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488 Managing Legionella with confidence: A Conversation with Patsy Root

Release Date: 08/07/2026

488 Managing Legionella with confidence: A Conversation with Patsy Root

Scaling UP! H2O

“Our goal is not zero Legionella pneumophila bacteria. Our goal is zero cases.” – Patsy Root Legionella risk becomes harder to manage when building teams treat every detection as equivalent—or collect samples without first deciding what a positive result will trigger. , Senior Manager of Government Affairs at , explains how a clear water management program can replace uncertainty with defined responsibilities, routine monitoring, and proportionate action. Focus Testing on the Organism of Concern Patsy distinguishes between the broader...

487 The 60‑Minute CFO: Tracy Bech on Making Business Finance Less Scary

Scaling UP! H2O

“Our gross profit margin is truly the battle we have to win in order to win all of the downstream wars.” - Tracy Bech Financial statements become useful when leaders can translate the numbers into decisions. , founder and author of , explains how business owners, managers, salespeople, and field professionals can develop financial fluency without becoming accountants. Turn Financial Data into a Meaningful Scorecard Tracy teaches finance through stories and relationships rather than isolated numbers. Revenue alone does not reveal whether a company is...

486 Meter Optimization: Air in the water with Anthony Giudice

Scaling UP! H2O

Water meters register the volume passing through them, but what happens when that volume contains both water and entrained air? Anthony Giudice, president of AquaFlow, explains how turbulent flow can influence meter readings and how AquaFlow’s calibrated valve is designed to help meters reflect what he describes as true water consumption. Why Flow Conditions Matter at the Meter Anthony connects entrained air to the pressure required to move municipal water and the turbulence created as water travels through piping, changes...

485 Questions from the Nation Around the World with Trace Blackmore, CWT

Scaling UP! H2O

Ten questions from water professionals around the world become a practical decision-making session with Trace Blackmore, CWT. Drawing on earlier Scaling UP! H2O conversations, Trace explains how to evaluate treatment changes, use emerging tools responsibly, begin water reuse projects, strengthen teams, and continue growing professionally. Evaluate the Entire System A proposed treatment change should be evaluated by more than its purchase price. When comparing chlorine dioxide with traditional chlorine, Trace recommends examining biocide consumption, chemical storage,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

More Episodes

“Our goal is not zero Legionella pneumophila bacteria. Our goal is zero cases.” – Patsy Root

Legionella risk becomes harder to manage when building teams treat every detection as equivalent—or collect samples without first deciding what a positive result will trigger. Patsy Root, Senior Manager of Government Affairs at IDEXX Water, explains how a clear water management program can replace uncertainty with defined responsibilities, routine monitoring, and proportionate action.

Focus Testing on the Organism of Concern

Patsy distinguishes between the broader group of Legionella species and Legionella pneumophila, the organism she recommends prioritizing during routine monitoring. She reviews research indicating that detecting non-pneumophila Legionella does not automatically mean L. pneumophila is present.

That distinction matters operationally. Remediation can require significant time, money, facility disruption, and lost revenue. Testing targets and corrective actions should reflect public-health risk rather than a generalized fear of any Legionella detection.

The goal is management, not eradication. A well-designed program aims to prevent disease while recognizing that completely eliminating the organism from every water system is not realistic.

Define the Response Before Sampling

Questions about routine monitoring remain among the most common Patsy receives: Where should samples be collected? How often should testing occur? Which laboratory and method should be used? What actions should follow a positive result?

When reviewing a positive laboratory report, determine whether L. pneumophila was detected, its concentration, how many locations tested positive, and whether those locations are clustered or distributed throughout the building. Then compare the findings with the action limits and response procedures established in the water management program.

Testing without a response plan can create unnecessary confusion. Likewise, writing a program does not protect a facility unless the assigned monitoring, flushing, temperature checks, chlorine residual measurements, documentation, and corrective actions are consistently completed.

Connect Water Treatment, Exposure, and Ownership

A conventional water treatment program designed for heat-transfer efficiency does not automatically address every public-health exposure route. Building teams must consider where people could encounter aerosolized or otherwise unsafe water—not only whether treatment chemistry is operating as intended.

Patsy uses a milk-jug analogy to explain building ownership. Farmers, processors, transporters, and grocery stores maintain milk until it is purchased. Once the customer brings it home, however, that customer becomes responsible for storing it safely. Likewise, once water passes through the meter, the building owner becomes responsible for maintaining its quality.

A comprehensive water management team may require a decision-maker with financial authority, a water treatment professional, plumbing expertise, maintenance and facilities personnel, and representatives from housekeeping, kitchens, or infection prevention where applicable.

Communication with the public water system can also provide essential context about the incoming water source, seasonal temperature, distribution conditions, and disinfection. For water professionals advising building owners, the leadership challenge is translating risk information into repeatable actions that every responsible person understands and can sustain.

Listen to the full conversation above. Explore related episodes below. Stay engaged, keep learning, and continue scaling up your knowledge!

Timestamps

02:00 — Trace Blackmore shares how Legionella Awareness Month began in 2020, why the topic continues to evolve, and why these episodes remain among the podcast’s most downloaded and shared.

04:56 — Trace introduces returning guest Patsy Root, Senior Manager of Government Affairs at IDEXX Water, and revisits her appearances in Episodes 403 and 434.

06:25 — Interview with Patsy Root about Legionella pneumophila testing, effective water management programs, professional education, and building-water responsibility.

08:50 — Patsy explains why Legionella education remains necessary six years after the pandemic highlighted the risks associated with reopening stagnant building water systems.

10:40 — Foundational Legionella education should be adapted to an audience’s experience, responsibilities, and understanding of microbiology.

13:35 — AWT conferences and professional communities connect new practitioners with experienced professionals whose field knowledge may not appear in books or technical papers.

16:10 — Patsy explains how professional collaboration helps the industry reassess long-standing assumptions about Legionella species and focus more precisely on L. pneumophila.

20:20 — Patsy discusses how CWT and ASSE 12080 certifications are understood outside the water treatment industry and why credentials should be evaluated alongside experience, references, and work products.

23:20 — Research from KWR, the World Health Organization, and the Journal of Hospital Infection challenges the use of non-pneumophila Legionella as an indicator for L. pneumophila.

27:10 — Patsy distinguishes water management from eradication and explains why the objective should be zero disease cases rather than zero Legionella bacteria.

29:40 — Legionella longbeachae is associated primarily with soil, potting mix, and compost, illustrating why professionals must consider the environmental context of published research.

31:20 — Routine monitoring questions—where, when, how, and what to test—remain the questions Patsy receives most frequently from facility teams and water professionals.

32:30 — Sustainable implementation depends on teaching everyone responsible for the program what to do and why each activity matters.

34:30 — Patsy challenges the belief that avoiding Legionella testing eliminates risk and explains why routine verification remains necessary even when treatment measures are in place.

37:10 — A conventional water treatment program may support heat-transfer efficiency without addressing every point where people could be exposed to unsafe water.

38:40 — Patsy shares the milk-jug analogy to explain why a building owner becomes responsible for water quality after the water passes through the meter.

42:00 — Patsy discusses the regulatory gap surrounding water inside many buildings and the need for persistent education, communication, and outreach to building owners.

46:20 — Legionella requirements are beginning to appear in insurance policies as insurers and building owners recognize the financial consequences of outbreaks.

48:40 — Accurate outbreak reporting should explain transmission, exposure routes, risk factors, and reliable sources of public-health information without creating unnecessary panic.

51:20 — Patsy outlines how to interpret a positive laboratory result by reviewing the organism, concentration, number of positive locations, distribution, and established action limits.

54:00 — Sampling should not begin until the facility knows how it will respond if Legionella is detected.

55:30 — A cross-functional water management team should include financial authority, water treatment knowledge, plumbing expertise, facilities personnel, and representatives familiar with potential exposure areas.

58:30 — Stronger collaboration between public water systems and building water management teams can clarify incoming water conditions and each party’s responsibilities.

1:02:00 — Patsy answers four Legionella Awareness Month questions about management, trusted resources, common implementation failures, and the value of focusing on L. pneumophila.

1:04:00 — Trace shares the episode discussion guide and the Scaling UP! H2O Legionella Resources Library for professionals reviewing the topic with their teams.

1:07:00 — Words of Water with James McDonald

Quotes

“It’s important to have everybody at the table, make sure everybody understands not only what they’re doing, but why they’re doing it.”

“Don’t test the water for Legionella bacteria until you know what you’re going to do if it comes back positive.”

“The housekeeping person’s not going to think like the plumber, and the plumber’s not going to think like the infection person, and the finance person’s going to think differently, too.”

“Having a water management program does not absolve you from the daily or weekly activities that are required to be done. It must be done for it to be effective.”

Connect with Patsy Root