As I See It

Recent

Lagging economy is troubling

May 7, 2015

Bringing Emerson’s dictum to your life

March 31, 2015

Stop calling yourself a ‘plumbette’

Feb. 9, 2015

All signs point to a robust 2015

Jan. 8, 2015

Irrigation water David McNew Getty Images

Every time you open a faucet, a pump starts somewhere

Dec. 4, 2014

Are you our Contractor of the Year?

Nov. 14, 2014

A bartender saves the world

Oct. 6, 2014

The Comfortech Show builds on its successes

Sept. 30, 2014

Highlights

Is water a public trust or private property?

Sept. 3, 2014

I like water. The way I look at it, the readers of CONTRACTOR move fluids — it could be medical gasses, liquid soap or beer, but my favorite is water, which is why I get riled...

Over 60 years the form changes, not the intent

Aug. 5, 2014

In January 1954, our founder Herb Walther published the first edition of his news tabloid, THE CONTRACTOR. All of the principals in the new magazine had been with Plumbing & Heating...

Is this the best we can do? Let’s start chanting: We’re number 13!

July 22, 2014

The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy has released its efficiency rankings of major global economies and the U.S. places 13 out of 16. Seriously, folks, the only...

EPA overreaches in proposed lead rule extension

July 15, 2014

It made sense when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned lead in many consumer products in order to protect children. The agency banned lead in gasoline, in paint and...

You can’t afford to bathe in Evian?

June 3, 2014

According to Now magazine (dontcha just love British gossip rags?), the singer Beyonce spent $5,000 so that she her baby, Blue Ivy, could bathe in Evian water. Unfortunately, ...

The political forecast is generally no with an occasional yes

May 26, 2014

Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors – National Association held its annual Legislative Conference in Washington in late May and the contractors’ lobbying efforts were a slam-...

A good economic forecast, at long last

May 12, 2014

Why I think it’s important that Kohler appoints PHCC members to its Plumber Advisory Council

May 7, 2014

Radiant heat is more efficient than forced air

April 27, 2014

Waterkeeper Alliance found Duke Energy employees pumping water from a coal ash pond into a canal that feeds into the Cape Fear River Photo by Rick Dove Waterkeeper Alliance

‘A poisoned ball spilling a trail of filth’

April 4, 2014

Are you running with the big dogs?

March 25, 2014

We need your help with a project we’re working on. Are you one of the largest plumbing and mechanical contractors in the country? And by one of the largest, we mean $50 million...

Poisoning our water supply is not ok

March 4, 2014

Everybody in this industry has heard many times, I would hope, that only 2.5% of the water on earth is fresh water and most of that is frozen into ice caps and glaciers. Less ...

Do we care if Google pokes around in our houses?

Jan. 17, 2014

“That boat has sailed,” is the way Geoff Godwin, vice president of marketing for the White Rodgers unit of Emerson Climate Technologies, characterized possible invasions of privacy...

The power of contractors' giving

Dec. 30, 2013

I was flying back to Chicago after interviewing Bill and Tina Howe and their team for our Contractor of the Year story when I ran across a profile of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons...