The Pool Man Podcast Show Notes

Episode 2 - “Test Your Water and Act!!”

• Introduction and format:

You’re listening to episode two of The Pool Man Podcast - “Test Your Water and Act!! 

This episode is for May 15th, 2018. 

I’ve designed this podcast to give you all the information you need to keep your pool in tip top condition all year round. The Pool Man Podcast is written and produced by me, and is intended as a guide only. I always recommend that you employ the services of a professional pool technician, should you encounter any problems you are unable to solve yourself.

Welcome to the second episode of The Pool Man Podcast… and they said it’d never last!!

So, now that you’ve had your new pool technician around and they’ve done your initial handover service, your chemicals have been topped up, you’ve read your inspection report and fixed all the faulty parts and you’ve got all your equipment back up and running again… what should you do now? The aim is to keep the pool clean and clear, and your chemical levels balanced. It’s much easier said than done believe me!! 

As professional pool technicians, we do this stuff every day, so after a while it becomes second nature to us, but for the average pool owner this is a scary thing and I fully understand that it can seem a bit daunting.

As mentioned in the first episode of The Pool Man Podcast, it may come as a shock to some people, but there is no such thing as a maintenance free pool!! Now as a pool tech with experience, I’m pretty good at getting a pool clean and balancing the water, but when I leave the house there’s a period of between two and six weeks where the pool has a lot of time to get dirty again. This may also come as a shock to some people, but during that time I have ABSOLUTELY NO CONTROL of what happens to your pool. It’s entirely up to you as the pool owner to perform some basic maintenance steps during the period that I’m not there. 

In my opinion, any pool tech worth their salt (Did you see what I did there?) will offer you a certain degree of training. With me I’ve always approached the job as part pool tech, and part teacher. My aim is to teach you the skills that you’ll need to properly maintain your pool… even if you have a regular pool tech. Knowledge is power, and it’s always an advantage to you if you know a little bit about the chemicals we use, and why we use them. 

Possibly the most powerful weapon in your pool care arsenal will be a basic test kit. You can pick one up at your local pool shop, through your pool technician or even at Bunnings for somewhere between $10.00 - $20.00 and It’s worth every cent. While professional pool techs use professional and very sophisticated electronic photometers and other high-end test equipment that give a very specific reading for each chemical test, the home user only requires a test that delivers an approximate result within the required range. A basic 2 in 1 test kit is more than enough for you to keep an eye on the major chemical levels.

These typically consist of a vial with a small water receptacle on each side with transparent colour bars. You fill them up to the line, drop one DPD tablet in the chlorine side, and five drops of phenol red solution in the PH side, put the caps on and shake. You compare the colour of the water to the colour bars and determine if the chlorine and PH are within the normal range. For a high PH reading y