Water infrastructure in the United States is governed across roughly 51,000 separate systems. Federal funding for it has fallen 40 percent since 1970 -- and new pressures are arriving faster than the system has been able to absorb them. Rob Powelson has spent much of his career inside that system -- and in this conversation, he explains how it actually works.

Powelson spent eight and a half years as a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commissioner, served as a federal energy regulator at Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and now leads the National Association of Water Companies, the trade group representing private water utilities across the United States. This episode looks at how water utilities are funded and regulated today, what the fragmentation of 51,000 separate systems costs in practice, and how compliance demands around old lead service lines and new PFAS are landing on systems already stretched thin. It also gets into something newer: what the rapid buildout of data centers means for water demand, and where the private sector is seeing room to move into.

This is a conversation for anyone who wants to understand the system behind their water bill -- and why it's under more pressure than many of us understand.

We cover:

00:00 What's behind rising US water bills

04:12 51,000 water systems vs 3,200 electric grids

05:14 Federal water funding down 40% since 1970

06:35 PFAS contamination across thousands of communities

07:56 How AI and data centers strain water systems

08:46 What tech giants are doing about water use

11:59 Suing 3M, DuPont, and Chemours over PFAS

12:36 How rate cases and the PUC work

16:43 Trillions of gallons lost to leaks each year

18:25 Inside the Jackson water crisis

20:02 Why private capital is moving into water

21:36 The utility bill at the kitchen table

Resources:

📰 Read more on the Jackson water crisis: ehn.org/jackson-s-water-crisis-a-tale-of-failed-promises-and-financial-ruin

🧪 Learn about PFAS "forever chemicals": epa.gov/sdwa/proposed-pfoa-and-pfos-compliance-extension-rule

🏛️ Explore how the EPA regulates drinking water: epa.gov

💼 Connect with Rob Powelson on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rob-powelson

🌐 Visit the National Association of Water Companies: nawc.org

Connect with Susan Springsteen:

💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/susan-springsteen-58788144

💧 LeakAlertor Pro: leakalertorpro.com

Listen Next:

🎧 Who Sets Your Water Rate and How to Have a Say: Beneath the Water Bill | Ep. 01

About the Host

Susan Springsteen is the founder and CEO of H2O Connected, developer of LeakAlertor product line. With more than two decades in water technology and product development, she brings a practitioner's lens to The Leak in the System, examining the innovations, responsibility, and decisions that shape the future of water.