January 2021

By Todd Teter, PMI Board of Directors President, House of Rohl

The great poet Robert Frost said, “Freedom lies in being bold.” That idea resonated with me because in these times and circumstances, we all must continue to be bold in all that we do.

Being bold is not the same as being reckless, or careless. It’s quite the opposite. Being bold means stepping up when you can see an obvious need, or chasing what at first seems to be a harebrained idea to uncover that great next industry innovation. Some of the greatest innovations in the last decade have come from the likes of the largest taxi company, Uber, which owns no vehicles, and the largest accommodation provider, Airbnb, which owns no hotels.

In our industry, entrepreneurs with a zest to conserve water or make our lives easier have found fuel from crowdsourced funds to support their startups. The race for a COVID-19 vaccine has showcased for all the value of courage over complacency, especially during times of great uncertainty. And those times are surely here and now.

As I’ve reflected on what I’d like to get done in the next year, I’ve got three goals in mind.

First, accelerate membership value. We have a number of strengths that we’ve demonstrated in our history, and we want to continue to leverage those strengths. But I also want to make sure that we do some non-traditional thinking to extend beyond the boundaries that we currently have and bring even more value. I want to adopt a test-and-learn mindset. We will take an idea, run it up the flagpole, and test it. And as we learn from it, we will change it, adapt it and then roll it forward, hopefully with great success and great membership value.

Second, increase our engagement and leverage our diversity to make us better and stronger. This includes creating diversity in our leadership and continuing to make that a key priority for the association.

Third, explore the art of the possible – thinking beyond 2021 and years into the future. And with that, absolutely not letting perfection be the enemy of progress.

I cannot be prouder or more honored by the confidence you’ve placed in me, to be your next president of the Plumbing Manufacturers International. I’ve served on the PMI Board of Directors for the past six years in a variety of roles. I’ve also served on the board of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for Northern Ohio for 12 years, with four years as president, and on the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Leadership Council. Both of these causes are near and dear to my family and my heart. Both my volunteer and industry experience continue to teach me and offer valuable insights.

I’m looking forward to continuing my work with you and for you in 2021. Please accept my thanks for your support and for all I know you will continue to do for PMI. Special thanks to the 2020 PMI Board of Directors President Joel Smith on behalf of the entire membership for his many contributions. It has absolutely been my honor and my privilege to work side by side with him over the last few years.

And to be clear, being PMI’s president is not all work and no play. Next year’s 67th Annual Meeting of the Membership, with good fortune and a great vaccine, will be held during the PMI21 Manufacturing Success Conference at the beautiful Paradise Point in San Diego, Nov. 15–18. Please be sure to mark your calendars. I am so looking forward to seeing everyone in person again!

By Kerry Stackpole, IOM, FASAE, CAE, PMI CEO/Executive Director

How much thought have you given recently to words and language? As 2020 draws to a close, is it any surprise the dictionary editors at Merriam Webster declared “pandemic” the 2020 word of the year? The folks at the Oxford Dictionary were so flustered by the plethora of new words, abbreviations and phrases in 2020, they could not pick only one word. 2020 brought us a flood of new words, as well as new emotions.

Lockdown, which referred to a wooden peg used in timber transport, suddenly arose with an entirely new meaning. Words like anthropause emerged from the pandemic, too. What does BLM mean? Have you been to a superspreader event? What exactly is PPE? Is “cancel culture” a thing? What about frontliners? What can you tell me about “zooming” – that’s not related to driving fast? How about staycations or doomscrolling? Moonshot has found an entirely new meaning in the United Kingdom government’s approach to COVID-19 testing. In the U.K., “Brexit” seems almost quaint, even as it bedevils the European Union and Britain.

BBC media editor Amol Rajan notes that “all languages evolve, but the rate of evolution has sped up today. In this, the Too Much Information Age, when media is all pervasive, new words and usages adapt at an ever-faster rate.” Spot on.

For many among us, the days leading to the end of 2020 prompt the opusculum of New Year’s resolutions. While this form of hopeful thinking is notoriously short-lived, it remains a starting point for the change many desire. A growing chorus of creatives suggest foregoing resolutions and replacing them with a collection of revelatory words setting out your goals or intentions. What words will describe your journey in 2021? While you’re thinking about it, I’ll start. Growth, inspiration and family.

The Journey of Growth. Life is full of opportunities to push the boundaries of our current existence. With the rise of COVID-19, all of us have adapted to new ways of fulfilling our work and family responsibilities. The “everything room” is now a meaningful concept in homebuilding. An emphasis on personal safety, social distancing, masking-up, and washing your hands has taken hold in many places. Personal and professional growth is at hand every single day. Engaging with colleagues, volunteering with a community charity, writing a book, or reading one. Maybe your dream for personal growth is the intrinsically irrational act of climbing Mount Everest. As Will Rogers reminds us, “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” Your personal and professional growth is at hand.

Inspiration and Perspiration. It was Apple founder Steve Jobs who said, “If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” For so many of us, that is at the root of our work and our industry. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 663 million people globally lack access to a source of water protected from outside contamination, and 2.4 billion are still without sanitation that hygienically separates human waste from human contact. All of which makes our work and that of our colleagues essential to the planet. More people gain access to safer, healthier and better lives because of the work each of us does every day to bring safe, reliable and sanitary products to market. That’s exciting and inspiring work.

Family Is Not An Important Thing. It’s Everything. The comedian George Burns with tongue firmly planted in cheek once said, “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.” The COVID-19 pandemic drove a new appreciation for the things we’ve taken for granted about the joy of family life. In an ironic twist, the pandemic brought family closer and kept some family members at a distance. The conflicting emotions of keeping our immediate family safe while embracing loved ones at a distance became an existential challenge. Having our dogs, cats and kids underfoot most days made for some amusing video-conferences. Apple’s FaceTime or family Zoom gatherings became an essential part of sustaining our critical family connections. They also cemented a communication advance 93 years in the making by AT&T’s Bell Labs.

As you think about the language of 2021, what are your goals and intentions? What words – new or old—will remind you of the path you want to follow as 2021 comes into sight? As author Andrew Razeghi wrote, “Leaders’ beliefs are the soil in which we plant our aspirations…you must tend to your outlook as much as your intellect. You must believe as much as you think.” Here’s to believing in a prosperous renewal for 2021. 

By Judy Wohlt, PMI Communications Team, Valek and Co.

To truly hear and understand another person takes empathy – the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, withhold judgment, and make that person feel valued. That was the central message delivered to PMI members who participated in the 2020 PMI Aspiring Leaders Program led by Rachel Hanfling in December. 

Good active listening skills support strong communication skills, which are key to building the excellent relationships essential to effective leadership, Hanfling explained. To be a successful leader, you must consider what your charges want, need and care about, she added. Hanfling shared her mantra: meet people where they are to take them where you want them to go.

Using her “Language of Leadership” workbook during the virtual program, Hanfling encouraged participants to be open and candid. The goal was to help them each identify their listening strengths and improvement areas. 

“All participants, from seasoned industry veterans to newer members of the plumbing manufacturing industry, were willing to openly share their concerns and questions. Their vulnerability was amazing – and necessary to making the program work,” said Jodi Stuhrberg, PMI association manager and program facilitator.

Listening dos and don’ts

Hanfling began the session by explaining that when people feel heard, they’re more likely to take positive action.  

During a segment she called “Listening Leadership 101,” Hanfling shared her three principles of effective communication: 1) listen with your eyes, ears and heart to connect with and understand your audience; 2) give first by providing support and being considerate of others’ needs before your own; and 3) don’t overwhelm the listener. She explained that having a degree and being smart doesn’t automatically make you an effective communicator. For example, Hanfling advised providing a bit of information in a simple way, instead of overwhelming your audience with your knowledge.  

Ultimately, active listening is about forming strong relationships with people, not just about getting information, she said.

Hanfling, an Emmy-nominated former producer for Oprah and Anderson Cooper, also shared her top six listening mistakes. They include tuning in and out of a conversation; chomping at the bit to interject; and listening only in your comfort zone. She provided an example of listening in your comfort zone: someone tells you they’re stressed out and plan on going to the gym. You respond by only discussing the gym and not addressing the stress issue. 

Everyone ended the program with a list of their own active-listening action steps to immediately use on the job. In a survey, participants voiced their eagerness to practice what they learned and their desire to participate in future programs, said Stephanie Lass, PMI education coordinator.  

The next Aspiring Leaders Program will be held on Nov. 15, 2021, at the USS Midway Museum in San Diego. Learn more at safeplumbing.org/events/aspiring-leaders-program.

By Ray Valek, PMI Communications Team, Valek and Co.

From the cupola of a Lutheran seminary, Union Cavalry Brigadier General John Buford could see the Confederate army approaching Gettysburg from the west. Familiar with the terrain, he knew the Rebel troops must be delayed until Yankee reinforcements could arrive and dig in on the high ground south of the small Pennsylvania town.

Setting up a defensive position west of the town, he engaged the Confederates on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, slowing their advance and giving the Union army the time it needed. From that point on, the Rebel army was literally fighting an uphill battle.

These days, we would describe Buford’s actions to secure the high ground as “high-level” strategic thinking. At the virtual PMI CEO Thinking Forum on April 21, 2021, West Point graduate and leadership expert Ed Ruggero will lead a two-hour workshop that draws lessons from the actions of Buford and other commanders at Gettysburg and challenges you to consider how you function as a leader.

Open to CEOs and other senior executives

The event is open to CEOs and other senior executives. PMI encourages each member company to register one or more participants, who will each be given a copy of the book “The Killer Angels” to read in advance of the forum. The Pulitzer Prize-winning book describes the battle through the eyes of the key commanders – Buford, Robert E. Lee, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, James Longstreet, and others.

PMI CEO/Executive Director Kerry Stackpole said the forum will provide senior-level executives an opportunity to explore how decisions are made amid changing, uncertain conditions that bear some similarities to what the plumbing manufacturing industry is now facing. “The reality is everyone has been changed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This forum is an opportunity to gain insights into how others who have found themselves within a crisis have succeeded and, even more importantly, what steps they took to reach their success.”

How to develop confident, competent decision-makers

In his workshop, Ruggero focuses on the question “how does your organization develop confident, competent decision-makers?” In a video about his Gettysburg leadership experience program, he describes Buford as someone used to making decisions on his own, in an arm of the service where making one’s own decisions is the norm. If you want John Bufords in your organization, how do you encourage them to “assess, decide and act” when the need arises?, he asks.

Using his experience working with leaders in business, government agencies and academia, Ruggero is familiar with the mindset of C-suite executives, Stackpole said. “He knows the breadth of responsibilities these executives have, the array of challenges they have, what they worry about the most, and how to provoke their thinking,” he explained. “High-level leadership lessons from a different time will offer fresh insights and will be useful and powerful during the balance of the decade.”

To learn more and express your interest, go to safeplumbing.org/events/pmi-ceo-thinking-forum.

By Judy Wohlt, PMI Communications Team, Valek and Co.

Hunter’s Curve, an 80-year-old chart used to predict peak water demand in plumbing systems, has been applied as the foundation for many of today’s plumbing codes. 

While it has been a dependable tool, Hunter’s Curve was recently modernized – with a new methodology and new features added to IAPMO’s Water Demand Calculator – to consider current trends for more efficient plumbing fixtures and lower flow rates. 

Dr. Steven Buchberger, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Cincinnati, addressed this topic during his presentation on “Hunter’s Curve Meets March Madness: Estimating Peak Demands in Premise Plumbing Systems” at the PMI20 Manufacturing Success Conference on Nov. 11.

Seductive simplicity can lead to misapplication

When Roy Hunter published his “Methods for Estimating Loads and Plumbing Systems” in December 1940, he recognized three key parameters to estimate peak water demand in a building: 1) the number of fixtures in a building, 2) a plumbing fixture’s water flow, and 3) the probability a fixture would be in use, noted Buchberger. Hunter focused on the “big three” fixtures: a flush-valve toilet, a flush-tank toilet, and a bathtub. 

“Hunter’s Curve is very simple to use and the simplicity can be seductive,” Buchberger said. “It also can be misapplied.” 

He explained that one of the assumptions Hunter used in developing the curve was that a plumbing system was operating under congested conditions, such as with a line of individuals waiting to use the restroom. This scenario is common at halftime at a basketball arena. However, congested conditions would likely not be appropriate if applied to an apartment complex, for example. 

Attempts to recalibrate approach bring progress

Over the past 40 years, experts have made some ad-hoc adjustments to Hunter’s Curve. Buchberger mentioned Dr. Alfred Steele, who applied some modifications in 1982, writing in his book “Engineered Plumbing Design” that it was safe to reduce the values obtained by use of Hunter’s Curve by 40%. 

Major changes to plumbing fixtures took place when Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 1992, mandating use of water-conserving fixtures in buildings. That legislation resulted in sizable reductions in water flow rates and water volume used. 

Buchberger highlighted IAPMO’s recent efforts to recalibrate Hunter’s approach. He discussed how he served on the IAPMO committee that developed a probability model to predict peak demands according to the number of plumbing fixtures to be installed in a building. He noted that the resulting new methodology will be included in the 2021 edition of the American Water Works Association’s M22 Manual, which covers how to size water service lines and meters.  

The committee was able to tap into a large national database of residential water use – with information from over 60 cities in nine states and more than 1,000 single-family households. The group discovered a lot of variation between today’s fixture use and the water demand Hunter studied 80 years ago. For example, Buchberger said that Hunter calculated an almost 7% chance of water running from a home’s bathtub while IAPMO’s new model reduces that chance to 1%. 

He offered several additional examples of various scenarios using single-family homes and large apartment complexes to illustrate the probability of water stagnation and the implications for pipe sizing. 

IAPMO’s Water Demand Calculator

IAPMO’s work resulted in the development of a residential Water Demand Calculator that anyone can download for free. The calculator, which is an Excel spreadsheet, lists plumbing fixtures and appliances with entries for number of fixtures, probability of use, flow rates, and maximum recommended fixture flow rates to estimate peak water supply demand loads for sizing water distribution systems.

New calculator features include a drop-down menu that lets users select between a single and multifamily building and additional computed information on peak conditions to be displayed, such as the average number of simultaneous busy fixtures being used at any moment during the peak period – known as the Hunter Number.

PMI members can access a video recording and slides from his PMI20 presentation here.

By Judy Wohlt, PMI Communications Team, Valek and Co.

Dr. Andrew Persily, chief of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Energy & Environment Division, shared a NIST technical report that identifies 59 research needs during his presentation at the PMI20 Manufacturing Success Conference on Nov. 11. He also requested feedback and assistance from PMI members and the industry toward achieving the research targets.

NIST, which has been involved in research on premise plumbing for almost 100 years, established a couple of main goals for its report: to identify research needed to design new premise plumbing systems and to operate and retrofit existing systems to achieve water and energy efficiency – while maintaining water quality.

The May 2020 report, known as NIST Technical Note 2088, lays out a research roadmap that includes the creation of standardized definitions of key terms, studying data water demand patterns for various building types, and formally recording best practices for planned water system shutdowns. These practices are particularly relevant in the context of COVID-19. 

Persily, who has a doctorate in mechanical and aerospace engineering, said the report incorporated information shared during a NIST, EPA and the Water Research Foundation workshop, as well as feedback from key stakeholders – the research community, water utilities, manufacturers and government code bodies. View the workshop report (NIST GCR 19-20) on the NIST website. 

Research areas identified; commitments being secured

Persily noted that NIST has received funding to get started on some of the research, which is currently expected to focus on the following six areas: pressure-flow relationships of plumbing fittings; enhanced plumbing system simulation tools; standardized plumbing system models; water heater temperatures and opportunistic pathogens; standardized terminology; and commercial building water usage survey.

Research needs have been organized into two categories: foundational measurement science and applied research, Persily explained. 

Foundational measurement science involves areas covering test methods and data to understand and illustrate the chemical, physical and biological performance of plumbing systems. One area of focus will study flow and transport fundamentals, such as the impact of reduced flow rates on drainage systems. Another will highlight model development with simulation tools for water flow, supply and drainage.

Applied research will build on the findings of the foundational measurement science topics to develop guidance and design approaches to improve the efficiency of water delivery systems and improve water quality. In the area of system design, for example, research will involve the impacts of alternative water use, hot water plumbing design, and validation of alternative sizing models and methodology for integration with plumbing codes.

NIST’s next steps with the research include continuing to share the research needs report, securing commitments from key stakeholders to help with the research, and planning another workshop to gather additional feedback. “We’re going to keep learning together about what’s happening and what work needs to be done,” Persily said. 

PMI members can access a video recording and slides from his PMI20 presentation here.

By Judy Wohlt, PMI Communications Team, Valek and Co.

Shower heads embedded with silver are being used to help eliminate pathogens in water, according to Dr. Leanne Gilbertson. However, studies have shown that some pathogens may develop resistance to silver – which has prompted her University of Pittsburgh research team to study the issue further.

Gilbertson provided details about the team’s research during her presentation on “Assessing the Impact of Silver in Shower Heads on Opportunistic Pathogen Abundance and Resistance” at the PMI20 Manufacturing Success Conference in November. 

The study is funded by the National Science Foundation (CBET No. 1935378) and focuses on three opportunistic pathogens (OPs) – Legionella pneumophila, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Nontuberculous mycobacteria – because of their public health implications.

Gilbertson, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, noted that there is increased concern about a potential connection between Legionellosis, or Legionnaires’ disease, and water stagnation as building fixtures go unused for long time periods during the COVID-19 pandemic. This concern adds new relevance to the study.

Ultimately, the team hopes the research will lead to more effective shower fixture design that maximizes antimicrobial activity and minimizes resistance build-up, according to Gilbertson.

Importance of isolating ions and nanoparticles

The study compares small plastic showerheads infused with silver to conventional metal and plastic shower heads. The team is observing how silver ions and silver nanoparticles contribute to inactivation of bacteria. “Isolating the particle and ion contributions is not so easy, and that’s where a lot of the controversy lies and something that we’re trying to resolve,” Gilbertson noted. The team chose fixtures that are already used in healthcare facilities and that are shown to prevent biofilm and reduce opportunistic pathogen concentration in shower water, the shower head and hose, she added.

A shower lab created by Dr. Sarah Haig, one of Gilbertson’s team members and assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, simulates a shower system with three cubicles. Each cubicle includes three different shower head setups, which will be flushed daily to replicate average shower use. The three setups allow the team to study the influence of different shower head materials on water chemistry. Water will be collected and analyzed from each system on a seasonal basis to account for any variability caused by water temperature in the distribution system.  

Valuable discoveries about live bacteria and motility

The team recently made an important discovery: some of the Legionella bacteria were alive, according to the preliminary data collected after the COVID-19 shutdown. “That’s good because what we want to do is to be able to have a positive readout and then see how this is changing based on the treatment, which is the shower head modifications,” Gilbertson said.

In an associated study, the team also found that motility plays an important role in the ability for bacteria to develop resistance to silver nanoparticles, using E. coli as the model bacterium. This finding has implications for our OP study because Legionella and Pseudomonas are motile, Gilbertson said.

It’s important to note how various disinfection methods are tested, she added. Gilbertson asked: Do we need to do more than traditional culturing and include molecular approaches? Is the mechanism of inactivation (silver) inducing an unintended consequence, such as resistance? What are tradeoffs of the alternatives, for example, chemical cleaning or copper-silver ionization?

She concluded that there are opportunities to incorporate new materials and biocides into water fixtures to improve disinfection rates, reduce maintenance and cleaning, and improve public health.

Gilbertson encouraged PMI members to participate in the research and asked that those interested should contact her at Leanne.gilbertson@pitt.edu. PMI members can access a video recording and slides from her PMI20 presentation here.

By Genevieve Valek, PMI Communications Team, Valek and Co.

The ever-changing demographic makeup of America has manufacturers realizing the importance of building diversity and inclusion into their workforces. This diversity encompasses not only gender and race but diversity in age, ability, ethnicity and sexual orientation.

The United States is becoming more diverse every day. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2019), non-white Americans make up about 40% of the population. Among Millennials – the largest and most diverse generation in American history – 44% belong to a minority group, according to a report by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. Generation Z, those born between 1995 and 2005, is the first minority-majority generation.

With these generations representing a significant percentage of the available workforce, manufacturers must embrace the diversity these younger workers bring to drive innovation and gain competitive advantage.

Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI) believes increasing diversity within its member engagement and volunteer leadership pipeline is essential to the future of the association. PMI is not seeking to diversify the volunteer leadership ranks as a matter of filling a quota. Rather, PMI supports a diversity and inclusion lens that identifies eligible applicants who have the range of experiences and interests (business, marketing, manufacturing, etc.) that may best fit PMI’s needs. 

PMI member UL, for example, provides many different resources to its employees in the name of diversity. Initiated and led by employees, the company’s Business Resource Groups and Global D&I (Diversity and Inclusion) Ambassadors foster inclusivity for various workplace communities across the globe. These groups within UL help advance their diversity objectives and are a catalyst for business growth. In addition, UL has Diversity + Inclusion Executive and Leadership Councils, which take a top-down bottom-up approach to diversity within the company. 

There are several ways that you can welcome diversity to your offices and production lines. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Allow Diversity to Do Its Magic

According to an article published in Scientific American, decades of research show that socially diverse groups – groups with a diversity of race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation ­­– are more innovative than homogeneous groups. People with different backgrounds may bring unique ideas and perspectives to the table, fostering creativity and problem-solving. In addition, working within a diverse group encourages team members to prepare better, anticipate alternative viewpoints, and reach a group consensus that represents a broader constituency.

2. Become an Advocate

For too long, the burden of improving diversity and inclusion has fallen on the disenfranchised. It’s important for all employees, especially those in leadership positions, to advocate for providing opportunities for all, as explored in this Forbes article. Read more.