Who We Are
We are an independent, multidisciplinary group of professionals that care deeply about water quality, the environment and public health. We have a broad range of expertise, with backgrounds in water treatment, epidemiology, toxicology, public health, and risk analysis.
Kathryn Sorensen
Council Chair, Director of Research at the Kyl Center for Water Policy, Arizona State University
Kathryn Sorensen oversees the research efforts of the Kyl Center for Water Policy, teaches Arizona Water Policy for the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, and contributes to the Global Futures Laboratory. As Director of Phoenix Water Services until October 2020, she was responsible for the reliable delivery of safe, clean drinking water in a desert city of nearly 1.7 million inhabitants. Previously she served in the City of Mesa for many years as a water resource manager. Kathryn earned a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from Texas A&M University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Michigan. Kathryn’s service in water management includes Member of the Arizona Water Banking Authority Commission, Member of the Arizona Colorado River Reconsultation Committee, Member of the Board of Directors of the Water Research Foundation, Member of the State of Arizona’s Colorado River Steering Committee, Advisory Committee member of the Water Resources Research Center at the University of Arizona, Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, Member of the EPA’s Effective Utility Management Utility Leadership Group, and Member of the Rates and Charges Subcommittee of the American Water Works Association.
Chad Seidel
President, Corona Environmental Consulting
Chad Seidel is President at Corona Environmental Consulting, LLC where he brings his more than 15 years of consulting experience serving the drinking water community. He has been engaged with California water utilities regarding groundwater and inorganic contaminant treatment. Chad has a diverse range of experience providing large and small drinking water utilities with process and design engineering services, from optimization of existing conventional treatment processes to the application of advanced treatment processes for controlling emerging contaminants. Chad is a Registered Professional Engineer in Colorado and holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a B.S. in environmental engineering from Montana Tech.
Janet Anderson
Practice Director and Principal Scientist, Exponent Health Sciences
Dr. Janet Anderson is the Practice Director and Principal Scientist of Exponent’s Health Sciences practice, with 15 years of experience providing toxicology, risk assessment, and risk management support to federal agencies, private industry, and municipal clients. She is an expert in emerging contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), 1,4 dioxane, and 1,2,3-trichloropropane, and the translation of human health toxicology into state and federal environmental regulations. Dr. Anderson specializes in communicating the key findings from toxicology studies that inform state and federal regulatory policy and public health decisions. Dr. Anderson received her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cancer Biology from the University of Cincinnati, completed a post-doctoral fellowship with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and as a civilian government employee, led the U.S. Air Force’s Emerging Issues and Contaminants program where she advised the Department of Defense on matters related to regulatory actions, toxicology, risk assessment, and environmental restoration.
Alan Roberson
Former Executive Director, Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA)
Alan Roberson is the former Executive Director of the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA). ASDWA’s members (the state and territorial drinking water agencies) are co-regulators under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He has over 34 years of experience in the development of drinking water policy and federal and state drinking water regulations.
Prior to starting at ASDWA in 2017, he worked in AWWA’s Washington, DC, office for 25 years. During his time at AWWA, he authored or co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed papers, authored or co-authored a handful of book chapters, written numerous columns and Feature Articles for Journal AWWA, and made numerous presentations on a wide range of water quality and regulatory issues across the country.
He has been on Fairfax Water’s Board of Directors since 2009 and currently serves as Treasurer and Chair of the Water Quality & Supply Committee. He also is an adjunct instructor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, teaching a drinking water policy class annually at the Summer Institute.
He has a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from Georgia Tech and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the Virginia Tech extension in Falls Church. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Virginia. He received the Fuller Award from the Virginia Section of AWWA in 2025.
Manny Teodoro
Robert F. and Sylvia T. Wagner Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs at University of Wisconsin-Madison
Manny Teodoro currently serves as the Robert F. and Sylvia T. Wagner Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working at the intersection of politics, public policy, and public management. Manny focuses mainly on U.S. environmental policy and implementation, including empirical analyses of environmental justice. Manny has developed novel methods for analyzing utility rate equity and affordability, and he works on these issues directly with governments and water sector leaders across the United States. He attended Cornell for a MPA, and he earned a PhD in Public Policy & Political Science at the Ford School at the University of Michigan.
Brent Alspach
Director of Applied Research at Arcadis
Brent joined Arcadis in 1997 and is a Vice President & the Director of Applied Research, overseeing a program that has conducted nearly $40 million in drinking water, potable reuse, wastewater, and stormwater research funded by the Water Research Foundation, the American Water Works Association (AWWA), NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), Department of Defense / War, and the US Bureau of Reclamation, among others. He currently serves on the AWWA Technical and Education Council, as well as on the editorial boards for Opflow and AWWA Water Science. He is the PI / co-PI on three Water Research Foundation projects on microplastics in drinking water, a subject on which he has testified before the US Congress, and his contributions to the water field were honored with the WRF’s 2025 Pankaj Parekh Research Innovation Award. Brent holds both Bachelors and Masters degrees in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Cornell University.
Emeritus Members
Rob Renner
Former Chief Executive Officer at Water Research Foundation
Joseph Cotruvo
President, Joseph Cotruvo & Associates
Joseph Cotruvo served as the Director of the EPA Drinking Water Standards Division from 1976- 1990. He was also the Vice President for Environmental Health Sciences, NSF International and a member of the Board of Directors for the DC Water and Sewer Authority. He is currently the President of Joseph Cotruvo & Associates and is active international water quality and health business. His specialties include water quality and risk assessment, water treatment technology, product development, water chemistry, regulatory policy, desalination, and nutrients in water. He holds a PhD in organic chemistry from Ohio State University.
Joyce Dinglasan-Panlilio
Division Chair and Associate Professor in Environmental Chemistry at University of Washington-Tacoma
Mission & Values
Our mission is to provide clarity and context to drinking water utilities and policy makers, public health professionals and the public to help navigate complex issues and assure protection of our nation’s drinking water supply.
Safe drinking water is a human right
The Water & Health Advisory Council agrees with the United Nations that access to safe, accessible, and affordable drinking water is a basic human right. Our nation has taken great strides to ensure safe drinking water for all, but there is more work to be done.
Science-based risk analysis must inform all decisions connected to the provision of safe drinking water
Billions of dollars are spent each year to maintain and upgrade U.S. drinking water systems. The Water & Health Advisory Council believes that the decisions to determine how this money is spent must be based on the best available science on risks to our drinking water.
Prioritizing public health for all
Safe, clean drinking water is the foundation of public health. Policymaking and government funding for drinking water must prioritize public health benefit for the greatest number of people. This includes investments to underserved communities which is vital to achieving water equity throughout our county.
READ MORE ABOUT OUR MISSION & VALUES
We advocate a risk-based approach to identifying and addressing the challenges associated with delivering safe drinking water to Americans, including emerging contaminants.
Clean and safe drinking water is one of the most important public health achievements in modern history. In the United States, our water quality is threatened by aging infrastructure, waterborne diseases and emerging contaminants. Addressing these challenges and providing a safe and reliable tap water supply for all Americans must remain a top priority for policymakers.
Meeting this vital public health challenge requires careful risk- and cost-benefit analysis, assembly, examination and clear communication of the best health science and technology information, and critical evaluations of policy, priorities and options. At a time when government funding must be deployed to address a broad range of national crises and issues, resources allocated to protect our drinking water supply must be carefully spent.
Our mission is to provide clarity and context to water policy makers, public health professionals and the public to help them navigate complex issues and assure protection of our nation’s drinking water supply from all valid threats. We must follow the best available science and focus on the issues that present the greatest risks to water quality and public health in the United States.
The Issues
We provide clear scientific information about the highest priority water and health issues dominating the national conversation.
Water Infrastructure
Our nation's drinking water infrastructure is in desperate need of attention and investment.
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Microbial Contaminants
Microbial contaminants are known drinking water threats with immediate impacts on human health.
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PFOA/PFOS
We urge lawmakers to consider a science-based approach to the regulation of PFOA and PFOS.
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Microplastics
An emerging area of drinking water research understanding measurement, human exposure, potential health effects, and behavior throughout the broader water cycle.
Read moreOur Activities
Research & Analysis
The Water & Health Advisory Council provides science-based research and analysis to inform discussions on drinking water quality, infrastructure, public health, and emerging policy challenges.
Communication & Outreach
The Council supports informed discussion of drinking water issues by communicating scientific findings, policy developments, and public health priorities to stakeholders and the broader water community.
Education & Training
Through educational resources and opportunities for knowledge sharing, the Council helps strengthen understanding of water quality, infrastructure management, and public health challenges.
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Disclosure Statement: The Water and Health Advisory Council provides drinking water and public health professionals with information and assistance to help inform decisions necessary to deliver safe, clean and affordable drinking water. All persons who meet authorship criteria for published work are listed as authors on our website. All authors certify that they have participated sufficiently in the writing to take public responsibility for the content. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the entire Council.