251 Pinks and Blues: 4 Steps to Diagnose If Something Is Wrong

Scaling UP! H2O

Scaling UP! Nation, you know I love answering your questions, and today’s listener is a new water treater who submitted a few, but the main theme is “How do you diagnose when something is wrong?” What tests should you run? What if there is a leak? What if your customer is planning to install a piece of new equipment? What should you be checking the equipment for? What should you be asking your customer about when you see them? Well, Scaling UP Nation, those are just some of the questions I answer in this episode. So grab your pen and paper because this episode is packed with helpful information and you’ll want to take notes.

Bottom line: I am going to share my 4 Steps to diagnose if something is wrong.

Your roadside friend, as you travel from client to client.

-Trace

Timestamps:

Celebrating the Scaling UP! H2O podcast’s milestones [01:15]

Thinking On Water With James [04:50]

Events in Industrial Water Treatment [06:00]

Pinks And Blues Questions from the Nation: How to diagnose when something is wrong? [09:20]

Step 1: Catch up with the customer [10:15]

Step 2: Find out as much information as you can from the equipment [12:30]

Step 3: Troubleshooting [20:04]

Step 4: Open your Test Kit and run the appropriate tests [29:05]

Better information allows us to make better decisions [37:04]

Thinking On Water With James:

In this week’s episode, we’re thinking about nitrite corrosion inhibition. How does nitrite inhibit corrosion? Does oxygen have a role? What if nitrite is underfed? What could happen and why? What if nitrite is overfed. What could happen and why? How might microbiological activity impact nitrite levels and corrosion? Protecting a water system against corrosion is more than just running pinks and blues. It’s about understanding the chemistry behind the scenes and what factors may positively and negatively impact it. Take this week to think about nitrite and how it inhibits corrosion.

Quotes:

“Help your customers make better decisions by giving them more information.” - Trace Blackmore

“In our day-to-day life in the water treatment industry, it is very easy to skip step 1 (speaking with the customer) and finding out things that are going to make things faster in the long run.” - Trace Blackmore

“Put your test kit down and have a conversation with your equipment before you start running tests.” - Trace Blackmore

“We want our customers to know that we are not just looking at the things that we are directly responsible for, we’re actually the mouthpiece, we are the faithful translator of that equipment to people..” - Trace Blackmore

“Soot is more insultative than scale, so let your customer know.” - Trace Blackmore

“There are water treaters that go straight for their tests, and they blindly start testing. You should have an idea of every value that you are going to get as a result of something you test before you test it.” - Trace Blackmore

“Make sure all your meters are clean and calibrated.” - Trace Blackmore

“There are so many things that we do as industrial water treaters that are so far above and beyond just running pinks and blues.” - Trace Blackmore

“If the results are exactly what we think they are, then we have guaranteed that we know what’s going on with the system.” - Trace Blackmore

“We have some incredible products out there that make our life easier, but I don’t think they should be replacing the things that we need to know about the systems themselves.” - Trace Blackmore

“You need to test for all the actives that are in your product. If you don’t know your product well enough to know all the actives, then ask people you work with to show you the technical data sheet.” - Trace Blackmore

“If you do not know or have an idea of what the result of the test is then you have not yet run, you probably don’t need to run it.” - Trace Blackmore

Connect with Scaling UP H2O:

Email: [e-mail] (podcast producer)

Submit a show idea: Submit a Show Idea

Trace Blackmore on LinkedIn: in/traceblackmore/

Scaling UP! H2O on Facebook: @H2OScalingUP

Scaling UP! H2O on YouTube: ScalingUpH2o.com/YouTube

Links Mentioned:

Submit a Show Idea

236 The One Where We Talk About Waters Treaters Changing The World - the Global 6K for Water

The Rising Tide Mastermind

Events:

Water Quality Association’s Aquatech Trade Show in China – June 8 to 10, 2022

The Groundwater Association’s Fate of PFAS: From Groundwater to Tap Water – June 21 to 22, 2022, in Westerville, Ohio

Join Team Scaling UP! Nation on World Vision’s Global 6K for Water on May 21, 2022, or make a donation HERE