WEBVTT
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Pool people, before we get into what we're talking about today, there is one label I wanted to discuss last week that I just forgot about.
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Completely slipped my mind.
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And it is a big one as far as laws go that govern our industry.
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So let's take a look at the back of your chlorine bucket.
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Don't care what type of bucket it is.
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It could be trichlor, dichlor, calhypo, doesn't matter.
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Whatever type of chlorine bucket you happen to have handy, spin it around.
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Take a look at the label.
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This is the EPA required label on this chlorine bucket that states a maximum chlorine level in a swimming pool of four parts per million.
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Four parts per million.
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That's the maximum level.
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That makes it the law.
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I know, I know, I know your health department still says it's okay to go up to 10.
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I know the CPO course still says it's okay to go up to 10.
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Got it.
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The EPA law also governs drinking water.
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And because the chlorine that we use in swimming pools is really just the same chlorine that we use in drinking water, it has to have that label.
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It has to be rated for drinking water, which means it is indeed a maximum level of four parts per million of chlorine allowed in a swimming pool.
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What do you think about that?
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I know, me too.
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I can tell you this.
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I do know the CDC is challenging the label and is hoping to get the EPA to separate pool water and drinking water chlorine regulation.
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Welcome to Weekend Eve.
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I'm Rudy Stankowitz with the Talking Pools Podcast.
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This is the Flocket Friday episode.
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I hope you are all doing well.
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It's starting to get warm out there, which means it's starting to get crazy.
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And when it gets crazy out there, the people who live in those houses that own the pools that you take care of, those people go complete batshit, buckfuck, nutty c've been there.
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I understand.
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God bless you.
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God bless the pool pro.
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You guys put up with more from homeowners than probably any other profession in the world.
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That's my truth, and I'm sticking to it.
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I sympathize, I've been there.
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I know it's hard and I know it's about to get harder, but there's a light at the tunnel, there is an ended site.
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Might not be until Labor Day, but gosh darn it, it is out there.
00:03:12.709 --> 00:03:22.230
So until then, how about we talk some more about cyanuric acid, about how it's not just a stabilizer, but how it actually serves as a chlorine regulator.
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Most of the industry still talks about it like it's sunscreen.
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So let's stop being polite here for a minute about this.
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Cyanuric acid is not some harmless little sidekick that protects chlorine from the sun.
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That's the kindergarten version of the story.
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It's not the full story.
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And if you are still treating cyanuric acid like it's just sunscreen for chlorine, then you're not practicing chemistry.
00:03:45.829 --> 00:03:48.230
You're repeating, packaging, copy.
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The deeper chemistry is that cyanuric acid changes the equilibrium of chlorine in water by binding with it and suppressing the concentration of the most active form of chlorine in water.
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That's not fringe theory.
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That's the entire reason this subject has been debated for decades.
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Now, Richard Falk, who most people know as Kemgree, uh geek you spend any time in the trouble-free pool form, he spent years explaining this to the pool industry in a way service pros could actually use.
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But Falk did not invent the chemistry.
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He leaned heavily on the classic equilibrium work of O'Brien, Morris, and Butler from the 1970s, because that paper is where chlorinated cyanurate equilibrium constants were pinned down in a way later's researchers kept building on it.
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EPA's later modeling work explicitly points back to O'Brien's chemistry, and Fox's own writing openly does the same.
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So let's say this clearly: when you add chlorine to the water in presence of cyanuric acid, you do not just have one little neat bucket labeled free chlorine.
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You have a dynamic equilibrium involving hypochlorous acid, hypochlorite ion, cyanuric acid species, and chlorinated cyanurid species.
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The test kit gives you a number.
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The chemistry gives you a reality.
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And those are not always the same thing.
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In fact, the 2024 MAHC MAC MOLOPRODI CODE now explicitly states that DPD free chlorine testing in water containing cyanuric acid includes cyanuric-bound available chlorine in addition to the truly free forms.
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That is a huge admission.
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And it matters.
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That means a test result can look comforting while the water is chemically underpowered.
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And that's where the industry loses their shit.
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Because a lot of people still say things like, My chlorine is at three parts per million, so I'm good.
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No, you are not automatically good, not even close.
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Three parts per million in a pool with little to no cyanuric acid is not chemically equivalent to three parts per million in a pool with a heavy cyanuric acid load.
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Same number on paper, different, oxidizing and disinfecting reality in the water.
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Falk has been pounding that drum for years, and the peer-reviewed literature backs him up.
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I need to address something that's been floating around this industry like it lost a bet and ended up in a pile of camel shit.
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Every pool group on the internet, the idea goes like this.
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Once cyanuric acid is in the water, pH does not matter as much.
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And I get it, I understand where that comes from.
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There is a sliver of truth buried there, but what started as nuanced chemical observation somehow turned into a shortcut.
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And shortcuts in water chemistry tend to come back and bite you on the ass.
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So let's clean this up.
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Not with opinions, not with this is how I've always done it.
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We're going to walk through the way this actually works at the molecular level.
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When you add chlorine to water, what you're creating is a balance, a chemical equilibrium between two primary forms, hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ion.
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Hypochlorous acid is the one doing the heavy lifting.
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That's your fast-acting sanitizer.
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That's what's taking out bacteria, oxidizing contaminants, and keeping things under control.
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Hypochlorate ion is the weaker form.
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It still works, but it's slower, less aggressive, less effective.
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And what determines how much of each you have?
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pH.
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Lower pH favors hypochlorous acid.
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Higher pH shifts more of your chlorine into hypochlorite ion.
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That's not theory.
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That's not preference.
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That's equilibrium chemistry.
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At a pH around 7.5, you're sitting roughly in the middle.
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Start creeping up into the high sevens, low eights, and you are actively pushing your chlorine into a less effective form.
00:07:56.790 --> 00:08:00.150
So in an unstabilized system, pH is a big deal.
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It directly controls how effective your chlorine is.
00:08:03.590 --> 00:08:06.069
Now, let's bring cyanuric acid into the picture.
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Cyanuric acid doesn't help chlorine in the way people casually say it does.
00:08:10.629 --> 00:08:13.750
It doesn't make it stronger, it doesn't improve its killing power.
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What it does is bind with it.
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It forms a reversible bond, creating chlorinated isocyanates.
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In simple terms, it takes a large portion of your chlorine and holds onto it.
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That bound chlorine is not immediately active.
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It sits in reserve.
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It's protected from UV degradation, which is why we use CYA in pools, but there's a trade-off.
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Only a small fraction of your total free chlorine is actually present as active hypochlorous acid at any given moment.
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So now we have a different system.
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Instead of most of your chlorine being active, now most of it is tied up, waiting for its turn.
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It's still measured as free chlorine, which is where the confusion begins.
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But chemically, it's not all doing the same job at the same time.
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This is the part where the myth starts to form, because once CYA is in the water, the amount of hypochlorous acid is already significantly reduced.
00:09:06.789 --> 00:09:10.230
You're operating with a much smaller active fraction.
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Now, when pH shifts in that system, the change in hypochlorous acid is still happening.
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The equilibrium between hypochlorous acid and hypochlorate ion is still controlled by pH.
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That hasn't gone anywhere.
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But because the starting amount of hypochlorous acid is already so low, the relative change looks smaller.
00:09:31.350 --> 00:09:35.110
And that's where somebody looks at it and says, see, pH doesn't matter as much.
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Not when I have CYA in the water.
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No.
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What you're seeing is not pH becoming irrelevant.
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What you're seeing is a system that is already constrained.
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CYA already stepped in and reduced the amount of active chlorines.
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When pH shifts it further, the drop doesn't look as dramatic on paper.
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But chemically, it's still happening.
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Functionally, it still matters.
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You didn't remove the effective pH.
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You just started from a weaker position.
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So now instead of thinking about one variable, you have two working together.
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Cyanuric acid is controlling how much chlorine is available in its active form.
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pH is controlling how much of that available chlorine is the stronger versus the weaker state.
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They stack, they don't cancel each other out.
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And this is where things start to fall apart in the field.
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You walk up to a pool, the free chlorine reads fine, maybe even high.
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pH is creeping up, cyanuric acid is elevated, and the water just isn't responding the way it should.
00:10:31.830 --> 00:10:33.669
It's dull, it's sluggish.
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Maybe there's the beginning of algae trying to get comfortable.
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And the response you hear, I don't get it.
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The chlorine is in range.
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Chlorine might be in range, active chlorine is not.
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And that distinction is everything because your test kit doesn't tell you how much hypochlorous acid you have, it tells you the total free chlorine.
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It lumps it together, the active portion and the reserve portion, and it gives you a number.
00:10:56.310 --> 00:11:00.629
And if you don't understand what makes up that number, you're flying blind.
00:11:00.870 --> 00:11:06.230
This is exactly why the FC to CYA ratio became such a critical concept.
00:11:06.389 --> 00:11:13.509
As cyanuric acid increases, the amount of chlorine you need to maintain the same level of hypochlorous acid also increases.
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Not because you're trying to chase a number, but because you're compensating for how much of that chlorine is bound up.
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Researchers like Richard Falk have laid this out in detail.
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The effectiveness of chlorine in a stabilized system is tied to that ratio, not just the standalone free chlorine reading.
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So when someone says pH doesn't matter because cyanuric acid is present, what they're really saying, whether they realize it or not, is that they're not accounting for how little active chlorine is actually in the water.
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And that's where the problems start, because now you've got a system where most of your chlorine is already tied up, and then you let pH climb, which reduces the effectiveness of what little active chlorine remains.
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You've essentially created a bottleneck.
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And then you wonder why the pool doesn't recover quickly, why it struggles under load, why it needs more chemical input than expected.
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It's not a mystery, it's chemistry.
00:12:08.870 --> 00:12:12.870
And the reality is this myth sticks around because it's convenient.
00:12:12.950 --> 00:12:18.070
It simplifies things, it gives people permission to ignore one of the core variables in water balance.
00:12:18.149 --> 00:12:20.230
But the water doesn't care about convenience.
00:12:20.310 --> 00:12:23.590
The equilibrium doesn't change because someone read a post online.
00:12:23.830 --> 00:12:29.350
So here's the bottom line: cyanuric acid reduces the amount of active chlorine by binding most of it.
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That's its job.
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That's the trade-off for UV protection.
00:12:33.029 --> 00:12:36.710
PH still determines how effective the remaining active chlorine is.
00:12:36.870 --> 00:12:37.990
That never went away.
00:12:38.149 --> 00:12:42.870
So no, pH does not stop mattering in the presence of cyaneuric acid.
00:12:43.029 --> 00:12:47.350
You're just starting from a position where your chlorine is already partially handicapped.
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And if you ignore that, the pool will absolutely let you know because at the end of the day, you're not just managing chlorine.
00:12:54.310 --> 00:12:59.990
You're managing how much of it is available and how effective that available portion actually is.
00:13:00.149 --> 00:13:03.830
And if you don't respect both, you're not in control of the water.
00:13:03.909 --> 00:13:05.430
You're reacting to it.
00:13:09.029 --> 00:13:12.710
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The active killer in a chlorinated pool is primarily hypochlorous acid.
00:13:46.070 --> 00:13:48.310
The MAHC says that directly.
00:13:48.470 --> 00:13:55.269
It also says hypochloride ion, which is OCL, is also a biocide, but it's much slower.
00:13:55.430 --> 00:13:59.750
And that matters because cyanuric acid does not merely protect chlorine.
00:13:59.909 --> 00:14:09.029
It reduces the concentration of active HOCL, hypochlorous acid, by shifting chlorine into chlorinated cyanurate reserve forms.
00:14:09.269 --> 00:14:12.710
The whole game is not how much chlorine you can measure.
00:14:13.029 --> 00:14:19.590
The whole game is how much active chlorine you actually have available right now.
00:14:19.830 --> 00:14:27.350
And this is where the phrase stabilizer starts sounding way too cute for what's actually happening.
00:14:27.430 --> 00:14:32.789
Because yeah, cyanuric acid reduces photochemical loss.
00:14:33.029 --> 00:14:33.750
That part is true.
00:14:33.990 --> 00:14:52.550
Wolchewicks wrote that clearly in outdoor unstabilized water, chlorine can disappear rapidly in sunlight while cyanuric acid dramatically slows that loss by forming chloroisocyanids that are less vulnerable to UV destruction.
00:14:52.710 --> 00:15:03.590
He even noted that in stabilized pools, over 99% of the available chlorine can exist in the form of chloroisocyanids.
00:15:03.750 --> 00:15:06.230
Over ninety-nine percent.
00:15:07.430 --> 00:15:08.629
Think about that.
00:15:09.269 --> 00:15:17.190
The stuff most people think they are measuring as ready to fight chlorine is largely sitting in reserve.
00:15:17.509 --> 00:15:25.909
Now, before somebody starts foaming at the mouth and yelling that I'm attacking cyanuric acid, let me say this cyanuric acid is not the villain.
00:15:26.149 --> 00:15:32.629
Mismanagement is the villain because in an outdoor pool, some cyaneuric acid makes sense.
00:15:44.870 --> 00:15:45.909
Nah, I train them too.
00:15:48.950 --> 00:15:52.789
Tellin's be blasting niggas them fools, flopping out of pool, faster fast.
00:15:55.909 --> 00:15:56.470
What the fuck?
00:15:56.710 --> 00:15:57.750
It's a fucking Friday.
00:16:00.230 --> 00:16:01.909
Time to make the cat fit your ass.
00:16:02.070 --> 00:16:03.190
God bless the pool pro.
00:16:04.870 --> 00:16:05.669
What the fuck?
00:16:05.990 --> 00:16:07.509
God bless the pool pro.
00:16:09.669 --> 00:16:17.350
In an industry built not just on skill, but on those willing to teach it, there's a call to recognize the people behind the professionals.
00:16:17.590 --> 00:16:28.629
The Talking Pools Podcast is now accepting nominations for its 2026 Mentor of the Year Award, honoring those who don't just have the answers, but teach others how to find them.
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00:17:07.109 --> 00:17:13.349
I've been getting Service Industry News since I first stepped into this business, and every time it landed, I did the same thing.
00:17:13.509 --> 00:17:15.669
Flip straight to the horror file.
00:17:15.829 --> 00:17:20.549
The weird installs, the absurd finds, the stuff only pool pros ever see.
00:17:20.789 --> 00:17:23.109
Then I'd go back and read the articles.
00:17:23.349 --> 00:17:33.269
Service Industry News is a twice-monthly trade publication for pool and spa service text, 24 issues a year, emailed free to over 10,000 texts and available on their app.
00:17:33.430 --> 00:17:39.829
Every issue covers nationwide industry news and real technical content you actually will use.
00:17:40.309 --> 00:17:43.669
Get your free subscription at serviceindustry news.net.
00:17:43.829 --> 00:17:46.309
Again, that's serviceindustry news.net.
00:17:47.029 --> 00:17:48.230
Do it now.
00:17:49.750 --> 00:17:51.750
Cyanuric acid is not the villain.
00:17:51.990 --> 00:17:58.469
Mismanagement is the villain because in an outdoor pool, some cyanuric acid makes sense.
00:17:58.549 --> 00:18:06.229
The chemistry literature, manufacturer white papers, and public health guidance all recognize the UV protection benefit.
00:18:06.389 --> 00:18:08.869
But they also show diminishing returns.
00:18:09.029 --> 00:18:26.469
One modern white paper notes the greatest improvement in chlorine retention happens with the first small additions of cyanuric acid, and the incremental UV benefit flattens out as concentration climbs, especially through the common pool range.
00:18:26.629 --> 00:18:29.269
So in plain English, the first bit helps a lot.
00:18:29.429 --> 00:18:31.349
The extra bit helps less.
00:18:31.509 --> 00:18:35.589
The extra extra bit keeps costing you activity.
00:18:35.829 --> 00:18:39.509
That last part is where the pool industry gets itself into trouble.
00:18:39.669 --> 00:18:45.829
Because what many pool pros are really doing is not stabilizing chlorine.
00:18:45.990 --> 00:18:48.309
They're slowly anesthesizing it.
00:18:48.469 --> 00:18:51.509
Every trichlor tablet is not just adding chlorine.
00:18:51.669 --> 00:19:00.629
At theoretical purity, each one part per million delivered from dichlor adds about 0.89 milligrams per liter.
00:19:00.709 --> 00:19:08.629
That's 0.89 parts per million of cyanuric acid, while trichlor adds about 0.59 milligrams per liter cyanuric acid.
00:19:08.789 --> 00:19:22.629
So when someone feeds a pool on stabilized chlorine week after week without managing water replacement or changing sanitizer strategy, they're not maintaining their load in the spring one click at a time.
00:19:22.949 --> 00:19:28.389
That is why a pool can mysteriously get harder and harder to control over time.
00:19:28.549 --> 00:19:29.589
It's not mysterious.
00:19:29.750 --> 00:19:31.509
It's chemistry with a body count.
00:19:31.669 --> 00:19:33.990
No, you pervert, not that body count.
00:19:34.229 --> 00:19:42.869
The active HOCL fraction keeps getting suppressed, staring at the same free chlorine test method and acting like the number means what it used to mean.
00:19:43.029 --> 00:19:48.549
Fox's 2019 paper showed that as cyanuric acid raises, HOCL falls.
00:19:48.709 --> 00:19:54.069
And he also showed something else that should have made more noise in the industry than it did.
00:19:54.309 --> 00:19:55.109
Many U.S.
00:19:55.269 --> 00:20:07.669
state codes and the MAC, model quite health code, when expressed in terms of actual HOCL concentration, allow a range that can span more than a factor of 500.
00:20:07.909 --> 00:20:10.149
That should make every operator uncomfortable.
00:20:10.309 --> 00:20:17.429
You can read that research titled Assessing the Impact of Cyanuric Acid on Bathers' Risk of Gastrointestinal Illness at Swimming Pools.
00:20:17.589 --> 00:20:21.669
The website is www.mdpi.com 314.
00:20:21.990 --> 00:20:34.229
And again, the brilliant minds contributing to this research are Falk, Ashley, Kuklar, Terry Pickens, and Supies at DOI.org 10 3390 W1061314.
00:20:34.469 --> 00:20:36.069
The part that really gets interesting.
00:20:36.229 --> 00:20:47.269
Once cyanuric acid is present, pH still matters, but not in the same traumatic way people were taught in chlorine-only water.
00:20:47.429 --> 00:20:56.869
Fox 2019 risk paper showed that without cyanuric acid, hypochlorous acid drops sharply as the pH rises.
00:20:57.029 --> 00:21:06.709
But with cyanuric acid present, that pH effect is muted because the cyanuric acid equilibrium is now dominating the available HOCL concentration.
00:21:06.869 --> 00:21:15.589
So in his example, going from a pH of 7.5 to 8.0 with no cyaneuric acid, dropped the HOCL by 53%.
00:21:15.990 --> 00:21:19.990
At 30 parts per million of cyanuric acid, the drop was only 15%.
00:21:20.629 --> 00:21:23.269
So that does not mean pH stops mattering.
00:21:23.429 --> 00:21:41.189
It means cyaneuric acid has entered the chat and is now controlling far more chemistry than most techs realize, which also should bring to mind the statement that pH doesn't really matter in an outdoor pool when you're using cyaneuric acid because the pH doesn't affect it.
00:21:41.269 --> 00:21:42.309
That's not true.
00:21:42.469 --> 00:21:46.949
It just went from 30% impact to a 15% impact.
00:21:47.109 --> 00:21:48.309
That's still an impact.
00:21:48.469 --> 00:21:49.429
So let's be blunt.
00:21:49.589 --> 00:21:59.269
This is why the old just keep chlorine between one and three mentally is chemically lazy, because the real question is not what is your chlorine reading.
00:21:59.429 --> 00:22:09.109
The real question is what is your cyanuric acid and therefore what is your actual hypochlorous acid concentration likely to be.
00:22:09.429 --> 00:22:28.949
Fox paper showed that HOCL stays nearly constant when the CYA to FC ratio is kept constant, which is the core chemical logic behind the FC, CYA ratio discuss that so many people wrongfully dismiss as internet cult behavior.
00:22:29.109 --> 00:22:34.149
It's not cult behavior, it's equilibrium chemistry applied to field practice.
00:22:34.309 --> 00:22:40.629
And before someone says, yeah, but that's just the pool nerd theory, let's bring in the CDC.
00:22:40.789 --> 00:22:48.229
In the CDC Cryptosporadium hypochlorination study, cyanuric acid clearly reduced chlorine disinfection efficacy.
00:22:48.309 --> 00:23:01.269
At 20 parts per million of free chlorine with no cyuric acid, the estimated Three log inactivation CT stands for contact time value was about 15,300 minutes.
00:23:01.429 --> 00:23:11.589
That means at a chlorine level of one part per million, it would take 15,300 minutes in order to inactivate cryptosporidium greater than 99%.
00:23:12.869 --> 00:23:21.829
Now that number climbed up to 31,500 minutes when the cyaneuric acid level was at 16 parts per million.
00:23:21.909 --> 00:23:23.029
So it's twice as long.
00:23:23.109 --> 00:23:32.469
At around 48 parts per million of cyanuric acid, they can only estimate a one log count of 76,500, which I'll save you the time in doing the math.
00:23:32.549 --> 00:23:34.389
That's 53 fucking days.
00:23:34.549 --> 00:23:35.669
Can you imagine that?
00:23:35.829 --> 00:23:43.269
That crypto is still a risk because it was treated in a pool that has a cyanuric acid level that's a little bit higher.
00:23:43.429 --> 00:23:45.829
That same 20 parts per million for chlorine.
00:23:45.990 --> 00:23:49.269
We do in a pool that has no cyaneuric acid now.
00:23:49.349 --> 00:23:52.549
Keep in mind your CDC's fecal incident response guidelines.
00:23:52.709 --> 00:23:55.669
20 parts per million for 12.75 hours.
00:23:55.829 --> 00:23:58.229
Bring that cyanuric acid level up to 48.
00:23:58.389 --> 00:24:07.589
You need to maintain that 20 parts per million for 53 fucking days just to do one third of what we did in 12.75 hours.
00:24:07.750 --> 00:24:08.469
That's insane.
00:24:08.629 --> 00:24:17.349
And at around 100 parts per million of cyanuric acid, even after 72 hours, they were only seeing a 0.8 log reduction at 22 hours, 20 part per million free chlorine range.
00:24:17.429 --> 00:24:18.549
So, I mean, that's not subtle.
00:24:18.629 --> 00:24:23.269
That's cyanuric acid reaching over and choking the hell out of hypochlorination performance.
00:24:23.429 --> 00:24:26.309
This is where Wojewicks deserves more credit than he gets.
00:24:26.469 --> 00:24:33.750
He described cyanuric acid chemistry in terms that service pros should have taken more serious decades ago.
00:24:33.909 --> 00:24:48.309
He wrote that monochloroisocyanurate under typical pool conditions is an ineffective bacteriocide compared with hypochlorous acid, even though it serves as a reservoir that releases hypochlorous acid on demand.
00:24:48.469 --> 00:24:52.789
That reservoir concept is useful, but people mishear it.
00:24:52.869 --> 00:24:56.229
So a reservoir is not the same as immediate force.
00:24:56.469 --> 00:24:59.189
A reservoir means stored potential.
00:24:59.349 --> 00:25:01.750
It does not mean instant punch.
00:25:01.909 --> 00:25:09.189
That is why I keep saying cyanuric acid is better understood as a chlorine regulator than as a stabilizer.
00:25:09.349 --> 00:25:14.789
Because stabilizer makes people think the only thing happening is UV protection.
00:25:15.589 --> 00:25:18.709
Regulator forces you to admit that there is a cost.
00:25:18.949 --> 00:25:21.429
And that cost is reaction speed.
00:25:21.589 --> 00:25:26.069
The cost of disinfecting power at any given measured chlorine level.
00:25:26.229 --> 00:25:29.029
The cost is slower oxidation.
00:25:29.189 --> 00:25:30.709
The cost is slower kill.
00:25:31.109 --> 00:25:39.269
The cost is more time for contaminants and microorganisms to exist in the water before the chemistry catches up.
00:25:39.429 --> 00:25:40.709
That is not my opinion.
00:25:40.949 --> 00:25:43.750
That is the direction the literature points.
00:25:43.909 --> 00:25:58.389
Whether you approach it through O'Brien era equilibrium work, Woljewick's pool chemistry papers, Fox's modeling and risk analysis, the EPA's drinking water equilibrium modeling, or the CDC's disinfection studies.
00:25:58.549 --> 00:26:01.429
Now, let me take a shot at the phrase chlorine lock.
00:26:01.669 --> 00:26:03.349
No, I still don't like it.
00:26:03.509 --> 00:26:04.709
It's chemically sloppy.
00:26:04.869 --> 00:26:11.669
Chlorine is not locked, not in the sense that it becomes permanently unavailable, but the equilibrium is reversible.
00:26:11.909 --> 00:26:20.149
Cyanurate bound chlorine is a reserve that can hide that can hydrolyze and release active species as demand consumes them.
00:26:20.469 --> 00:26:31.669
Even industry summaries that explain overstabilization correctly still describe it as chlorine being slowed, not magically shut off.
00:26:31.909 --> 00:26:41.349
So no, chlorine lock is not a good scientific term, but it does sound a heckle of a lot better than chlorine bound and gagged, right?
00:26:41.589 --> 00:26:46.789
So the reason this has survived for so long is because of operators in the field noting the behavior.
00:26:47.029 --> 00:26:50.149
They see that there's chlorine present and the performance is lousy.
00:26:50.389 --> 00:26:55.189
The chemistry behind that lousy performance, it's not locked.
00:26:55.349 --> 00:26:59.990
It's suppressed HOCL concentration and slowed kinetics.
00:27:00.229 --> 00:27:24.789
And if you want the truly nasty part, the EPA's 2019 model work showed that even temperature changes matter enough in the chlorine cyanuric acid system that a drinking water system using dichlor or trichlor could overestimate truly free chlorine by as much as 50% if temperature is ignored in some conditions.
00:27:25.109 --> 00:27:30.309
That is drinking water work, not backyard pool sales fluff, drinking water work.
00:27:30.389 --> 00:27:47.429
So if temperature matters, cyanuric acid matters, pH matters, and test method definitions matter, then anybody out there pretending the entire story can be reduced to a single free chlorine reading is operating without half of their fucking mind.
00:27:47.589 --> 00:27:51.909
They have the chemical sophistication of a squirrel on Adderall.
00:27:52.149 --> 00:27:54.389
So what's the practical takeaways for the pool pro?
00:27:54.789 --> 00:27:57.990
Test cyanuric acid like it matters because it does.
00:27:58.149 --> 00:28:03.109
Treat stabilized chlorine as a delivery system with baggage because it is.
00:28:03.429 --> 00:28:13.509
Understand that DPD-free chlorine in cyanuric acid water is not a pure measure of immediately active sanitizer.
00:28:13.589 --> 00:28:26.469
Because the MAHC now says so in plain language, and stop acting shock when a pool with normal chlorine and high cyanuric acid behaves like a lazy, underproof mess.
00:28:26.629 --> 00:28:28.149
Chemistry didn't betray you.
00:28:28.469 --> 00:28:33.909
You betrayed the chemistry by pretending the reserve and the active fraction were the same thing.
00:28:34.149 --> 00:28:42.709
Richard Falk helped a lot of people see that the FCCYA relationship is the operational language of this chemistry.
00:28:43.029 --> 00:28:49.269
CBC showed the public health consequence when CYA is present during disinfection.
00:28:49.509 --> 00:28:55.429
EPA showed the equilibrium system is robust enough to need real modeling.
00:28:55.589 --> 00:29:04.869
Wojewitz, the mechanism and the reservoir behavior and the old O'Brien equilibrium work still sits underneath all of it like bedrock.
00:29:05.029 --> 00:29:06.149
That's the comparison.
00:29:06.389 --> 00:29:11.269
Different voices, same direction, same warning, same unavoidable conclusion.
00:29:11.509 --> 00:29:14.709
Cyanuric acid is useful, but it is never free.
00:29:14.949 --> 00:29:20.149
So I'm gonna talk about this now because this just seems like a right the right time to discuss it.
00:29:20.229 --> 00:29:33.909
And this came up the other day in LinkedIn Dewey Case with the CMAHC, the CMAC Counsel for the Model Aquatic Health Code, asked a question, tagged me, and it was about cyanuric acids.
00:29:34.069 --> 00:29:35.669
So this definitely relates.
00:29:35.829 --> 00:29:46.149
The conversation itself actually came to a head back in 2019 during a CMAC session where we were digging into cyanuric acid and chlorine effectiveness and stabilized pools.
00:29:46.309 --> 00:29:48.549
There was real field data being looked at.
00:29:48.709 --> 00:29:53.269
I think it was a county in Florida, Hillsborough County maybe.
00:29:53.509 --> 00:30:05.589
And I was in conversations with input from folks like Ellen Myers, Jen Wong, Roy War, Richard Falk, all who have spent a lot of time in the weeds on this.
00:30:05.829 --> 00:30:13.109
We were trying to reconcile the EPA label constraint of four parts per million of free chlorine in public pools.
00:30:13.349 --> 00:30:17.750
We mentioned, I mentioned that at the beginning of this episode before even said hello, really.
00:30:17.909 --> 00:30:19.589
Again, that's what we were looking to do.
00:30:19.909 --> 00:30:31.750
What came out of that was that a 1 to 20 free chlorine to cyanec acid ratio gave you effective sanitation while still staying within those label limits.
00:30:31.909 --> 00:30:38.629
In real terms, four parts per million free chlorine still effective at 80 parts per million of cyanuric acid.
00:30:38.789 --> 00:30:50.229
The 7.5% number, the one that everybody's probably most familiar with, the ratio, salary needs to be 7.5% of your cyaneuric acid to keep your pool bacteria and algae free.
00:30:50.469 --> 00:30:53.029
So again, that's the number that was changed.
00:30:53.189 --> 00:31:08.869
Going with the 1 to 20 ratio now, what we're looking at is 5% with a maximum chlorine level of four parts per million per the EPA label, the 7.5% number based on maintaining a specific hypochlorous acid level.
00:31:08.949 --> 00:31:10.069
And that's the chemistry.
00:31:10.309 --> 00:31:13.589
You know, you don't always get to operate in a perfect chemical model.
00:31:13.669 --> 00:31:16.949
So we've got labels, codes, and enforcement to deal with.
00:31:17.269 --> 00:31:25.589
But last I heard Michelle Havlasa with CDC, she oversees the part that deals with swimming pools.
00:31:25.750 --> 00:31:34.469
She was attempting to challenge the EPA and separate chlorine levels for pool use from the maximum drinking water level.
00:31:34.629 --> 00:31:39.669
But regardless of where anybody stood on cyanuric acid pro, again, stores somewhere in the middle.
00:31:39.909 --> 00:31:48.229
There was pretty broad agreement that 1 to 20 was the most practical place to land if you're trying to stay compliant and still maintain effectiveness.
00:31:48.389 --> 00:31:56.789
Now that said, I do know pool pros who intentionally run cyanuric acid levels above 200 parts per million, and they do that successfully.
00:31:56.949 --> 00:32:00.149
They argue a noticeable reduction in UV degradation.
00:32:00.309 --> 00:32:02.469
For me, that's more of a you do you.
00:32:02.629 --> 00:32:13.429
During those same CMAC discussions, serious consideration was also given to raising the acceptable upper limit of cyanuric acid to around 180 parts per million.
00:32:13.589 --> 00:32:14.149
I know.
00:32:14.389 --> 00:32:16.229
180 parts per million.
00:32:16.389 --> 00:32:19.909
There was actually a decent amount of data supporting that move.
00:32:20.149 --> 00:32:25.029
Where it ultimately broke down wasn't the chemistry, it was the field practicality.
00:32:25.189 --> 00:32:34.069
Most operators are relying on a visual determination turbidity testing, you know, to make the dot disappear test with a 100 part per million max.
00:32:34.309 --> 00:32:41.509
So now we're depending on dilution testing in the field, and the reality is that's inconsistent at best.
00:32:41.750 --> 00:32:45.109
Personally, I'd rather not have cyanuric acid used in commercial pools at all.
00:32:45.189 --> 00:32:52.389
Unfortunately, that would have most, if not all, in the desert and sunbelt areas going belly up due to the cost of chlorine.
00:32:52.469 --> 00:32:54.709
Um, in residential pools, well, you know what?
00:32:54.789 --> 00:32:57.829
You may as well cow cowboy it up, have have at it.
00:32:58.069 --> 00:33:03.349
But me, I'd max out at 30 parts per million or less for my personal preference.
00:33:03.509 --> 00:33:05.189
Again, a necessary evil.
00:33:05.429 --> 00:33:13.429
So the next time somebody says cyanuric acid just protects chlorine from the sun, don't nod along like they said something smart.
00:33:13.589 --> 00:33:16.869
Tell them that's the first thing that an idiot would say.
00:33:16.949 --> 00:33:20.069
And unfortunately, not the last thing an idiot says.
00:33:20.229 --> 00:33:26.309
Because the real conversation is this how much of your measured chlorine is actually active right now?
00:33:26.549 --> 00:33:30.629
How hard is cyanuric acid throttling your HOCL?
00:33:30.789 --> 00:33:34.949
How much disinfection speed did you sacrifice for UV protection?
00:33:35.189 --> 00:33:41.509
And at what point did your stabilized pool become a chemically tranquilized pool?
00:33:41.669 --> 00:33:43.189
That's not pool store drama.
00:33:43.269 --> 00:33:44.629
That's equilibrium chemistry.
00:33:44.789 --> 00:33:49.349
And if you really want mastery, that is where mastery starts.
00:33:49.750 --> 00:34:00.229
Now, they did some more research and they did find that a lower percentage, and when I say they, I mean Richard Falk, and then accepted and taught by Bob Lowry.
00:34:00.469 --> 00:34:04.229
So again, a lower percentage works just fine.
00:34:04.389 --> 00:34:19.429
One to twenty, one part per million of free chlorine to twenty parts per million of cyanuric acid, or basically five percent, which means a four part per million free chlorine level is perfectly fine at eighty parts per million of cyaneuric acid.
00:34:19.510 --> 00:34:24.710
At a hundred parts per million instead of the 7.5%, giving us 7.5 parts per million.
00:34:24.949 --> 00:34:30.949
Now, with this one to 20, 100 parts per million, we're looking at a five part per million free chlorine level.
00:34:31.030 --> 00:34:32.789
But again, that number four is eighty.
00:34:33.110 --> 00:34:33.909
That's important.
00:34:34.070 --> 00:34:35.110
That's an important number.
00:34:35.269 --> 00:34:39.990
Four parts per million of free chlorine to eighty parts cyaneuric acid still work.
00:34:40.150 --> 00:34:43.110
And the reason for that is the law.
00:34:43.349 --> 00:34:45.750
Take a look at your container of chlorine.
00:34:45.829 --> 00:34:48.949
I don't care what kind it is, look at the instructions.
00:34:49.110 --> 00:34:57.269
The instructions state that you are allowed to have as much as a four part per million free chlorine level in the pool.
00:34:57.429 --> 00:35:04.550
That means you cannot maintain a number higher than that legally because the EPA requires that label on the bucket.
00:35:04.630 --> 00:35:14.230
And if the EPA requires the label on the bucket to say that it can't be more than four parts per million free chlorine, yeah, I know that is based off of drinking water standards, but it doesn't matter.
00:35:14.309 --> 00:35:28.150
It's what we got because the chlorine that we use in pools is used in drinking water, so it has to have that label, and that label states that you cannot have any more than a four part per million free chlorine level in a body of water.
00:35:28.309 --> 00:35:31.590
That's not just commercial pools, that is all pools.
00:35:31.750 --> 00:35:36.150
This is this is EPA, not public pool regulated by health departments.
00:35:36.230 --> 00:35:37.670
No, this is EPA.
00:35:37.750 --> 00:35:38.630
That's a national thing.
00:35:38.789 --> 00:35:40.150
That bucket has to say it.
00:35:40.309 --> 00:35:48.309
Just like we talked about the sodium bromide and the other labels last week, where the label says you cannot use sodium bromide whatsoever in an outdoor pool.
00:35:48.470 --> 00:35:49.030
Guess what?
00:35:49.190 --> 00:35:49.910
That's the law.
00:35:50.070 --> 00:35:54.550
Anyway, can you tell I'm not happy about a four part per million top end for free chlorine?
00:35:54.630 --> 00:36:03.670
So why does every health department code still state, and it's not everyone, but it's a lot of them, that it's okay to have a level as high as 10 parts per million of free chlorine in an outdoor pool?
00:36:03.829 --> 00:36:08.070
I know folks up in the Northeast, they're seeing that four part per million number.
00:36:08.230 --> 00:36:11.910
But throughout the rest of the country, up to 10 parts per million is fine.
00:36:12.070 --> 00:36:12.550
Why?
00:36:12.710 --> 00:36:16.470
Well, you have government agencies that are not getting together on something.
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Todd?
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There you go.
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Awesome.
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Thank you, Jules the Pool Girl.
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And now, breaking news.
00:37:42.550 --> 00:37:51.750
You ever get the feeling the industry didn't just change but quietly shifted underneath your feet while you were brushing a pool?
00:37:51.910 --> 00:37:53.750
Yeah, that's where we're at right now.
00:37:53.910 --> 00:37:55.269
This is not one story.
00:37:55.430 --> 00:37:56.470
This is a pattern.
00:37:56.630 --> 00:38:05.110
And if you're paying attention, April 2026 just handed you a roadmap for what this industry is about to become.
00:38:05.269 --> 00:38:07.510
Let's start with the one nobody wants to talk about.
00:38:07.750 --> 00:38:11.269
Climate, no opinions, not politics, permits.
00:38:11.590 --> 00:38:18.150
A town in Connecticut is actively discussing banning new in-ground pools in flood-prone areas.
00:38:18.309 --> 00:38:21.269
Not regulating, not modifying, banning.
00:38:21.750 --> 00:38:22.230
Why?
00:38:22.550 --> 00:38:24.309
Because pools can float.
00:38:24.470 --> 00:38:25.110
You know this.
00:38:25.269 --> 00:38:26.710
Take the water out of a pool.
00:38:26.870 --> 00:38:27.750
What do you got?
00:38:27.910 --> 00:38:28.789
You got a boat.
00:38:28.950 --> 00:38:33.190
So yeah, config problem when the ground is saturated and a storm rolls in.
00:38:33.510 --> 00:38:44.789
Now, imagine explaining to a homeowner, yeah, we can build you a pool unless the town decides your backyard is now technically part of the ocean.
00:38:44.950 --> 00:38:46.789
This is the first domino you're gonna see.
00:38:46.950 --> 00:38:55.990
More engineering requirements, more anchoring requirements, more permit denials, more environmental impact reviews.
00:38:56.150 --> 00:38:58.870
And here's the part I'm not ready for.
00:38:59.110 --> 00:39:06.870
This doesn't just stay in Connecticut, this migrates just like every other code change that starts small and spreads like mustard algae.
00:39:07.030 --> 00:39:10.950
Now, let's bring it back down south to Florida.
00:39:11.110 --> 00:39:13.670
Something big almost happened.
00:39:13.829 --> 00:39:16.150
And most people didn't even realize it.
00:39:16.309 --> 00:39:19.349
There was a push to change bonding requirements.
00:39:19.510 --> 00:39:30.230
And if that went through, you'd be looking at retrofits, callbacks, inspectors failing pools that were perfectly fine yesterday, but it failed quietly.
00:39:30.390 --> 00:39:31.510
And that's the lesson.
00:39:31.750 --> 00:39:36.150
The biggest wins in this industry are the disasters that don't happen.
00:39:36.309 --> 00:39:41.190
Because if that change passed, you wouldn't be talking about it on a podcast.
00:39:41.349 --> 00:39:42.470
You'd be living it.
00:39:42.630 --> 00:39:49.190
Now, let's talk about liability because this one should make every service pro stop what they're doing for just a second.
00:39:49.349 --> 00:39:56.150
There's a lawsuit involving Hayward Industries tied to a catastrophic suction entrapment incident.
00:39:56.309 --> 00:40:02.390
At the same time, tens of thousands of spa jets are being recalled for drowning hazards.
00:40:02.550 --> 00:40:03.590
Let that sink in.
00:40:03.750 --> 00:40:05.510
We're not talking about cloudy water.
00:40:05.590 --> 00:40:09.829
We're talking about life and death tied directly to equipment.
00:40:09.990 --> 00:40:12.470
Which means, guess who's in the conversation?
00:40:12.710 --> 00:40:14.870
You are, because you touched the pool.
00:40:14.950 --> 00:40:16.390
You serviced the pool.
00:40:16.550 --> 00:40:20.870
You saw the cover, you saw the flow, or worse, you didn't.
00:40:21.030 --> 00:40:32.710
This is where the Virginia Grand Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act stops being something you learned in a class and starts being something that can drag you into court.
00:40:32.870 --> 00:40:38.150
You don't get paid extra to check drains, but you might pay dearly if you don't.
00:40:38.309 --> 00:40:41.670
Now let's shift to something slower, but just as dangerous to your business.
00:40:41.829 --> 00:40:42.309
Water.
00:40:42.470 --> 00:40:46.550
Texas is tightening up on water usage because of drought.
00:40:46.630 --> 00:40:50.550
And if you think that's a Texas problem, you're already behind.
00:40:50.710 --> 00:40:54.150
Because water restrictions don't show up as a suggestion.
00:40:54.230 --> 00:40:57.349
They show up as no fill permits issued.
00:40:57.590 --> 00:40:58.950
Partial fill only.
00:40:59.269 --> 00:41:00.710
Drain not allowed.
00:41:00.870 --> 00:41:02.789
Now think about your business model.
00:41:02.950 --> 00:41:06.070
How much of it depends on water replacement to fix problems?
00:41:06.230 --> 00:41:10.390
How many of your solutions are actually just dilution strategies?
00:41:10.630 --> 00:41:12.789
Because those days, they're getting numbered.
00:41:12.950 --> 00:41:16.710
Now, let's talk about the shiny object everybody keeps throwing around.
00:41:16.950 --> 00:41:17.590
AI.
00:41:17.829 --> 00:41:20.390
And for once, it's not complete nonsense.
00:41:20.550 --> 00:41:28.150
We're actually seeing AI route optimization, automatic testing integrations, smarter robotic cleaners.
00:41:28.390 --> 00:41:33.030
This isn't replacing you, no, but it is replacing inefficiency.
00:41:33.110 --> 00:41:34.870
And here's the uncomfortable truth.
00:41:35.030 --> 00:41:38.789
The guy with systems will beat the guy with hustle every time.
00:41:38.950 --> 00:41:40.789
Because hustle doesn't scale.
00:41:41.110 --> 00:41:41.910
Systems do.
00:41:42.070 --> 00:41:44.230
Now, with zoom out, big picture.
00:41:44.470 --> 00:41:49.030
There are about 10.7 million pools in the United States right now.
00:41:49.269 --> 00:41:50.950
Demand is still going up.
00:41:51.190 --> 00:41:55.430
Search traffic is up, interest is up, but margins, they're tightening.
00:41:55.670 --> 00:41:57.190
Labor, harder to find.
00:41:57.430 --> 00:41:59.030
Customers, more demanding.
00:41:59.269 --> 00:42:00.309
So what does that mean?
00:42:00.470 --> 00:42:05.910
It means the industry didn't get easier, it got sharper, more precise, less forgiving.
00:42:06.070 --> 00:42:07.430
Because this one is global.
00:42:07.670 --> 00:42:11.190
Public pools are cutting hours because they can't find lifeguards.
00:42:11.349 --> 00:42:13.750
Builders can't find skilled workers.
00:42:13.990 --> 00:42:15.110
Service companies.
00:42:15.349 --> 00:42:21.430
You already know, you're either short staffed or you're one bad employee away from being short staffed.
00:42:21.590 --> 00:42:24.710
This is not a hiring problem, this is a retention problem.
00:42:24.870 --> 00:42:30.789
Because the companies that win over the next five years are the ones people don't want to leave.
00:42:30.950 --> 00:42:36.309
Now, here's something that'll make you laugh and also make you money if you're paying attention.
00:42:36.550 --> 00:42:37.670
Design trends.
00:42:37.829 --> 00:42:39.269
Diving boards are coming back.
00:42:39.430 --> 00:42:39.750
Yep.
00:42:39.910 --> 00:42:44.870
Those things we spent years pretending didn't exist because of liability, they're back.
00:42:45.110 --> 00:42:48.630
But now they're high-end, integrated, aesthetic.
00:42:48.789 --> 00:42:52.789
It's the same industry trick we've seen a thousand times.
00:42:53.030 --> 00:42:58.470
Take something old, rebrand it, charge more, and suddenly it's innovation.
00:42:58.630 --> 00:42:59.750
So what's the takeaway?
00:42:59.910 --> 00:43:01.829
Not the fluffy one, but the real one.
00:43:01.990 --> 00:43:18.630
The pool industry is not slowing down, it's tightening, it's becoming more regulated, more technical, more liability driven, more system dependent, and at the exact same time, more opportunity rich than it has ever been.
00:43:19.110 --> 00:43:21.510
So right now, you're standing out of line.
00:43:21.670 --> 00:43:23.750
On one side, you got the old way.
00:43:23.910 --> 00:43:29.990
Throw tabs, brush when you feel like it, hope nothing breaks, and pray the customer doesn't ask questions.
00:43:30.150 --> 00:43:41.590
On the other side, you've got understanding chemistry, understanding hydraulics, understanding liability, building systems, charging correctly, and actually running a business.
00:43:41.750 --> 00:43:44.550
And the industry is starting to expose people.
00:43:44.789 --> 00:43:49.349
The gap between pool guy and professional is widening fast.
00:43:49.430 --> 00:43:51.349
And the middle, it's disappearing.
00:43:51.510 --> 00:43:54.390
So the question isn't, is there opportunity?
00:43:54.630 --> 00:43:55.430
Because there is.
00:43:55.590 --> 00:43:58.710
The question is, which side of that line are you standing on?
00:43:58.870 --> 00:44:03.110
Because April 2026 made one thing very, very clear.
00:44:03.349 --> 00:44:08.230
This industry is not what it was five years ago, and it's definitely not going back.
00:44:08.470 --> 00:44:09.349
Big surprise.
00:44:09.510 --> 00:44:11.430
Anyway, that's all I have for this week.
00:44:11.590 --> 00:44:13.269
I hope you have a killer weekend.
00:44:13.349 --> 00:44:13.990
I really do.
00:44:14.070 --> 00:44:15.430
I'm Rudy Stankwitz.
00:44:15.510 --> 00:44:17.110
This is the Talkman Pools Podcast.
00:44:17.190 --> 00:44:18.710
Until next time, be good.
00:44:18.870 --> 00:44:19.510
Catch a fish.
00:44:19.670 --> 00:44:20.230
Stay safe.
00:00:53.189 --> 00:01:01.030
Pool people, before we get into what we're talking about today, there is one label I wanted to discuss last week that I just forgot about.
00:01:01.269 --> 00:01:02.789
Completely slipped my mind.
00:01:02.950 --> 00:01:08.870
And it is a big one as far as laws go that govern our industry.
00:01:09.030 --> 00:01:11.829
So let's take a look at the back of your chlorine bucket.
00:01:11.989 --> 00:01:13.670
Don't care what type of bucket it is.
00:01:13.750 --> 00:01:17.189
It could be trichlor, dichlor, calhypo, doesn't matter.
00:01:17.349 --> 00:01:20.789
Whatever type of chlorine bucket you happen to have handy, spin it around.
00:01:20.950 --> 00:01:22.069
Take a look at the label.
00:01:22.310 --> 00:01:32.870
This is the EPA required label on this chlorine bucket that states a maximum chlorine level in a swimming pool of four parts per million.
00:01:33.030 --> 00:01:34.229
Four parts per million.
00:01:34.390 --> 00:01:35.909
That's the maximum level.
00:01:36.150 --> 00:01:37.829
That makes it the law.
00:01:38.069 --> 00:01:43.109
I know, I know, I know your health department still says it's okay to go up to 10.
00:01:43.269 --> 00:01:47.030
I know the CPO course still says it's okay to go up to 10.
00:01:47.189 --> 00:01:47.750
Got it.
00:01:47.909 --> 00:01:51.509
The EPA law also governs drinking water.
00:01:51.590 --> 00:01:58.230
And because the chlorine that we use in swimming pools is really just the same chlorine that we use in drinking water, it has to have that label.
00:01:58.390 --> 00:02:08.310
It has to be rated for drinking water, which means it is indeed a maximum level of four parts per million of chlorine allowed in a swimming pool.
00:02:08.550 --> 00:02:09.430
What do you think about that?
00:02:09.590 --> 00:02:10.469
I know, me too.
00:02:10.709 --> 00:02:11.430
I can tell you this.
00:02:11.590 --> 00:02:19.909
I do know the CDC is challenging the label and is hoping to get the EPA to separate pool water and drinking water chlorine regulation.
00:02:27.509 --> 00:02:29.189
Welcome to Weekend Eve.
00:02:29.269 --> 00:02:32.230
I'm Rudy Stankowitz with the Talking Pools Podcast.
00:02:32.469 --> 00:02:35.509
This is the Flocket Friday episode.
00:02:35.670 --> 00:02:37.430
I hope you are all doing well.
00:02:37.829 --> 00:02:41.909
It's starting to get warm out there, which means it's starting to get crazy.
00:02:41.990 --> 00:02:52.069
And when it gets crazy out there, the people who live in those houses that own the pools that you take care of, those people go complete batshit, buckfuck, nutty c've been there.
00:02:52.150 --> 00:02:52.870
I understand.
00:02:53.030 --> 00:02:53.829
God bless you.
00:02:53.990 --> 00:02:55.430
God bless the pool pro.
00:02:55.590 --> 00:03:01.269
You guys put up with more from homeowners than probably any other profession in the world.
00:03:01.430 --> 00:03:03.110
That's my truth, and I'm sticking to it.
00:03:03.189 --> 00:03:04.709
I sympathize, I've been there.
00:03:04.870 --> 00:03:09.509
I know it's hard and I know it's about to get harder, but there's a light at the tunnel, there is an ended site.
00:03:09.750 --> 00:03:12.629
Might not be until Labor Day, but gosh darn it, it is out there.
00:03:12.709 --> 00:03:22.230
So until then, how about we talk some more about cyanuric acid, about how it's not just a stabilizer, but how it actually serves as a chlorine regulator.
00:03:22.470 --> 00:03:25.670
Most of the industry still talks about it like it's sunscreen.
00:03:25.829 --> 00:03:29.589
So let's stop being polite here for a minute about this.
00:03:29.829 --> 00:03:34.149
Cyanuric acid is not some harmless little sidekick that protects chlorine from the sun.
00:03:34.310 --> 00:03:37.029
That's the kindergarten version of the story.
00:03:37.110 --> 00:03:38.230
It's not the full story.
00:03:38.310 --> 00:03:45.750
And if you are still treating cyanuric acid like it's just sunscreen for chlorine, then you're not practicing chemistry.
00:03:45.829 --> 00:03:48.230
You're repeating, packaging, copy.
00:03:48.389 --> 00:03:59.509
The deeper chemistry is that cyanuric acid changes the equilibrium of chlorine in water by binding with it and suppressing the concentration of the most active form of chlorine in water.
00:03:59.670 --> 00:04:01.189
That's not fringe theory.
00:04:01.350 --> 00:04:05.430
That's the entire reason this subject has been debated for decades.
00:04:05.589 --> 00:04:16.709
Now, Richard Falk, who most people know as Kemgree, uh geek you spend any time in the trouble-free pool form, he spent years explaining this to the pool industry in a way service pros could actually use.
00:04:16.790 --> 00:04:19.430
But Falk did not invent the chemistry.
00:04:19.589 --> 00:04:35.430
He leaned heavily on the classic equilibrium work of O'Brien, Morris, and Butler from the 1970s, because that paper is where chlorinated cyanurate equilibrium constants were pinned down in a way later's researchers kept building on it.
00:04:35.589 --> 00:04:43.829
EPA's later modeling work explicitly points back to O'Brien's chemistry, and Fox's own writing openly does the same.
00:04:44.069 --> 00:04:54.230
So let's say this clearly: when you add chlorine to the water in presence of cyanuric acid, you do not just have one little neat bucket labeled free chlorine.
00:04:54.389 --> 00:05:04.149
You have a dynamic equilibrium involving hypochlorous acid, hypochlorite ion, cyanuric acid species, and chlorinated cyanurid species.
00:05:04.310 --> 00:05:06.629
The test kit gives you a number.
00:05:06.790 --> 00:05:09.670
The chemistry gives you a reality.
00:05:09.830 --> 00:05:12.629
And those are not always the same thing.
00:05:12.870 --> 00:05:31.110
In fact, the 2024 MAHC MAC MOLOPRODI CODE now explicitly states that DPD free chlorine testing in water containing cyanuric acid includes cyanuric-bound available chlorine in addition to the truly free forms.
00:05:31.270 --> 00:05:32.629
That is a huge admission.
00:05:32.790 --> 00:05:33.670
And it matters.
00:05:33.910 --> 00:05:41.270
That means a test result can look comforting while the water is chemically underpowered.
00:05:41.350 --> 00:05:43.509
And that's where the industry loses their shit.
00:05:43.670 --> 00:05:49.430
Because a lot of people still say things like, My chlorine is at three parts per million, so I'm good.
00:05:49.590 --> 00:05:53.830
No, you are not automatically good, not even close.
00:05:54.069 --> 00:06:06.790
Three parts per million in a pool with little to no cyanuric acid is not chemically equivalent to three parts per million in a pool with a heavy cyanuric acid load.
00:06:06.949 --> 00:06:12.949
Same number on paper, different, oxidizing and disinfecting reality in the water.
00:06:13.189 --> 00:06:20.310
Falk has been pounding that drum for years, and the peer-reviewed literature backs him up.
00:06:20.550 --> 00:06:26.389
I need to address something that's been floating around this industry like it lost a bet and ended up in a pile of camel shit.
00:06:26.629 --> 00:06:29.910
Every pool group on the internet, the idea goes like this.
00:06:30.069 --> 00:06:35.189
Once cyanuric acid is in the water, pH does not matter as much.
00:06:35.350 --> 00:06:37.910
And I get it, I understand where that comes from.
00:06:38.069 --> 00:06:45.590
There is a sliver of truth buried there, but what started as nuanced chemical observation somehow turned into a shortcut.
00:06:45.830 --> 00:06:50.389
And shortcuts in water chemistry tend to come back and bite you on the ass.
00:06:50.550 --> 00:06:51.910
So let's clean this up.
00:06:52.069 --> 00:06:55.350
Not with opinions, not with this is how I've always done it.
00:06:55.590 --> 00:07:01.030
We're going to walk through the way this actually works at the molecular level.
00:07:01.189 --> 00:07:11.270
When you add chlorine to water, what you're creating is a balance, a chemical equilibrium between two primary forms, hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite ion.
00:07:11.350 --> 00:07:14.629
Hypochlorous acid is the one doing the heavy lifting.
00:07:14.790 --> 00:07:16.790
That's your fast-acting sanitizer.
00:07:16.949 --> 00:07:22.629
That's what's taking out bacteria, oxidizing contaminants, and keeping things under control.
00:07:22.790 --> 00:07:25.750
Hypochlorate ion is the weaker form.
00:07:25.910 --> 00:07:29.750
It still works, but it's slower, less aggressive, less effective.
00:07:29.910 --> 00:07:32.710
And what determines how much of each you have?
00:07:32.949 --> 00:07:33.430
pH.
00:07:33.670 --> 00:07:36.470
Lower pH favors hypochlorous acid.
00:07:36.629 --> 00:07:40.949
Higher pH shifts more of your chlorine into hypochlorite ion.
00:07:41.030 --> 00:07:42.069
That's not theory.
00:07:42.230 --> 00:07:43.350
That's not preference.
00:07:43.430 --> 00:07:45.110
That's equilibrium chemistry.
00:07:45.270 --> 00:07:49.430
At a pH around 7.5, you're sitting roughly in the middle.
00:07:49.590 --> 00:07:56.629
Start creeping up into the high sevens, low eights, and you are actively pushing your chlorine into a less effective form.
00:07:56.790 --> 00:08:00.150
So in an unstabilized system, pH is a big deal.
00:08:00.310 --> 00:08:03.350
It directly controls how effective your chlorine is.
00:08:03.590 --> 00:08:06.069
Now, let's bring cyanuric acid into the picture.
00:08:06.230 --> 00:08:10.470
Cyanuric acid doesn't help chlorine in the way people casually say it does.
00:08:10.629 --> 00:08:13.750
It doesn't make it stronger, it doesn't improve its killing power.
00:08:13.910 --> 00:08:16.069
What it does is bind with it.
00:08:16.230 --> 00:08:20.069
It forms a reversible bond, creating chlorinated isocyanates.
00:08:20.230 --> 00:08:24.550
In simple terms, it takes a large portion of your chlorine and holds onto it.
00:08:24.629 --> 00:08:27.270
That bound chlorine is not immediately active.
00:08:27.430 --> 00:08:29.030
It sits in reserve.
00:08:29.189 --> 00:08:35.110
It's protected from UV degradation, which is why we use CYA in pools, but there's a trade-off.
00:08:35.269 --> 00:08:41.750
Only a small fraction of your total free chlorine is actually present as active hypochlorous acid at any given moment.
00:08:42.069 --> 00:08:44.309
So now we have a different system.
00:08:44.549 --> 00:08:50.069
Instead of most of your chlorine being active, now most of it is tied up, waiting for its turn.
00:08:50.230 --> 00:08:54.149
It's still measured as free chlorine, which is where the confusion begins.
00:08:54.309 --> 00:08:58.230
But chemically, it's not all doing the same job at the same time.
00:08:58.470 --> 00:09:06.629
This is the part where the myth starts to form, because once CYA is in the water, the amount of hypochlorous acid is already significantly reduced.
00:09:06.789 --> 00:09:10.230
You're operating with a much smaller active fraction.
00:09:10.470 --> 00:09:16.949
Now, when pH shifts in that system, the change in hypochlorous acid is still happening.
00:09:17.110 --> 00:09:22.629
The equilibrium between hypochlorous acid and hypochlorate ion is still controlled by pH.
00:09:22.870 --> 00:09:24.389
That hasn't gone anywhere.
00:09:24.629 --> 00:09:31.190
But because the starting amount of hypochlorous acid is already so low, the relative change looks smaller.
00:09:31.350 --> 00:09:35.110
And that's where somebody looks at it and says, see, pH doesn't matter as much.
00:09:35.269 --> 00:09:37.190
Not when I have CYA in the water.
00:09:37.350 --> 00:09:37.669
No.
00:09:38.470 --> 00:09:41.190
What you're seeing is not pH becoming irrelevant.
00:09:41.350 --> 00:09:44.230
What you're seeing is a system that is already constrained.
00:09:44.550 --> 00:09:47.990
CYA already stepped in and reduced the amount of active chlorines.
00:09:48.149 --> 00:09:52.230
When pH shifts it further, the drop doesn't look as dramatic on paper.
00:09:52.389 --> 00:09:54.629
But chemically, it's still happening.
00:09:54.870 --> 00:09:56.789
Functionally, it still matters.
00:09:56.950 --> 00:09:59.190
You didn't remove the effective pH.
00:09:59.269 --> 00:10:01.269
You just started from a weaker position.
00:10:01.509 --> 00:10:05.990
So now instead of thinking about one variable, you have two working together.
00:10:06.230 --> 00:10:10.870
Cyanuric acid is controlling how much chlorine is available in its active form.
00:10:11.110 --> 00:10:16.389
pH is controlling how much of that available chlorine is the stronger versus the weaker state.
00:10:16.470 --> 00:10:19.110
They stack, they don't cancel each other out.
00:10:19.190 --> 00:10:21.750
And this is where things start to fall apart in the field.
00:10:21.909 --> 00:10:25.830
You walk up to a pool, the free chlorine reads fine, maybe even high.
00:10:26.070 --> 00:10:31.669
pH is creeping up, cyanuric acid is elevated, and the water just isn't responding the way it should.
00:10:31.830 --> 00:10:33.669
It's dull, it's sluggish.
00:10:34.070 --> 00:10:37.269
Maybe there's the beginning of algae trying to get comfortable.
00:10:37.350 --> 00:10:39.750
And the response you hear, I don't get it.
00:10:39.830 --> 00:10:41.029
The chlorine is in range.
00:10:41.190 --> 00:10:44.230
Chlorine might be in range, active chlorine is not.
00:10:44.310 --> 00:10:51.350
And that distinction is everything because your test kit doesn't tell you how much hypochlorous acid you have, it tells you the total free chlorine.
00:10:51.430 --> 00:10:56.149
It lumps it together, the active portion and the reserve portion, and it gives you a number.
00:10:56.310 --> 00:11:00.629
And if you don't understand what makes up that number, you're flying blind.
00:11:00.870 --> 00:11:06.230
This is exactly why the FC to CYA ratio became such a critical concept.
00:11:06.389 --> 00:11:13.509
As cyanuric acid increases, the amount of chlorine you need to maintain the same level of hypochlorous acid also increases.
00:11:13.750 --> 00:11:21.029
Not because you're trying to chase a number, but because you're compensating for how much of that chlorine is bound up.
00:11:21.269 --> 00:11:24.870
Researchers like Richard Falk have laid this out in detail.
00:11:25.029 --> 00:11:32.389
The effectiveness of chlorine in a stabilized system is tied to that ratio, not just the standalone free chlorine reading.
00:11:32.470 --> 00:11:44.789
So when someone says pH doesn't matter because cyanuric acid is present, what they're really saying, whether they realize it or not, is that they're not accounting for how little active chlorine is actually in the water.
00:11:44.950 --> 00:11:56.389
And that's where the problems start, because now you've got a system where most of your chlorine is already tied up, and then you let pH climb, which reduces the effectiveness of what little active chlorine remains.
00:11:56.550 --> 00:11:58.550
You've essentially created a bottleneck.
00:11:58.710 --> 00:12:05.990
And then you wonder why the pool doesn't recover quickly, why it struggles under load, why it needs more chemical input than expected.
00:12:06.149 --> 00:12:08.710
It's not a mystery, it's chemistry.
00:12:08.870 --> 00:12:12.870
And the reality is this myth sticks around because it's convenient.
00:12:12.950 --> 00:12:18.070
It simplifies things, it gives people permission to ignore one of the core variables in water balance.
00:12:18.149 --> 00:12:20.230
But the water doesn't care about convenience.
00:12:20.310 --> 00:12:23.590
The equilibrium doesn't change because someone read a post online.
00:12:23.830 --> 00:12:29.350
So here's the bottom line: cyanuric acid reduces the amount of active chlorine by binding most of it.
00:12:29.509 --> 00:12:30.310
That's its job.
00:12:30.470 --> 00:12:32.710
That's the trade-off for UV protection.
00:12:33.029 --> 00:12:36.710
PH still determines how effective the remaining active chlorine is.
00:12:36.870 --> 00:12:37.990
That never went away.
00:12:38.149 --> 00:12:42.870
So no, pH does not stop mattering in the presence of cyaneuric acid.
00:12:43.029 --> 00:12:47.350
You're just starting from a position where your chlorine is already partially handicapped.
00:12:47.430 --> 00:12:54.230
And if you ignore that, the pool will absolutely let you know because at the end of the day, you're not just managing chlorine.
00:12:54.310 --> 00:12:59.990
You're managing how much of it is available and how effective that available portion actually is.
00:13:00.149 --> 00:13:03.830
And if you don't respect both, you're not in control of the water.
00:13:03.909 --> 00:13:05.430
You're reacting to it.
00:13:09.029 --> 00:13:12.710
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The active killer in a chlorinated pool is primarily hypochlorous acid.
00:13:46.070 --> 00:13:48.310
The MAHC says that directly.
00:13:48.470 --> 00:13:55.269
It also says hypochloride ion, which is OCL, is also a biocide, but it's much slower.
00:13:55.430 --> 00:13:59.750
And that matters because cyanuric acid does not merely protect chlorine.
00:13:59.909 --> 00:14:09.029
It reduces the concentration of active HOCL, hypochlorous acid, by shifting chlorine into chlorinated cyanurate reserve forms.
00:14:09.269 --> 00:14:12.710
The whole game is not how much chlorine you can measure.
00:14:13.029 --> 00:14:19.590
The whole game is how much active chlorine you actually have available right now.
00:14:19.830 --> 00:14:27.350
And this is where the phrase stabilizer starts sounding way too cute for what's actually happening.
00:14:27.430 --> 00:14:32.789
Because yeah, cyanuric acid reduces photochemical loss.
00:14:33.029 --> 00:14:33.750
That part is true.
00:14:33.990 --> 00:14:52.550
Wolchewicks wrote that clearly in outdoor unstabilized water, chlorine can disappear rapidly in sunlight while cyanuric acid dramatically slows that loss by forming chloroisocyanids that are less vulnerable to UV destruction.
00:14:52.710 --> 00:15:03.590
He even noted that in stabilized pools, over 99% of the available chlorine can exist in the form of chloroisocyanids.
00:15:03.750 --> 00:15:06.230
Over ninety-nine percent.
00:15:07.430 --> 00:15:08.629
Think about that.
00:15:09.269 --> 00:15:17.190
The stuff most people think they are measuring as ready to fight chlorine is largely sitting in reserve.
00:15:17.509 --> 00:15:25.909
Now, before somebody starts foaming at the mouth and yelling that I'm attacking cyanuric acid, let me say this cyanuric acid is not the villain.
00:15:26.149 --> 00:15:32.629
Mismanagement is the villain because in an outdoor pool, some cyaneuric acid makes sense.
00:15:44.870 --> 00:15:45.909
Nah, I train them too.
00:15:48.950 --> 00:15:52.789
Tellin's be blasting niggas them fools, flopping out of pool, faster fast.
00:15:55.909 --> 00:15:56.470
What the fuck?
00:15:56.710 --> 00:15:57.750
It's a fucking Friday.
00:16:00.230 --> 00:16:01.909
Time to make the cat fit your ass.
00:16:02.070 --> 00:16:03.190
God bless the pool pro.
00:16:04.870 --> 00:16:05.669
What the fuck?
00:16:05.990 --> 00:16:07.509
God bless the pool pro.
00:16:09.669 --> 00:16:17.350
In an industry built not just on skill, but on those willing to teach it, there's a call to recognize the people behind the professionals.
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The Talking Pools Podcast is now accepting nominations for its 2026 Mentor of the Year Award, honoring those who don't just have the answers, but teach others how to find them.
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00:16:49.830 --> 00:16:59.350
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00:17:07.109 --> 00:17:13.349
I've been getting Service Industry News since I first stepped into this business, and every time it landed, I did the same thing.
00:17:13.509 --> 00:17:15.669
Flip straight to the horror file.
00:17:15.829 --> 00:17:20.549
The weird installs, the absurd finds, the stuff only pool pros ever see.
00:17:20.789 --> 00:17:23.109
Then I'd go back and read the articles.
00:17:23.349 --> 00:17:33.269
Service Industry News is a twice-monthly trade publication for pool and spa service text, 24 issues a year, emailed free to over 10,000 texts and available on their app.
00:17:33.430 --> 00:17:39.829
Every issue covers nationwide industry news and real technical content you actually will use.
00:17:40.309 --> 00:17:43.669
Get your free subscription at serviceindustry news.net.
00:17:43.829 --> 00:17:46.309
Again, that's serviceindustry news.net.
00:17:47.029 --> 00:17:48.230
Do it now.
00:17:49.750 --> 00:17:51.750
Cyanuric acid is not the villain.
00:17:51.990 --> 00:17:58.469
Mismanagement is the villain because in an outdoor pool, some cyanuric acid makes sense.
00:17:58.549 --> 00:18:06.229
The chemistry literature, manufacturer white papers, and public health guidance all recognize the UV protection benefit.
00:18:06.389 --> 00:18:08.869
But they also show diminishing returns.
00:18:09.029 --> 00:18:26.469
One modern white paper notes the greatest improvement in chlorine retention happens with the first small additions of cyanuric acid, and the incremental UV benefit flattens out as concentration climbs, especially through the common pool range.
00:18:26.629 --> 00:18:29.269
So in plain English, the first bit helps a lot.
00:18:29.429 --> 00:18:31.349
The extra bit helps less.
00:18:31.509 --> 00:18:35.589
The extra extra bit keeps costing you activity.
00:18:35.829 --> 00:18:39.509
That last part is where the pool industry gets itself into trouble.
00:18:39.669 --> 00:18:45.829
Because what many pool pros are really doing is not stabilizing chlorine.
00:18:45.990 --> 00:18:48.309
They're slowly anesthesizing it.
00:18:48.469 --> 00:18:51.509
Every trichlor tablet is not just adding chlorine.
00:18:51.669 --> 00:19:00.629
At theoretical purity, each one part per million delivered from dichlor adds about 0.89 milligrams per liter.
00:19:00.709 --> 00:19:08.629
That's 0.89 parts per million of cyanuric acid, while trichlor adds about 0.59 milligrams per liter cyanuric acid.
00:19:08.789 --> 00:19:22.629
So when someone feeds a pool on stabilized chlorine week after week without managing water replacement or changing sanitizer strategy, they're not maintaining their load in the spring one click at a time.
00:19:22.949 --> 00:19:28.389
That is why a pool can mysteriously get harder and harder to control over time.
00:19:28.549 --> 00:19:29.589
It's not mysterious.
00:19:29.750 --> 00:19:31.509
It's chemistry with a body count.
00:19:31.669 --> 00:19:33.990
No, you pervert, not that body count.
00:19:34.229 --> 00:19:42.869
The active HOCL fraction keeps getting suppressed, staring at the same free chlorine test method and acting like the number means what it used to mean.
00:19:43.029 --> 00:19:48.549
Fox's 2019 paper showed that as cyanuric acid raises, HOCL falls.
00:19:48.709 --> 00:19:54.069
And he also showed something else that should have made more noise in the industry than it did.
00:19:54.309 --> 00:19:55.109
Many U.S.
00:19:55.269 --> 00:20:07.669
state codes and the MAC, model quite health code, when expressed in terms of actual HOCL concentration, allow a range that can span more than a factor of 500.
00:20:07.909 --> 00:20:10.149
That should make every operator uncomfortable.
00:20:10.309 --> 00:20:17.429
You can read that research titled Assessing the Impact of Cyanuric Acid on Bathers' Risk of Gastrointestinal Illness at Swimming Pools.
00:20:17.589 --> 00:20:21.669
The website is www.mdpi.com 314.
00:20:21.990 --> 00:20:34.229
And again, the brilliant minds contributing to this research are Falk, Ashley, Kuklar, Terry Pickens, and Supies at DOI.org 10 3390 W1061314.
00:20:34.469 --> 00:20:36.069
The part that really gets interesting.
00:20:36.229 --> 00:20:47.269
Once cyanuric acid is present, pH still matters, but not in the same traumatic way people were taught in chlorine-only water.
00:20:47.429 --> 00:20:56.869
Fox 2019 risk paper showed that without cyanuric acid, hypochlorous acid drops sharply as the pH rises.
00:20:57.029 --> 00:21:06.709
But with cyanuric acid present, that pH effect is muted because the cyanuric acid equilibrium is now dominating the available HOCL concentration.
00:21:06.869 --> 00:21:15.589
So in his example, going from a pH of 7.5 to 8.0 with no cyaneuric acid, dropped the HOCL by 53%.
00:21:15.990 --> 00:21:19.990
At 30 parts per million of cyanuric acid, the drop was only 15%.
00:21:20.629 --> 00:21:23.269
So that does not mean pH stops mattering.
00:21:23.429 --> 00:21:41.189
It means cyaneuric acid has entered the chat and is now controlling far more chemistry than most techs realize, which also should bring to mind the statement that pH doesn't really matter in an outdoor pool when you're using cyaneuric acid because the pH doesn't affect it.
00:21:41.269 --> 00:21:42.309
That's not true.
00:21:42.469 --> 00:21:46.949
It just went from 30% impact to a 15% impact.
00:21:47.109 --> 00:21:48.309
That's still an impact.
00:21:48.469 --> 00:21:49.429
So let's be blunt.
00:21:49.589 --> 00:21:59.269
This is why the old just keep chlorine between one and three mentally is chemically lazy, because the real question is not what is your chlorine reading.
00:21:59.429 --> 00:22:09.109
The real question is what is your cyanuric acid and therefore what is your actual hypochlorous acid concentration likely to be.
00:22:09.429 --> 00:22:28.949
Fox paper showed that HOCL stays nearly constant when the CYA to FC ratio is kept constant, which is the core chemical logic behind the FC, CYA ratio discuss that so many people wrongfully dismiss as internet cult behavior.
00:22:29.109 --> 00:22:34.149
It's not cult behavior, it's equilibrium chemistry applied to field practice.
00:22:34.309 --> 00:22:40.629
And before someone says, yeah, but that's just the pool nerd theory, let's bring in the CDC.
00:22:40.789 --> 00:22:48.229
In the CDC Cryptosporadium hypochlorination study, cyanuric acid clearly reduced chlorine disinfection efficacy.
00:22:48.309 --> 00:23:01.269
At 20 parts per million of free chlorine with no cyuric acid, the estimated Three log inactivation CT stands for contact time value was about 15,300 minutes.
00:23:01.429 --> 00:23:11.589
That means at a chlorine level of one part per million, it would take 15,300 minutes in order to inactivate cryptosporidium greater than 99%.
00:23:12.869 --> 00:23:21.829
Now that number climbed up to 31,500 minutes when the cyaneuric acid level was at 16 parts per million.
00:23:21.909 --> 00:23:23.029
So it's twice as long.
00:23:23.109 --> 00:23:32.469
At around 48 parts per million of cyanuric acid, they can only estimate a one log count of 76,500, which I'll save you the time in doing the math.
00:23:32.549 --> 00:23:34.389
That's 53 fucking days.
00:23:34.549 --> 00:23:35.669
Can you imagine that?
00:23:35.829 --> 00:23:43.269
That crypto is still a risk because it was treated in a pool that has a cyanuric acid level that's a little bit higher.
00:23:43.429 --> 00:23:45.829
That same 20 parts per million for chlorine.
00:23:45.990 --> 00:23:49.269
We do in a pool that has no cyaneuric acid now.
00:23:49.349 --> 00:23:52.549
Keep in mind your CDC's fecal incident response guidelines.
00:23:52.709 --> 00:23:55.669
20 parts per million for 12.75 hours.
00:23:55.829 --> 00:23:58.229
Bring that cyanuric acid level up to 48.
00:23:58.389 --> 00:24:07.589
You need to maintain that 20 parts per million for 53 fucking days just to do one third of what we did in 12.75 hours.
00:24:07.750 --> 00:24:08.469
That's insane.
00:24:08.629 --> 00:24:17.349
And at around 100 parts per million of cyanuric acid, even after 72 hours, they were only seeing a 0.8 log reduction at 22 hours, 20 part per million free chlorine range.
00:24:17.429 --> 00:24:18.549
So, I mean, that's not subtle.
00:24:18.629 --> 00:24:23.269
That's cyanuric acid reaching over and choking the hell out of hypochlorination performance.
00:24:23.429 --> 00:24:26.309
This is where Wojewicks deserves more credit than he gets.
00:24:26.469 --> 00:24:33.750
He described cyanuric acid chemistry in terms that service pros should have taken more serious decades ago.
00:24:33.909 --> 00:24:48.309
He wrote that monochloroisocyanurate under typical pool conditions is an ineffective bacteriocide compared with hypochlorous acid, even though it serves as a reservoir that releases hypochlorous acid on demand.
00:24:48.469 --> 00:24:52.789
That reservoir concept is useful, but people mishear it.
00:24:52.869 --> 00:24:56.229
So a reservoir is not the same as immediate force.
00:24:56.469 --> 00:24:59.189
A reservoir means stored potential.
00:24:59.349 --> 00:25:01.750
It does not mean instant punch.
00:25:01.909 --> 00:25:09.189
That is why I keep saying cyanuric acid is better understood as a chlorine regulator than as a stabilizer.
00:25:09.349 --> 00:25:14.789
Because stabilizer makes people think the only thing happening is UV protection.
00:25:15.589 --> 00:25:18.709
Regulator forces you to admit that there is a cost.
00:25:18.949 --> 00:25:21.429
And that cost is reaction speed.
00:25:21.589 --> 00:25:26.069
The cost of disinfecting power at any given measured chlorine level.
00:25:26.229 --> 00:25:29.029
The cost is slower oxidation.
00:25:29.189 --> 00:25:30.709
The cost is slower kill.
00:25:31.109 --> 00:25:39.269
The cost is more time for contaminants and microorganisms to exist in the water before the chemistry catches up.
00:25:39.429 --> 00:25:40.709
That is not my opinion.
00:25:40.949 --> 00:25:43.750
That is the direction the literature points.
00:25:43.909 --> 00:25:58.389
Whether you approach it through O'Brien era equilibrium work, Woljewick's pool chemistry papers, Fox's modeling and risk analysis, the EPA's drinking water equilibrium modeling, or the CDC's disinfection studies.
00:25:58.549 --> 00:26:01.429
Now, let me take a shot at the phrase chlorine lock.
00:26:01.669 --> 00:26:03.349
No, I still don't like it.
00:26:03.509 --> 00:26:04.709
It's chemically sloppy.
00:26:04.869 --> 00:26:11.669
Chlorine is not locked, not in the sense that it becomes permanently unavailable, but the equilibrium is reversible.
00:26:11.909 --> 00:26:20.149
Cyanurate bound chlorine is a reserve that can hide that can hydrolyze and release active species as demand consumes them.
00:26:20.469 --> 00:26:31.669
Even industry summaries that explain overstabilization correctly still describe it as chlorine being slowed, not magically shut off.
00:26:31.909 --> 00:26:41.349
So no, chlorine lock is not a good scientific term, but it does sound a heckle of a lot better than chlorine bound and gagged, right?
00:26:41.589 --> 00:26:46.789
So the reason this has survived for so long is because of operators in the field noting the behavior.
00:26:47.029 --> 00:26:50.149
They see that there's chlorine present and the performance is lousy.
00:26:50.389 --> 00:26:55.189
The chemistry behind that lousy performance, it's not locked.
00:26:55.349 --> 00:26:59.990
It's suppressed HOCL concentration and slowed kinetics.
00:27:00.229 --> 00:27:24.789
And if you want the truly nasty part, the EPA's 2019 model work showed that even temperature changes matter enough in the chlorine cyanuric acid system that a drinking water system using dichlor or trichlor could overestimate truly free chlorine by as much as 50% if temperature is ignored in some conditions.
00:27:25.109 --> 00:27:30.309
That is drinking water work, not backyard pool sales fluff, drinking water work.
00:27:30.389 --> 00:27:47.429
So if temperature matters, cyanuric acid matters, pH matters, and test method definitions matter, then anybody out there pretending the entire story can be reduced to a single free chlorine reading is operating without half of their fucking mind.
00:27:47.589 --> 00:27:51.909
They have the chemical sophistication of a squirrel on Adderall.
00:27:52.149 --> 00:27:54.389
So what's the practical takeaways for the pool pro?
00:27:54.789 --> 00:27:57.990
Test cyanuric acid like it matters because it does.
00:27:58.149 --> 00:28:03.109
Treat stabilized chlorine as a delivery system with baggage because it is.
00:28:03.429 --> 00:28:13.509
Understand that DPD-free chlorine in cyanuric acid water is not a pure measure of immediately active sanitizer.
00:28:13.589 --> 00:28:26.469
Because the MAHC now says so in plain language, and stop acting shock when a pool with normal chlorine and high cyanuric acid behaves like a lazy, underproof mess.
00:28:26.629 --> 00:28:28.149
Chemistry didn't betray you.
00:28:28.469 --> 00:28:33.909
You betrayed the chemistry by pretending the reserve and the active fraction were the same thing.
00:28:34.149 --> 00:28:42.709
Richard Falk helped a lot of people see that the FCCYA relationship is the operational language of this chemistry.
00:28:43.029 --> 00:28:49.269
CBC showed the public health consequence when CYA is present during disinfection.
00:28:49.509 --> 00:28:55.429
EPA showed the equilibrium system is robust enough to need real modeling.
00:28:55.589 --> 00:29:04.869
Wojewitz, the mechanism and the reservoir behavior and the old O'Brien equilibrium work still sits underneath all of it like bedrock.
00:29:05.029 --> 00:29:06.149
That's the comparison.
00:29:06.389 --> 00:29:11.269
Different voices, same direction, same warning, same unavoidable conclusion.
00:29:11.509 --> 00:29:14.709
Cyanuric acid is useful, but it is never free.
00:29:14.949 --> 00:29:20.149
So I'm gonna talk about this now because this just seems like a right the right time to discuss it.
00:29:20.229 --> 00:29:33.909
And this came up the other day in LinkedIn Dewey Case with the CMAHC, the CMAC Counsel for the Model Aquatic Health Code, asked a question, tagged me, and it was about cyanuric acids.
00:29:34.069 --> 00:29:35.669
So this definitely relates.
00:29:35.829 --> 00:29:46.149
The conversation itself actually came to a head back in 2019 during a CMAC session where we were digging into cyanuric acid and chlorine effectiveness and stabilized pools.
00:29:46.309 --> 00:29:48.549
There was real field data being looked at.
00:29:48.709 --> 00:29:53.269
I think it was a county in Florida, Hillsborough County maybe.
00:29:53.509 --> 00:30:05.589
And I was in conversations with input from folks like Ellen Myers, Jen Wong, Roy War, Richard Falk, all who have spent a lot of time in the weeds on this.
00:30:05.829 --> 00:30:13.109
We were trying to reconcile the EPA label constraint of four parts per million of free chlorine in public pools.
00:30:13.349 --> 00:30:17.750
We mentioned, I mentioned that at the beginning of this episode before even said hello, really.
00:30:17.909 --> 00:30:19.589
Again, that's what we were looking to do.
00:30:19.909 --> 00:30:31.750
What came out of that was that a 1 to 20 free chlorine to cyanec acid ratio gave you effective sanitation while still staying within those label limits.
00:30:31.909 --> 00:30:38.629
In real terms, four parts per million free chlorine still effective at 80 parts per million of cyanuric acid.
00:30:38.789 --> 00:30:50.229
The 7.5% number, the one that everybody's probably most familiar with, the ratio, salary needs to be 7.5% of your cyaneuric acid to keep your pool bacteria and algae free.
00:30:50.469 --> 00:30:53.029
So again, that's the number that was changed.
00:30:53.189 --> 00:31:08.869
Going with the 1 to 20 ratio now, what we're looking at is 5% with a maximum chlorine level of four parts per million per the EPA label, the 7.5% number based on maintaining a specific hypochlorous acid level.
00:31:08.949 --> 00:31:10.069
And that's the chemistry.
00:31:10.309 --> 00:31:13.589
You know, you don't always get to operate in a perfect chemical model.
00:31:13.669 --> 00:31:16.949
So we've got labels, codes, and enforcement to deal with.
00:31:17.269 --> 00:31:25.589
But last I heard Michelle Havlasa with CDC, she oversees the part that deals with swimming pools.
00:31:25.750 --> 00:31:34.469
She was attempting to challenge the EPA and separate chlorine levels for pool use from the maximum drinking water level.
00:31:34.629 --> 00:31:39.669
But regardless of where anybody stood on cyanuric acid pro, again, stores somewhere in the middle.
00:31:39.909 --> 00:31:48.229
There was pretty broad agreement that 1 to 20 was the most practical place to land if you're trying to stay compliant and still maintain effectiveness.
00:31:48.389 --> 00:31:56.789
Now that said, I do know pool pros who intentionally run cyanuric acid levels above 200 parts per million, and they do that successfully.
00:31:56.949 --> 00:32:00.149
They argue a noticeable reduction in UV degradation.
00:32:00.309 --> 00:32:02.469
For me, that's more of a you do you.
00:32:02.629 --> 00:32:13.429
During those same CMAC discussions, serious consideration was also given to raising the acceptable upper limit of cyanuric acid to around 180 parts per million.
00:32:13.589 --> 00:32:14.149
I know.
00:32:14.389 --> 00:32:16.229
180 parts per million.
00:32:16.389 --> 00:32:19.909
There was actually a decent amount of data supporting that move.
00:32:20.149 --> 00:32:25.029
Where it ultimately broke down wasn't the chemistry, it was the field practicality.
00:32:25.189 --> 00:32:34.069
Most operators are relying on a visual determination turbidity testing, you know, to make the dot disappear test with a 100 part per million max.
00:32:34.309 --> 00:32:41.509
So now we're depending on dilution testing in the field, and the reality is that's inconsistent at best.
00:32:41.750 --> 00:32:45.109
Personally, I'd rather not have cyanuric acid used in commercial pools at all.
00:32:45.189 --> 00:32:52.389
Unfortunately, that would have most, if not all, in the desert and sunbelt areas going belly up due to the cost of chlorine.
00:32:52.469 --> 00:32:54.709
Um, in residential pools, well, you know what?
00:32:54.789 --> 00:32:57.829
You may as well cow cowboy it up, have have at it.
00:32:58.069 --> 00:33:03.349
But me, I'd max out at 30 parts per million or less for my personal preference.
00:33:03.509 --> 00:33:05.189
Again, a necessary evil.
00:33:05.429 --> 00:33:13.429
So the next time somebody says cyanuric acid just protects chlorine from the sun, don't nod along like they said something smart.
00:33:13.589 --> 00:33:16.869
Tell them that's the first thing that an idiot would say.
00:33:16.949 --> 00:33:20.069
And unfortunately, not the last thing an idiot says.
00:33:20.229 --> 00:33:26.309
Because the real conversation is this how much of your measured chlorine is actually active right now?
00:33:26.549 --> 00:33:30.629
How hard is cyanuric acid throttling your HOCL?
00:33:30.789 --> 00:33:34.949
How much disinfection speed did you sacrifice for UV protection?
00:33:35.189 --> 00:33:41.509
And at what point did your stabilized pool become a chemically tranquilized pool?
00:33:41.669 --> 00:33:43.189
That's not pool store drama.
00:33:43.269 --> 00:33:44.629
That's equilibrium chemistry.
00:33:44.789 --> 00:33:49.349
And if you really want mastery, that is where mastery starts.
00:33:49.750 --> 00:34:00.229
Now, they did some more research and they did find that a lower percentage, and when I say they, I mean Richard Falk, and then accepted and taught by Bob Lowry.
00:34:00.469 --> 00:34:04.229
So again, a lower percentage works just fine.
00:34:04.389 --> 00:34:19.429
One to twenty, one part per million of free chlorine to twenty parts per million of cyanuric acid, or basically five percent, which means a four part per million free chlorine level is perfectly fine at eighty parts per million of cyaneuric acid.
00:34:19.510 --> 00:34:24.710
At a hundred parts per million instead of the 7.5%, giving us 7.5 parts per million.
00:34:24.949 --> 00:34:30.949
Now, with this one to 20, 100 parts per million, we're looking at a five part per million free chlorine level.
00:34:31.030 --> 00:34:32.789
But again, that number four is eighty.
00:34:33.110 --> 00:34:33.909
That's important.
00:34:34.070 --> 00:34:35.110
That's an important number.
00:34:35.269 --> 00:34:39.990
Four parts per million of free chlorine to eighty parts cyaneuric acid still work.
00:34:40.150 --> 00:34:43.110
And the reason for that is the law.
00:34:43.349 --> 00:34:45.750
Take a look at your container of chlorine.
00:34:45.829 --> 00:34:48.949
I don't care what kind it is, look at the instructions.
00:34:49.110 --> 00:34:57.269
The instructions state that you are allowed to have as much as a four part per million free chlorine level in the pool.
00:34:57.429 --> 00:35:04.550
That means you cannot maintain a number higher than that legally because the EPA requires that label on the bucket.
00:35:04.630 --> 00:35:14.230
And if the EPA requires the label on the bucket to say that it can't be more than four parts per million free chlorine, yeah, I know that is based off of drinking water standards, but it doesn't matter.
00:35:14.309 --> 00:35:28.150
It's what we got because the chlorine that we use in pools is used in drinking water, so it has to have that label, and that label states that you cannot have any more than a four part per million free chlorine level in a body of water.
00:35:28.309 --> 00:35:31.590
That's not just commercial pools, that is all pools.
00:35:31.750 --> 00:35:36.150
This is this is EPA, not public pool regulated by health departments.
00:35:36.230 --> 00:35:37.670
No, this is EPA.
00:35:37.750 --> 00:35:38.630
That's a national thing.
00:35:38.789 --> 00:35:40.150
That bucket has to say it.
00:35:40.309 --> 00:35:48.309
Just like we talked about the sodium bromide and the other labels last week, where the label says you cannot use sodium bromide whatsoever in an outdoor pool.
00:35:48.470 --> 00:35:49.030
Guess what?
00:35:49.190 --> 00:35:49.910
That's the law.
00:35:50.070 --> 00:35:54.550
Anyway, can you tell I'm not happy about a four part per million top end for free chlorine?
00:35:54.630 --> 00:36:03.670
So why does every health department code still state, and it's not everyone, but it's a lot of them, that it's okay to have a level as high as 10 parts per million of free chlorine in an outdoor pool?
00:36:03.829 --> 00:36:08.070
I know folks up in the Northeast, they're seeing that four part per million number.
00:36:08.230 --> 00:36:11.910
But throughout the rest of the country, up to 10 parts per million is fine.
00:36:12.070 --> 00:36:12.550
Why?
00:36:12.710 --> 00:36:16.470
Well, you have government agencies that are not getting together on something.
00:36:16.789 --> 00:36:27.829
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00:36:27.990 --> 00:36:32.950
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00:36:33.030 --> 00:36:35.670
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00:36:35.829 --> 00:36:45.349
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00:36:45.510 --> 00:36:46.390
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00:36:46.550 --> 00:36:48.870
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00:36:49.110 --> 00:36:49.829
That is amazing.
00:36:49.990 --> 00:36:52.870
I can actually go out and make money doing filter cleans if you were like this.
00:36:53.110 --> 00:36:56.870
If they were AquaStar filters out there, then I could be a filter cleaner girl.
00:36:57.750 --> 00:36:58.309
We can do that.
00:36:58.470 --> 00:36:58.950
Make it happen.
00:36:59.190 --> 00:36:59.670
Let's make it happen.
00:36:59.990 --> 00:37:00.309
Todd?
00:37:01.349 --> 00:37:01.910
There you go.
00:37:02.070 --> 00:37:02.470
Awesome.
00:37:02.630 --> 00:37:04.309
Thank you, Jules the Pool Girl.
00:37:04.470 --> 00:37:07.990
Again, Aquastar Pool Products, Pipeline Filters.
00:37:08.230 --> 00:37:09.349
Super easy, right?
00:37:09.510 --> 00:37:09.990
Super easy.
00:37:10.309 --> 00:37:15.030
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00:37:15.190 --> 00:37:15.430
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00:37:21.269 --> 00:37:26.470
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00:37:26.630 --> 00:37:31.510
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00:37:35.829 --> 00:37:40.230
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00:37:40.550 --> 00:37:42.309
And now, breaking news.
00:37:42.550 --> 00:37:51.750
You ever get the feeling the industry didn't just change but quietly shifted underneath your feet while you were brushing a pool?
00:37:51.910 --> 00:37:53.750
Yeah, that's where we're at right now.
00:37:53.910 --> 00:37:55.269
This is not one story.
00:37:55.430 --> 00:37:56.470
This is a pattern.
00:37:56.630 --> 00:38:05.110
And if you're paying attention, April 2026 just handed you a roadmap for what this industry is about to become.
00:38:05.269 --> 00:38:07.510
Let's start with the one nobody wants to talk about.
00:38:07.750 --> 00:38:11.269
Climate, no opinions, not politics, permits.
00:38:11.590 --> 00:38:18.150
A town in Connecticut is actively discussing banning new in-ground pools in flood-prone areas.
00:38:18.309 --> 00:38:21.269
Not regulating, not modifying, banning.
00:38:21.750 --> 00:38:22.230
Why?
00:38:22.550 --> 00:38:24.309
Because pools can float.
00:38:24.470 --> 00:38:25.110
You know this.
00:38:25.269 --> 00:38:26.710
Take the water out of a pool.
00:38:26.870 --> 00:38:27.750
What do you got?
00:38:27.910 --> 00:38:28.789
You got a boat.
00:38:28.950 --> 00:38:33.190
So yeah, config problem when the ground is saturated and a storm rolls in.
00:38:33.510 --> 00:38:44.789
Now, imagine explaining to a homeowner, yeah, we can build you a pool unless the town decides your backyard is now technically part of the ocean.
00:38:44.950 --> 00:38:46.789
This is the first domino you're gonna see.
00:38:46.950 --> 00:38:55.990
More engineering requirements, more anchoring requirements, more permit denials, more environmental impact reviews.
00:38:56.150 --> 00:38:58.870
And here's the part I'm not ready for.
00:38:59.110 --> 00:39:06.870
This doesn't just stay in Connecticut, this migrates just like every other code change that starts small and spreads like mustard algae.
00:39:07.030 --> 00:39:10.950
Now, let's bring it back down south to Florida.
00:39:11.110 --> 00:39:13.670
Something big almost happened.
00:39:13.829 --> 00:39:16.150
And most people didn't even realize it.
00:39:16.309 --> 00:39:19.349
There was a push to change bonding requirements.
00:39:19.510 --> 00:39:30.230
And if that went through, you'd be looking at retrofits, callbacks, inspectors failing pools that were perfectly fine yesterday, but it failed quietly.
00:39:30.390 --> 00:39:31.510
And that's the lesson.
00:39:31.750 --> 00:39:36.150
The biggest wins in this industry are the disasters that don't happen.
00:39:36.309 --> 00:39:41.190
Because if that change passed, you wouldn't be talking about it on a podcast.
00:39:41.349 --> 00:39:42.470
You'd be living it.
00:39:42.630 --> 00:39:49.190
Now, let's talk about liability because this one should make every service pro stop what they're doing for just a second.
00:39:49.349 --> 00:39:56.150
There's a lawsuit involving Hayward Industries tied to a catastrophic suction entrapment incident.
00:39:56.309 --> 00:40:02.390
At the same time, tens of thousands of spa jets are being recalled for drowning hazards.
00:40:02.550 --> 00:40:03.590
Let that sink in.
00:40:03.750 --> 00:40:05.510
We're not talking about cloudy water.
00:40:05.590 --> 00:40:09.829
We're talking about life and death tied directly to equipment.
00:40:09.990 --> 00:40:12.470
Which means, guess who's in the conversation?
00:40:12.710 --> 00:40:14.870
You are, because you touched the pool.
00:40:14.950 --> 00:40:16.390
You serviced the pool.
00:40:16.550 --> 00:40:20.870
You saw the cover, you saw the flow, or worse, you didn't.
00:40:21.030 --> 00:40:32.710
This is where the Virginia Grand Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act stops being something you learned in a class and starts being something that can drag you into court.
00:40:32.870 --> 00:40:38.150
You don't get paid extra to check drains, but you might pay dearly if you don't.
00:40:38.309 --> 00:40:41.670
Now let's shift to something slower, but just as dangerous to your business.
00:40:41.829 --> 00:40:42.309
Water.
00:40:42.470 --> 00:40:46.550
Texas is tightening up on water usage because of drought.
00:40:46.630 --> 00:40:50.550
And if you think that's a Texas problem, you're already behind.
00:40:50.710 --> 00:40:54.150
Because water restrictions don't show up as a suggestion.
00:40:54.230 --> 00:40:57.349
They show up as no fill permits issued.
00:40:57.590 --> 00:40:58.950
Partial fill only.
00:40:59.269 --> 00:41:00.710
Drain not allowed.
00:41:00.870 --> 00:41:02.789
Now think about your business model.
00:41:02.950 --> 00:41:06.070
How much of it depends on water replacement to fix problems?
00:41:06.230 --> 00:41:10.390
How many of your solutions are actually just dilution strategies?
00:41:10.630 --> 00:41:12.789
Because those days, they're getting numbered.
00:41:12.950 --> 00:41:16.710
Now, let's talk about the shiny object everybody keeps throwing around.
00:41:16.950 --> 00:41:17.590
AI.
00:41:17.829 --> 00:41:20.390
And for once, it's not complete nonsense.
00:41:20.550 --> 00:41:28.150
We're actually seeing AI route optimization, automatic testing integrations, smarter robotic cleaners.
00:41:28.390 --> 00:41:33.030
This isn't replacing you, no, but it is replacing inefficiency.
00:41:33.110 --> 00:41:34.870
And here's the uncomfortable truth.
00:41:35.030 --> 00:41:38.789
The guy with systems will beat the guy with hustle every time.
00:41:38.950 --> 00:41:40.789
Because hustle doesn't scale.
00:41:41.110 --> 00:41:41.910
Systems do.
00:41:42.070 --> 00:41:44.230
Now, with zoom out, big picture.
00:41:44.470 --> 00:41:49.030
There are about 10.7 million pools in the United States right now.
00:41:49.269 --> 00:41:50.950
Demand is still going up.
00:41:51.190 --> 00:41:55.430
Search traffic is up, interest is up, but margins, they're tightening.
00:41:55.670 --> 00:41:57.190
Labor, harder to find.
00:41:57.430 --> 00:41:59.030
Customers, more demanding.
00:41:59.269 --> 00:42:00.309
So what does that mean?
00:42:00.470 --> 00:42:05.910
It means the industry didn't get easier, it got sharper, more precise, less forgiving.
00:42:06.070 --> 00:42:07.430
Because this one is global.
00:42:07.670 --> 00:42:11.190
Public pools are cutting hours because they can't find lifeguards.
00:42:11.349 --> 00:42:13.750
Builders can't find skilled workers.
00:42:13.990 --> 00:42:15.110
Service companies.
00:42:15.349 --> 00:42:21.430
You already know, you're either short staffed or you're one bad employee away from being short staffed.
00:42:21.590 --> 00:42:24.710
This is not a hiring problem, this is a retention problem.
00:42:24.870 --> 00:42:30.789
Because the companies that win over the next five years are the ones people don't want to leave.
00:42:30.950 --> 00:42:36.309
Now, here's something that'll make you laugh and also make you money if you're paying attention.
00:42:36.550 --> 00:42:37.670
Design trends.
00:42:37.829 --> 00:42:39.269
Diving boards are coming back.
00:42:39.430 --> 00:42:39.750
Yep.
00:42:39.910 --> 00:42:44.870
Those things we spent years pretending didn't exist because of liability, they're back.
00:42:45.110 --> 00:42:48.630
But now they're high-end, integrated, aesthetic.
00:42:48.789 --> 00:42:52.789
It's the same industry trick we've seen a thousand times.
00:42:53.030 --> 00:42:58.470
Take something old, rebrand it, charge more, and suddenly it's innovation.
00:42:58.630 --> 00:42:59.750
So what's the takeaway?
00:42:59.910 --> 00:43:01.829
Not the fluffy one, but the real one.
00:43:01.990 --> 00:43:18.630
The pool industry is not slowing down, it's tightening, it's becoming more regulated, more technical, more liability driven, more system dependent, and at the exact same time, more opportunity rich than it has ever been.
00:43:19.110 --> 00:43:21.510
So right now, you're standing out of line.
00:43:21.670 --> 00:43:23.750
On one side, you got the old way.
00:43:23.910 --> 00:43:29.990
Throw tabs, brush when you feel like it, hope nothing breaks, and pray the customer doesn't ask questions.
00:43:30.150 --> 00:43:41.590
On the other side, you've got understanding chemistry, understanding hydraulics, understanding liability, building systems, charging correctly, and actually running a business.
00:43:41.750 --> 00:43:44.550
And the industry is starting to expose people.
00:43:44.789 --> 00:43:49.349
The gap between pool guy and professional is widening fast.
00:43:49.430 --> 00:43:51.349
And the middle, it's disappearing.
00:43:51.510 --> 00:43:54.390
So the question isn't, is there opportunity?
00:43:54.630 --> 00:43:55.430
Because there is.
00:43:55.590 --> 00:43:58.710
The question is, which side of that line are you standing on?
00:43:58.870 --> 00:44:03.110
Because April 2026 made one thing very, very clear.
00:44:03.349 --> 00:44:08.230
This industry is not what it was five years ago, and it's definitely not going back.
00:44:08.470 --> 00:44:09.349
Big surprise.
00:44:09.510 --> 00:44:11.430
Anyway, that's all I have for this week.
00:44:11.590 --> 00:44:13.269
I hope you have a killer weekend.
00:44:13.349 --> 00:44:13.990
I really do.
00:44:14.070 --> 00:44:15.430
I'm Rudy Stankwitz.
00:44:15.510 --> 00:44:17.110
This is the Talkman Pools Podcast.
00:44:17.190 --> 00:44:18.710
Until next time, be good.
00:44:18.870 --> 00:44:19.510
Catch a fish.
00:44:19.670 --> 00:44:20.230
Stay safe.
