The baby boomer generation is reaching retirement age, and many are planning to age in place. As the body ages, the use of plumbing fixtures changes. The aging body no longer has the strength and flexibility of the younger body.

On New Year’s Eve, 2020, many plumbers toasted the end to the unpredictable year. Everyone looked forward to a return to normality in 2021. Uh, yeah. So, what about 2022? Here are 11 predictions for the next year.

Supply chain disruptions are ever present and show no signs of going away anytime in the near — or perhaps distant — future.

As you are well aware, our incredible industry has been experiencing massive growth for the last couple of years. We have been seeing contractors post record months for both sales and profitability at unprecedented levels. It seems there has finally even been a shift from how this industry is viewed from the outside.

A young guy who was about the size of Bruno Mars came to my seminar once, and we were chatting during a break. I asked him how long he had been in the business. It’s good to see young people getting involved.

I recently reviewed a project in which a municipal building was being connected to a district heating system supplied by pellet-fueled boilers.

A multiple boiler system using sectional cast-iron boilers has been configured to supply two loads as shown below. A “crossover pipe” is installed in case the flow rate in the primary circuit is different from the flow through the boilers. There are several piping errors in this proposed design. Can you spot at least five of them?

Southern Trust Home Services began life on a farm. An electrician by trade, Ted Puzio founded his contracting business in 1995 while raising his two teenage sons. Then named TP Electric, Puzio and his sons renovated and flipped farmhouses before building a two-story facility to both live in and use as a workshop.

Plumbing & Mechanical Chief Editor Nicole Krawcke had a chance to chat with Chris Carrier, director of marketing for RWC, and David McCulloch, executive director of Trade Talks USA, about their partnership and campaign to attract new blood to the plumbing industry.