There is a battle going on in the industry when it comes to domestic water distribution systems, and it lies in how plumbing engineers size domestic water piping. System longevity, pressure drop, water age, noise and building codes will influence the approach taken in sizing a domestic water system.

Water treatment education and certification for water treatment professionals is a critical part of the mission of the Water Quality Association. The association represents the residential, commercial and industrial water treatment and conditioning industry.

In this weekly feature, Plumbing Group Chief Editors Nicole Krawcke and Natalie Forster highlight the industry’s latest news stories.

During the late, great Les Nelson’s last AHR conference in Chicago back in 2018, he asked me what our hydronics industry needed the most. He was on a mission to increase the visibility of the Radiant Professionals Alliance and give the industry something that it could really use. 

If you rely on search engine marketing for calls, you are putting your company at risk because you are relying on the unreliable. Here are eight steps to wean your company off big tech dependency.

In 2012, the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO), the University of Cincinnati (U of C), and the American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE) began to work on a new sizing technique 80 years in the making. The main drivers were Dan Cole (IAPMO) and Steve Buchberger (U of C), and later Toju Omaghomi (U of C). As part of this effort, hundreds of thousands of data points were taken and evaluated to determine actual human behavior and plumbing fixture use in residential homes.

Common sense runs through our veins and helps us avoid idiotic, absurd edicts handed down by well-intentioned, but seriously misguided politicians. The fact is, I’ve always felt that common sense, along with training and knowledge, often handed down from generation to generation, guides our hands and minds as we toil at PHVAC issues.

When faced with decisions, we humans are wired to seek out patterns to help make our choices. However, when we're faced with countless decisions — many of which do not offer a pattern to follow — we tend to develop what's called "decision fatigue."

Most hydronic systems have the boiler running up to 180° F with water returning from the system at 160°. This rarely happens in real life, but it’s the traditional way we do things.

 All boilers that burn hydrocarbon fuels such as natural gas, propane, oil or wood produce water vapor as a byproduct of combustion.