452 UV Innovation and Whole-Building Water Safety with Ron Blutrich
Scaling UP! H2O
Entamoeba histolytica nearly ended Ron Blutrich’s scientific career. Instead, it pushed him to rethink how we protect people in multi-family buildings, senior facilities, and dense urban centers from invisible microbiological risks in their drinking water. In this episode, he joins host Trace Blackmore to unpack what whole-building UV can (and can’t) do for Legionella, biofilm, and real-world water safety. When One Bad Cup of Water Redefines a Career In the middle of his PhD in molecular genetics, Ron drank from an under-sink reverse osmosis tap at an Airbnb and...
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451 Building a Culture of Innovation and Customer Service with Frank Lecrone
Scaling UP! H2O
What happens when you build a company around one niche, listen obsessively to customers, and never stop improving? In this episode, host Trace Blackmore finally sits down for a full-length conversation with , Founder, President, and CEO of . What started in a small 60' x 60' space in Hanover, Pennsylvania, with three employees, maxed-out credit cards, and endless Staples runs has grown into a 300+-person organization serving industrial water professionals around the world. Frank shares how AquaPhoenix became “the booth everyone wants to be next to” at...
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450 Wastewater Advocacy and Innovation with Robin Deal
Scaling UP! H2O
“The More You Know” - Robin Deal A million-gallon-a-day perspective, distilled into actionable steps. , AquaPure Product Manager at unpacks how seasoned pros can squeeze more performance—and less sludge—out of industrial wastewater systems without compromising compliance or plant uptime. From “clear water in a jar” to stable discharge in the field Robin details a practical jar-testing workflow: start from upstream processes, target pH using hydroxide/sulfide solubility curves, choose the right coagulant (aluminum, iron, calcium, lanthanum, or organics),...
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449 Michael Bourgeois on AWT Partnerships and Professional Growth
Scaling UP! H2O
Get stuck in – Michael Bourgeois, CWT How do standards get written in ways that working water treaters can actually meet? In this conversation, AWT Past President, current Related Trade Organization (RTO) Committee Chair, and Chemco Products Company Operations Manager, , explains how AWT’s liaisons collaborate with peer organizations, so guidance reflects field reality—operations, risk, and achievable compliance. From Field Bags to Board Rooms: Why RTOs Matter Bourgeois outlines the purpose of AWT’s RTO structure: volunteer liaisons track and influence work at groups...
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448 2025 Halloween Special
Scaling UP! H2O
Holidays don’t usually line up with release day—but this year they did. In this Halloween special, Trace uses the horror-movie trope of the “scary boiler room” to deliver practical, field-tested reminders for safer sampling, clearer thinking, and better decisions in high-heat, low-light spaces. Boiler Rooms, Myths, and Real Risks From Nightmare on Elm Street to Tower of Terror, pop culture loves dim steam, tight corridors, and clangy pipe-labyrinths. Trace contrasts that imagery with what matters to pros: light, ventilation, a stable work surface, and time for...
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447 Unlocking Team Potential with Culture Index with Randi Fargen
Scaling UP! H2O
Hiring in industrial water is slow, specialized, and expensive to get wrong. In this conversation, executive advisor explains how a two-question, 5–7 minute Culture Index survey becomes an ongoing management and coaching system—not just a hiring screen—so owners cut turnover risk, speed onboarding, and improve day-to-day communication. From “assessment fatigue” to a usable language Most teams dread long assessments. This survey takes minutes and measures four primary traits—autonomy, sociability, pace/patience, conformity—plus three...
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446 Leveraging the Culture Index for Business Success with Danielle Scimeca and Conor Parrish
Scaling UP! H2O
How do you make “right person, right seat” a repeatable system—not a hope? ’s (President) and returning guest (Chief Growth Officer) share how the Culture Index became a decisive tool for coaching, hiring, and a company-wide restructure. If you lead field service, customer service, or operations in industrial water, this conversation offers practical patterns you can apply the next time a role feels misaligned or a 1:1 stall on surface-level updates. From intuition to instrumentation Trace opens with the origin story and quickly moves to why Danielle and Conor adopted...
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445 Industrial Water Week 2025: Careers Friday
Scaling UP! H2O
Industrial Water Week 2025: Careers Friday brings the celebration back to first principles—mentors, disciplined training, and field diagnostics that go beyond the screen. Trace reflects on the people who invested in his craft, recognizes guest contributors across the week, and issues a practical challenge to invest in one new professional before the day ends. Foundations that Compound A candid mentorship story anchors today’s episode. Trace recalls how early-career intimidation turned into decades of teaching fundamentals and math at AWT—proof that asking better questions...
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444 Industrial Water Week 2025: Wastewater Thursday
Scaling UP! H2O
Wastewater isn’t an endpoint—it’s a decision point. On Wastewater Thursday, host Trace Blackmore, CWT sharpens the operator’s toolkit with field-tested lessons: dose by mechanism, verify by sampling discipline, and use wastewater’s fast feedback to protect quality, cost, and permits. Sampling discipline protects credibility Trace recounts an early-career moment when an inspector sampled the wrong location, triggering alarms. Immediate, methodical resampling—guided by logs and a clear process map—proved the system was in spec. The leadership takeaway: embed verification before...
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443 Industrial Water Week 2025: Cooling Wednesday
Scaling UP! H2O
Cooling Wednesday is about performance, protection, and proof. Trace Blackmore invites the Nation to get hands-on with cooling equipment and share field photos while offering a practical reminder: learn to navigate the chiller’s user interface—because it’s your fastest route to actionable diagnostics, documentation, and energy impact. Reading the Chiller UI—From Intimidation to Insight Modern microprocessor interfaces reveal real-time and historical data that matter to heat transfer: temperatures, loading, and power trends. If you’ve avoided the panel out of fear of...
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Like you, we all want our water business to be profitable.
Embark on a journey to make your water business not just successful, but wildly profitable! While many believe that sales alone can solve all challenges, the truth lies in understanding the intricate dance of profitability and cash flow.
In the wise words of Stephen Covey, "No margin, no mission." We all share the conviction that a thriving business is one that can afford to invest in its people and resources. Even for non-profits, the bottom line remains crucial — successful organizations, whether for-profit or not, need to pay their bills and ensure sustainability.
Sales are undoubtedly a driving force, but the misconception that more sales always mean more success can lead businesses astray. Ever witnessed a company sell itself out of business on Shark Tank? It happens when the demand exceeds the capacity to deliver due to a lack of cash flow.
Enter the eye-opening world of Profit and Loss statements and explore your business through the lens of the Eight Cash Flow Drivers, outlined in the groundbreaking Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) by Gino Wickman. These drivers — Price, C.O.G.S. (Cost of Goods Sold), Margin, Ancillary Sales, Service Time, Errors, Compensation/Labor Costs, A/R Days, and G&A Expenses — form a strategic roadmap to enhance your water business's cash flow and profitability.
This new Scaling Up H2O episode unravels the secrets behind these drivers and shows how implementing them can transform your business landscape. Don't miss the chance to elevate your company's profitability starting tomorrow — tune in now to scale up your financial success knowledge!
Your friend as you drive from client to client,
Trace Blackmore, CWT
Timestamps
01:00 - Upcoming Events for Water Treatment Professionals
04:40 - How to know if a conference is worthwhile to attend
05:30 - Showing up with a full cup mentality
10:45 - Trace Blackmore invites you to Scaling UP! Your Cash Flow
39:23 - Drop by Drop With James McDonald
Quotes
"Sales for sales’ sake can put you out of business" - Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics
"No margin, no mission." - Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Connect with Scaling UP! H2O
Email Producer: corrine@blackmore-enterprises.com
Submit a show idea: Submit a Show Idea
LinkedIn: in/traceblackmore/
YouTube: @ScalingUpH2O
Links Mentioned
Ep 204 Being Profitable with the Boilermaker Hamburger
Ep 315 The Intentional Growth Framework with Ryan Tansom
Scaling UP! H2O Academy video courses
Books Mentioned
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman
What the Heck Is EOS?: A Complete Guide for Employees in Companies Running on EOS by Gino Wickman
Drop By Drop with James
In this week’s episode, we’re thinking about what happens when a large steam user in a facility suddenly starts using steam. What happens inside the boiler? How is the steam pressure impacted? How does the water level change in response to this suddenly large steam demand? When is feedwater triggered? What is the impact of this cooler feedwater upon the hotter water inside the boiler? How could this impact steam output rate? Could it cause boiler carryover and why? How could low level alarms be triggered if the high demand continued long enough?
The answers are actually very interesting and interrelated. Spirax Sarco has a nine-part series on YouTube called “The Inside Story.” This is a CLASSIC series that every industrial water treatment professional should watch. They actually let you view inside the boiler as steam is being produced and show what happens at low pressures, high pressures, increased demand, etc. If you’ve already seen the series, they are worth watching again. If you haven’t seen it, get your popcorn and pocket protector, because you’re in for a treat! Part 6 addresses the topic of today’s Drop by Drop episode on increased demand. I’ll be sure to get the links to Trace so he can hopefully include them into the show notes for this episode. Otherwise, if you search for “steam boilers the inside story” in your favorite search engine, you are likely to find the series.
Spirax Sarco's Steam Boilers - The Inside Story: Part 1 - Introduction
Steam Boilers – The Inside Story: Part 2 – Basic Boiler Control
Steam Boilers – The Inside Story: Part 3 – Water Level and Gauges
Steam Boilers – The Inside Story: Part 4 – Feed Water Control
Steam Boilers – The Inside Story: Part 5 – Low Pressure Operation
Steam Boilers – The Inside Story: Part 6 – Increased Demand
Steam Boilers – The Inside Story: Part 7 – Very High Demand
Steam Boilers – The Inside Story: Part 8 – TDS Control
Steam Boilers – The Inside Story: Part 9 – Summary
2024 Events for Water Professionals
Check out our Scaling UP! H2O Events Calendar where we’ve listed every event Water Treaters should be aware of by clicking HERE or using the dropdown menu.
