There has been a lot of discussion and new guidance documentation about Legionella in building water systems and the implementation of water management programs (WMP) for ongoing operations. This has led to discussions about plumbing engineering best practices to allow the building water distribution system (BWDS) to operate efficiently and safely when the building is occupied.

In creating Hunter’s Curve, the beauty of what Dr. Roy Hunter did was to take an incredibly complex problem in probability theory and make it simple — so simple, in fact, that all it required was basic arithmetic.

“Que Sera Sera” is the title of a catchy tune from way back when that means: “Whatever will be will be.” The lyrics go on to say, “the future’s not ours to see.” For anyone reading this who has absolutely no connection to this cultural reference, a more modern term in common use would be: “It is was it is.”

I’ve covered pellet-fueled boiler applications in several past issues of PME. All of them have involved hydronic distribution systems. While such applications are certainly the prevailing way pellet boilers are used, they are not the only option. It’s possible to couple a pellet boiler to a forced air distribution system.

The first time I heard the terms “paruresis” and “parcopresis” was in the mid-1980s at a plumbing code hearing. In those days, there was no Google to look up the words. I listened to the chief plumbing inspector from a Midwestern state explain why this was an important issue in the plumbing profession.

The following remarks were made regarding the article “Decarbonization and electrification — are we there yet?” written by Julius Ballanco, P.E., CPD, F-ASPE, president of J.B. Engineering and Code Consulting, published in the May 2022 issue of PM Engineer:

This past weekend, my husband and I traveled to beautiful Charlevoix, Michigan — that’s about a four-hour drive North of the metro-Detroit area. Totally worth it — summer and fall are both great times to visit! We drove up to attend a friend’s wedding. Unfortunately, the wedding date was held during an annual summer festival in Charlevoix, and hotel rooms were in high demand.

For more than two decades, computer-aided design (CAD) has been widely used in a variety of industries, from architecture and engineering to product design and manufacturing. The purpose of this technology is to create or modify digital models of three-dimensional objects, making the design process more efficient and accurate.

I was, I’m sure, not even in the minds of my someday-to-be parents, but I’ve spent a lot of time in that decade of the Great Depression nonetheless. I like to think of them as teenagers as they wondered what was to be. They truly were the Greatest Generation.

Regulations have been a big topic over the past several years. Politicians, trying to make a public name, have been pushing for the reduction of regulations. They like to claim that these regulations are an impediment to economic growth and entry into certain professions. While some of this may have merit, one needs to “not throw out the baby with the bath water.”