503 Pinks and Blues: Beyond Industrial Water Week 2026
Scaling UP! H2O
Industrial Water Week 2026 has ended, and Trace Blackmore, CWT, challenges listeners to carry its focus on learning and mentorship into the rest of the year. This Pinks and Blues episode combines reflections on IWW26 and the AWT convention with listener questions about AI and professional development. Give continued learning a place on your calendar Trace proposes a specific challenge: choose one of Industrial Water Week’s five focus areas and schedule 30 minutes to improve your understanding. Those areas are pretreatment, boilers, cooling, wastewater, and careers. ...
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502 Industrial Water Week 2026: Careers Friday
Scaling UP! H2O
Experienced water treaters carry knowledge that the next generation needs. For Careers Friday, Trace Blackmore, CWT asks them to pass it on. The Industrial Water Week 2026 finale connects industrial water treatment careers with mentorship, practical training, and curiosity. Pass on the reasoning behind the work Trace describes a mentor as someone you can call when a system presents a problem you cannot explain. Learning from another professional’s challenges, mistakes, and experience helped him solve problems and later mentor others. He also addresses professionals preparing to retire....
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501 Industrial Water Week 2026: Wastewater Thursday
Scaling UP! H2O
A wastewater inspection appeared to expose a failed treatment program—until Trace checked where the sample had been collected. For Industrial Water Week 2026: Wastewater Thursday, Trace Blackmore, CWT, connects correct sampling, water reuse, and careful troubleshooting with the decisions water treaters make every day. Check the sample location before drawing conclusions In an early-career account, a plant operator faced a threatened shutdown after an inspector’s sample produced out-of-spec results. Trace reviewed logs, spoke with the engineer, and tested two locations. The...
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500 Industrial Water Week 2026: Cooling Wednesday
Scaling UP! H2O
Cooling Wednesday brings a practical reminder: correcting a treatment problem requires understanding what caused it. For Industrial Water Week 2026, Trace Blackmore, CWT, celebrates Episode 500 with lessons on cooling tower foam, biocide feed verification, Legionella risk, and unexplained chilled water loss. Start with the feed history When a cooling tower produces enough foam to spread across the property and trigger low water shutdowns, Trace begins with the biocide feed logs. He compares the chemical remaining in the tank with calculated consumption and finds evidence of...
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499 Industrial Water Week 2026: Boiler Tuesday
Scaling UP! H2O
Boiler Tuesday is a reminder that industrial water treatment exists to protect heat transfer efficiency. For day two of Industrial Water Week 2026, Trace Blackmore, CWT, connects feedwater preparation, condensate quality, and treatment distribution to the everyday decisions that keep steam systems working. Feedwater quality sets the stage Trace starts with a practical measure of boiler performance: how much heat from the flame reaches the steam? Feedwater conditions directly affect that work. He links inadequate feedwater heating with higher chemical demand,...
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498 Industrial Water Week 2026: Pretreatment Monday
Scaling UP! H2O
is here—and Day 1 is Pretreatment Monday. In Episode 498, Trace Blackmore, CWT, opens the 2026 celebration with troubleshooting stories, returning guest greetings, and a new Detective H2O case that brings pretreatment performance into focus. Celebrate with purpose Take a photo with your favorite pretreatment equipment—a softener, RO, or filter housing—and post it with #IWW26. Then search the hashtag to connect with others doing the same work. Trace’s invitation makes the week visible and recognizes the people who keep downstream systems operating. Start with the pretreatment train At...
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497 Pinks & Blues: From Sample to Solution
Scaling UP! H2O
A controller and a handheld meter give you different readings. Before you adjust blowdown or chemical feed, how do you determine which result deserves your confidence? Reliable water treatment testing starts with understanding the sample, the system, and the equipment behind the number. In Episode 497, “Pinks and Blues: From Sample to Solution,” Trace Blackmore, CWT, answers listener questions that build on Episodes 397 and 408. He connects testing with repeatable procedures so technicians can interpret results, make informed adjustments, and explain their decisions to...
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496 Growing Through Change in Water Treatment with Mark Lewis, Part 2
Scaling UP! H2O
When a water treater can run a test but cannot yet diagnose a failing system, the next training decision matters. In Growing Through Change with Mark Lewis, Part 2, Mark Lewis of CRB Water joins Trace Blackmore, CWT, to connect training choices with work in the field. Match Training to Experience Mark sees the space between AWT’s March and November training sessions as a chance to revise material instead of repeating the same presentation. He explains how Fundamentals and Applications, Program Designs and Operations, and Technical Training serve different levels of readiness....
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495 Growing Through Change in Water Treatment with Mark Lewis, Part 1
Scaling UP! H2O
Change is unavoidable, but uncertainty does not have to control how water treatment professionals respond to it. Mark Lewis returns to share what he learned when Southeastern Laboratories was acquired by CRB Water—and how employees can remain valuable, informed, and open to opportunity during a business transition. Navigating an Acquisition from the Employee’s Perspective Southeastern Laboratories began exploring a buyer because its owners wanted to protect the company and approximately 30 employees. When CRB Water entered the picture, employees naturally wondered what...
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494 Preparing for AWT 2026: Leadership, Change, and CWT Growth with Matt Coffindaffer, Part 2
Scaling UP! H2O
A strong convention outcome starts before the first session and continues long after the exhibit hall closes. Association of Water Technologies Executive Director Matt Coffindaffer explains how deliberate preparation, wider professional relationships, and volunteer service can turn AWT 2026 into practical value for an industrial water treatment career or business. Find the Right Place to Volunteer AWT offers yearlong committee service, shorter task-force assignments, and opportunities across technical research, marketing, membership, regulatory affairs, business resources, young...
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A wastewater inspection appeared to expose a failed treatment program—until Trace checked where the sample had been collected. For Industrial Water Week 2026: Wastewater Thursday, Trace Blackmore, CWT, connects correct sampling, water reuse, and careful troubleshooting with the decisions water treaters make every day.
Check the sample location before drawing conclusions
In an early-career account, a plant operator faced a threatened shutdown after an inspector’s sample produced out-of-spec results. Trace reviewed logs, spoke with the engineer, and tested two locations. The inspector had sampled before treatment rather than at the correct downstream location.
Trace then showed the customer both results and asked the inspector where he had sampled. That curious, factual approach corrected the misunderstanding without blame. The customer also recognized the need to escort unfamiliar inspectors so they could collect samples from the right place.
Recover water, nutrients, and energy
Returning guest Dr. Veronika Zhiteneva of Waterloop Solutions describes wastewater plants as future resource recovery plants, reclaiming water, nutrients, and energy. Kalpna Solanki, president and CEO of GAMECHANGERS Inc., shares reuse examples from British Columbia: treated effluent for snowmaking, biosolids composted with sawdust, and reclaimed water for toilet flushing and rooftop irrigation at the Vancouver Convention Center West.
Together, their greetings shift attention toward what treatment can recover and where reclaimed water can serve another purpose.
Investigate the disappearing hardness
In the fictional Detective H2O story, The Case of the Disappearing Act, an operator measures 2–3 ppm total hardness leaving a softener, yet the feedwater tests soft. After checking condensate return, repeating the analyses, and walking the process, the detective finds that the feedwater sample point sits downstream of EDTA injection.
The case explains how chelant can complex calcium and magnesium before the hardness test, leaving a blue indication even when hardness has passed the softener. The resolution is to investigate the softener’s leakage and turn the operator’s observations into training and procedures.
Share the work behind Wastewater Thursday
Trace invites listeners to photograph their favorite wastewater equipment safely, wear appropriate PPE, and share the photo with #IWW26. He also recommends Episode 444 for last year’s Wastewater Thursday Detective H2O story and invites mystery-voice guesses on LinkedIn before Careers Friday’s reveal.
Check the sample location, verify the data, and understand the process before drawing conclusions. Those habits support clearer decisions and more useful conversations with customers and colleagues.
Listen to the full conversation above. Explore related episodes below. Stay engaged, keep learning, and continue scaling up your knowledge!
Timestamps
02:20 — Trace explains how wastewater treatment gives used water another life through treatment and reuse.
03:50 — A threatened plant shutdown introduces a sampling story that shows why an out-of-spec result needs investigation.
06:10 — Trace discovers that the inspector sampled before treatment, changing the interpretation of the reported results.
08:50 — Trace explains how curiosity and questions helped resolve the dispute and build trust with the inspector.
09:50 — Veronika Zhiteneva describes recovering water, nutrients, and energy rather than using new resources for the same purposes.
10:30 — Kalpna Solanki reframes wastewater as a resource and shares examples of treated-effluent and biosolids reuse.
11:40 — Kalpna describes reclaimed water at the Vancouver Convention Center West and discusses the future of water reclamation.
13:00 — Trace introduces the fictional Detective H2O case, The Case of the Disappearing Act, involving a water softener.
23:50 — Trace invites mystery-voice guesses on LinkedIn and recommends Episode 444 for another Wastewater Thursday story.
24:40 — Trace asks listeners to share a wastewater-equipment photo with #IWW26 while wearing PPE and working safely.
27:40 — Trace previews Careers Friday celebrations and mentions a water cake recipe for teams interested in trying it.
Connect with Dr. Veronika Zhiteneva
Email: vzhiteneva@gowaterloop.com
Website: Home – Waterloop Solutions
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vzhiteneva/
Connect with Kalpna Solanki
Email: ksolanki@gamechangerssolutions.com
Website: GAMECHANGERS Inc. | Strategy Development And Implementation
LinkedIn: Kalpna Solanki MBA | LinkedIn
GAMECHANGERS Inc.: Overview | LinkedIn
Links Mentioned
AWT (Association of Water Technologies)
Scaling UP! H2O Academy video courses
Industrial Water Week Scaling UP H2O Resource Page
459 — From Wastewater to Resource: Water Reuse with Dr. Veronika Zhiteneva
355 — Backflow Prevention: Safeguarding Water Quality
481 — From Waterfalls to SOPs: Building Better Utilities with Kalpna Solanki
389 — Industrial Water Week 2024: Careers Friday
445 — Industrial Water Week 2025: Careers Friday
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