483 From Process Engineer to Process Architect: Alicia Butler‑Pierre on Making Work Flow
Release Date: 07/03/2026
484 Risk, Resilience, and Water Security with Dr. Newsha Ajami
Scaling UP! H2O
Industrial operations depend on water of a predictable quantity and quality, yet many organizations still treat that reliability as a given. joins Trace Blackmore, CWT, to examine water security as a business continuity issue and resilience as the ability to withstand pressure, maintain operations, and recover quickly when systems fail. Connecting Risk, Resilience, and Recovery For industrial water users, water security means maintaining access to the quantity and quality required to operate without interruption. That reliability depends on...
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483 From Process Engineer to Process Architect: Alicia Butler‑Pierre on Making Work Flow
Scaling UP! H2O
Industrial water professionals understand flow, pressure, heat exchange, wastewater, boilers, condensers, and process control. Alicia Butler-Pierre brings that same engineering logic into business systems, showing how work, information, decisions, and people move through an organization. Alicia, CEO of Equilibria, joins Trace Blackmore, CWT, to connect process engineering, operations management, Lean Six Sigma, dashboards, professional training, and business infrastructure. Her message is clear: whether you are moving water through a pipeline or work through a company, the question remains the...
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482 Preserving Our Industry’s Story – Paul Petersen and the Industrial Water Exhibit
Scaling UP! H2O
Industrial water treatment has always supported industry, but much of that story remains invisible to the public. Paul Petersen wants to change that by helping establish an industrial water treatment presence at the National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Paul Petersen, former president and CEO of Trident Technologies and current leader of the Industrial Water Task Group, joins Trace Blackmore to explain why preserving the industry’s history matters. His vision is not simply a static display of old equipment. Instead, the goal is to...
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481 From Waterfalls to SOPs: Building Better Utilities with Kalpna Solanki
Scaling UP! H2O
Water utility work depends on more than technical knowledge. It depends on clear procedures, current documents, practical training, and performance conversations that reflect what operators actually do in the field. In Episode 481, Trace Blackmore, CWT, welcomes back , President and CEO at , for a practical conversation on building stronger utilities through standard operating procedures, competencies, and performance evaluations. Kalpna shares how outdated SOPs, disconnected training tools, and top-down documentation can create risk, confusion, and missed...
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480 From Engineering Numbers to People, Power, and Policy with Sherine El‑Wattar
Scaling UP! H2O
Industrial water professionals work with chemistry, equipment, permits, and performance targets every day. Yet every gallon also moves through a framework of policy decisions: who can withdraw water, how it may be used, what quality must be returned, and whose needs are considered when systems are designed. , a science network officer supporting the Working Group II Technical Support Unit, brings an engineering foundation and a human-centered perspective to those questions. Her work focuses on climate impacts, adaptation, vulnerability, and risk while helping...
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479 Water Treatment: The Next Generation - Hustle Culture Meets Emotional Literacy with Tiffany Wentz‑Root
Scaling UP! H2O
In today’s episode of Scaling UP! H2O, host Trace Blackmore sits down with workplace resilience expert and U.S. Marine veteran to decode how different generations show up in the industrial water treatment industry. From the Silent Generation’s post‑war loyalties through Baby Boomers’ commitment to long hours, Gen X’s distrust of corporate loyalty, Millennials’ desire for purpose and feedback, and Gen Z’s demand for emotional literacy, the conversation illustrates how each cohort was shaped by historical and technological upheaval. The discussion reframes “hustle...
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478 Rethinking Power Plant Water and Steam Chemistry with Brad Buecker (Part 2)
Scaling UP! H2O
Power plant water and steam chemistry does not fail in isolation. A mistaken unit, an unused analyzer, an overdesigned pretreatment system, or a misunderstood condensate return problem can ripple across equipment, permits, production, and safety. In this Part 2 conversation with of and Buecker Associates, Trace Blackmore continues a practical discussion on the details that shape industrial water decisions. Brad shares field stories from combined cycle plants, package boilers, wastewater permitting, membrane systems, and decades of technical writing. When Small Errors Become Expensive...
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477 Rethinking Power Plant Water and Steam Chemistry with Brad Buecker (Part 1)
Scaling UP! H2O
Power plant water and steam chemistry is not a background task. It affects safety, reliability, metallurgy, production, and the decisions plant teams make under pressure. In Part 1 of this conversation, Trace Blackmore, CWT, welcomes Bradley Buecker of SAMCO Technologies and Buecker Associates to examine what happens when familiar assumptions go unchallenged. Safety Comes First in High-Energy Systems Bradley begins with the lesson that has shaped decades of his work: safety. Power and industrial systems involve heat, flow, moving equipment, chemicals, confined spaces, lockout/tagout...
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476 Positive Communication, Temperaments, and the WOW Effect with Paule Genest
Scaling UP! H2O
Communication shapes how teams learn, respond, correct, and build trust. Trace Blackmore, CWT welcomes returning guest Director, Sales and ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) Water and Energy TGWT / The Tannin Guys for a conversation on positive communication, temperaments, the WOW Effect, and how water professionals can use words with more clarity and care. Communication With a Positive Impact Paule reframes positive communication as communication with a positive impact. The goal is not fake positivity or polished language....
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475 Inside the Boiler: Inspection, Failure Analysis, and Photography with Cheryl Heiser
Scaling UP! H2O
A boiler failure can create pressure quickly: production is down, emotions are high, and the water treater may be the first person blamed. of . joins Trace Blackmore, CWT, to walk through a more disciplined way to evaluate boiler issues by looking beyond chemistry alone. Why Boiler Failures Need a Broader Lens Cheryl brings field experience from the OEM boiler side, conventional water treatment, and purified tannin boiler treatment. Her perspective is rooted in the idea that no two boilers are the same. Design, operating conditions, fuel, history, circulation, steam...
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Industrial water professionals understand flow, pressure, heat exchange, wastewater, boilers, condensers, and process control. Alicia Butler-Pierre brings that same engineering logic into business systems, showing how work, information, decisions, and people move through an organization.
Alicia, CEO of Equilibria, joins Trace Blackmore, CWT, to connect process engineering, operations management, Lean Six Sigma, dashboards, professional training, and business infrastructure. Her message is clear: whether you are moving water through a pipeline or work through a company, the question remains the same—how can the process flow more seamlessly?
From Process Engineer to Process Architect
Alicia shares how her chemical engineering background shaped the way she sees organizations. Early in her career, she worked around wastewater, boilers, condensers, and heat exchangers, but she also saw a gap between technical operations and business decision-making.
That gap eventually led her to business school, entrepreneurship, and the founding of Equilibria. What began as a professional organizing company became an operations management consulting firm focused on processes, systems, Lean Six Sigma, and business infrastructure.
For water professionals, this conversation offers a practical reminder: technical improvements often fail to gain support when they are explained only in technical language. Alicia challenges listeners to connect process improvements to business outcomes that accounting, leadership, and customers can understand.
Dashboards, Dollars, and the Cost of Poor Quality
Trace and Alicia discuss a familiar challenge in water treatment: a team may know that a technical improvement will raise efficiency or reduce risk, but accounting may only see the capital expense. Alicia’s advice is to show the linkage.
Dashboards can help different functions see cause and effect. When technical investments are connected to revenue, profitability, customer demand, and operating efficiency, decision-makers can better understand the true value of the work.
Alicia also introduces the Lean Six Sigma concept of cost of poor quality. Instead of presenting improvement work as another expense, she encourages professionals to frame it as an investment and show what inaction could cost in dollars and cents.
Lean Six Sigma, Training, and Podcast Education
Alicia explains Lean and Six Sigma in clear operational terms. Lean focuses on reducing waste and improving work from a customer-centered perspective. Six Sigma uses statistics and data analysis to reduce defects and errors as close to zero as possible.
The conversation also moves into professional education. Alicia describes her podcast training portal, her partnership with the Project Management Institute, and how podcast episodes can support professional development units when paired with quizzes, approval processes, and a structured learning management system.
For a technical field built on continuing education, this opens an important question: how can trusted podcast content become part of a more formal learning pathway?
Scaling Knowledge Across Borders
Alicia’s work has expanded through teaching, online training, micro-courses, podcasting, and international business development. She describes podcasting as a door that gave her access to the world and helped her see the global need for professional education.
Her path from process engineer to process architect reinforces a lesson water professionals know well: good systems do not happen by accident. They are designed, tested, improved, and translated into language others can act on.
Listen to the full conversation above. Explore related episodes below. Stay engaged, keep learning, and continue scaling up your knowledge!
Connect with Alicia Butler-Pierre
Email: apierre@eqbsystems.com
Website: Equilibria | Lean Six Sigma, Project Management Training via Podcasts
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciabutlerpierre/
Equilibria, Inc.: Overview | LinkedIn
Scaling UP! H2O Resources Mentioned
AWT (Association of Water Technologies)
Scaling UP! H2O Academy video courses
131 The One About Standard Operating Procedures
Words of Water with James McDonald
Today's definition is the pressure of a system measured relative to the surrounding atmospheric pressure. In other words, it is the pressure of a system above atmospheric pressure.
2026 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.
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