How the field talks.

Real identity, always

Your name, title, and company print on every post and reply. No handles, no anonymous posting. This is how the industry already talks to itself, and it does most of the moderation for free.

What a post needs

• A category, so the people who run the same iron see it.
• A title of at least five words that says what the system is doing. Not all capitals, and not “help” or “any ideas”.
• The situation in at least thirty-five words: the readings, what changed last, and what you have already ruled out.
• At least one reading the field can work with: a number next to its unit or its name. Conductivity 1,450 µS, LSI 0.4, 9 gpg hardness. Readings chip themselves as you type.

The rules with teeth

• No competitor disparagement.
• No customer names, addresses, or identifiable photos without permission. Describe the system, not the site.
• No recruiting in threads. That is the job board’s work.
• No vendor advertising outside a declared vendor flair.
• No discussion of pricing, margins, bid amounts, discount levels, customer allocation, or territory. Employees of competing companies discussing pricing in a public forum is textbook antitrust exposure, and informality makes it worse. This applies to the public Field.

Answers, votes, accepted answers

• Answer with what you would check first. Readings beat theories.
• Votes go up only. There are no downvotes; the accepted answer and the count carry the signal.
• The person who asked accepts the answer. Accepting is final after seven days.

Public health

The Field is peer discussion among practitioners. It is not a substitute for a facility’s water management program, a qualified professional’s judgment, or public health authority guidance. Nothing here is a directive.

Public-health topics get answered here as peer discussion. Point to ASHRAE 188 and the facility’s water management team. Do not give remediation dosing for an active case. If a post describes an active outbreak or someone becoming ill, the only sanctioned answer is: contact your local health department and your facility’s water management team.

Reporting and moderation

Every post and reply carries a Report control. Reports go to Connor Hanrahan, who reads every one. A post that breaks a rule is hidden, not deleted, and the reason is shown where it stood.