Cause Over Symptom Diagnosis
Definition
The practice of correcting the underlying cause of an out of bounds reading rather than adjusting the reading directly.
Before the shift, low sulfite means turn up the pump; after the shift, low sulfite means check deaerator temperature, condensate return rate, and makeup volume to find whether the oxygen load increased. Adjusting a feed rate without diagnosis often just delays the inevitable failure. The same time it takes to change a pump setting can be spent thinking about the real cause. It is the philosophical heart of the consultant transition.
Related concepts
Dissolved Oxygen · Water Consultant Mindset · Cycles of Concentration
Part of The Blueprint of Water · 🛠️ operations