Scaling UP! H2O

On today's Pinks and Blues episode we will be answering the following questions:

1. What is the small blue pill in the bottom of a legionella sample bottle?
2. I have a large territory that requires me to travel. On many days I find myself traveling back to accounts that are in the beginning of my route to check items I did a day or two before. What can I do to reduce that?
3. Do I still need to come to AWT technical training since they stopped administering the test after those functions?

Timestamps:

Ways to submit your Q's to Scaling UP! H2O [00:50]

What is a small blue pill? [01:28]

Legionella Sampling [02:03]

How to prepare better for an account? [05:20]

How to be a better service technician [07:16]

Reasons on attending technical training [09:16]

How to supercharge your people to do Water Treatment? [11:24]

What are the things you need to know to be a better water treater? [13:32]

Quotes:

"Most people gain speed as a service technician as leaving things out. Folks! That is not what your job is. Your job is to make sure that you're ensuring that that water treatment system is the best it could be at that moment in time because you are there." - Trace Blackmore

"You get faster by getting better at the things you need to do." - Trace Blackmore

"Get to the point where you can run your tests as fast as you can and still be accurate." - Trace Blackmore

"Come to technical training, it's the best training that's out there for water treatment. And because of that it's going to give you some extra confidence to go home and take the CWT designation." - Trace Blackmore

Advice: Work backwards from their goal! - Trace Blackmore

Books Mentioned:

The Seven of Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

What a week! Day1: Pretreatment, Day 2: Boilers, Day 3: Cooling, Day 4: Waste Water and the last day... Careers.

Speaking for myself, I am so happy that I work in the Industrial Water Industry. After all, you most likely wouldn't be listening to me right now if I didn't. I am a Water Treater. And personally, there is no better job out there.

Today we talk about careers in water treatment and I bring on my friend, Thomas Hardy to talk about how he: finds new people, trains new people and what the expectations are along the way.

I love this industry. I'm thankful that we have a holiday that allows us to express our appreciation for it. Thanks for listening each and every day this week so we could celebrate together. My gift to you is we will now be doing weekly shows of Scaling UP! H2O.

Thanks for a great Industrial Water Week Scaling UP! Nation!

Timestamps

Why should someone choose a career on Industrial Water Treatment? [01:03]

Water Treater Qualities [08:36]

How to look for new people [09:012]

Which degrees match up? [11:01]

How to train employees to grow? [12:11]

Quotes

Industrial Water Week Friday (Careers) - Question of the Day!

I'm thankful that we have a holiday that allows us to express our appreciation for it. - Trace Blackmore

Today we talk about careers in water treatment and I bring on my friend, Thomas Hardy to talk about how he: finds new people, trains new people and what the expectations are along the way. - Trace Blackmore

"No matter what, never think that you know everything! Always be willing to go out there and seek more knowledge to help you grow." - Thomas Hardy

Connect with Thomas Hardy

Website: towerwater.com

LinkedIn: in/thomas-hardy-3410b728/

Many of us in the Industrial Water Industry work in waste water. Today we are talking about what that means, and we get the following question answered:

What are some tips to make sure a jar study mimics system conditions as closely as possible?

A huge thank you to Kevin Cope. Kevin has 40 years in the waste water industry and it shows. I find it comforting that we all had a first day, even if it was 40 years ago, we all start at the same place. It is my hope that you continue to learn each day you are in the water treatment industry. There is no doubt that Kevin has spent the last 40 years learning.

It's may hope that you've learned something today (and every episode of Scaling UP! H2O.)

Happy Industrial Water Week!

Join me each and every day this week for a special themed episode.

Timestamps

What is a jar test? [04:20]

How do we make sure we use jar tests properly [06:38]

Understanding the functions [08:49]

How to do a plant survey [17:12]

Quotes

Wasterwater Thursday - Question of the Day!

A huge thank you to Kevin Cope. Kevin has 40 years in the waste water industry and it shows.

Many of us in the Industrial Water Industry work in waste water.

Links Mentioned

Industry Water Week

Connect with Kevin Cope

Website: https://www.brenntag.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-cope-5b50651b/

It's hard to believe, we are half way into Industrial Water Week. Today's questions are all about cooling and we are joined by another mentor of mine, Jay Farmerie, CWT.

The questions we will answer today are:

Cycles of concentration in a cooling tower, if you can control your limiting factors, is there any reason to stop concentrating the water indefinitely?

How do you weigh downtime against maximizing water and chemical consumption in a cooling tower and a boiler?

Don't forget my challenge to you: What can you do differently in your regular routine that will impact everything else? It's no secret, if you do the same things your will keep getting the same things. So, what can you change that will impact everything you do.

Happy Cooling Wednesday!

Join me each and every day this week for a special themed episode.

Timestamps

Limiting factors [0:02:15]

Concentration Ratio [0:04:35]

Water and Chemical Consumption [0:11:03]

Chiller plant [0:14:13]

Quotes

Cooling Wednesday - Question of the Day!

"Reach out to the people that have helped me in my career."

Cycles of concentration in a cooling tower, if you can control your limiting factors, is there any reason to stop concentrating the water indefinitely?

"Your job as a water treater is more or less not to sell chemicals but prevent energy use."

What are you thinking about that you can change what you do on a regular basis that is going to impact on everything that you do on a redular basis?

Links Mentioned

Industry Water Week

Connect with Jay Farmerie

Website: http://www.cyrusrice.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-farmerie-07b80015/

Day 2 of Industrial Water Week is here! Today we celebrate by answering a few questions about boilers and I am joined by one of my mentors, Bruce Ketrick, CWT. Here are the questions we are answering today.

What causing foaming in a boiler? Foaming is primarily caused by high solids. As the boiler concentration increases, the boiling bubble cannot "pop" as quickly and they begin to build up on each other. Forming a creamy foam. This can be solved by lowering the concentration or reducing other items that may be cause high solids in the boiler water like product over feed. The bigger issue is when the foam level increases, the boiler water sensors get a false sense of where the water level is. This can cause the boiler to cut off on low water. Another issue is the foam can get up into the steam line and cause wet steam. Water only has 180 btu's on its best day, where steam has a 1150 btu's on its worst. If we get water in the steam, we don't have enough btu's to get the job done.

Many will try to treat this issue with a defoamer, but a true water treater will investigate the real reason for the foam and correct the cause. So the exact issue needs to be investigated, but hopefully this information will get you off to a good start.

How can you reduce corrosion in a boiler? Again, knowing the exact issue with the exact system is key. With out knowing exactly what the issue is, let me answer that very generally. When ever anything happens in a boiler that bad, water treatment is always blamed first. Weather it is the issue or not. Water treaters are guilty until proven innocent. It has been my experience that most issues dealing with boiler corrosion are more operational than water treatment based.

Many times companies purchase boiler that are too big and they get underutilized. Or maybe they have 2 boilers on a lead/lag operation, but never rotate them. Boilers are meant to run at the pressure there were designed to run at, straying from this can make a corrosive situation. Among the biggest issues I see are seasonal operations. When a boiler is not being used continuously, it needs to be wet or dry stored. Wet storage is preference when there is a short period of time the boiler will be down and the owner may need to put the boiler back online quickly. This is where you will purge all of the air out of the boiler to the steam header with treated water. Normally with high sulfite and caustic.

Dry storage is for more long-term storage. This is where the boiler is opened and completed dry. I've seen this done with desiccants left in the boiler, fan blowing into the boiler so the air can circulate a drop light hung in the boiler to allow for some heat to drive away moisture and a combination of all of these. My preferred method is to use some of the volatile amine products out there the help protect the boiler during dry storage.

No matter which method you choose, none are set it and forget it. You need to periodically check to make sure the conditions you created to store the boiler stay within range.

Have a great Industrial Water Week!

Join me each and every day this week for a special themed episode.

Timestamps

Boiler Tuesday [00:23]

Questions from Scaling UP! Nation [01:17]

Answers from Bruce Ketrick [14:30]

Quotes

Boiler Tuesday - Question of the Day!

"Nobody is an island". If we were just there by ourselves, we would not need a holiday for all of us.

It needs to remind us that we are there to help each other grow more than we are now.

Links Mentioned

Industry Water Week

What is the maximum concentration ratio for low pressure boilers using high purity makeup water such as RO or DI water

Connect with Bruce Ketrick Sr.

Website: https://guardiancsc.com/

LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-ketrick-94111511/

Happy Pretreatment Monday! Today we will be starting off Industrial Water Week with Pretreatment questions for the Scaling UP! Nation!

Here is the question I answer today:

What can make a water softener pass hard water sooner than expected?

Happy Industrial Water Week!

Industry Water Week.

Join me each and every day this week for a special themed episode.

Timestamps

Water Treatment Holiday [00:31]

Celebrating Industrial Water Week [00:35]

Message from James McDonald [01:00]

Question of the day (QODD) [04:35]

Quotes

Here is the question I answer today: What can make a water softener pass hard water sooner than expected?

How are you folks out there celebrate your

Welcome to the special holiday episode of Scaling UP! H2O.

Links Mentioned

Episode 035 The One with RO Expert, Wes Byrne

Scaling UP! Nation!, you know that I believe you get out of our industry what you put into our industry. This is my normal response to when someone asks me why I train others, why I volunteer for trade organizations and especially why I do this podcast. I truly believe that you should teach what you know. Educate yourself and you get smarter, teach what you know, and you get even smarter (because a teacher needs to know content better than a student) and the person you are teaching gets smarter. Did you see what just happened in that scenario? The industry of that particular topic just got better.

My guest today is no stranger to that way of thinking. James McDonald is a champion for the water treatment industry. He is continuously finding new and innovative ways to share information. We had James on the show almost one year ago. Since that time, he has some new things he has been working on he wants to share with the Scaling UP! Nation!

As we wrapped up 2017, The Scaling UP! Nation! was given the CWT Challenge! This was when I ask every member of the Nation! To take their career seriously and go after the highest designation we have in our industry, the CWT! I am happy to say that well over 100 people have contacted me saying that they had the CWT in their sights. AWESOME!!

I wanted to take a moment and recognize those who have received their CWT this year.

Don't forget, next week is Industry Water Week.

Join me each and every day next week for a special themed episode.

Timestamps

AWT Convention & Expo [0:00:29]

Scaling UP! Meet up [0:00:37]

Updates from James McDonalds [0:04:46]

What are the reasons to get CWT [0:05:43]

CWT Benefits [0:05:50]

Study tips from James McDonalds [0:07:26]

Holiday for water treaters [0:11:10]

Resources you can find on AWT website [0:15:19]

Industrial Water Science [0:18:24]

Detective H2O Series [0:19:02]

Exciting news about CWT examination [0:33:11]

CWT Challenges [0:36:22]

Quotes

"CWT is the highest designation that somebody that practices in the area of water treatment to receive." - Trace Blackmore

"Some exciting news on the CWT exams." - Trace Blackmore

"A VIP Pass on Detective H2O Series." - James McDonald

"Some tips and trivia's on how you can get better resources for CWT examinations." - Trace Blackmore

"The #1 benefit for taking the test on the computerized format is that you can mark your answers." - Trace Blackmore

"Upcoming Event: Industrial Water Week (Oct. 1-5)." - Trace Blackmore

Links Mentioned

James McDonald on Twitter

James McDonald on LinkedIn

Chem Aqua, Inc.

Industrial Water Treatment LinkedIn Group

Star trek Outpost Bral character debut

"Family & Friends of Industrial Water Treatment Professionals" Facebook page

MarketScale Podcast on Industrial Water Week

Audible

Now we have a holiday dedicated just to us, The Industrial Water Treater!

Join Scaling UP! H₂O as we celebrate Industrial Water Week October 1 -5. We will have a new episode each and every day.

Industrial Water Week: Your Holiday

October 1, 2018 Celebrate water softeners, reverse osmosis, demineralizers, dealkalizers, filters, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, cold lime softeners, hot lime softeners, clarifiers, deaerators, electrodeionization, water chemistries, water analysis, and much more!

October 2, 2018 Celebrate firetube and watertube boilers! Celebrate steam and hot water boilers! Celebrate boiler chemistry, cycles of concentration, energy efficiency, water efficiency, safety, boiler water analysis, blowdown control, calculations, corrosion minimization, scale/deposit minimization, water analysis, and much more!

October 3, 2018 Celebrate open-recirculating cooling towers, evaporative condensers, chillers, closed loops, cooling chemistry, cycles of concentration, energy efficiency, water efficiency, microbiological control, biocides, corrosion minimization, scale/deposit minimization, safety, water analysis, blowdown control, calculations, water analysis, and much more!

October 4, 2018 Celebrate filtration, clarification, coagulants, flocculants, aeration, microbiological treatment, filter presses, oxidation, gray water, recycling, equalization basins, dissolved air filtration, induced air filtration, settling tanks, sand filters, water analysis, and much more!

October 5, 2018 Celebrate the people and wide range of careers available within the noble Industrial Water Treatment profession! Celebrate Water Management Specialists, Technical Support Engineers, Application Engineers, Business Development Mangers, Accountants, Supply Chain Managers, Management, Administrators, Marketing Specialists, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Human Resources, and many more!

Quotes

"To learn more about industrial water treatment, check out these links." - Trace Blackmore

"How should you celebrate Industrial Water Week?" - Trace Blackmore

"Like any good holiday, the best celebrations are the traditions that mean the most to you." - Trace Blackmore

"Industrial Water Week, a global holiday dedicated to the celebration of Industrial Water Treatment and those who practice it." - Trace Blackmore

"Check out the videos on celebrating. #IndustrialWaterWeek." - Trace Blackmore

"To learn more about the birth of Industrial Water Week, read this Pulse article on LinkedIn." - Trace Blackmore

An introduction to a new Podcast for Water Treaters.

Scaling UP! The podcast for water treaters by water treaters. • Introduction and Welcome • Announcements/ Updates in the industry • Catalyst • Interview/Presentation • Pinks and Blues • Wrap up

This was really the first episode of Scaling UP! Even though it is Episode #2. The first episode was simply a placeholder to allow me to get the Podcast registered on iTunes and Stitcher and also get the website up and running. It was for this "real" episode that I purchased items to actually have a sound studio to record in. Many of you wrote in to tell me how much better I sounded on episode 2 than episode 1. This is for a few reasons:

Research

I did a lot of research before recording the second episode. This included reading post, watching YouTube (I love YouTube,) exploring around with the sound software and purchasing a good condensing microphone. Many of you asked which microphone I am using. It is called the Samson Meteor. I read on several reviews that it was almost indistinguishable from many other more expensive microphones. A top rated podcasting microphone was ten times more expensive than the Meteor and the Meteor got a better review! If you are curious, I bought it from Amazon (as I do most things).

During this episode, we talk about the Association of Water Technologies, AWT and the Certified Water Technologist designation, CWT. I mention the booklet that helps guide you through the CWT process, here it is:

I also mention the corrosion coupon guidelines from AWT, here that is:

I hope you enjoy the Podcast. I am having a lot of fun with it.

Links Mentioned:

Association of Water Technologies (AWT)

Scaling Up! H2O on iTunes

Scaling Up! H2O on Stitcher

Samson Meteor

Certified Water Technologist (CWT) Application Handbook

AWT – Standards for Corrosion Rates