Thermostats are wonderful devices. Set the times and temperatures, and you’re done. You can forget all about your heating or cooling until the season changes. 

The water quality in your shop doesn’t work that way. You could “set it and forget it,” but that will lead to a whole host of costly problems. And headaches.

Maintaining water quality takes time. When you’re running a shop, deadlines and quotas aren’t, “Whenever you get to it.” They’re tight and aggressive. That means working at full capacity – all of the time. 

If you use the same dishwater for a week, you won’t need a quality test to know the water is off. You’ll know by how it looks and feels. And solving the problem is quick and easy. 

Or if dishes don’t speak to you — hey, maybe you use paper plates to avoid doing dishes — let’s talk pool water. 

You wouldn’t swim in a pool that no one maintained, right? You’d only hop in if you knew someone was ensuring proper water quality from pH and water hardness to chlorine/sanitizer levels, not to mention cleaning the filter regularly.  And, since it’s not practical to fill the pool every time someone wants to take a dip, maintaining water quality is essential. If you weren’t aware, with the right maintenance, you can use the same pool water for years!

Your machine shop isn’t a pool or sink though… and you don’t get the same signs when something goes wrong. In fact, you won’t know until there’s a problem. And once you have a problem, fixing it will be expensive: productivity loss, fluid replacement, and dump, clean, recharge.

If you didn’t work on a shop floor, you’d never guess that the water you drink could be a disaster in your shop. 

The very chemical makeup of your water is a bit more complicated than H20, because water varies wildly from location to location, neighborhood to neighborhood, and well to well. Any number of additional elements from calcium and iron to chlorine can be present in your water. 

And the sad reality for machine shops is that whatever compounds are present in your water may lead to rust and corrosion and have the potential to alter or destroy metalworking fluids and projects. It’s not necessarily limited to compounds either.  Microbes can wreak havoc on your equipment if your water quality isn’t within the recommended guidelines.  

By following the guidelines for your pH and water hardness, among other measurements will protect your equipment, products, and fluids from potentially costly damage due to water quality.

Maintaining your shop’s water quality takes time. And who has extra time? The reality is that in the long run taking the time now can save you significant headaches and money. You’ll spend less time putting out proverbial fires and more time doing things like making money and relaxing. 

Have questions about your shop’s water quality? Contact our team.

Got Rust??
The solution might just be in your water quality. 

And since the weather (and seasons) where you live can play a big role, we’ve created a brand-new Seasonal Guide to Water Care for Machine Shops to help you protect your equipment, your products, and your client relationships!

Download it now!