Why is water so greenish blue???

I enjoy the Greenish blue color it looks very 

unatural ,but very cool.

I have seen first hand the affect that so called filtered river water (which is darn near the same as lake water) has on shell and tube heat exchangers. It is not a pretty site. Filtering the solids out is a start but the dissolved solids can also cause plate out on the exchanger. For a few extra dollars in the grand scheme of things why not go with a closed cooling system?

And yes I am an engineer so I get to use those big words:)

If you were really an engineer, you'd realize they're saving far more than "a few extra dollars".

As Dave pointed out - and if anyone is well-versed on such things, its him - the savings extend beyond pure direct cost savings, to energy and space savings, which also then contribute to indirect cost savings.

Constructing a cooling system when you already have a perfectly viable one in existence, makes zero sense in the engineering world.

I will let you pay a visit to several rather large power plants on the Ohio River and ask them how their rather large cooling water source has worked for them.

Do I need to provide a copy of my 17 year old diploma to prove I am a chemical engineer? Compared to a $25 million dollar ride, yes, a closed cooling water system is just a few extra dollars. But hey if it works for them then I am sure they did their due diligence and life is good.

^ - remember too that this ride shuts down for 6 months of the year, during which I'm sure they have the time to clean out the cooling system and remove any build-up that may have occurred.

As opposed to a power plant which needs to be up and running 365 days a year. They can't take the down time to clean out the cooling system.

I thought the water dragster used came from the Snake River Falls pond.

Just because you're an engineer doesn't mean you're a good engineer, no matter how proud of that dusty diploma you are.

^ - speaking of which, do you know how many times I wish that the engineer that designed a product actually had to use and or repair said object?

Not surprisingly, we hear that a lot.

Stupid, picky end-users. :)

...And let me remind you of two important facts:

#1: I have heard that Dragster uses lagoon water for hydraulic system cooling. I have not verified this.

#2: Since some of you are putting your credentials on the line, I'll do the same: I have a Bachelor's degree in Communication, and I have a Level I inspection certificate from the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials (NAARSO). I'm also a member of ASTM Committee F-24 on Amusement Rides and Devices. I have ABSOLUTELY NO official or recognized engineering credentials, and have no intention or desire to misrepresent myself otherwise. :)

Shades, I'm not an engineer (see #2) but I understood all those big words. :) My only comment is that if they did indeed use lagoon water for cooling, then I would assume that the system was designed with the condition of the water in mind. Also, the Cedar Point lagoon has an advantage over any given river in that it is a semi-closed system. Yes, it can be filled from or emptied into Sandusky Bay, but most of the time the lagoon is a closed system, which means that the park can do some treatment to the water to try and make it less hostile to the machinery. Which may take us right back to why the water is neon aquamarine in the first place: because the dye colorant is less damaging to the machinery than the algae blooms that it is intended to reduce.

Oh, and Jugga...power plants CAN shut down their cooling systems for cleaning. Those systems are typically divided into separate units, each unit with a higher capacity than necessary to 'pull its weight'. So, for instance, if there are four cooling units, instead of being sized at 25% of the necessary load, each one might be sized for, say, 40% of the peak cooling load, so that one unit can be taken off-line without the need to shut the plant down. They do the same thing with generators and other redundant components when possible. :) Oh, and "+1" on the comment about making designers "eat their own dogfood".

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

^ - that does make sense (about power plant cooling).

I found the problem with designers when trying to replace the power cord to my dryer. There is an opening on the back for access to the connection. However, the designer decided that the top of the opening should be below the level of the screws that hold the wires in place. So, to get any kind of tool in there to work on it, I had to bend the heck out of the back of my dryer. And then kinda put it back in place when I was done.

John, you're problem could have easily been solved by simply replacing the entire dryer, obviously.

We did. It wasn't the power cord, something in the circuit board had fried.

One thing I did learn, always unplug the 220 before messing with the circuit connections on a dryer. I forgot a few times as I was testing stuff.

Yeah... working with live wires is almost never a great idea. :)

djDaemon said:
Just because you're an engineer doesn't mean you're a good engineer, no matter how proud of that dusty diploma you are.

May I ask what you do for a living?

I'm an engineer - MTU alumnus. :)

Then why in the wide world of sports are you slamming an engineer of whom you know nothing about? I never said I was a good engineer. I was only trying to say that I have some knowledge about heat exchangers.

I wasn't "slamming" you. I was merely pointing out that your assertions about cost savings were... odd, and especially so in the case of an engineer. Cost savings are cost savings, regardless of the quantity, and that's the bottom line.

I probably should have included some of those cute smiley faces (with regard to the "dusty diploma", etc.) to show that I'm not a complete jerk - I simply have jerkicidal tendencies. :)

Shades, don't worry. It was years in that barren wasteland called Houghton that have affected his mind.

Sadly, there is no cure.

Bah! What you call a "barren wasteland", I call the "Hot Female Capital of the Northwestern Area of Michigan's Upper Peninsula North of Marquette".