TDS and maybe…Giving up…

TDS and maybe…Conquering it

Maybe the most vexing results issue we deal with (aside from bad operators) is the TDS nemesis. While regular old hard water is enough of a headache, total dissolved solids can be especially problematic. Hardness in the form of insoluble Calcium and Magnesium Carbonate can be overcome with softening and or a sufficient detergent concentration to sequester them.

But solids that are composed of soluble minerals are another matter because they’re unaffected by the detergents’ water hardness control capability, or the water softener’s function.

First a definition: TDS refers to all solids that are in the water. It can be partially composed of the traditional hardness sources like Calcium and Magnesium that are insoluble. The rest of the TDS issue comes from soluble minerals like salt that actually dissolved in the water. Determining the difference is commonly done with the water glass test using distilled water and another using delimer. If the water removes the haze, it’s TDS, if the acid does the trick, it’s hard water.

Hard water haze = a higher detergent concentration. But TDS requires a more holistic approach. It might be using lower final rinse temps to encourage more runoff and less evaporation of the water. It may lie in a different rinse aid. And it may only be solvable with more drastic measures like some pretty costly water treatment equipment.

Next up: Some thoughts on those options.

Giving up …is hard to do

Deciding when it’s time to bail on a long-pursued prospect is tough. For most of us making the hard decision to give up on any seriously pursued goal is a tough nut to crack. After a lot of time and effort has been invested in the pursuit of any tantalizing objective, we’re all kind of hard wired to just keep on flailing away at it.

But there really does come a time to call it quits – especially when the wall we’ve been banging our heads against is one that in our heart of hearts we know has somewhere between slim and no chance for success. Now that doesn’t mean we lose their number forever, but at some point, we have to shelve that dry hole of an opportunity to create the time and mental bandwidth to allow us to pursue more practical and attainable opportunities.

If we allow ourselves to accept the near-term wisdom of setting that elusive prospect aside – even if only temporarily, we can refocus our energy on more attainable targets. In the end that choice is pretty subjective and even open to self-doubt, but about the need to do it there’s no doubt.

Next up: Restarting that shelved goal.