday language. AI is also shortening the path from a customer’s request to a new software capability, changing how quickly developers can respond to local needs. An equally important challenge is preserving the knowledge of retiring employees who understand why their particular sewer system behaves the way it does. Protecting those records raises questions about where data goes and whether outside AI providers can use it for training. Looking ahead, Nickinson expects more analysis to happen directly inside inspection robots and sensors rather than on distant servers. His vision is an assistant that helps utilities adapt a maintenance schedule when a storm arrives or equipment fails, connecting accumulated knowledge to the decisions crews face that day. waterloop is a nonprofit news outlet exploring solutions for water sustainability.

2. 

   11 Oct 2026

   Finding Dollars For Drops | Resilience In The Rockies

   Saving water is one challenge; finding the money to build conservation projects is another. The fourth episode of Resilience In The Rockies examines how Colorado communities are assembling federal, state, local, and private funding to turn water-efficiency ideas into infrastructure, with WaterNow helping local partners identify opportunities, navigate complex grant programs, and strengthen applications. Along the Rio Grande near Del Norte, partners combined a $1.2 million Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART grant with state funding, private philanthropy, and contributions from water users to modernize the Farmers Union diversion, which serves 12 other ditches. The rebuilt diversion improves agricultural water delivery while adding fish passage, automated head gates, streambank stabilization, and aquatic habitat—giving multiple interests a reason to invest in the same project. In Alamosa, a failing irrigation system at Cattails Golf Course had pushed a planned city project to about $1.3 million, until a $500,000 WaterSMART grant helped close the funding gap. The upgrade replaced more than 10,000 feet of leaking pipe and added precise irrigation controls that allow staff to reduce watering in roughs and other lower-priority areas during drought; the city says the system has been saving about a dozen acre-feet of water annually in recent dry years. Greeley faced a much larger infrastructure problem as aging meter batteries began failing across a system with roughly 29,000 meters, leaving the utility with estimated readings and little ability to spot leaks quickly. About $3.5 million in federal WaterSMART grants helped accelerate Greeley’s move to advanced metering infrastructure, giving the utility 15-minute usage data, improving meter accuracy, reducing manual reading routes, and giving customers much faster information about leaks and their own water use. Across the three projects, the lesson is straightforward: conservation is infrastructure, and expanding it at meaningful scale requires capital, partnerships, staff capacity, and often outside expertise to help communities compete for the funding that makes projects possible. Resilience In The Rockies is a waterloop series produced in collaboration with WaterNow and made possible in part by a grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board, with support from PCL Construction, Norris Design, Merrick, and the City of Greeley.

3. 

   5 Oct 2026

   Connecting People To Conservation | Resilience In The Rockies

   Colorado communities are treating public engagement as water infrastructure, using trusted messengers, targeted outreach, and practical programs to turn conservation strategies into action. The third episode of Resilience in the Rockies examines how Summit County, Boulder, and Aurora are reaching people who can determine whether water-saving programs actually work, plus how technical assistance from WaterNow enables the programs. In Summit County, High Country Conservation Center helps connect more than 15 water providers, several mountain towns, residents, businesses, and landscapers through rebates, irrigation assessments, training, and demonstration gardens. That regional role matters because local utilities often lack the staff capacity to design and run conservation programs while also operating treatment plants, repairing leaks, and serving customers. Boulder is taking a different approach as it rethinks how to reach a community where more than half of residents are renters and the University of Colorado brings roughly 40,000 students with widely different connections to local water issues. After reducing per-capita water use by about 30 percent since 2002, the city is developing a new conservation communications strategy that focuses on people often missed by traditional government outreach. That work includes plain-language communication, translation, accessibility for people using assistive devices, and more deliberate outreach to residents who may not already have strong connections to city government. In Aurora, where more than 180 languages are spoken, the challenge is building understanding of water reuse in a city that imports water from several major river basins and relies on Prairie Waters to stretch existing supplies. Aurora Water, Metro Water Recovery, and the Aurora Health Alliance are working with public health professionals as trusted messengers, giving them direct exposure to drinking water treatment, wastewater processes, and reuse so they can answer questions from patients and community members with greater confidence. Across all three communities, the lesson is that conservation programs become more effective when people understand the choices in front of them, trust the information they receive, and have a clear path to act on it. waterloop is a nonprofit news outlet exploring solutions for water sustainability. Resilience in the Rockies is produced in collaboration with WaterNow and made possible in part by a grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board, with support from PCL Construction, Norris Design, Merrick, and the City of Greeley.

Who has been a guest on waterloop: exploring solutions

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Ayanna Jolivet Mccloud
• Todd Votteler
• Shama Hyder
• Derek Vollmer
• Camille Von Kaenel

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

614,230

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

17 ratings

Spotify

4.8 / 5

14 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 69 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

70

Social presence

0

YouTube

86

Engagement

85

Contact waterloop: exploring solutions

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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