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Fall is conference and tradeshow season in the plumbing and HVAC world.

A proposed series of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that set maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other so-called ‘GenX chemicals’ are set to go into effect in the fall.

A few weeks back I was having a conversation with a plumbing and HVAC contracting business owner. During the beginning of our discussion, he abruptly told me, “I just use ChatGPT to do your job.”

Many of us have heard the term, ‘The Great Resignation,’ in describing the massive amount of employee turnover the last few years. In 2021, federal data shows nearly 50 million workers left their jobs for various reasons — higher pay, new career opportunities and more. With an already strained job market in the skilled trades, employee retention is more important than ever.

When you talk about water scarcity and the lack of clean drinking water, most people think about third-world countries. They don’t realize that there’s a growing threat to clean water right here at home in the United States. Look at the February train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, where a fire forced the controlled release and burn of toxic chemicals to avoid an explosion. The resulting contamination killed thousands of fish in nearby streams and ignited concerns over soil and water quality.

Last month, the Biden-Harris Administration announced it is proposing the first-ever national drinking water standard for six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The proposal, if finalized, would regulate PFOA and PFOS as individual contaminants, and will regulate four other PFAS — PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and GenX Chemicals — as a mixture.

There’s no doubt about it, concern over water quality is becoming more prevalent. One just had to walk the trade show floor during the 2022 Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS) to see plenty of new water filtration and management systems, some even dispensing sparkling water by user preference.

The WQA Board of Directors officially approved the relocation plan in April 2019, after more than two years of research and planning, and the former headquarters was sold to another Lisle-based association in March 2020, right as the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Disinfection byproducts (DBP) are becoming a matter of renewed concern in the regulatory and scientific world. It is necessary for all of us to understand the reasons and facts behind such new activity in this field.