Leaving Something for Future Generations in 2026 

Why Water, Infrastructure, and Education Are Our Shared Responsibility
There are moments in life that force us to slow down and reconsider what truly matters. In a world that feels faster, louder, and more polarized every year, those moments are often deeply personal. 

For my wife and me, one of those moments came with the birth of our first grandchild. 

Becoming grandparents later in life changes perspective. It makes you ask questions that go beyond career goals or daily challenges: 

• What kind of world will this child grow up in? 
• Will they have the same opportunities previous generations enjoyed? 
• What responsibility do we have right now to shape that future? 

In 2026, those questions feel even more urgent than they did just a few years ago. 

A World That Has Changed — For Better and Worse
Over a single lifetime, the world can change dramatically. 

There have been undeniable advances: 

• Medical breakthroughs that extend life 
• Communication technologies that connect the globe 
• Expanded access to education and opportunity 
• Innovations in plumbing, mechanical, and water systems that protect health 

At the same time, we face serious and persistent challenges: 

• Climate-driven extreme weather events 
• Aging and underfunded infrastructure 
• Growing economic inequality 
• Global instability and conflict 
• Increasing pressure on natural resources — especially water 

Progress and risk now exist side by side. 

Population Growth and Resource Pressure
Global population growth has slowed compared to previous decades, but it continues to place increasing demands on finite resources. In the United States alone, tens of millions of people have been added over the past few decades without any increase in land area or water availability. 

More people means: 

• Higher water demand 
• Greater strain on aging distribution systems 
• Increased wastewater treatment needs 
• More competition for energy and infrastructure capacity 

The math is unavoidable: more demand on systems that were never designed for today’s realities. 

Water Infrastructure Is a Defining Issue of Our Time
Few issues better illustrate our responsibility to future generations than water infrastructure. 

We have seen: 

• Prolonged droughts followed by catastrophic flooding 
• Wildfires fueled by climate stress and water scarcity 
• Hurricanes that devastate water, power, and communication systems 
• Communities left without safe drinking water for months or longer 

These events are no longer rare. They are warnings. 

Water and wastewater systems are the backbone of public health, economic stability, and quality of life. Without sustained investment, communities suffer — and recovery becomes exponentially more expensive. 

This Is Not a Political Issue — It’s a Practical One
Upgrading water and wastewater infrastructure should never be reduced to politics. 

It is about: 

• Ensuring safe drinking water 
• Protecting public health 
• Supporting economic growth 
• Preparing for climate variability 
• Providing resilience for future generations 

Every professional in the plumbing, mechanical, and water industries understands this reality. Without modern, resilient infrastructure, opportunities shrink and entire communities fall behind. 

The Workforce Challenge: Who Will Do the Work?
Infrastructure investment is only part of the solution. People matter just as much. 

In 2026, the industry faces a growing workforce challenge: 

• An aging skilled trades population 
• Fewer young people entering the trades 
• Increasing technical complexity in modern systems 

Education, training, and mentorship are essential. If we fail to attract and prepare the next generation of plumbers, pipefitters, engineers, inspectors, and technicians, infrastructure funding alone will not solve the problem. 

We must invest in people as intentionally as we invest in systems. 

Leaving a Legacy Through Education and Service
Each generation has an obligation to leave something meaningful behind — not just physical infrastructure, but knowledge, values, and opportunity. 

Raising awareness about: 

• Water system protection 
• Cross-connection control 
• Public health safeguards 
• The importance of skilled trades 

…is part of that responsibility. 

Many of us hope that future generations — including our own children and grandchildren — will see the plumbing and mechanical industries not as a fallback, but as a respected, vital profession that protects the health of the nation. 

Because that is exactly what it does. 

A Shared Commitment to the Future
Our children, their children, and generations yet to come deserve: 

• Safe drinking water 
• Reliable infrastructure 
• Educational opportunity 
• A healthy environment 
• A chance to succeed 

As author Pearl S. Buck once said: 

“The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible — and achieve it, generation after generation.” 

Our job is not to limit what future generations attempt. 
Our job is to leave them a world where the impossible is still achievable. 

In 2026, that starts with water, infrastructure, education, and a shared commitment to doing better, not just for ourselves, but for those who come after us. 

Sean Cleary

Sean Cleary serves as Vice President of Industry Programs and Operations for the IAPMO Backflow Prevention Institute, advancing education and technical training in cross-connection control and backflow prevention. The IAPMO Backflow Prevention Institute helps to ensure that the professionals responsible for protecting drinking water are properly trained and certified. A licensed master plumber with more than four decades of experience, Sean has worked in all phases of the plumbing and mechanical industries, with deep expertise in cross-connection control systems. He is a Past President of the American Society of Sanitary Engineering (ASSE) and served for more than a decade as Chairman of the ASSE Cross-Connection Control Technical Committee. A graduate of the United Association Instructor Training Program, Sean has dedicated much of his career to strengthening professional competency, standards alignment, and technical excellence across the industry. Under Sean’s leadership, the IAPMO Backflow Prevention Institute prepares plumbers, pipe fitters, irrigation techs, sprinkler fitters, HVAC techs, plumbing engineers, inspectors, facility managers to earn and maintain ASSE and other industry certifications through comprehensive training and continuing education offered across the United States and internationally. Sean co-authored the IAPMO Backflow Reference Manual and has contributed to numerous technical publications. Through his work with IAPMO, ASSE, the American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE), and state plumbing inspector organizations, Sean helps ensure that certified professionals are equipped to prevent contamination and safeguard the drinking water systems communities rely on every day.