Get stuck in – Michael Bourgeois, CWT
How do standards get written in ways that working water treaters can actually meet? In this conversation, AWT Past President, current Related Trade Organization (RTO) Committee Chair, and Chemco Products Company Operations Manager, Michael Bourgeois CWT, explains how AWT’s liaisons collaborate with peer organizations, so guidance reflects field reality—operations, risk, and achievable compliance.
From Field Bags to Board Rooms: Why RTOs Matter
Bourgeois outlines the purpose of AWT’s RTO structure: volunteer liaisons track and influence work at groups whose missions overlap with industrial water—CTI, ABMA, ASHRAE, AWWA, ASHE, and others. The aim is simple and practical: make sure member voices are heard so guidance advances health outcomes (e.g., Legionella control) and day-to-day feasibility for service providers and suppliers.
Turning Reaction into Proaction
Historically, the industry learned about new rules after they landed. Bourgeois details how AWT is shifting to co-authoring cooling-water guidelines with CTI and re-engaging ABMA, so boiler-water limits and methods reflect current technologies and operations. The model: clarify shared goals, contribute content expertise, and formalize collaboration so members get usable documents at member pricing.
Concrete Moves: Boiler Water, Healthcare, and More
Examples include AWT’s role on ABMA’s Boiler Expo steering committee (with a focused water-treatment training block) and early conversations with ASHE on pathogen control in building and healthcare water systems. He describes how liaisons feed updates into a formal committee cadence, so the AWT Board and members see progress—not just headlines.
When working professionals help write the playbook, outcomes improve clients, operators, and public health—and members stop “reacting” to standards they had no hand in shaping.
Listen to the full conversation above. Explore related episodes below.
Stay engaged, keep learning, and continue scaling up your knowledge!
Timestamps
00:02:28 – Trace Blackmore shares his AWT excitement & community shout-outs
00:05:16 – Water You Know with James McDonald
00:06:44 – The magic of the Scaling Up buttons (why & how to use them)
00:20:25 – North Metal Quarterly Magazine (Grab physical copy by visiting Booth 212)
00:27:00 – Interview starts: Mike Bourgeois (Chemco; AWT Past President; RTO Chair)
00:33:58 – What is the RTO Committee and why it exists
00:36:31 – The 10 formal collaborators + 4–6 informal
00:36:43 – AWWA/ASDWA (Joe Hannigan); Premise plumbing link
00:38:19 – ASHE (healthcare engineering) early wins (Reid Hutchinson)
00:38:47 – ABMA (boilers) momentum (Steve Jobin) + Women of Boilers
00:40:28 – CTI (Mike); CDC (Patsy Root); WEF (Brian Liotta)
00:40:46 – AMPP (formerly NACE) (Jay Farmerie); WQA (Chuck Hamrick)
00:41:19 – ASHRAE (Bill Pearson) & the impact on Std 188
00:45:26 – Principle: Be proactive so standards are achievable for members
00:47:34 – Boiler Expo: half-day on water treatment (economics, pretreatment, failures, regs)
00:50:56 – Where to learn about RTO work
00:54:19 – Volunteers needed: attributes of great liaisons
00:58:48 – Breakthrough: ABMA boiler water guideline refresh (toward ASME alignment)
01:01:02 – Potential collaboration with ASHE on pathogen control guidance
01:01:39 – What Mike’s most excited to see at the Broadmoor
01:02:22 – Mike’s session: new OSHA walk-around rules
01:02:51 – Theme of the conversation: “Get stuck in” (join committees)
Quotes
“The button is magic—it breaks the ice for you and starts real conversations.”
“Talk to every single booth. A year from now, you’ll remember exactly who can help.”
“RTO stands for Related Trade Organization—our way to shape the standards that shape us.”
“Why write a standard no one can achieve? AWT’s role is to make it achievable.”
“If you want to help AWT, get stuck in. Volunteer. It pays back 10 to 100-fold.”
“AWT’s RTO liaisons keep members’ interests represented before rules and guidelines are finalized—so they’re practical and achievable.”
“Look for committees aligned with your strengths.”
Connect with Michael Bourgeois 
Email: mbourgeois@chemcoprod.com
Website: Home | Chemco Products Company
LinkedIn: Michael Bourgeois, CWT | LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/company/chemco-products-company/
Guest Resources Mentioned
Atlas Shrugged (Centennial Ed.) Hardcover – April 21, 2005 by Ayn Rand
Cancer Ward: A Novel (FSG Classics) Paperback – April 14, 2015 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (Author)
Cooling Technology Institute (CTI)
WTG-126: The Use of Non-Oxidizing Biocides in Cooling Water Systems
Scaling UP! H2O Resources Mentioned
380 The WOW Effect: Women Leading Transformation in the Water Industry
447 Unlocking Team Potential with Culture Index with Randi Fargen
ASHE’s “Water Management in Health Care Facilities: Complying with ASHRAE Standard 188”
ASPE’s Engineering Methodologies to Reduce the Risk of Legionella in Premise Plumbing Systems
AWT (Association of Water Technologies)
AWT’s Legionella 2019: A Position Statement and Guidance Document
North Metal & Chemical Co Quarterly Magazine Issue 3 -page 8 for Trace Blackmore Story
Scaling UP! H2O Academy video courses
Start with Why Simon Sinek – TedTalk
Water You Know with James
Questions: What do you call the physical property of matter that is defined as the amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a unit mass of a substance by one degree?
2025 Events for Water Professionals
Check out our Scaling UP! H2O Events Calendar where we’ve listed every event Water Treaters should be aware of by clicking HERE.
