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Profanity does not make someone unprofessional. Confidently spreading bad information does.

In this intentionally abrasive episode of the Talking Pools Podcast, Rudy Stankowitz takes aim at the comment-section experts who diagnose complicated pool problems from one blurry photograph, defend outdated beliefs with “I’ve been doing this for 20 years,” and treat confidence as a substitute for evidence.

BREAKING INDUSTRY NEWS
July’s pool-industry news revealed a market undergoing a serious correction: as reported by Pentair, distributors are aggressively reducing excess equipment inventory; as reported by POOLCORP, essential maintenance and repair demand remains resilient despite weak discretionary spending; as first reported by Bloomberg, Leslie’s was considering strategic options—including a possible Chapter 11 filing—to address its debt; and as reported by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, years of corrosion, inadequate safeguards and nearly 14 million pounds of reactive chemicals contributed to the catastrophic Bio-Lab fire in Conyers. Adding to the industry shake-up, as reported by Pool Brain on August 5, Eric Knight stepped down as executive director of Watershape University to become Pool Brain’s head of education technology, overseeing automated chemical-dosing tools, guided training workflows and point-of-need education for pool professionals. Pool Brain announcement

The Confidently Wrong 

Rudy explains why experience only has value when it remains connected to research, why a correct result does not necessarily prove the explanation behind it, and why professionals must be willing to say, “I don’t know.” He also examines the limits of the Langelier Saturation Index, the risks of oversimplified chemistry advice, and the difference between handing someone an answer and teaching that person how to investigate a problem.

The pool industry does not need to lose its personality, clean up every four-letter word, or turn itself into a room full of corporate robots. It does need people who verify what they say, correct themselves when the evidence changes, and understand that other professionals and customers make real decisions based on the information they share.

The loudest person may get the most attention. The person who consistently does the work earns the trust.

In This Episode

• Why profanity is not a measure of professionalism
• The difference between an opinion and supportable information
• How bad pool chemistry advice can become expensive, dangerous, and public
• Why 20 years in the industry does not automatically equal 20 years of growth
• Experience repeated versus experience examined
• How improved research and instrumentation change what the industry understands
• Why correlation does not prove causation
• The danger of diagnosing pool problems without enough information
• What the Langelier Saturation Index does—and what it cannot tell you
• Why “I don’t know” can be the most professional answer available
• Correcting misinformation without surrendering credibility
• Combining field experience with current science
• Teaching critical thinking instead of creating dependence
• Why trust is worth more than comments, likes, and online attention

Key Takeaways

Experience should be a foundation, not a shield against better information. A professional gathers facts, considers competing explanations, understands the limits of a diagnosis, and changes course when the evidence demands it.

A real mentor does more than provide an answer. A mentor teaches someone what to test, what to rule out, what information matters, and how to reason through the next problem independently.

Profanity backed by accurate information is a voice. Profanity used to disguise ignorance is noise.

2026 Talking Pools Top Ten Pool Industry Mentors

Congratulations to:

• Brandon Reid
• Jeff Hamp
• Chris Kavanaugh
• Tim McDowell
• Lacey Davis
• Jerry Wallace
• John Poma
• Greg Beard
• Terry Tammanin
• Peter Wiederman

These honorees were selected by the hosts of the Talking Pools Podcast for the lasting difference they have made in the lives and careers of pool professionals.

Episode Sponsors 

• BlueRay XL — bluerayxl.com
• Service Industry News — serviceindustrynews.net
• Jack’s Magic — jacksmagic.com
• AquaStar Pool Products

Content Advisory

This episode contains strong language and intentionally abrasive humor.

Connect With Talking Pools

Subscribe to the Talking Pools Podcast wherever you listen, share this episode with a pool professional who values evidence over ego, and follow the show for straight talk, practical education, and pool-industry commentary without the corporate filter.

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This week on Thursdays with Wayne and Steve, the guys take aim at “miracle” pool products, suspiciously cheap equipment, expired test reagents, and the growing number of online knockoffs promising professional results at bargain-basement prices.

Wayne recalls some of the industry’s most memorable gimmicks—including magnets that supposedly made calcium disappear—and explains why words like “miracle cure” should immediately raise a red flag. Steve breaks down how he presents customers with equipment options, why an internet price is not always an apples-to-apples comparison, and what customers give up when they purchase off-brand replacement parts without professional support or a reliable warranty.

During this episode’s Insurance Interlude, Steve and Pat Grenon examine a nightmare renovation in which an unlicensed contractor allegedly left chunks of concrete inside a pool’s plumbing. They discuss the homeowner’s possible options, the limits of homeowners insurance, and why asking to be named as an additional insured may provide valuable protection before a contractor begins work.

Wayne also explains why heavily discounted test kits and reagents may not be the bargain they appear to be. Products sitting in warehouses or clearance bins can be years old, and expired reagents can produce unreliable results—even when the packaging looks perfectly legitimate.

The conversation also covers customer communication, emergency-service pricing, protecting your profit margins, commercial-pool safety failures, and why treating people well remains the most effective marketing strategy in the pool business.

Topics discussed include:

• Spotting “miracle product” scams and deceptive demonstrations
• OEM equipment versus inexpensive aftermarket replacements
• How to explain equipment pricing and warranties to customers
• Why professionals should charge more for emergency and weekend service
• Identifying expired test kits, reagents, and test strips
• The risks of buying unusually cheap chemical-testing products online
• What happens when an unlicensed contractor damages a swimming pool
• Homeowners insurance and contractor-liability claims
• Why additional-insured status matters
• Concrete and construction debris trapped inside pool plumbing
• Developing relationships with reliable leak-detection specialists
• Commercial pools with dangerously low pH and alkalinity
• Cloudy-water problems caused by filtration and operational failures
• Changes within Leslie’s and what pool professionals should watch
• Building trust through honesty, education, and customer service
• Why word-of-mouth remains the strongest form of marketing

The takeaway is simple: read the labels, check expiration dates, compare products carefully, document contractor work, and never assume that the cheapest option is actually the least expensive.

Have a pool-industry scam or questionable product you think Wayne and Steve should investigate? Email the show at [email protected]. If your story is featured, the team may send you a small thank-you gift.

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Cold plunges and ice baths are appearing everywhere—from fitness centers and recovery facilities to wellness clinics, athletic programs, and luxury spas. But colder water does not automatically mean cleaner or safer water.

In this episode of the Talking Pools Podcast, Natalie Hood is joined by Dewey Case, Technical Director for the Council for the Model Aquatic Health Code and Aquatics Coordinator for Williamson County Parks and Recreation in Tennessee.

Dewey helped assemble the experts behind the new CMAHC Cold Water Venue Guidance. Together, he and Natalie separate cold-plunge facts from social-media fiction and explain why these increasingly popular venues require far more attention than a tub, a garden hose, and several bags of ice.

They discuss why bacteria can survive in cold water, how lower temperatures can slow sanitizer performance, and why even a single user introduces sweat, body oils, cosmetics, urea, and microorganisms into the water. They also examine the much greater contamination burden created when a commercial system serves dozens—or potentially hundreds—of users each week.

The conversation covers the risks associated with poorly maintained systems, including biofilm, Pseudomonas, swimmer’s ear, and the possibility of transferring gastrointestinal pathogens. They also explain why dunking your head into questionable cold-plunge water may be a particularly bad idea.

In This Episode

• Why cold water does not sanitize itself
• The truth about bacteria and pathogens in cold plunges
• Why “I’m the only person using it” does not eliminate water-quality concerns
• What sweat, cosmetics, clothing, and body oils add to the water
• Why users should shower before entering
• The risks of head submersion in poorly maintained water
• How biofilm and Pseudomonas can develop inside plumbing and on surfaces
• Why commercial cold plunges are not simply oversized bathtubs
• How high bather loads change filtration, sanitation, and maintenance demands
• Why cold-water chemistry can be more challenging than spa chemistry
• How low temperatures affect chemical dissolution and disinfection
• The purpose of the new CMAHC Cold Water Venue Guidance
• Why proper operation, cleaning, and maintenance make cold-water immersion safer

As Dewey explains, a home cold plunge used by one person and a recirculating commercial venue serving hundreds of bathers are not the same thing. When the bather load changes, the operational practices must change with it.

This episode is essential listening for pool professionals, aquatic operators, health officials, inspectors, facility managers, designers, builders, fitness-center owners, and anyone responsible for operating a commercial cold-water venue.

She Swims So They Can

Natalie is preparing to swim more than 21 miles across three open-water swimming marathons as part of the Tennessee Triple Crown Open Water Swim Challenge. Her campaign, She Swims So They Can, benefits Every Child a Swimmer and helps provide children with access to lifesaving swim lessons.

Her scheduled swims are:

• September 13, 2026
• September 20, 2026
• October 3, 2026

Donations will be accepted through October 3, 2026.

To learn more, donate, purchase official fundraising apparel, or explore sponsorship opportunities, visit Natalie’s Facebook or Instagram pages. Companies interested in sponsoring the campaign may contact Natalie directly at [email protected].

Every contribution helps—and every share expands the campaign’s reach.

Special thanks to campaign sponsors Revved Up Apparel, H2flow Controls, Tenjam, and the Talking Pools Podcast.

#TalkingPoolsPodcast #ColdPlunge #ColdWaterImmersion #IceBath #AquaticSafety #WaterQuality #PoolOperator #PoolProfessional #CMAHC #MAHC #PublicHealth #Aquatics #Pseudomonas #WaterChemistry

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On this episode of Mondays Down Under, Lee Salisbury and Nick are joined by AIS Water’s Lee Moore and Technical Director Blake for a deep dive into commercial saltwater chlorination.

AIS Water has worked in salt chlorination for approximately 35 years, developing systems for everything from swim schools and splash parks to resorts, 50-meter competition pools, coastal pools, and enormous lagoons containing millions of liters of water.

The conversation explores why more commercial aquatic facilities are moving toward onsite chlorine generation—and why their success depends on selecting actual commercial equipment, correctly sizing the system, and maintaining proper water chemistry.

The three major benefits are convenience, safety, and long-term cost savings. Generating chlorine onsite can dramatically reduce the handling, storage, transportation, and manual transfer of liquid or granular chlorine. It can also reduce the risks associated with chemical spills, damaged dosing lines, incorrect chemical mixing, and chlorine gas entering an occupied pool.

But not every “commercial salt system” is truly commercial.

The guests discuss facilities that attempted to meet massive chlorine demand by plumbing together banks of residential chlorinators—including one installation containing an astonishing 95 residential units. Besides creating a maintenance nightmare, these improvised systems can introduce excessive head loss, restrict circulation, shorten cell life, and still fail to satisfy the pool’s chlorine demand.

Proper sizing requires far more than knowing the pool’s volume. AIS Water considers actual peak bather load, water temperature, turnover rate, sunlight exposure, cyanuric acid use, environmental conditions, operating hours, and the facility’s location. Two pools of identical size—even pools located only a suburb apart—may require substantially different chlorine production capacities.

And just when you thought pool chlorination could not get any stranger, the discussion turns to horse pools, seal enclosures, sea lions, natural salt contributions from swimmers, and one exceptionally important unanswered question:

Just how much chlorine does a sea lion prefer?

You will have to return next Monday for the conclusion.

In this episode:

•  Why commercial aquatic facilities are adopting onsite chlorine generation 
•  The safety risks associated with storing and manually transporting chlorine 
•  How salt chlorination can reduce long-term operating costs 
•  Why an electrolytic cell is a consumable—not a failed chlorinator 
•  How commercial-grade anodes can provide significantly longer cell life 
•  The difference between residential and commercial chlorination equipment 
•  What happens when dozens of residential chlorinators are installed in one system 
•  How excessive head loss can compromise circulation and turnover 
•  Why peak bather load is critical when sizing a chlorinator 
•  How sunlight, shade, temperature, rainfall, and surrounding buildings affect chlorine demand 
•  Commercial systems ranging from low-salinity water to direct seawater 
•  The unusual challenges of chlorinating pools for horses, seals, and sea lions 

Guests:

•  Lee Moore, Sales and Marketing, AIS Water 
•  Blake, Technical Director, AIS Water 

Hosted by Lee Salisbury and Nick on Mondays Down Under, part of the Talking Pools Podcast network.

US certifications for AIS Commercial products. 

Certified to the Highest International Standards – AIS commercial chlorination systems are independently certified to NSF/ANSI 50 for swimming pool equipment safety and performance, UL 1081 for electrical safety, and are approved for installation in Los Angeles County, one of the world's most stringent regulatory environments. These certifications provide independent assurance that AIS products meet rigorous standards for quality, reliability, and safety, giving consultants, operators, and asset owners confidence in specifying AIS for demanding commercial aquatic facilities.

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Specialty chemicals are not the enemy. Phosphate removers, enzymes, clarifiers, sequestrants, scale inhibitors, flocculants and stain treatments can all deliver real value—when they address an actual, diagnosed condition.

In this episode of the Talking Pools Podcast, Rudy Stankowitz explains why the bottle should never become the protocol. Before adding any specialty chemical to a pool, service professionals should answer three questions:

•  Will it meaningfully benefit this customer? 
•  Will it become a pain in the ass for me or my technicians? 
•  Can my company make money providing the treatment? 

Rudy breaks down the hidden costs that are often ignored: return visits, filter cleaning, vacuuming, fuel, labor and the time required to explain an expected reaction to the customer. A $20 bottle is no longer a $20 treatment when it creates another hour of work.

He also explains why specialty treatments should not automatically be buried inside a flat monthly service rate. Customers are not paying for possession of the bottle. They are paying for the professional who knows when to use it, how much to use, what conditions are required, what side effects to expect and what to do when the treatment does not behave as planned.

The episode also includes a message honoring the 2026 Top Ten Pool Industry Mentors and Rudy’s final thoughts about his Reflecting Pool coating analysis reaching the White House—proof that sound technical work can matter far beyond the pool industry.

In this episode

•  Why mentorship means teaching people to think—not creating dependence 
•  How specialty chemicals establish added value 
•  Why every treatment should begin with a diagnosed condition 
•  The danger of mistaking a visible reaction for proof 
•  When phosphate removal makes professional and financial sense 
•  Why predictable follow-up work belongs in the treatment price 
•  How flat-rate chemical inclusion can hide value and destroy profit 
•  Why pool professionals should sell outcomes—not bottles 
•  Separating chemical problems from circulation, filtration and equipment problems 
•  Why chemistry and physics remain unchanged by politics 

The three-question specialty chemical test

1.  Will it benefit the customer? 
2.  Will it become a pain in the ass for me? 
3.  Can I make money on it? 

Specialty chemicals are tools—not miracles, substitutes for proper maintenance or acts of absolution for neglected pools.

Sponsored in part by Service Industry News, AquaStar Pool Products and BluRay XL.

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This week, Steve and Wayne tackle two timely topics affecting the swimming pool industry.

First, Steve discusses a growing number of calls from homeowners who find themselves trapped in construction projects with missed deadlines, questionable workmanship, and uncertainty about what to do next. The conversation explores the challenges of residential pool inspections, the gray areas of building codes, and why hiring an independent expert isn't always as straightforward as it sounds.

The second half of the episode takes a deep dive into the newly released Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC) Cold Water Venue Guidance. With cold plunges becoming increasingly popular in homes, gyms, spas, and athletic facilities, Steve and Wayne explain why industry guidance is needed, how it is developed, and what pool professionals should understand about water quality, sanitation, filtration, and safety.

In This Episode

• Why homeowners are increasingly seeking independent pool inspections during construction.
• The challenges of enforcing residential pool codes compared to commercial pools.
• What homeowners should expect before pursuing construction disputes.
• Understanding the role—and limitations—of expert inspections.
• The new Model Aquatic Health Code Cold Water Venue Guidance explained.
• How MAHC guidance is developed through industry collaboration and scientific review.
• Why "guidance" is different from law or regulation.
• Safety recommendations for cold plunge users, including age and health considerations.
• Why colder water changes the speed of chemical reactions.
• Challenges of maintaining proper sanitizer levels in very small cold-water vessels.
• Why many professional athletic organizations simply dump and refill cold plunge water rather than attempting to filter it.
• Lessons learned from servicing cold plunge systems used by professional sports teams.
• The importance of proper maintenance as cold plunges become more common in homes.
• The growing need for practical standards as cold-water therapy enters the mainstream.

Key Takeaways

• Residential pool inspections often involve significant gray areas compared to commercial construction.
• Expert opinions can identify deficiencies, but correcting them may still require negotiation or litigation.
• Cold plunges present unique operational challenges because of their small water volume and low temperatures.
• Lower water temperatures slow chemical reactions, making sanitation more complicated than many people realize.
• Proper water management is just as important in a cold plunge as it is in a swimming pool.
• As cold-water therapy grows in popularity, industry guidance will play an increasingly important role in protecting public health.

Featured Discussion

The MAHC's New Cold Water Guidance

Steve and Wayne explain why the Council for the Model Aquatic Health Code developed guidance for cold plunge facilities, how recommendations are reviewed by subject-matter experts, and why science—not social media trends—should drive industry best practices.

Behind the Scenes with Professional Sports

Drawing from firsthand experience servicing facilities for NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLS organizations, Steve shares how professional teams maintain therapy pools, cold plunges, and rehabilitation equipment—and why sanitation protocols are often much more aggressive than many people expect.

Sponsored By

A special thank you to the Council for the Model Aquatic Health Code (CMAHC) for supporting this episode and their continued work advancing science-based aquatic health guidance.

Have a topic you'd like Steve and Wayne to cover? Send your suggestions to [email protected]. If your idea is featured on the show, you might even receive a special thank-you gift!

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What really separates a good pool company from a great one?

This week, Natalie Hood sits down with Leslie Elliott, Founder and CEO of Poolie, one of the fastest-growing pool service companies in Texas. Leslie's journey into the industry didn't begin with decades of pool experience—it began with a green pool, poor customer service, and the realization that the industry had room to improve.

Together, Natalie and Leslie tackle some of the biggest myths surrounding pool service businesses, leadership, customer service, company culture, growth, technology, and artificial intelligence. Whether you're an owner, manager, technician, or someone thinking about starting a pool company, this conversation offers practical lessons that apply far beyond the swimming pool industry.

In this episode:

• How a green swimming pool launched one of Texas' fastest-growing pool service companies.
• Why customer service is often a bigger competitive advantage than technical expertise.
• The difference between running a pool route and building a scalable business.
• Why growth creates as many challenges as it solves.
• The importance of systems, standard operating procedures, and consistency.
• Why not every customer is worth keeping.
• Protecting employees while maintaining company values.
• Leadership lessons from growing from one route to more than 4,500 customers.
• The importance of training, mentorship, and creating career paths for technicians.
• Why people—not pools—are often the biggest challenge in business.
• How AI is changing customer service, operations, scheduling, and business management.
• Why the pool industry still has opportunities to modernize through technology and professional development.
• Building a company culture that employees actually want to be part of.
• Why success doesn't make leadership easier—it simply changes the challenges.

Key Takeaways

• Great pool companies are built on leadership and customer experience—not just chemistry knowledge.
• Growth without systems creates chaos.
• Company culture is demonstrated through daily actions, not mission statements.
• Investing in employee training pays dividends in customer satisfaction and retention.
• AI should be viewed as a productivity tool that frees people to focus on higher-value work.
• Consistency is often more valuable than constant innovation.
• The future of the pool industry depends on raising professional standards together.

Featured Guest

Leslie Elliott
Founder & CEO, Poolie

Leslie shares how her background in management consulting and business operations helped her build Poolie into a multi-market service company focused on exceptional customer service, scalable systems, and investing in people.

Hosted By

Natalie Hood
Director of Education & Events, The Grit Game

Sponsored By

• BlueRay XL
• United Chemical
• LaMotte Company
• RevdUp Apparel
• Aqua Comfort Water Group

Connect

Learn more about Poolie at Poolie.com and follow their continued growth on social media.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the Talking Pools Podcast, leave us a review, and share it with another pool professional who's committed to raising the bar for our industry.

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What separates a professional pool service company from someone simply adding chemicals?

In Part 2 of this special Mondays Down Under discussion, Lee Salisbury and Nick dive deeper into professional water analysis with the team from LaMotte, discussing why consistent, accurate testing is one of the biggest differences between average pool care and true water management.

The conversation explores the value of the WaterLink® Spin system, reducing user error, interpreting test results correctly, common mistakes professionals make after shocking a pool, and why understanding chemistry matters far more than simply reading numbers off a report.

Whether you're running a retail store, servicing residential pools, or maintaining commercial aquatic facilities, this episode is packed with practical advice that can improve both your water quality and your bottom line.

In This Episode

•  Why experience matters just as much as chemistry knowledge 
•  Learning to interpret water test results—not just read them 
•  Why every unusual water test should make you ask more questions 
•  How customer conversations often solve water chemistry mysteries 
•  When to consult technical support or laboratory analysis 
•  Why professional testing equipment pays for itself 
•  Reducing user error with automated water testing 
•  The business case for investing in better testing equipment 
•  Saving time while improving customer service 
•  Comparing photometric testing to traditional reagent testing 
•  Why complete water analysis is more valuable than testing only chlorine and pH 
•  Protecting pools through proper water balance 
•  "It's easier to keep it clean than bring it back from green." 

Technical Topics Covered

•  WaterLink Spin technology 
•  Photometric water testing 
•  Traditional liquid reagent testing 
•  Test repeatability and consistency 
•  Eliminating sample contamination 
•  Proper sample volume 
•  Test accuracy versus operator technique 
•  Water balance fundamentals 
•  Customer communication during water analysis 
•  Laboratory troubleshooting 
•  Commercial pool testing 
•  Residential pool testing 

Common Testing Mistakes Discussed

•  Misinterpreting zero alkalinity after shocking a pool 
•  Understanding the effects of chlorine above 15 ppm 
•  Why high chlorine can produce misleading alkalinity readings 
•  Using high-range chlorine test strips for confirmation 
•  Running additional tests on the same high-chlorine sample 
•  Recognizing when the instrument is giving you an indicator—not a bad result 

Best Practices

•  Use professional-grade testing equipment 
•  Perform complete water analysis whenever possible 
•  Verify unusually high chlorine levels before making chemical adjustments 
•  Store Spin Discs properly 
•  Reseal foil packaging after every use 
•  Protect discs from moisture and light 
•  Understand shelf life after opening 
•  Train technicians to recognize abnormal test patterns 
•  Build testing costs into your professional service 

Commercial Aquatic Facility Discussion

The episode also covers:

•  Daily health department testing requirements 
•  Three-test commercial Spin Discs 
•  Testing multiple water bodies 
•  Managing public pool safety 
•  Protecting swimmers through accurate testing 
•  Creating efficient testing workflows for aquatic facilities 

Key Takeaways

Professional water testing isn't about owning expensive equipment—it's about making better decisions.

Accurate testing saves time, improves customer confidence, reduces costly mistakes, and helps protect both swimming pools and the people using them. Understanding what your test results are actually telling you is every bit as important as obtaining the numbers themselves.

Featured Guests

•  Lee Salisbury 
•  Nick (Mondays Down Under) 
•  Hiren Patel – LaMotte Company 

Connect with Talking Pools

🌐 Website: https://talkingpools.com

📧 Email: [email protected]

Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and never miss an episode covering pool chemistry, service techniques, business growth, industry news, and conversations with some of the most knowledgeable professionals in the swimming pool industry.

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When the National Park Service added hydrogen peroxide to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the internet immediately decided it had found the culprit behind the peeling coating.

But science doesn't work that way.

In this episode, Rudy Stankowitz takes a research-first approach to one of the most discussed pool stories of the year. Instead of asking whether hydrogen peroxide caused a coating failure, he asks a different question:

Why was hydrogen peroxide chosen in the first place?

Drawing from published scientific literature on cyanobacteria, harmful algal blooms, microbiology, biofilms, and water treatment, Rudy explores how hydrogen peroxide affects microorganisms, why mature biofilms are so difficult to eliminate, and why swimming pool professionals may need to rethink the way they've approached "black algae" for decades.

This isn't a product pitch.
It isn't a treatment recommendation.
And it certainly isn't clickbait.

It's an evidence-based discussion designed to separate what science has demonstrated from what still remains a hypothesis.

The episode also introduces the first part of Rudy's proposed research protocol—a hypothesis assembled from published mechanisms that has not been validated in controlled swimming pool research—and explains exactly where established science ends and new investigation begins.

If you're tired of opinions masquerading as facts, this episode is for you.

In This Episode

• Why the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was treated with hydrogen peroxide
• Why concentration matters more than percentage
• Correlation versus causation in coating failures
• What published research says about hydrogen peroxide and cyanobacterial blooms
• The difference between free-floating algae and mature cyanobacterial biofilms
• How extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) protect biofilms
• Why oxidants often struggle against established biofilms
• The biology behind oxidative stress
• Photosystem II, lipid peroxidation, and cellular damage explained
• Why mature biofilms deserve to be studied separately
• Why Rudy believes better questions lead to better science
• The first step in a proposed research protocol using aluminum sulfate
• Why coagulation and physical removal may reduce oxidant demand before disinfection
• Where the published literature ends—and where hypothesis generation begins

Key Takeaway

Science advances by asking better questions—not by rushing to conclusions.

This episode doesn't claim to have solved black algae. It challenges listeners to examine what the published research actually supports, recognize the limits of current knowledge, and think critically about where future swimming pool research should go.

Sponsors

Special thanks to the companies that support education and the advancement of the swimming pool industry:

• Blu-ray XL
• United Chemical
• LaMotte Company
• Revved Up Apparel
• Aqua Comfort Water Group
• AquaStar Pool Products
• Jack's Magic Products
• Service Industry News

Connect with Talking Pools

🌐 https://talkingpools.com

Follow Talking Pools on your favorite podcast platform, and don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss Part 2, where the proposed research protocol continues with hydrogen peroxide, chlorine sequencing, and the remaining scientific questions surrounding mature cyanobacterial biofilms.

Test it. Dose it. Brush it. Brush it down.

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This week on Talking Pools Thursdays, Wayne Ivusich and Steve Sherwood cover everything from the newest generation of robotic pool cleaners to protecting your business from costly mistakes, distributor pricing, chemical accountability, inspection reports, and why good documentation may be the most valuable tool you own.

The episode opens with congratulations for Andrea Nannini on her new position with Gorman Company and a reminder that the 2026 Talking Pools Mentor Award Top 10 Finalists will soon be announced, recognizing professionals who go beyond technical knowledge by investing in others.

Steve then dives into his latest experiences with cordless robotic pool cleaners, comparing different Polaris Freedom models, discussing battery life, runtime, commercial versus residential applications, and whether today's wireless robots are finally ready to replace traditional corded units. The hosts also discuss the limitations every technician should understand—including ladders, handrails, steps, main drains, and unusual pool shapes that can confuse even premium robotic cleaners.

The conversation shifts into one of the least discussed ways pool companies lose money: inventory control. Steve explains how improperly tracked chlorine deliveries, returnable containers, pricing discrepancies, and purchasing habits can quietly cost companies thousands of dollars. The discussion explores building relationships with distributors while still shopping intelligently, negotiating prices, and understanding where business owners must verify every invoice themselves.

During the Insurance Interlude, Steve and Pat Grignon tackle a topic many service professionals eventually face: inspection reports that may become evidence in litigation. They discuss when an inspection remains simply an inspection, when it crosses into expert witness territory, how to protect yourself through documentation, why objective reporting matters, and why keeping complete records—including the exact report you submitted—can become your best legal defense.

The episode also explores one of the most overlooked skills in pool service: knowing the actual volume of water you're treating. Steve explains how calculating chlorine dosage correctly can dramatically reduce chemical waste while improving consistency. Drawing from years of managing multiple service crews, he shares how accurate calculations and field verification once reduced chlorine consumption by tens of thousands of dollars over a single season. Wayne adds practical insight into why textbook volume calculations often underestimate actual system water once plumbing and equipment are considered.

To close the show, Wayne clears up several common misconceptions about potassium monopersulfate (MPS), often marketed as "non-chlorine shock." He explains what the product actually does, what it does not do, why it does not eliminate existing combined chlorine, how it can help prevent new chloramine formation, proper dosing considerations, testing interference, and why it is most commonly found in heavily used indoor aquatic facilities rather than residential pools.

In This Episode

• Congratulations to Andrea Nannini on joining Gorman Company
• Preview of the 2026 Talking Pools Mentor Award finalists
• Cordless vs. corded robotic pool cleaners
• Commercial applications for robotic vacuums
• Common obstacles that interfere with robotic cleaners
• Managing distributor relationships and pricing
• Preventing costly inventory and chlorine losses
• Why every pool company needs stronger chemical accountability
• Inspection reports, expert witnesses, and legal liability
• Documentation practices that protect your business
• Calculating true pool volume for accurate dosing
• Reducing chemical waste through better math
• Potassium monopersulfate explained
• Combined chlorine myths and oxidation facts
• Best practices for indoor pool oxidation

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