Swimming Pool Tips and Reviews

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 ...

 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

If you run a pool service route, pool vacuuming can quietly become the most time-consuming part of pool maintenance. The key isn’t just moving faster, it’s choosing the right vacuuming method for the pool, the debris type, and your business model. One of the simplest upgrades is language in your service agreement: “vacuum when necessary.” In areas where most pools already have suction side cleaners, this shifts you from full vacuuming every visit to smart spot cleaning. It also protects you from being obligated to drag out a hose at every stop, while still keeping water quality and appearance on point.   At the same time, perception matters in the pool cleaning business. Many customers equate visible vacuuming with “the tech did something,” especially when you have employees. Even if you brush, skim, test chemicals, and inspect equipment, a client may still complain if they never see vacuum lines or a cleaner pass. That’s why you need a clear standard: either a lightweight vac...

Hitting a milestone like episode 2000 is a good excuse to get brutally practical about what really makes a pool service business work. The clearest lesson from decades in the field is that most early struggles come from one root problem: pricing that does not match time, effort, and chemical cost. When your pool service pricing is too low, you end up “spinning your wheels” with long days, heavy driving, and little profit. A pool route is only valuable if it produces steady margin, not just busywork. If a job pays less than a basic hourly wage after fuel, supplies, and travel, the business model is broken, even if the calendar looks full. Profit also depends on choosing the right services. Weekly residential pool service accounts are the bread and butter because they create recurring revenue and predictable scheduling. By contrast, one-time pool cleanups often turn into a dead end: you show up for a pool party rush job, do the work, get paid once, and never see the customer again. Filte...

Picking the right telescopic pool pole sounds simple until you live with the decision every day on route. We break down what actually matters for pool service pros and serious homeowners: storage length, backyard maneuvering, reach for vacuuming, and how the locking system feels after hundreds of cycles. A three-piece pool pole often wins when you drive a compact or mid-size truck because it collapses closer to six feet instead of leaving a long section sticking out of the bed. That shorter collapsed length also helps in tight side yards and crowded pool pads where an eight-foot pole can bang walls, planters, screens, or even windows.   A long-time go-to aluminum option is the SkimLite Dually 9018, a three-piece pole that collapses to about 6 feet 8 inches and extends to roughly 17 feet 6 inches. That extra reach sounds small on paper, but it can be the difference between vacuuming a 16-foot-wide pool from one side of the deck versus having to reposition and redo passes. For l...

If your pool vacuum keeps clogging and your floor never stays clean, the problem may not be your effort, it may be the wrong type of automatic pool cleaner for your debris load. The Polaris 360 return side pool cleaner is one of the most underrated options for pools that get heavy leaf debris, seed pods, and clustered plant waste that overwhelms a suction side cleaner. It runs from a standard return line, so you do not need a booster pump like a traditional pressure side cleaner. That one detail opens a niche solution for homeowners and pool service techs who want pressure-cleaner style pickup without rebuilding the equipment pad. The key benefit is simple: a larger debris opening and a top-mounted bag that can handle the messy stuff that plugs the throat of most suction pool cleaners. To choose the right cleaner, it helps to understand the difference between pressure side cleaners with a booster pump and return side cleaners like the Polaris 360. A booster pump pressure cleaner uses a...

Pool service is one of the simplest service businesses to run by the numbers because the core revenue is recurring. When you clean pools weekly or monthly, you can forecast cash flow far more easily than trades that rely on one-time calls. That predictability is power, but it also creates risk: losing accounts hits immediately. The smartest way to think about pool route growth is not complicated accounting, it is clear business math you can do on a calculator. Start with a baseline monthly service price, multiply by your total accounts, then multiply by 12 to see annual gross revenue. Once you see the number, you can make practical moves that increase pool service income without guessing, and you can track results with a simple profit and loss spreadsheet.   The fastest lever for increasing pool service revenue is adding service accounts. If your average pool service pricing is around $180 per month, 70 accounts creates $12,600 in monthly revenue and $151,200 per year before e...

Pool service work has a sneaky way of pulling you into tasks that feel “close enough” to what you already do, until the risk and complexity spike. A smart pool service business is not built on doing everything yourself; it is built on knowing your limits, protecting the customer’s pool, and choosing the safest path to results. This episode focuses on the real-world learning curve in pool maintenance and pool repairs, including the Catch-22 problem: you gain skill by doing the work, but you cannot do the work well without skill. The practical answer is to partner, shadow, and selectively refer jobs out while you grow. Two repairs that often deserve immediate partnering are acid washing a pool and pulling a pool or spa light, especially combo pool and spa light systems. Acid washing requires finesse, safety awareness, and the ability to predict outcomes before you start, including what the plaster will look like when finished, how long it will take, and how to price the job. Pool light r...

Test strips are one of the most argued-about tools in pool water testing because they feel both convenient and unreliable at the same time. The core issue is not always the chemistry on the strip, but the human step where we interpret color. When you dip a strip and compare it to the chart, you are making a judgment call under whatever lighting you have, with whatever color sensitivity you were born with, and at whatever speed you are trying to finish the job. That is why test strips often deliver a “ballpark” pool chemical reading, even if the strip itself is manufactured consistently. For pool owners and pool service pros, the win is speed: fast pool testing for free chlorine, total chlorine, pH, total alkalinity, hardness, and cyanuric acid in one dip. The risk is false confidence when a number needs to be precise, or when the range blocks on the bottle are too wide for the decision you are trying to make.  Digital test strip readers and phone-linked pool water monitors try to s...

The pool industry in 2026 feels uneven: strong demand in the pool service business, but clear softness in pool construction and pool remodeling. Higher interest rates reshape everything because so many backyard projects rely on borrowed money. When financing jumps from the low-rate era to 8% territory, homeowners rethink big upgrades, builders see fewer signed contracts, and manufacturers feel the slowdown. This shift is showing up in equipment sales expectations, contractor backlogs, and the overall pace of new pool permits. For pool service pros, the key is reading these signals early so you can plan staffing, inventory, and pricing for a tighter consumer mindset. On the manufacturing side, a construction slowdown hits orders fast. When retailers and wholesale distributors are overstocked, they stop ordering, and that pressure rolls uphill to brands like Pentair, Hayward, and Fluidra. Overstock can create occasional promotional pricing, but it does not guarantee cheaper equipment acr...

Pool service is won or lost in the small moments: a stuck pump lid that eats ten minutes, a filter clamp that won’t seat evenly, a union that refuses to budge, or a surprise equipment pad sitting below the pool waterline. This podcast breaks down essential pool service tools that many pool technicians overlook because they don’t look “special” on a shopping list. The goal is simple: build a smarter pool route kit that reduces strain on your hands, prevents call-backs, and speeds up routine pool maintenance. When you choose tools for real field conditions, you stop improvising under pressure and start working with repeatable, reliable methods. A high-quality rubber mallet is a perfect example of a low-cost upgrade with outsized impact. During filter cleaning, tapping around the clamp after tightening helps the band settle so you can snug the spring barrel nut further, improving the seal and reducing leak risk. The same mallet also loosens tight pump lids like a Pentair WhisperFlo withou...

Cartridge pool filters get a lot of praise in pool maintenance, but the loudest criticism is simple: you cannot backwash a cartridge filter. Backwashing works by reversing flow, which makes sense for a sand filter that needs agitation and for a DE filter that can shed debris off coated grids. Cartridge pleats do not release dirt the same way, so “backwash” is not really an option. The practical question is how often cleaning becomes necessary. With a large quad cartridge filter in the 400 to 500 square foot range, the dirt holding capacity is so high that many pools go months between cleanings, and PSI often stays stable longer than with smaller systems. In heavy dust regions, cleaning intervals shrink, but the job is usually straightforward and fast compared to taking apart other filter types. Another argument people lean on is filtration efficiency: DE filter media can capture particles down around 3 microns, while cartridge pool filtration is typically higher. On paper that sounds d...

Black algae in a swimming pool is one of those problems that feels personal because it fights back. The spots look like tiny black pinheads on plaster, but the real issue is what’s underneath. As the podcast explains, “black algae” is often cyanobacteria, not true algae, and it can anchor itself deep into porous surfaces. That helps explain why it returns when chlorine drops, and why simple “shock it and forget it” pool maintenance fails. If you’re a pool owner or a pool service professional, the goal is twofold: kill what you see and prevent black algae from spreading to the next pool through cross contamination. A key takeaway is how black algae spores can enter water in the first place. The idea that it comes from nature, including oceans and lakes, is plausible because spores can cling to wet fabric and damp gear for surprisingly long periods. A wet bathing suit, towel, or T-shirt can carry spores from a beach day right into a backyard pool. The same is true for pool cleaning tools...