Amanda Root’s passion for water quality led her to IAPMO.
After initially working as a massage therapist — her other passion — she started working as a secretary for a water treatment company in 2011. The more she learned about plumbing, the importance of water and what is in the water, the more determined she became to spread the word about water quality.
“Shortly after I started working there, I took over as the COO and started to do outside sales and teach people about hard water and how it affects us and different properties of water,” she said. “I was fully immersed in water treatment.”
Before long she learned about IAPMO and the important role its codes play in protecting the public from water-related diseases that kill millions of people around the world every year. Not one to sit on the sidelines, Root joined the Southern Nevada Chapter and served as vice chair for several years. Earlier this year she became the chapter chair.
“IAPMO is everything water,” she said. “Codes, making sure the standards are all the same, and I am just intrigued. I’ve been learning so much more and just embracing all that IAPMO is.
“I’m looking forward to learning even more and getting more involved this year with conference and everything as well,” she said. “But initially, I got involved in IAPMO because of water. I care about water; what’s in it, what we drink, how it affects our systems. That’s my whole life.”
Fittingly, plumbing and water are now the family business. Amanda married Scott Root in February 2023 and left her longtime position with the water treatment company in March 2024 to help him run MC Plumbing, which he bought in 2011.
“She was selling water treatment and talking plumbing all day with other people for another company, so it only made sense to us,” he said. “It’s been great. There was a lot of stuff I wasn’t capitalizing on, like advertising wise, that she was good at, so she jumped in and started doing it for us. We’ve put on another truck since she came on.”
Much as she did with her job in water treatment, Amanda has quickly embraced her new role with MC Plumbing. She frequently accompanies Scott in the field when he goes to commercial jobs and new builds.
“We were at a casita, and I had her up on the rafters strapping new pipe and putting insulation on,” he said. “She isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty and she likes to learn.
It makes it easy to teach somebody when they want to learn.”
PHOTOS COURTESY OF AMANDA ROOT
The couple live in Las Vegas with their four children: daughter Dakota, 14; twin daughters, Gabriella and Gracie, 10; and their son, Dominick, 9. They have 35 chickens, three goats and two Rottweilers on a half-acre lot that they call their “desert oasis.”
“We like to spend time together,” she said. “That’s pretty much all we do. We spend time together and navigate work and personal time.”
Amanda is looking forward to attending IAPMO’s annual Education and Business Conference for the first time, as it will be held Sept. 22-26 in Las Vegas.
IAPMO Southern Nevada Chapter 2024 officers, from left: Tom Jones, treasurer; Mike Siedlecki, officer; Glenn Smith, vice chair; Amanda Root, chair; Gary Boyle, officer; Joseph Boeger, secretary; and Richard Smith, officer.
“It’s going to be great,” she said. “It’s a really good opportunity for the whole chapter and different organizations to come together. I’m really looking forward to all the education.”
She said being in IAPMO has already been a tremendous benefit to her career.
“Being more involved, I’ve gotten to learn from a lot of mentors, and being around people you get to hear about problems and solutions,” she said. “You’re just so much more aware of what’s going on around you when you’re involved in an organization like IAPMO.”
Mike Flenniken is a staff writer, Marketing and Communications, for IAPMO. Prior to joining IAPMO in 2010, Flenniken worked in public relations for a group of Southern California hospitals and as a journalist in writing and editing capacities for various Southern California daily newspapers.
Last modified: September 1, 2024