For the past 20 years, I’ve spent much of my work life in manufacturing plants, talking to operators who monitor and control water-related utilities: pretreatment systems, boilers, cooling towers and wastewater treatment systems.

These operators taught me things that I never learned from text books. The books I read to become a classically-trained engineer taught me applied scientific principles; they did not describe how equipment actually worked. This knowledge gap bothered me. How was I supposed to learn all of the things that operators acquire from many years of on-line experience?

When I started my consulting business, I became a compulsive book buyer. I bought every book that I thought might help me improve my technical knowledge and understanding of water utility system operations. These books used technical terms to explain engineering principles and show how systems worked. But they seldom described how certain operating anomalies often lead to system failures. And, I can’t recall ever reading about how to monitor and diagnose symptoms of impending failure.

None of the books I read described the lessons that I learned from operators, like having to routinely purge the sample line for on-line turbidity analyzers on the influent clarifier to ensure an accurate sample. And they didn’t offer translations of jargon such as heater to describe the deaerator. Why hadn’t anyone written a book that shared what operators collectively know?

As I continued to see catastrophic failures in water utility systems, I decided to write the book that I wish I’d had in my early years in this business. My publisher has just released the first volume. This book is specifically designed for the thousands of operators and engineers who are in the plant every day. Project engineers can also benefit by understanding the application guidelines and limitations of various water treatment technologies and equipment designs.

This is the first of four books in a series on industrial water management. So, if you’ll indulge my moment of shameless self-promotion, here are the details:

Operating Practices for Industrial Water Management, “Influent Water Systems,” by Loraine Huchler, Gulf Publishing Company © 2007, Houston, Texas (www.gulfpub.com).

You can read excerpts at www.martechsystems.com/publications/books.html

To purchase from the publisher, contact Tiffany Jones at Tiffany.Jones@gulfpub.com or 01-713-529-4440.

Once you’ve read it, would you let me know how you’re using the book in your plant?