157 Pinks and Blues When Your Pinks Don’t Turn Pink
09/25/20 • 51 min
Our test kits are our greatest tool. But what happens when the tests we rely on don’t do what they are supposed to do? Yes, your tests know how to lie! They also know how to have a bit of fun and not react the way you are expecting. Adds a bit more fun to our job, doesn’t it?
Well, the fact is our test will always react within the confines of chemistry, even if we don’t understand the chemistry. The only way to truly understand your tests is to understand the chemistry that allows them to work. And there again, another thing to learn in water treatment. This is why I always say that you should learn something every day in the water treatment industry!
Today, we are going to talk about understanding our tests better. I have chosen questions from the Scaling UP! mailbag about tests. What happens when our pinks don’t turn pink, and our blues don’t turn blue? That’s what we are talking about today.
Timestamps:
Knowing the basics of your tests [8:10]
Importance of clean test kits [10:00]
Importance of measuring accurately [10:40]
Chloride test [11:32]
Alkalinity test [22:00]
Nitrite test [27:47]
Alkalinity relationships [28:42]
Free Chlorine test [32:01]
Sulfite test [36:45]
Phosphate test [40:00]
Quotes:
“As a professional water treater, you need to know the procedures of your tests.”
“It’s better to be consistently wrong than to be all over the map.”
Links Mentioned:
AWT Annual Convention and Exposition
Scaling Up! H2O After Hours Hang
116 Pinks and Blues: System Volume
Our test kits are our greatest tool. But what happens when the tests we rely on don’t do what they are supposed to do? Yes, your tests know how to lie! They also know how to have a bit of fun and not react the way you are expecting. Adds a bit more fun to our job, doesn’t it?
Well, the fact is our test will always react within the confines of chemistry, even if we don’t understand the chemistry. The only way to truly understand your tests is to understand the chemistry that allows them to work. And there again, another thing to learn in water treatment. This is why I always say that you should learn something every day in the water treatment industry!
Today, we are going to talk about understanding our tests better. I have chosen questions from the Scaling UP! mailbag about tests. What happens when our pinks don’t turn pink, and our blues don’t turn blue? That’s what we are talking about today.
Timestamps:
Knowing the basics of your tests [8:10]
Importance of clean test kits [10:00]
Importance of measuring accurately [10:40]
Chloride test [11:32]
Alkalinity test [22:00]
Nitrite test [27:47]
Alkalinity relationships [28:42]
Free Chlorine test [32:01]
Sulfite test [36:45]
Phosphate test [40:00]
Quotes:
“As a professional water treater, you need to know the procedures of your tests.”
“It’s better to be consistently wrong than to be all over the map.”
Links Mentioned:
AWT Annual Convention and Exposition
Scaling Up! H2O After Hours Hang
116 Pinks and Blues: System Volume
Previous Episode
156 The One with Tricia Molloy
If there has ever been a year we need more positive things in our lives, it is 2020. I spent a good part of 2020 focused on the things I couldn’t do because of COVID 19. I couldn’t go to AWT’s training seminar in March, and several of my other speaking and facilitating engagements got canceled. Our church stopped holding in-person services, and the two vacations we had planned got canceled. 2020 stinks, right?!
Fortunately, not too long after all of my plans were getting canceled one after the other, I had a change in mindset. I decided that if I continued focusing on what I could not do, I would never be happy. So, I stopped. I decided I would focus on the things I could do and make sure I did those things to my best ability.
After focusing my efforts on things that were within my control, I started to feel better about our situation and more in control. All of the canceled items I mentioned above came back in a new fashion. I was still able to do them, just not as initially planned. Some of the new plans were better than the original plans. And all of them created an opportunity that permitted me to think differently, refining the event or action for the better. If we look for misery, we are going to find it. But why choose to look for that?
My guest today is Tricia Molloy, an author, speaker, and coach. She has been a featured keynote speaker for many well-known companies like Home Depot, Kimberly Clark, GE, Marriott, and The America Red Cross, to name a few. I met Tricia when I was giving my Ted Talk at Tim Fulton’s Small Business Matters Conference. For those of you that haven’t heard that story, please listen to episode 92.
Tricia has a simple approach that she guides people through called CRAVE. You will learn how to use CRAVE to start some great new habits, all designed to make you more focused on what brings you happiness. Because after all, that is what we should be looking to find.
Timestamps:
Introducing Tricia Molloy [09:30]
Tricia’s background [12:30]
The benefits of creating a vision board [15:35]
C.R.A.V.E. your goals [18:40]
Do the methods in C.R.A.V.E. really work? [41:16]
What is the one message you’d like to pass on to the Scaling Up! Nation? [46:20]
How to find out more about Tricia’s work [47:00]
Quotes:
“What is one thing I can do today to bring me closer to this reality?”
“What we focus on expands and what we appreciate appreciates.”
Links Mentioned:
AWT Annual Convention and Exposition
Next Episode
158 the One That's Virtually Live At 2020 AWT Conference
Happy Association of Water Technologies 2020 Convention week! If it weren't for COVID19, we would all be together right now. However, through the magic of technology, we are virtually together. Proving once again, we can get through COVID19. We can get through anything! We are Water Treaters!
Every year the Association of Water Technologies bestows an award called The Ray Baum Memorial Water Technologist of the Year Award. The Association of Water Technologies describes this award as follows:
The Ray Baum Memorial Water Technologist of the Year Award, recognizing "outstanding entrepreneurial spirit and contributions to the field of water treatment," will be awarded at the Annual Reception and Awards Dinner held during the Annual Convention.
The award is named after Ray Baum, one of AWT's founders. Baum viewed the association as a nurturing support network for small and medium-sized companies, to provide knowledge and activities to allow these companies to grow and compete in the worldwide marketplace. He was committed to the industry whose growth he helped build throughout his career. The recipient should exemplify these characteristics.
I am humbled to be the recipient of this award for 2020. Something to celebrate in a year that hasn't had a lot of celebration! Thank you to all who nominated me, and thank you to the AWT board for selecting me as this year's recipient. I look at this award as a symbol of the effect the Scaling UP! Nation! has had on so many, including me. Thank you for being part of The Nation! and being part of something that can elevate the entire water treatment industry.
This award is given every year. Who do you think will be next? Will it be someone you know? A guest of this show? Or will it be you? I urge you to look for the qualities that this award celebrates in all water treaters, including yourself. If you would like to nominate someone, please click here.
Please enjoy this special episode.
Timestamps:
The Ray Baum Memorial Water Technologist of the Year Award [01:50]
The importance of mentors [07:05]
The acceptance speech [07:45]
Winner’s history in water treatment [08:20]
Scaling Up! H2O Podcast [10:00]
Rising Tide Mastermind [11:09]
Navigating the Pandemic while Innovating for the Future [20:15]
Links Mentioned:
AWT Interactive Annual Convention and Exposition
Ray Baum Memorial Water Technologist of the Year Award
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