Why he’s PM’s Plumber of the Month: “While Chris is an excellent technician with a depth of knowledge in the plumbing and water treatment fields, it is his unwavering commitment to providing our customers with an exceptional experience that makes all the difference. We handle a lot of no-water calls due to well issues, so Chris is often encountering customers at a very stressful moment. He demonstrates empathy and ensures that the customer's needs are being met as efficiently and effectively as possible.

“Chris is always the first to volunteer for overtime when we have a customer call in with an emergency (we are not a 24/7 on-call company) and is willing to stay late to make sure the job is complete. Around our shop, Chris is well known for being the guy who will always call our other teams when he has finished up to see how he can assist them with their jobs.

“He is an excellent teacher, and our young apprentices benefit greatly from their time with him. Chris was trained under a master plumber with 35-plus years of experience in the trade, so he takes a great deal of pride in passing along the wisdom he acquired along the way. His commitment to performing top quality, code-compliant work installed in a professional manner makes training the next generation of talented plumbers much easier.” — Matthew Waller, vice president of operations, Dierolf Plumbing & Water Treatment.

Prindle’s thoughts: “I got started about eight years ago when my second son was born. My good friend got me the job doing water treatment, and I was off the books just trying it out. Now, here I am, I’ve been with the company about seven years.

“I like that it’s something new every day. You don’t walk into a house and see the same things because everyone has different tastes. And I love helping people by turning their water back on and seeing how grateful they are when it’s working again. I also have a great boss and work environment. It’s unique. It’s not everywhere that you find a boss that cares about your home life — I’ve never been treated so well. I hope more people join the industry. My advice is it will pay off eventually. You might not start out at the best rate, but it gets better. And eventually, we’re going to be very rare people in high demand.”