Scaling UP! H2O

Our guest today is Bruce T. Ketrick Jr., president of the Association of Water Technologies. Bruce began his career in the pharmaceutical industry as a sales representative and later a technical trainer. Bruce's career in water technologies started 13 years ago with Guardian CSC. During his employment with Guardian CSC he has held various positions including Field Service Representative, Sales Management, and Business Manager. Bruce has been involved in the creation and management of new companies and divisions including: EnvoGuard an environmental products company, KTS (Ketrick Technical Services) a custom blending, specialty products, technical support and consulting company, and the Equipment Division of Guardian CSC offering design, installation and support of industrial water technologies equipment with a focus on controls, reverse osmosis, pretreatment and filters.

We also talk about water softeners and answer some listener questions in "Pinks and Blues."

Our guest today is Bruce T. Ketrick Jr., president of the Association of Water Technologies. Bruce began his career in the pharmaceutical industry as a sales representative and later a technical trainer. Bruce's career in water technologies started 13 years ago with Guardian CSC. During his employment with Guardian CSC he has held various positions including Field Service Representative, Sales Management, and Business Manager. Bruce has been involved in the creation and management of new companies and divisions including: EnvoGuard an environmental products company, KTS (Ketrick Technical Services) a custom blending, specialty products, technical support and consulting company, and the Equipment Division of Guardian CSC offering design, installation and support of industrial water technologies equipment with a focus on controls, reverse osmosis, pretreatment and filters.

Bruce earned his BS in Biology from Juniata College and holds the CWT (Certified Water Technologist) designation. In this episode Bruce is sharing with us how to get involved in associations such as AWT. He's also telling us what's going on in the association, what one can expect from the association, how he got involved and where he sees AWT going in the future.

We also talk about water softeners and answer some listener questions in "Pinks and Blues."

Water Softeners

Water softening is a technique that serves the removal of the ions that cause the water to be hard (or form scale,) in most cases calcium and magnesium ions. Iron ions may also be removed during softening. A water softener is a unit that is used to soften water, by removing the minerals that cause the water to be hard. If you've ever taken a softener apart you'll notice that it has resin beads inside. The purpose of the resin beads is to provide an exchange surface for ion. The ions we're specifically talking about is calcium and magnesium.The resin is full of sodium and we're putting it online and we're putting hard water through it. This hard water contains calcium and magnesium and it's flowing through across the resin bead.

The resin bead wants the calcium and magnesium so it spits off the sodium and collects the calcium and magnesium until there's no more sodium for it to trade. Once that happens, we start passing hard water again which isn't the purpose of the water softener. Now we have to go through the process of regeneration. The resin is also acting as a filter. In order to regenerate to softener you have to follow five steps. The first step is to backwash where we reverse the flow. The next step is brining, brine travels through the salt storage area up into the resin tank. Step three is the slow rinse, where we flush hard minerals and brine from the resin tank into the drain. The fourth step is the fast rinse, the same as the slow rinse, just faster. It packs down the resin beads to make sure there's no channeling. The final step is refilling the brine tank. Now that you have a water softener you have to make sure you test properly for it.

Key Points

• How Bruce found himself in the business of water treatment. • Hear more about the dynamic of second and multi-generational businesses • Why flexibility and decision making is both a positive and a negative for business owners. • The importance of listening and asking questions in order to learn. • Common mistakes made by water treaters. • What holding the CWT designation means for Bruce. • Hear about Bruce's journey starting out in the AWT and his rise to president. • Understand Bruce's tasks during his leadership year as president of the AWT. • How the AWT is laser focused on the water treatment industry. • Find out why decisions made at the AWT are made on the benefit and values of membership. • Discover the purpose and mission of the AWT. • Resources being spent on online fundamentals by the AWT. • Identify how a new water treater can take advantage of offerings by the AWT. • Tools and resources being made available through the AWT. • Hear more about the upcoming AWT Convention taking place in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Quotes

"If you're not changing and growing all the time, you're not going to succeed." - Bruce T. Kenrick Jr. -

"The presidential year is actually more of a leadership year." - Bruce T. Kenrick Jr.

Links Mentioned

Bruce T. Ketrick Jr. - https://www.awt.org/

Bruce on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-ketrick-jr-cwt-9b11189/

Guardian CSC - https://guardiancsc.com/

AWT Convention - https://www.awt.org/annualconvention17/

AWT Webinars - http://www.awt.org/education_events/webinars.cfm

Inc. Magazine - https://www.inc.com/

The Harvard Business Review - https://hbr.org/

The AWT Convention, or any convention for that matter, can be scary. Walking around the exhibit hall and not knowing anyone or not knowing which presentation to go to can cause anxiety. On today's show we talk about how to get the most out of a convention while dealing with these two issues. Join Trace as he talks about tips and tricks he has learned throughout the years to make this your best convention ever!

Our guest today is Mike Standish, co-founder of Radical Polymers. Mike has over 28 years experience in polymer additive design and development. Prior to forming Radical Polymers, Mike served in technical and business leadership roles within global, publicly traded chemical companies and is responsible for the development and patenting of industry leading polymers for use in the water treatment, oilfield and detergent industries.

In this episode Mike will be talking about what we need to know about polymers and also how we can take all of those categories and lump them into three simple categories so we know what they do based on functional groups.

And we talk about Stack Temperatures on boilers.

Stack Temperatures

If you're concerned with your boiler system in terms of efficiency, you need to record your stack temperatures. Stack temperatures is simply the temperature of the gas, the exhaust, after the heat goes through the boiler and exhausts out. There is a thermometer located on the stack to let us know what the temperature is. You are responsible for making sure you're taking care of the entire system. That stack temperature is a look inside that boiler to see how efficient you are. If you just get one stack temperature it's not going to tell you anything, over time, if you and your customer are recording those stack temperatures you'll be able to see if those temperatures are staying the same, getting hotter or if it's getting cooler.

If it's getting cooler, it tells us that we're transferring more heat from the inside of those tubes to the outside where the the water is. That's good. If it's getting hotter, it tells us that there's something on those tubes that's insulating that heat inside that tube so we can't transfer it out. That might be an indication that we're starting to scale some ion inside the system. If we ran the proper test we should be able to look back and see exactly what's going on. If you don't keep track of your stack temperatures you're never going to know what they're telling you.

Timestamps:

How Mike got into the water treatment industry [11:30]

Hear about Mike's rollercoaster ride of starting his own company [12:45]

Why Mike spent the first year doing only product development and not selling anything [14:18]

Family run businesses in the water treatment industry and how Mike makes it work [14:56]

Mike tells us how his business helps people with mineral scale control and corrosion issues [16:45]

Learn how polymer is derived from greek, poly meaning many and mer meaning unit [18:54]

The definition of a polymer, according to Mike [20:15]

The different nuances in the way that polymers are put together and initiators used [20:34]

Mike tells us how there are hundreds of polymers out there [21:49]

The three different types of building blocks: carboxylates, sultanates and or non-ionics [22:38]

The most economical raw materials out of the three [23:49]

Why most polymers people buy are heavily weighted with carboxylated monomers [24:37]

Where Sultanates tend to be employed most [24:45]

Understand how Non-ionics are more nuanced and they are used to enhanced properties [25:08]

Why to never buy or select products based on opposition alone [26:00]

How adding functionalities increase the efficacy of the products for different types of scale [26:40]

Median molecular weight and the weight difference for polymers and small molecules [28:00]

Going beyond the marketing material and engaging directly with the supplier [30:10]

Why polymers are not discrete molecules [45:16]

Quotes:

"People should always start with the problem and work their way back to the polymer selection." - Mike Standish

"The key is to fit the right polymer with the right application." - Mike Standish

"If you don't keep track of your stack temperatures you're never going to know what they're telling you." - Trace Blackmore

Connect with Mike Standish:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-standish-7890627/

Twitter: @RadicalPolymers

Website: radicalpolymers.com

Links Mentioned:

2015 AWT Paper - Mike Standish - Rules of Three...Simplifying Polymers

AWT Convention

AWT Webinars

Kelly Registrations Systems

Books Mentioned:

The Operator - Robert O'Neill

Just a quick reminder about the Scaling UP! Meet UP! on Thursday for Breakfast. Don't forget to get your Scaling UP! button.

And, in an effort to help your drive, I have created this list of songs that will help get you to your next account. Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Our guest today is Jack Walker, CEO of WaterTech Specialties Incorporated. Jack is also one of the founders of The Association of Water Technologies. WaterTech is a family-owned and operated business. They pride themselves on the diversity of their customer base, from small family businesses to Fortune 100 companies. Truly, they are small enough to care and large enough to make a difference.

In this episode we're talking about what changes Jack has seen throughout his lifetime, what it was like for him transitioning his company to his children and what he thinks about water treatment in general.

We also talk about some things to think about when the season change and answer listener questions on "Pinks and Blues."

Season Changes.

When seasons start to change you need to look at making changes to your programs. For instance, chiller and cooling tower cleaning. If your customer doesn't have filtration on their cooling tower, they should be cleaning their cooling tower a minimum of twice a year. It's easier to keep a clean system clean than it is to clean up a dirty system. There has to be a synergy with mechanical i.e... cleaning and chemical. Whenever there is a season change it's also recommended that legionella testing be done. Any equipment upgrades or maybe you have to change some product dosing, you need to think of all those things next time you go to service your accounts, now that you're in a different weather pattern.

Timestamps

Jack's accolade of Water Technologist of the Year 2017 by AWT. [0:06:55.0]

Jack tells us how he started in the water treatment industry. [0:07:54.0]

Hear about Jack's goals when he started his company. [0:10:34.0]

Understand what Jack looks for when hiring employees. [0:12:51.0]

How Jack manages the company as a successful family business. [0:16:07.0]

The importance of having an interest in what you're doing. [0:17:53.0]

Discover why you need to understand the industry in order to make decisions. [0:21:00.0]

Tips on leaving a business gracefully and not burning your bridges. [0:25:10.0]

Hear how sales have evolved to networking and how your approach needs to change. [0:32:10.0]

Some of the biggest changes Jack has seen in the water treatment industry over the years are chemicals and communications. [0:36:29.0]

Find out about some of Jack's failures in business and what he learnt from those failures. [0:41:35.0]

Learn why Jack loves having the ability to help resolve problems in the water treatment industry. [0:45:31.0]

Discover how Jack discerns in giving away free information and helping other water treaters. [0:50:30.0]

The important of being well trained in the water treatment industry. [0:57:28.0]

Hear more about AWT in the infant stages back when it first started. [0:59:25.0]

Jack tells us how he got involved with AWT and what his experience has been like. [1:00:45.0]

Listen as Jack explains how many different people and situations have taught him what he knows about the water treatment industry. [1:04:00.0]

Understand how some people are applicators in the industry. [1:05:00.0]

What Jack has learnt through his journey with AWT. [1:06:05.0]

The advice Jack would give people starting in the water industry is to know the industry really well. [1:09:35.0]

Why once you think you know something, it's all over . [1:14:30.0]

Picking an industry you're comfortable with. [1:19:30.0]

Quotes

"If you don't have an interest in the long term, it's not going to work." - Jack Walker

"You need to be focused on one thing, one industry." - Jack Walker

"Whatever you do, make sure you make referrals and talk to someone in the same industry." -Jack Walker

"When you're sending new people out, make sure that they're trained at least well enough so it looks good on the company." - Trace Blackmore

"If we're all better then people are going to look at the industry better." - Trace Blackmore

"Most of us are applicators; we are not scientists." - Jack Walker

Links Mentioned

Jack Walker - http://www.watertech.net/

AWT - https://www.awt.org/

AWT Convention - https://www.awt.org/annualconvention17/

AWT Webinars - http://www.awt.org/education_events/webinars.cfm

IWC Conferences - http://www.iwcconferences.com/

Our guest today is James McDonald. James has been in the water treatment industry since 1997 and is a Chemical Engineer by degree with a Master's from the University of Louisville. After college, James worked for an environmental compliance company, doing environmental assessments for the likes of the FAA and various army bases. Later James went on to work for Crown Solutions and today is also a much loved committee chair at the Association of Water Technologies (AWT). Interestingly, after many years at Crown Solutions, his next job at Chem Aqua, was discovered via a LinkedIn advertisement pop-up seeking a Corporate Engineer.

Most of you out there are on LinkedIn and LinkedIn is probably dominated in the water technology community by James McDonald. James spends a lot of time on social media, specifically his LinkedIn page. But when we have so much work to do already, is social media really worth it and what are the rewards? James loves the work he does and loves sharing it with other people, so today we hear James' story, his role in the AWT, how LinkedIn has helped him connect hundreds of water treaters around the globe and why we should continue to keep learning a little bit every day and share our knowledge even more. Take a listen!

We also answer questions from listeners on Pinks and Blues.

This person just switched hardness test manufacturers and the softener used to be soft all the time with the old manufacturer. Now it's hard all the time. So is something wrong with the softener or with the test kit?

Here at Blackmore Enterprises, we had that exact same thing happen. We were using manufacturer A and the softener was soft all the time. Then we switched to manufacturer B and it was soft some of the time, but a lot of the times we were getting that red tinge to the hardness test, and as those of you know out there in the ScalingUP! Nation, a soft sample is nice and blue and if it has a red color to it, then that indicates hardness and then we add the EDTA to it as a titrant until it grabs all that hardness and then turns it blue. So in a softener situation, as soon as we put the buffer in there and the indicator in there, we want that sucker to be nice and blue.

Well, we thought that the softener was malfunctioning, and it actually was. The only reason we found that out was because the test that we then started buying with manufacturer B actually was able to test to a smaller degree, less than a ppm. The other test was only testing down to 2 or 3 ppm and we actually worked with somebody and we sent those off and actually had an independent lab measure those using a different method and we actually found that out, that one of the test manufacturers was able to get that lower. So it might be your tests are working fine, but they're only working in the limits that they are able to work in.

What we did when we did that, we found out that we were actually putting hard water in when we thought we were putting soft water in with the other manufacturer, Manufacturer A, and that actually explained some of the readings that we were getting where we were losing alkalinity on occasion and things like that. The water was still clean, but everything didn't add up and then we found that when we were testing with this lower range test kit that we were actually leaking over some hardness. So I say this because the boilers, in order to be soft, need to be less - actually I think it's supposed to be less than half a ppm.

So if your test kit's only testing 2 or 3 when it says it's soft, that's several times higher than half a ppm. So make sure you know what your test kit is actually doing and even in the same manufacturers, they have different ranges. So if one drop equals 10 parts, that's probably not good when you're titrating. That's probably not good enough for a softener. You probably want to figure out either how to change the sample size, or maybe change the test kit so you can get that to a really fine amount. But then also realize that your test that you're using may not go as low as you think it goes.

Trace, what do you do for fun?

I am a scuba dive instructor. That is my passion. I absolutely love being under water. It is the most therapeutic thing that l can think of. Underwater you can fly around like Superman. You want to go up, go up. You want to go down, go down. You can bank left, bank right, it's totally awesome. I love it so much, and you out there in the ScalingUP! Nation know that one of my passions is teaching, so I actually teach scuba diving to other people and try to get them to enjoy it as much as I do.

Teaching scuba diving has made me a better instructor when it comes to water treatment, because when you're teaching somebody that they're not going to die, you learn how to deal with people at a different level. Because everybody's scared that there's no air underneath that water, and you've got to convince them that if an emergency or if a situation happens under water, you can deal with it underwater and not panic and go up to the surface because once you have all that pressure under you under water and then you get up too quickly and that pressure is gone, you can actually hurt yourself.

So, to answer your question, I don't even have to think about it; what I do for fun is I scuba dive. I know Mark Lewis has been brought up on this show. Mark Lewis and I scuba dive together, so there you go. It's fun for water treaters to get together. You know, we're working in water and now we're playing in water too. So we just have a whole life that talks about water, or deals with water.

Which is better: LSI, RSI or PSI?

So for those of you out there in the ScalingUP! Nation that don't know what those letters stand for, there's the Langelier Stability Index, the Ryznar Stability Index, and the Practical or sometimes called Puckorius Scaling Index. So, better is not a work that I really like, but I understand why you ask it. Better is an opinion. All of them are the same thing. What they deal with is when calcium carbonate comes out of solution or goes into solution. We're either precipitating or we are dissolving, if you will. Right in the middle where neither of those has happened, is called the saturation pH. That's the equation that all of these different scales use and then they do something with it to make it unique, and then they can name it something else.

LSI takes the saturation pH and what you do is you take the system pH and you subtract the situation pH from it to get LSI. The range from that is -3 to 3. Anything above 0 has a scaling tendency. Anything below 0 has a non-scaling tendency. We know water is the universal solvent, i.e. water is corrosive. Now some water might be more aggressive than others, depending on what's dissolved in it, but that being said, all water is corrosive. The RSI take the saturation pH times 2, and then subtract the system pH. That is a range between 0-12 and anything above 6 has a non-scaling tendency and anything below 6 has a scaling tendency.

The PSI takes the station pH and multiples by 2, but then subtracts the pH of equilibrium, then add 4.54. The scale is 0-12, above 6 is a non-scaling tendency and below 6 is a scaling tendency. Now, you get to choose which is best for you. We at Blackwater Enteprises use RSI, and the only reason we use it is because that's what my father used and that's what he taught me, and that's what I'm used to.

Timestamps

About James and his career and history in the water treatment industry. [0:03:46.0]

How James became a well-rounded water treater with a rich knowledge bank. [0:05:51.0]

Reaching a knowledge plateau in the water industry. [0:07:13.0]

James' book and philosophy of Learning Drop By Drop. [0:08:45.0]

James' thoughts on the use of PTSA in water treatment today. [0:11:20.0]

What James loves and hates about the water industry. [0:14:10.0]

How James maximizes his LinkedIn profile. [0:16:59.0]

Learn more about James' Industrial Water Treatment Group. [0:20:14.0]

Meet Detective H2O. [0:20:55.0]

Projects James is involved in within AWT. [0:24:03.0].

Advice to new people approaching the water treatment industry. [0:28:10]

Current goals and objectives of the AWT committee. [0:29:10]

The value of an AWT membership. [0:30:13.0]

Key strategies James uses to look for or find new business. [0:33:26.0]

Taking on new challenges to expand your knowledge and learn new skills. [0:35:22.0]

Resources for young professionals coming into the industry. [0:37:18.0]

Learn, share and laugh! [0:41:23.0]

Quotes

"As long as you keep learning more each day all the guys that started where you did will never catch up." - James McDonald

"PTSA should be a guidance and should be checked on a regular basis."- James McDonald

"The most important part of my job is telling bad, bad jokes." - James McDonald

"You sell yourself by your qualities and the value you bring." - James McDonald

"A water treater is a lonely job. Water treaters are often hungry to connect." - James McDonald

Links Mentioned

ScalingUp! Podcast – https://scalinguph2o.com/

Association of Water Technologies (AWT) Website – https://www.awt.org/

Chem Aqua Website – http://chemaqua.com/

Chem Aqua on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/475270/

Industrial Water Treatment Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/IndustrialWaterTreatment/

AWT Young Professionals & SEED Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/1377068122547724/

Detective H2O – https://sites.google.com/site/industrialwaterscience/detective-h2o

James McDonald on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-mcdonald-pe-cwt-%F0%9F%92%A7-9760328/

Industrial Water Treatment on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4155017/profile

James McDonald on Twitter – https://twitter.com/JamesMcDonald89

Industrial Water Science – https://sites.google.com/site/industrialwaterscience/

Our guest today is Tim Fulton, my Vistage coach. Tim is the Vistage Chair to some of the most successful CEOs in Atlanta. It's why in 2013 he launched the Small Business Matters Conference, which has become an all-star, exclusive gathering that attracts some of the best small business owners in the state. And it's why he's a tireless advocate for small businesses, every single day. Small Business Matters is owned and operated in Atlanta, Georgia by Tim Fulton. Tim is a nationally-recognized small business coach, consultant, and advocate. He has been involved in the field of entrepreneurship for over three decades as a successful business owner, small business counselor, and adjunct university professor. Vistage is an international membership organization for company CEO's and Presidents that provides a very unique growth experience for its members. In addition, Tim is a facilitator for the University of Georgia SBDC's GrowSmart training program, which is designed for growth-oriented small business owners, operators, and executives.

Each year, he celebrates small business with the Small Business Matters Conference, gathering his tribe and beyond to dedicate a day to the development and success of the businesses that drive the U.S. economy. Small business stimulates international trade, helps the young get started, and encourages innovation. In today's episode Tim is sharing on what Vistage is but the short of it is that in business we're really good at what we do but we don't know what we don't know about business and it was with that that I went looking for somebody like Tim. He's also talking to us about GrowSMART. Give it a listen!

Timestamps:

Tim tells us what it means to be a small business coach [05:46]

Understand what GrowSMART and Vistage is and does [06:30]

Myths that surround small business and ownership [08:08]

Find out whether running a business ever gets easier [11:54.]

The importance of keeping score and what to be keeping score on [15:54.]

Identifying certain key performance indicators within the business [16:38]

Establishing the vision of the business through the owner and the employees. [18:38]

The importance of having a business plan [21:52]

Advice for multi-generational/ family businesses [25:30]

Discover what an exit plan is and why it's essential [29:20]

Thinking of your business as a game and sharing financials with your employees [33:05]

The signs of beginning to know what you don't know [37:35]

Hear what were the last three books Tim read [39:07]

Top three business book to read, according Tim [42:50]

Find out more about Tim's books, Small Business Matters and Small Business Matters and All That Jazz [44:43]

The benefits of doing stand-up comedy and improv in the sales community [50:30]

Why Tim would want to talk to Ben Franklin [51:20]

Why to always to listen and act on that voice in the back of your head [53:35]

Quotes:

"I am constantly learning from my clients and my members." - Tim Fulton

"The growth paradox is the assumption that as a company grows it's going to get easier." - Tim Fulton

"Think of your business as a game and any good game, we're going to keep score." - Tim Fulton

"In business we're really good water treaters but we don't know what we don't know about business." - Trace Blackmore

Connect with Tim Fulton:

Website: smallbusinessmattersonline.com

LinkedIn: in/timcfulton

Twitter: @tf_sbm

Links Mentioned:

ScalingUp! Podcast

AWT Young Professionals & SEED Group

AWT

AWT Convention

AWT Webinars

IWC Conferences

Seth Godin

Books to Read:

Michael Gerber's book, The E-myth

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz's book, Everybody Lies

Charles Duhigg's book, The Power of Habit

Bo Burlingham's book, Finish Big

Jim Collins's book, Good To Great

Stephen Covey's book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Tim's book, Small Business Matters

Tim's book, Small Business Matters and All That Jazz

Seth's book, Tribes

Our guest today is Lt. Rob Pendleton of the Snellville, GA Police Department. Snellville, GA is located about 35 miles north of Atlanta, GA. In the aftermath of the Las Vegas shootings, we are all asking ourselves what we can do. Many cannot think of a good answer to that question. It is my hope that we can take the information discussed in today's episode and keep ourselves safer and more aware.

Lt. Pendleton has spent his adult life learning about how to keep others safe at his own peril. In this episode he condenses years of experiences, training and reading into real life information that we can use to keep ourselves safe and think through any emergency situations.

Links Mentioned

ScalingUp! Podcast – https://scalinguph2o.com/

The Snellville, GA Police Department - http://www.snellville.org/police-department

ALERRT and CRAS - https://alerrt.org/page/CivilianResponse

It's been a while since it was just the two of us on an episode. To fix that, I am only answering questions from the Scaling UP! Nation, for the whole episode. No guest, no rant from the host, just your questions. Truly, the show for you, by you.

LSI, RSI, PSI

Can you tell us more about LSI, RSI and PSI? (1:04)

LSI, RSI and PSI are all scaling indices. Each tells us whether the water is scaling or non-scaling. Not if the water is scaling or corrosion. ALL water is corrosive.

In 1936, Wilfred Langelier developed a calculation for predicting the pH at which water is saturated with calcium carbonate called pHs. The "Saturation pH" is the first step in all scaling indices.

Saturation pH (pHs):

12.3-(log CaH + log Malk + (0.025xC˚) - (0.011x√)

Our guest today is Mike Highum, Vice President of McGowan Insurance Group. McGowan is a trusted provider of insurance and risk management products and services across the United States. McGowan Insurance Group just received the AWT Supplier of the Year for 2016. Specialty protection includes Primary and Excess Liability, Pollution Liability, Professional/E&O, Executive Liability, Workers Compensation, Property and Fleet coverages. Complete risk analysis, loss prevention and claims management, as well as consulting services, are also provided. McGowan incorporates a collaborative approach that emphasizes client educational, along with delivering meaningful resources to equip clients with the necessary tools to manage risk.

During the last few weeks I've had multiple people in the water treatment industry asking me questions about insurance, so I thought to bring in the professional. In this episode we're talking about what we should be thinking about when it comes to insurance and liability to protect not only ourselves but also our business.

Why would we talk about insurance on ScalingUP? Scaling UP! is not just water treatment and chemistry. It's about all things that have to come into play for us to have a successful water treatment business. Unfortunately, there's liability out there and we cannot protect ourselves from all liability. That's why we have insurance. As a employee you will think, "If the company does well, I'll do well" or "If I know more about the company and what they have to go through then I can do better job." During this interview, think in this mindset and think how you can be a better water treater tomorrow than you are today, knowing more about your company's liability risk. Insurance is not the sexiest topic however it's something that every business needs to have and it's one of the things, as a business owner, you need to know about.

Can I get continuing education points for my CWT?

That's my number one question! The answer is no, however, "we're working on it" is really the right answer. Based on your interest on getting continuing education points, I did speak to the education committee. The issue is that they don't know how to track it, meaning they don't know how they prove that the listener actually listened to it? I will say that the podcast is a newer format for the education committee and they may not be totally familiar with that. I'm going to ask you to help me help you with this question and the Scaling UP! Nation! can come up with a way that the Certification Committee feels comfortable issuing these points. If you have any ideas, let me know.

On an earlier show you mentioned resin cleaning, how do you do that?

I believe that show was the one I did with Bruce Ketrick and in the intro I spoke on water softeners and did a very brief operational explanation and then I went into some brief trouble shooting. There's not really a simple answer to that, the simplest way to do that is to use some sort of resin cleaning product and put that into the brine tank so that you have that going into every brining cycle and that will help clean up the resin.

To back up even more, what I'm talking about here is iron fouling and if I remember the episode, I was talking about the valance and that sodium has a +1 charge, calcium and magnesium have a +2 charge. The way we get the calcium magnesium off the resin with a +1 charge is that we put so much sodium in there that the resin starts getting rid of the calcium magnesium because we faked it out to think it had a higher charge. If we have iron on the resin with a +3 charge, sodium is not going to go in there and remove the iron that's in that resin hole, so how do we remove it? The resin cleaner should help promote getting some of that iron out, it won't get all of it but it will help with some. My advice is not to wait for the resin to become fouled but to start using that resin to keep that resin cleaner longer.

Offline cleaning is when you put a whole bunch of cleaner in with the resin and then you have to agitate everything. So basically, you take a PVC wand and hook it up to a compressor and bubble through a very, long, tedious, boring process. You can manually clean the resin using that airline that I just described, or you can put a little bit of resin cleaner in as an ongoing basis and/or you can send the resin sample off to be analyzed. It's sometimes easier to just replace the resin rather than cleaning it.

You hear a lot about people job hopping these days, especially millennials. Do you have any statistics that talk specifically about how long people stay in the water treatment industry?

I want to say I don't have specific statistics that I have taken myself but I have heard Colin Frayne talk on this topic and he has said that throughout his career he has found, he's a consultant an contributor to AWT and has been in water treatment for a while, that if somebody gets into water treatment and they stay for two years, they're kinda hooked, they're there for life. If people don't reach that two-year mark, they're more apt to switch jobs and do something else. That make a lot of sense. For somebody brand new that's coming into this industry, it can be overwhelming for some. If someone were to stick it out and learn all along the way, they get hooked.

My advice is, for those new people out there. Keep doing what you're doing. This job is not going to come easy, this job is hard, but there will be a reward if you stay in this job. If you try to learn and be the best water treater you can be and make sure you're better tomorrow than you are today, the more you're going to appreciate being here. That's what speaks to what Colin has found out.

Timestamps

Mike tells us how he got into this industry he's been in for 30+ years. [0:05:38.0]

How McGowan Insurance Group has made a practice around the AWT. [0:06:37.0]

What water treaters should be aware of with regard to insurance and risk management. [0:08:45.0]

Defining what a certificate of liability is and the importance thereof. [0:10:21.0]

Reasons why clients are purchasing insurance. [0:11:45.0]

Instances where water treaters have said no to business because of higher insurance. [0:14:23.0]

Why getting all the boxes checked can be so costly. [0:15:13.0]

Three key areas water treatment business owners should be aware of when talking about insurance. [0:16:28.0]

Areas water treatment technicians should be aware of when talking about insurance. [0:19:08.0]

Documenting training, development, meetings held and practices adopted. [0:20:37.0]

Insurance benefits for being a member of AWT or a CWT. [0:22:51.0]

Mike tells us what opportunity we have with our insurance provider. [0:25:18.0]

The core liability program comprising of three essential parts. [0:26:42.0]

More areas of insurances available to us. [0:27:20.0]

Reviewing and checking your policies every few months. [0:29:40.0]

Comparing quotes and finding the insurance company that's right for you and your business. [0:31:31.0]

Knowing your business well enough to know whether you have the right insurance coverage. [0:35:08.0]

Ways to start applying good practices in your business. [0:37:07.0]

Find out why Mike would want to talk to his dad if he could talk to anybody. [0:42:13.0]

Quotes

"Your actions really not only impact you, but they impact the entire company." - Mike Highum

"If we don't have it documented, we can't prove that it ever happened." - Trace Blackmore

"Don't position your business to accommodate insurance; position your insurance to accommodate your business." - Mike Highum

Links Mentioned

Mike Highum - http://www.mcgowaninc.com/

AWT - https://www.awt.org/

AWT Convention - https://www.awt.org/annualconvention17/

AWT Webinars - http://www.awt.org/education_events/webinars.cfm