The question is whether to just sell or to actually HELP the customer.
Today there was an interesting problem. The symptom was typical, but the cause was one that is missed by many water treatment dealers. I had plenty of time to do a full survey of the water system with tests and observations. There was a definite odor in the water, but as with any water issue, I always ask myself, is this a permanent problem coming from the well or is this a temporary problem caused by something else?
Now, your typical salesman is always looking at a problem and thinking about what to sell to fix it, but I am always looking for the root cause. I miss a few unneeded sales this way, but I get a ton of referrals that outweigh my supposed lost revenue. A good technician (as opposed to salesman) will root out the true cause and not just sell. I know how I feel when incompetent diagnosticians sell me more auto repairs than I need, so I don't want my customers to feel the same about me.
Many times, an odor is caused by natural organic debris built up in the cartridge pre filter that begin to build up bacteria and give off a foul odor, and quite often, just telling the homeowner to change the pre filter more frequently will solve the problem. That was not the case today. There was not a filter of any kind. This inclined me towards believing in a well problem, but as I checked the well tank, I noticed a problem. The well tank, which acts as a pressure vessel, was a bladder type. This is different from an old galvanized tank that needs to be re-pressurized yearly. A bladder tank has a rubber bladder that surrounds the water and the bladder is itself surrounded by the pressurized air that pushes water from the tank to the fixtures. This is the set it and forget it solution for water pressure tanks, and what I recommend except in a few situations.
When I checked out the bladder tank I noticed 3 issues. One was that the tank was over filled with water. Another was that when the well pump turned on, there was splashing inside the tank. The last thing I noticed was that when I turned off the well pump and emptied the tank, air bubbles escaped the tank. All of these indicated a hole in the bladder. The tank needs to be replaced.
One cause of odor in this situation is the ability of some water to get outside the bladder and stagnate. Some of this water will leak back into the water side of the bladder and then make its way into the home. This is not the only cause of odor, but the tank is broken, is a potential cause for coliform or other contamination, and needs to be replaced. Replace it first, then chlorinate the system and see if the odor comes back. If the odor is gone, the customer has saved thousands of dollars. If the odor comes back, then there is an odor in the well, but at least you attempted by replacing something that was broken anyway.
Any Water Concerns? email me at tedmullen@hotmail.com or check out my website at www.cleanwaterman.com
Today there was an interesting problem. The symptom was typical, but the cause was one that is missed by many water treatment dealers. I had plenty of time to do a full survey of the water system with tests and observations. There was a definite odor in the water, but as with any water issue, I always ask myself, is this a permanent problem coming from the well or is this a temporary problem caused by something else?
Now, your typical salesman is always looking at a problem and thinking about what to sell to fix it, but I am always looking for the root cause. I miss a few unneeded sales this way, but I get a ton of referrals that outweigh my supposed lost revenue. A good technician (as opposed to salesman) will root out the true cause and not just sell. I know how I feel when incompetent diagnosticians sell me more auto repairs than I need, so I don't want my customers to feel the same about me.
Many times, an odor is caused by natural organic debris built up in the cartridge pre filter that begin to build up bacteria and give off a foul odor, and quite often, just telling the homeowner to change the pre filter more frequently will solve the problem. That was not the case today. There was not a filter of any kind. This inclined me towards believing in a well problem, but as I checked the well tank, I noticed a problem. The well tank, which acts as a pressure vessel, was a bladder type. This is different from an old galvanized tank that needs to be re-pressurized yearly. A bladder tank has a rubber bladder that surrounds the water and the bladder is itself surrounded by the pressurized air that pushes water from the tank to the fixtures. This is the set it and forget it solution for water pressure tanks, and what I recommend except in a few situations.
When I checked out the bladder tank I noticed 3 issues. One was that the tank was over filled with water. Another was that when the well pump turned on, there was splashing inside the tank. The last thing I noticed was that when I turned off the well pump and emptied the tank, air bubbles escaped the tank. All of these indicated a hole in the bladder. The tank needs to be replaced.
One cause of odor in this situation is the ability of some water to get outside the bladder and stagnate. Some of this water will leak back into the water side of the bladder and then make its way into the home. This is not the only cause of odor, but the tank is broken, is a potential cause for coliform or other contamination, and needs to be replaced. Replace it first, then chlorinate the system and see if the odor comes back. If the odor is gone, the customer has saved thousands of dollars. If the odor comes back, then there is an odor in the well, but at least you attempted by replacing something that was broken anyway.
Any Water Concerns? email me at tedmullen@hotmail.com or check out my website at www.cleanwaterman.com
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