Posts

Harold Evans: This Is What Makes a Pool Company Great

Image
A great pool service business is not just about keeping water clear. It is about making the pool serve the homeowner emotionally by creating a space for family bonding, relaxation, and health. Harold Evans frames water as an experience: how it smells, how it feels on skin, and whether people want to stay in it. That mindset changes how you sell and how you service, because “good-looking” water can still be harsh. Balanced pool water chemistry matters for swimmers, surfaces, and equipment, and it starts with understanding LSI balance and how your choices affect corrosion, scale, and comfort. When you treat the backyard like a place people live, your standards rise fast. One of the most practical takeaways is the case for removing contaminants chlorine struggles with instead of just adding more sanitizer. Enzymes come up as a tool that can reduce oils and organics that fuel chloramines and that “chlorine smell” people hate. The point is not hype or product pushing; it is performance. If ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Harold Evans on Life, Health & What Really Matters

Image
 A prostate cancer diagnosis changes the way you hear the word “later.” In this conversation, Harold Evans, a longtime pool industry leader, shares how turning 71 came with an unwelcome birthday present: prostate cancer. His point is simple and urgent for men’s health: most of us delay doctor visits because we fear bad news, yet early detection is exactly what protects you. He urges listeners to get a PSA test, the common blood test used in prostate cancer screening, and to treat annual physicals as basic maintenance, not optional errands you keep postponing until symptoms force your hand. Harold explains why the PSA test matters by tying it to risk and time. Watching a PSA trend rise can trigger earlier follow up with a urologist, imaging, and a biopsy before the disease spreads. He describes the difference between localized cancer and metastatic cancer, where it has traveled to other organs, and why outcomes depend heavily on catching it early. He also brings up family history an...
Post a Comment
Read more

Big Pool Companies vs. The Pool Guy: Harold Evans Weighs In

Image
The pool industry is changing fast, and the next decade will reward pool service businesses that understand where value really comes from. Consolidation and “roll-ups” keep grabbing headlines as big companies buy smaller routes to build giant regional brands. At the same time, Amazon and other online marketplaces flood the market with generic pool parts and low-cost variable speed pumps that make traditional pricing feel impossible. For pool pros, this creates a daily sales challenge: how do you explain an $1,800 installed VS pump when a customer sees something that looks similar for $600 online? The answer starts with clarity about what you sell and what risk you remove for the homeowner. The roll-up model sounds simple but runs into human reality. When independent owners merge, each brings a different culture, process, and definition of “good service.” Aligning those differences is hard, and many sellers accept less money upfront expecting a “second bite” later when the bigger compan...
Post a Comment
Read more

Harold Evans: The Pool Industry Needs to Get Smarter

Image
Harold Evans returns to the podcast after several years with a story that sounds unreal but captures how fast the pool industry is changing: his family business sale came together while he was on a world cruise, with a key DocuSign moment handled through Starlink and a taxi ride through Mumbai. Beyond the adventure, the real point is legacy. Harold reflects on building a pool chemical brand that stands for helping pool pros, not just moving product. That mindset shaped Arenda’s focus on education, practical tools, and long-term outcomes for customers who want reliable pools, protected equipment, and fewer expensive surprises.   A major thread is why pool education matters more now than ever, especially around water balance and the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI). Harold draws a clear line between sanitation and protecting surfaces, heaters, and overall pool durability. LSI is not a “kill germs” number; it’s a “keep your pool from scaling or corroding” reality check. The chall...
Post a Comment
Read more

Common Pool Pro Mistakes We ALL Make

Image
Pool service pros don’t usually get in trouble from the complicated stuff, they get burned by the “easy” tasks they’ve done a thousand times. This episode breaks down common pool service mistakes that quietly create expensive callbacks, angry customers, and real liability. The central theme is simple: build habits that prevent failures when you’re tired, it’s hot, and your route is stacked. For any pool technician running weekly pool maintenance, the risks aren’t just water chemistry and equipment, they’re decisions made in the moment that can flood property, damage equipment, or turn a manageable pool problem into a week-long recovery. The biggest liability trap is filling a pool for the customer. Turning on a garden hose, fill line, or auto fill feels like good service when water is low and the pump is sucking air, but it’s also one of the most common causes of damage claims. If you forget and the pool overflows, that water can head into a house, a neighbor’s yard, or structural area...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pool Products That Died — And Why

Image
The pool industry is full of big ideas, small companies, and sudden acquisitions that can either protect a product or erase it overnight. In this podcast, we unpack why certain pool tech brands disappear and what pool service professionals should watch for when a manufacturer gets bought. The core lesson is simple: a great concept is not enough if the pricing, messaging, and support model don’t match how pools are actually owned and maintained. Pool equipment acquisitions often promise innovation, but they can also create confusion, strand customers with unsupported hardware, and damage long-term trust in pool technology. A clear example is Hayward’s acquisition of the Fin floating smart pool monitor. The concept of automated pool water monitoring is attractive, but the execution matters: Fin mainly tracked ORP and pH (plus temperature), then leaned on scanning test strips for other values. That left a gap for anyone who expects a complete water testing picture such as free chlorine, t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Are Single-Speed Pumps Really BANNED?

Image
People keep asking whether single-speed pool pumps are banned across the United States, and the honest answer is more nuanced than the rumors. The Department of Energy (DOE) rules don’t show up like a “you may not install this pump” sign for every situation. Instead, they hinge on energy efficiency metrics, especially the Weighted Energy Factor (WEF), which sets a minimum efficiency performance level for dedicated pool pumps. That distinction matters because it explains why homeowners still see certain one-horsepower single-speed models for sale, while higher-horsepower single-speed options feel like they vanished overnight. The practical impact of the DOE pool pump regulations is that most single-speed pumps above roughly 1 HP cannot meet the required energy efficiency standard. Manufacturers reacted by stopping production of many 1.5 HP and 2 HP single-speed pumps, so the “ban” often shows up as a supply problem rather than a homeowner getting cited. Existing, working single-speed pu...
Post a Comment
Read more