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Myth, Memory, and the Real Story Behind the Water

A Conversation with Eric Herman | Talking Pools Podcast

Some voices in an industry don’t simply report the story — they shape how the story is told.

In this episode of Talking Pools, host Natalie Hood, Director of Education and Network Development for The Grit Game, sits down with one of the most influential storytellers the aquatic industry has ever produced: Eric Herman, Vice President of Communications for Watershape University and longtime editor of the legendary publication WaterShapes Magazine.

For more than four decades, Herman has documented the evolution of pools, fountains, spas, and aquatic design — not merely as a trade reporter, but as a historian of water itself. His work spans the early days of modern pool construction journalism at Pool & Spa News, the groundbreaking launch of WaterShapes Magazine in 1999, and today’s digital continuation of that legacy through watershapes.com, a library containing more than 5,000 articles chronicling the craft, science, and culture of water.

But this episode isn’t just about history.

It’s about myths — the assumptions, half-truths, and inherited wisdom that circulate through the pool industry and public perception alike.

And in a conversation that moves effortlessly between science, storytelling, and cultural memory, Herman and Hood begin dismantling some of the most persistent myths surrounding swimming pools, safety, and water chemistry.

A Journalist in the Deep End

Eric Herman’s journey into the aquatic world began not with pools, but with curiosity.

His first published article in 1986 — for Orange Coast Magazine — examined the emerging microbrewery industry. Within three years, that curiosity would lead him to an interview in Los Angeles with pool industry pioneer Jim McCloskey, then editor of Pool & Spa News.

The result was a career that has now stretched 40 years.

At Pool & Spa News, Herman covered everything from service techniques and plaster science to drowning prevention — topics that would later shape the direction of aquatic education and professional training across the industry.

When Herman and McCloskey launched WaterShapes Magazine in 1999, they intentionally broadened the conversation beyond swimming pools.

The publication examined water as a design medium.

Pools, fountains, ponds, streams, water parks, hot springs, landscape architecture, and hydrological design all found a home in its pages.

The result was a publication that changed how aquatic professionals thought about their craft.

Today, that legacy continues through the digital platform watershapes.com, publishing twice monthly and maintaining one of the most comprehensive archives of aquatic design knowledge anywhere in the world.

Myth Busting Begins

Hood frames the conversation around a theme she frequently explores on the show: myths in aquatics.

But Herman begins by reframing the idea of myth itself.

Traditionally, he explains, myths weren’t falsehoods. They were symbolic stories meant to communicate deeper truths. The modern use of the word — describing something widely believed but factually incorrect — is almost the opposite.

With that philosophi

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