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Rookie Pool Mistakes Pt.1 – Bob Lowry

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Pool pros and owners often trust the two-to-four ppm chlorine guideline, then wonder why algae returns week after week. The hard truth is that cyanuric acid (CYA) drastically changes how much active sanitizer you actually have in the water. Most of the free chlorine binds to CYA, leaving only a small fraction available as hypochlorous acid (HOCl), the form that kills algae and pathogens. At typical pH values, and even at modest CYA like 30 ppm, roughly 97 percent of chlorine is tied up. That doesn’t mean it’s useless, but it does mean only about three percent is ready to work at any moment, and pH further shifts the HOCl to less potent OCl−. This is why “I have six ppm free chlorine” can still coexist with green walls. The fix is a practical rule that reverses the math: set free chlorine as a percentage of CYA. Rather than chasing a static two-to-four ppm, target seven and a half percent of CYA as your free chlorine level to reliably prevent algae. If CYA is 100 ppm, aim for 7.5 ppm FC...
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Bob Lowry Explains: Cold Weather Pool Care Made Simple

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Winter changes the rules for pool care, and the smartest pros shift with it. As water temperatures fall below 60 degrees, biological activity slows and the familiar algae pressure that dominates summer nearly disappears around 55 degrees. That lull tempts many owners to ignore the water, but chemistry never sleeps. Lower temperature pushes the Langelier Saturation Index downward, nudging water from balanced toward corrosive. When LSI slips, surfaces become the source, and plaster, grout, and heaters can pay the price. The goal in winter is not more chemicals; it is smarter balance with fewer inputs. Less demand does not mean zero demand. It means adjusting set points so the water stays gentle on the vessel while remaining sanitary and clear. The first lever is understanding how temperature affects LSI. A rough field rule is that every 15-degree drop pulls the index by about 0.1. Fall from 90 to 60 and you lose roughly 0.2, enough to turn a barely balanced pool into a surface eater. You...
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Is It Time to Ditch Trichlor? Bob Lowry Weighs In

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Most pool owners love the convenience of chlorine tablets, but few see the chemistry bill that arrives later. When trichlor is the sole sanitizer, cyanuric acid accumulates every week, making chlorine slower at killing pathogens and easier on algae than you’d ever intend. The rule of thumb is simple: maintain free chlorine at about 5% of your cyanuric acid. That means 2.5 ppm FC at 50 ppm CYA, 5 ppm FC at 100 ppm CYA, and more still if CYA climbs. The trap is that trichlor adds roughly 6 ppm CYA for every 10 ppm of chlorine it contributes, so a normal pool consuming about 10 ppm FC per week can gain around 25 ppm CYA per month. As CYA rises, you chase higher chlorine just to stay even, which further raises CYA. It’s a treadmill disguised as convenience. The chemistry spiral doesn’t stop at sanitizer performance. Trichlor is acidic, with a pH around 2.8 to 3, so it pushes pH and total alkalinity down while raising CYA. High CYA complicates balance math by depressing the alkalinity readi...
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Lessons from Other Trades: What Pool Pros Can Learn

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Many pool service owners work hard in the field but lose business in the quiet moments between calls, texts, and bids. The truth is simple: habits that win in other trades will win here. Plumbers, HVAC techs, and landscapers compete in crowded markets where speed, presentation, and clarity separate leaders from the rest. Borrow their playbook. Answer the phone on the first ring or return the message within minutes. Use short text replies to acknowledge you’re on it. Make it easy for a prospect to feel seen. When someone is shopping for a new service, they rarely wait; they call until a real person answers. If your competitor picks up and you do not, they get the bid, and usually the account. Responsiveness scales beyond calls. Set up a simple system: during business hours, a spouse, partner, or virtual assistant answers and triages. A quick “out in the field, will call you at 2 pm” keeps the lead warm and prevents the dreaded Yelp-style “never called back” review that poisons trust. Ad...
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Power Up Your VacDaddy: Introducing the NEW Battery

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The VacDaddy has always been a bit of a misfit in the best way, landing between compact battery vacs and full vacuum systems. Its 55 GPM power and bag-based capture make it feel like manual vacuuming plugged into a skimmer, but without tying up the customer’s filtration. The catch, until now, has been the cord and the need for a nearby outlet. That’s where the new battery steps in, solving the most common on-site friction: hunting for plugs, hauling heavier transformers, and threading extension cords across decks. By restoring mobility without losing suction, the VacDaddy starts to look like a portable system while keeping its unique benefits, from bag filtration to quick setup. What makes the battery compelling are the details. It weighs about 15 pounds, charges in roughly three hours, and delivers about two hours of runtime at full power. The ternary lithium chemistry adds safety and longevity, two traits pros care about when gear lives in hot trucks and works long days. In practice,...
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When Your Saltwater Pool Takes a Winter Nap

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Winter changes the rules for saltwater pools, and knowing why helps you decide what to do, not just what to buy. As water temperature drops, conductivity falls and electrolysis becomes inefficient, so most salt cells either throttle output or shut down around 50 to 60 degrees. That isn’t a failure; it is a safeguard for the system. The upside is that algae and bacteria slow down in cold water, lowering chlorine demand. But a lower demand is not zero, so waiting for spring can let problems simmer. The smarter move is to plan a winter sanitizer strategy, protect the equipment from freeze damage, and set up your stabilizer level so the pool wakes up ready for longer, sunnier days. Freeze protection comes first. If your area can hit sustained freezing temps or risk power outages, remove the salt cell and install a dummy cell. Water trapped in the cell expands as it freezes and can split the plastic housing, a loss that is costly and avoidable. Pools that fully close should have the cell re...
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The Breakup Episode: When Customers Say “We’re Done”

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Customer retention in pool service is not a mystery; it’s a system. When clients cancel, it’s rarely about whether you’re a solo operator or a larger company. It’s almost always about the experience they feel at home: clear communication, predictable visits, clean water, and transparent billing. The good news is that each of these can be built into repeatable routines. By treating retention like a deliberate process—not a lucky outcome—you anchor loyalty, reduce churn, and keep routes stable through summer surges and winter slowdowns alike. Start with communication, because this is where most loyalty is won or lost. Clients forgive honest mistakes, but they do not forgive silence. When a filter o‑ring drips, a heater is down, or a windy week litters the pool, customers want a quick reply and a clear plan. Routing apps such as Skimmer make this effortless: timestamped service logs, before‑and‑after photos, and quick notes that confirm what was done and what’s next. If you don’t use soft...
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