The Leak In The System

Susan Springsteen
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The Leak in the System explores water in the real world: uncovering the decisions, innovations, and tradeoffs shaping the future of our most vital resource. Hosted by Susan Springsteen, water technology entrepreneur and founder of H2O Connected. Less than 1% of Earth's water is readily usable. Demand keeps growing, and costs are rising. The decisions shaping what comes next are happening right now, mostly out of sight. From aging pipes to AI-powered leak detection, rate fights to policy battles: everything you didn't know you needed to understand about water. Real events, real tradeoffs, told by the people who shaped them. New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe to follow the story.

Episodes

  1. Oct 8

    California Water Policy: Drought, Groundwater, Rates | Ep. 08

    In a drought, everyone looks for someone to blame. Felicia Marcus has spent her career getting the people being blamed to sit at the same table. She got her start as a young lawyer fighting Los Angeles's request to skip full sewage treatment into a dying Santa Monica Bay. The coalition won, and the 12-year settlement that followed led her team to stop seeing the city's engineers as the enemy, and help the city council and mayor toward actually fund the fix. That approach carried her through the LA Board of Public Works, the EPA, and California's State Water Resources Control Board, where she helped lead the state through its 2012-2016 drought and helped pass California's first groundwater law in 2014. She also explains how water rates actually get set, and why consolidating small water systems is more complicated than it sounds. Looking ahead, she lays out where she'd put new money: floodplain setbacks, forest restoration, and helping cities cut water waste without leaving low-income customers behind. For policymakers, utility professionals, and anyone curious how California decides who gets water in a shortage We cover: 00:00 Why water decisions happen out of sight 00:54 Sewage was her "entry drug" into water 03:24 Seeing the engineers as humans 07:48 The mandatory 25% urban water cut 09:40 Why California was the last major state to manage groundwater 11:06 Why losing snowpack makes groundwater matter 13:50 Comparing $2, $7, and $51 water bills 16:04 Water rights built on 1800s mining rules 17:54 900,000 people, newly clean water 19:40 Where the climate money should go Trace the Source: 🌊 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act 💧Why Does Water Cost More in Some Parts of California Than Others? Resources: 💼 Connect with Felicia Marcus on LinkedIn 🌐 Felicia Marcus's Stanford profile Connect with Susan Springsteen: 💼 LinkedIn 💧 LeakAlertor Pro: http://leakalertorpro.com 📧 Email: susan@theleakinthesystem.com Listen Next: 🎧 Data center & water credits have a verification problem | Ep. 06 🎧 What it takes to sell water technology to a hotel: buying power, timing, and trust | Ep. 07 About the Host Susan Springsteen is the founder and CEO of H2O Connected, developer of the 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.

  2. Sep 17

    What It Takes to Sell Water Technology to a Hotel: Buying Power, Timing, and Trust | Ep. 07

    There's a myriad of “sunken ships” in water technology: companies that dropped millions into the industry but their ideas failed to float. Michael Cohen, managing partner at GAIN Advisors, says the failures rarely come down to bad technology - it’s more about who has the power to approve a purchase.  It takes a handful of people to say yes before a hotel invests in new water technology. Cohen explains a framework that ties water to both sustainability and cost efficiency: tested against four questions… need, opportunity, innovation, and financial benefit. Even if everything lines up for an innovator, timing can still get in the way. Being first to market isn't always the advantage. Entering third or fourth is sometimes, in Cohen's words, "the sweet spot." That's part of why recommends selling indirectly, through system integrators, rather than pitching directly to hotel buyers, for example, cold. This episode is for water tech founders trying to close their next hotel deal, and hospitality operators who want a look into how these deals are approved. We cover: 00:00 Why water is easy to overlook 01:04 Michael's path to GAIN Advisors 02:58 An innovation and technology diplomat 04:10 Upstream vs. downstream, the Airbnb test 04:56 The sunken ships of water tech 06:26 The trifecta: brand, sustainability, cost 08:22 The four keys to innovation 11:14 Why indirect sales wins 15:53 His father's prediction about water 18:29 Mission critical, not emergency Resources: 💼 Connect with Michael Cohen on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/michaelcohen-gain-advisor-nomad-executive 🌐 Visit GAIN Advisors: http://gainadvisors.com Connect with Susan Springsteen: 💼 LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/susan-springsteen-58788144 💧 LeakAlertor Pro: http://leakalertorpro.com 📧 Email: susan@theleakinthesystem.com Listen Next: 🎧 The cost for water Is still far below its real value | Ep. 05 🎧 Data center & water credits have a verification problem | Ep. 06 About the Host Susan Springsteen is the founder and CEO of H2O Connected, developer of the 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.

  3. Aug 21

    Data center & water credits have a verification problem | Ep. 06

    The idea behind water credits sounds simple: companies use water, then help fund projects that return the same amount to the environment. But measuring that accurately is more complicated than it sounds, and the current system works differently depending on where and how it's measured. Nathan Barasa Wangusi, founder of the water credits marketplace Blue Credit, spent nearly three years developing Amazon Web Services' global water sustainability program and roughly a decade in water-related research at IBM before starting his own company in 2025. In this conversation, Nathan walks through a real example from Loudoun County, Virginia, where recycled water intended for the Potomac River is instead used to cool data centers. Under some current approaches, that water can still count toward a credit, which shows how differently a credit can be measured depending on the boundaries used.  He also discusses why data centers tend to draw significant public attention around water use, even relative to industries that use more overall. Susan shares an example from her own region: a developer who cleaned up a contaminated site and funded public sewer access for a neighboring community before construction began. For sustainability leaders, utility professionals, and anyone who wants to understand how water credits actually work before the next data center moves into their region. We cover: 00:00 A 90% water positive claim 00:40 Nathan's path from IBM to BlueCredit 01:50 Water Credit 101 03:18 Why offsets aren't transparent 05:54 Why an offset has to be local 06:44 The 75% water positive problem 09:02 Why data center water use is spiking 11:58 Why data centers get the blame 13:42 Loudoun County's recycled water problem 21:54 The profit-per-gallon gap Resources: 📚 How AI & Digital Infrastructure Use Water: bluecredits.org/research.html  🖥️ See the Live MVP — Data Center Water Leaks: datacenterwaterleaks.com  📚 New to the term Superfund site? The EPA explains it here: epa.gov/superfund/what-superfund  💼 Connect with Nathan Barasa Wangusi on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/wangusi  🌐 Visit Blue Credit: bluecredits.org  Connect with Susan Springsteen: 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/susan-springsteen-58788144  💧 LeakAlertor Pro: leakalertorpro.com  Listen Next: 🎧 The Cost for Water Is Still Far Below Its Real Value | Ep. 05 🎧 What It Takes to Keep Water Safe: The Cost of PFAS, Cyber Security and Lead Pipe Removal | Ep. 04 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.

  4. Aug 5

    The Cost for Water Is Still Far Below Its Real Value | Ep. 05

    That underpricing is exactly what a multi-year partnership between Israel and California's water agencies set out to fix, pairing leak detection with new rate structures. Utilities needed spreadsheets just to believe the numbers. Orange County came out of it with a water reuse system now considered a global leader.  Mary Conley Eggert saw the same pattern closer to home. Being able to see it at all, was sparked during a conference in India where she learned that enzymes and aeration technology could revive lakes suffocated by pollutants. She came back to Illinois to build Lake County Lake Lovers, which now tracks water quality across 21 adopted lakes. The Great Lakes hold roughly a fifth of the world's fresh water, and protecting our backyard lakes has become ever more important now. Crisis is what changes behavior, Eggert says. This episode is for leaders looking to prove conservation pays off, and for anyone who has ever questioned what happens when they turn on the tap. Susan covers: 00:00 How little water is usable 01:12 Mary's path from finance to water 02:40 The 2030 report and the 40% gap 03:46 Israel's water-saving culture 04:32 What the pilot actually saved 05:42 What $1,700 says about how we value water 07:20 What the partnership actually achieved 09:02 Why crisis changes behavior 09:18 The three-minute test nobody took 09:54 How rate hikes shift habits 11:44 The hidden cost of a leaking toilet 12:38 Building a water innovation hub 14:32 The India trip that started it 16:32 Reading a lake's vital signs 18:38 The Great Lakes by the numbers Trace the Source: 🚱 Learn more about the Flint crisis that changed water behavior: flintwaterstudy.org  💧 See how Orange County built one of the largest water reuse systems in the world: ocsan.gov/news/the-groundwater-replenishment-system-final-expansion  Resources: 💼 Connect with Mary Conley Eggert on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mary-conley-eggert  🌐 Visit Global Water Works: globalwaterworks.org  🏢 Global Water Works on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/global-water-works  📘 Global Water Works on Facebook: facebook.com/GlobalWaterWorks  ▶️ Global Water Works on YouTube: youtube.com/GlobalWaterWorksORG  Connect with Susan Springsteen: 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/susan-springsteen-58788144  💧 LeakAlertor Pro: leakalertorpro.com  📧 Email: susan@theleakinthesystem.com  Listen Next: 🎧 Why America Can't Take Water for Granted Anymore: Hidden Costs, Drought, and What's Next | Ep. 03: https://youtu.be/p3eGaxwHR9s 🎧 What It Takes to Keep Your Water Safe: Inside the Cost of PFAS, Cyber Security and Lead Pipe Removal | Ep. 04: https://youtu.be/qYm8UYx97IU About the Host Susan Springsteen is the founder and CEO of H2O Connected, developer of the 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.

  5. Jul 21

    What It Takes to Keep Your Water Safe: Inside the Cost of PFAS, Cyber Security and Lead Pipe Removal | Ep. 04

    Your water bill goes up and you assume the water is getting more expensive, yet the water itself is almost never the reason the number keeps climbing. Chris Franklin didn't plan to stay in water. He took a job at a small utility expecting to leave in two years, and more than three decades later he runs what has become Essential Utilities, one of the largest water providers in the country. In this conversation he explains something that catches a lot of customers off guard: when a water bill climbs, the water itself is rarely the reason. He gets specific about where the money goes: Removing PFAS at a single treatment plant, down to four parts per trillion, can run around 150 million dollars, A federal rule that requires utilities to find and replace every lead service line within a decade. Cybersecurity and aging infrastructure piling on costs that didn't exist a generation ago. How utility consolidation or mergers can reshape what a household pays for clean water at the tap. For policymakers, utility professionals, and anyone staring at a rising bill who wants to understand what's actually driving the number. Key Takeaways: 00:00 Why water outages hurt worse than power 01:14 Chris Franklin's 33 years inside Aqua 02:56 From $100M to $12B utility 04:08 Reservoir to faucet, explained 06:30 PFAS and the four parts per trillion rule 08:38 Why one plant's PFAS fix costs $150M 09:14 Lead line replacement's half-billion-dollar bill 10:15 Why water utilities are a cyber target 13:26 Why federal rules force consolidation 14:16 The Essential and American Water merger 14:54 What actually drives your water bill 16:32 Low-income programs and the sub-$10 bill Go Deeper: 🧪 What are PFAS, and why "forever" chemicals? Yale explains it in plain language: sustainability.yale.edu/explainers/yale-experts-explain-pfas-forever-chemicals  🚰 Is your community replacing its lead pipes? Check the Environmental Defense Fund's national map: edf.org/national-map-LSL-replacement-programs  Resources: 💼 Connect with Chris Franklin on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/christopher-franklin-5220642  💼 Aqua on LinkedIn: MyAquaWater  🌐 Visit Aqua: aquawater.com  🌐 Visit Essential Utilities: essential.co  Connect with Susan Springsteen: 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/susan-springsteen-58788144  💧 LeakAlertor Pro: leakalertorpro.com  Listen Next: 🎧 Why America Can't Take Water for Granted Anymore: Hidden Costs, Drought, and What's Next | Ep. 03 🎧 Who Keeps America's Water Running: Fragmentation and the Future Behind Your Tap | Ep. 02   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.

  6. Jun 26

    Why America Can't Take Water for Granted Anymore: Hidden Costs, Drought, and What's Next | Ep. 03

    Water in America has long been treated as a given. That assumption is breaking down faster than the systems built to deliver it. Only about half a percent of the world's water is accessible for potable use, and the cost of delivering it across the United States has been climbing. Aging infrastructure is driving rate increases, and utilities are now being required to clean up PFAS contamination they did not cause. Drought is reaching regions long considered water-rich, including parts of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Host Susan Springsteen walks through why rates are rising, the difference between municipal and investor-owned utilities, the wave of consolidation moving across roughly 51,000 water agencies, and the consumer and commercial technologies now reducing water loss. Listeners come away understanding not just where US water costs are heading, but why conservation — one percent at a time — is starting to matter at scale. Made for the professionals shaping water systems, and for anyone trying to make sense of where US water stands today. Susan covers: 00:00 How little of Earth's water is actually usable 00:01:02 How a single leaking toilet wastes 25,000 gallons undetected 00:02:38 Why historically low water costs have suppressed conservation behavior 00:03:27 How PFAS remediation mandates are pushing municipal systems toward sale 00:04:58 How municipal vs. investor-owned utility structures drive rate differences 00:05:48 Why the industry is consolidating and what that means for ratepayers 00:07:40 How small behavioral changes translate to measurable water savings 00:08:52 What emerging commercial and consumer water technologies are now viable 00:10:31 Why cross-sector collaboration between policymakers, utilities, and innovators is needed Further Reading on Water Conservation: 🧪 Learn about PFAS "forever chemicals": epa.gov/sdwa/proposed-pfoa-and-pfos-compliance-extension-rule  🌵 Track current US drought conditions: droughtmonitor.unl.edu  🔧 Find and fix household water leaks: epa.gov/watersense/fix-leak-week  Connect with Susan Springsteen: 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/susan-springsteen-58788144  💧 LeakAlertor Pro: leakalertorpro.com  📧 Email: susan@theleakinthesystem.com  Listen Next: 🎧 Beneath the Water Bill: Who Sets Your Water Rate and How to Have a Say | Ep. 01 🎧 Who Keeps America's Water Running: Fragmentation and the Future Behind Your Tap | Ep. 02 About the Host Susan Springsteen is the founder and CEO of H2O Connected, developer of the 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.

  7. Jun 11

    Who Keeps America's Water Running: Fragmentation and the Future Behind Your Tap | Ep. 02

    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.

  8. May 26

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

    Every month a water bill arrives. The number on it is the end of a legal process most ratepayers never see. Darryl Lawrence is the Consumer Advocate for the State of Pennsylvania, an independent state agency whose sole function is to intervene in utility rate cases on the ratepayer's side. In every major water, electric, and gas rate case filed with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, his office files complaints, deposes expert witnesses, challenges return on equity calculations, and advocates for public input hearings across affected service territories. In this episode, Lawrence walks through how water rate cases are filed and litigated, why the timeline from filing to commission decision is capped at nine months by state law, and why most rate cases are inflated on return on equity rather than infrastructure spending. He explains how the gap between utility-proposed and OCA-proposed return on equity can reach tens of millions of dollars in a single case, why the distinction between on-the-record and off-the-record testimony at a public input hearing determines whether his office can cite what ratepayers say in its formal filings, and what negotiated settlements can deliver that a commission order legally cannot. He also covers what makes public testimony impactful, why turnout at hearings shapes how many hearings get scheduled in future rate cases, and how organized civic pressure has forced utilities to pull contested proposals entirely. For policymakers, utility professionals, community advocates, and anyone who has received a rate increase notice and wants to understand how water rates are set before the next bill arrives. What you know changes what's possible. We cover: 00:00 Why Water Rates Keep Climbing 01:20 Meet Pennsylvania's Consumer Advocate 03:30 Infrastructure Is The Real Driver 04:18 You're Paying For Future Spending Too 06:08 Why Public Input Hearings Matter Most 08:41 On The Record vs. Off The Record 11:32 When 1,000 People Killed A Proposal 12:55 How To Prepare Your Testimony 15:49 You Know Things The Advocates Don't 16:16 Why "Average Bill Impact" Misleads You 22:18 The Nine-Month Legal Clock 22:56 Why Settlements Beat Litigated Outcomes Resources: 🌐 Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate: oca.pa.gov  📧 Contact the OCA: consumer@paoca.org  Connect with Susan Springsteen: 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/susan-springsteen-58788144  💧 LeakAlertor Pro: leakalertorpro.com  Listen Next: 🎧 Coming soon: Episode 2. 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.

  9. May 13

    The Leak in the System | Trailer

    You can live three weeks without food. Only three days without water. The Leak in the System is hosted by Susan Springsteen, founder and CEO of H2O Connected and creator of LeakAlertor Pro. The show follows real-world water systems, uncovering how people, organizations, and innovations shape what happens to water and why it matters. Less than 1% of the Earth's water is readily usable, demand keeps growing, and costs rise every year. Episodes go inside cities navigating crumbling infrastructure, examine why water is becoming harder to afford, and trace how AI and smart technology are reshaping what's possible inside utilities. Reporting draws on practitioner interviews and case studies covering water rate cases, non-revenue water, smart metering deployment, water governance, and water affordability policy. The aim is plain-language understanding of the systems that move, price, and protect water, and the choices being made inside them right now. For policymakers, utility professionals, and civically engaged listeners who want to understand water infrastructure before the next bill arrives. What you know changes what's possible. 🎧 Episode 1 goes live next week. Connect with Susan Springsteen: 💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/susan-springsteen-58788144  💧 LeakAlertor Pro: leakalertorpro.com  About the Host Susan Springsteen is the founder and CEO of H2O Connected, maker of LeakAlertor Pro. With more than two decades in water technology, she brings a practitioner's lens to The Leak in the System, examining the policies, infrastructure, and decisions that shape what comes out of the tap and what it costs.

  • 1 Trailer
    8 Episodes

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About

The Leak in the System explores water in the real world: uncovering the decisions, innovations, and tradeoffs shaping the future of our most vital resource. Hosted by Susan Springsteen, water technology entrepreneur and founder of H2O Connected. Less than 1% of Earth's water is readily usable. Demand keeps growing, and costs are rising. The decisions shaping what comes next are happening right now, mostly out of sight. From aging pipes to AI-powered leak detection, rate fights to policy battles: everything you didn't know you needed to understand about water. Real events, real tradeoffs, told by the people who shaped them. New episodes every two weeks. Subscribe to follow the story.

Information

  • Creator
    Susan Springsteen
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026
  • Show Website
    The Leak In The System