Old timer at the Erie Canal job told me to stop chasing the gauge and watch the discharge color instead

I was running a 12 inch cutter suction on a maintenance job near Buffalo about 2 years ago. Kept staring at the vacuum gauge trying to keep it perfect. This guy named Jerry with 40 years in walks over and says "kid, that gauge lies to you half the time. Look at the water coming out of the pipe. If it's milky you're sucking air. If it's dark and heavy you're plugged up." Changed how I run the whole machine. Still check the gauges but I trust my eyes a lot more now. Anyone else get advice from someone that made you rethink your whole approach?

4 comments

4 Comments

hannah4001mo ago

Wait, wouldn't milky water mean sand or clay in the mix instead of air?

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wesleyb201mo ago

@hannah400 that's actually a really good point. Milky water usually has tiny particles suspended in it, not just air. Air gives you tiny bubbles that pop quickly, but if it stays milky for a while, you're probably looking at fine sand or clay sediment. People forget that fresh well water or water from certain taps can have dissolved minerals that react with oxygen and turn cloudy too. I've seen this happen with hard water where calcium or magnesium particles just float around. So yeah, you're probably right that it's not always air causing the cloudiness.

wadew511mo ago

Yo @wesleyb20 nailed it! Same thing happened with my tap water last month, it was minerals not air.

phoenixw111mo ago

HOLD UP wait, @wesleyb20 did you just say the water got milky because of minerals reacting with oxygen?! That's WILD I have NEVER heard of that before. I always just figured cloudy water was air bubbles or maybe some dirt. So you're telling me calcium and magnesium can literally turn the water white like that? That is actually kind of fascinating and a little scary honestly. I'm gonna have to check my own tap water now because I have hard water and I bet that's what's happening.