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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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. Their water treatment legacy can continue through a colleague who learns from their experience.
Three routes into a water career
Brian Liotta of USALCO recounts a career that began in water treatment chemical manufacturing and expanded into commercial work and distribution. Jemma Tennant, chair of the Water Management Society and an SMS Environmental employee, shares how effluent-plant work and a conversation with Sir David Attenborough inspired her career.
Meanwhile, Dr. David Krause of HC3 describes entering the field through public health responses to waterborne disease. His message includes industrial hygiene resources and training in health and safety, confined-space entry, and combustible dust.
Detective H2O: The Case of Adolescent Curiosity
Detective H2O introduces two high school students to pretreatment, boiler water, data center cooling, and batch wastewater treatment. James McDonald brings the series to listeners, while Trace credits Mark Lewis with writing today’s case.
The tour connects ion exchange and softener regeneration with boiler protection, then explains deaeration, sulfite, and neutralizing amines. At the data center, corrosion coupons, bacteria dipslides, conductivity, operating trends, and chiller approach support a complete testing program.
The wastewater stop adds jar testing, coagulant and flocculant selection, clarification, and filter-press dewatering. The lesson links discharge requirements with the cost of hauling wet sludge.
Guest voices, peer support, and a next step
Trace thanks Pyxis Lab, the official sponsor of Industrial Water Week 2026, and reveals the guest voices behind all five Detective H2O cases. He also describes the Rising Tide Mastermind as a place for regular peer support, accountability, and shared knowledge.
His closing request gives listeners a practical next step: thank someone who helped build their knowledge, seek a mentor, or mentor another water professional. Keep that exchange active so the industry’s experience continues to reach the next generation.
Listen to the full conversation above. Explore related episodes below. Stay engaged, keep learning, and continue scaling up your knowledge!
Timestamp
01:10 — Trace opens Careers Friday and thanks Pyxis Lab for supporting Industrial Water Week 2026.
04:40 — Trace recognizes the community’s photos, stories, and mystery-voice guesses as ways to celebrate the profession.
07:40 — Trace connects career development with mentors who share experience and help newcomers understand unfamiliar systems.
10:00 — Trace asks professionals nearing retirement to mentor someone so their water treatment knowledge continues.
11:00 — Brian Liotta shares his route from chemical manufacturing into commercial work and distribution, illustrating the industry’s career range.
12:10 — Jemma Tennant describes her effluent-plant beginnings and encourages women to consider careers in water.
13:00 — Dr. David Krause connects public health work with water treatment and emphasizes training that helps professionals work safely.
16:10 — The Case of Adolescent Curiosity begins a student tour designed to make industrial water treatment visible as a career.
21:10 — The pretreatment stop explains ion exchange, hardness removal, and the importance of softener regeneration and monitoring.
23:30 — The boiler-room visit connects dissolved oxygen, deaeration, sulfite, and condensate treatment with corrosion control.
25:00 — The data center visit links cooling-water performance with heat transfer, reliability, and a complete testing program.
27:00 — The wastewater stop explains batch testing, chemical selection, clarification, and dewatering to manage discharge and disposal costs.
31:20 — Trace reveals the guest voices behind the week’s five Detective H2O cases and recalls their previous podcast appearances.
38:50 — Trace urges listeners to thank their mentors and keep sharing knowledge, then introduces the Rising Tide Mastermind’s peer support.
42:00 — Trace identifies October 4–8, 2027 as the next Industrial Water Week and invites final IWW26 celebration posts.
Connect with Brian Liotta
Phone: 15102747326
Email: [email protected]
Website: Water Treatment Chemicals – Baltimore, MD | USALCO
LinkedIn: Brian Liotta | LinkedIn
Connect with Jemma Tennant
Phone: 447828315336
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jemma-tennant-mwmsoc-2636985b/
Connect with Dr. David Krause
Phone: 850-766-1938
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.hc3fl.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdavidkrause/
Links Mentioned
430 PFAS Regulations and Technologies with Brian Liotta
436 Raising the Bar: Legionella Management & Industry Standards
433 Legionella Investigations and LIDO Technology
001 A New Podcast for Water Treaters
252 The One About the Operations Manager Turned Sales Manager
308 The 12-Week Strategy For Taking the CWT Exam
323 How to Troubleshoot a Massive Leak
380 The WOW Effect: Women Leading Transformation in the Water Industry
392 Breaking Barriers: How Diversity and Confidence Drive Growth in Water Treatment
394 Visibility and Value: Enhancing Sustainability in Water Treatment
404 Eight Tips for Business Management: Part 1 – Essential Strategies
429 The Life and Career of Jim Lukanich
444 Industrial Water Week 2025: Wastewater Thursday
445 Industrial Water Week 2025: Careers Friday
500 Industrial Water Week 2026: Cooling Wednesday
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