If you could hop in a time machine and give your younger self one page of business advice, what would you say and what would you beg yourself to stop doing? I take that question seriously and go back to 1988 when I started pool service at 16. What comes out is a set of lessons that every pool technician, pool service pro, and pool route owner can use to build a calmer and more profitable business. First, I talk about a mindset shift that sounds risky but is actually freeing: most customers d...

A chemical brand doesn’t survive since the 1960s by accident and Hasa’s acquisition of Biodex is a sign these formulas are sticking around for the long haul. We talk through why this partnership is a big deal for pool service pros, then get practical about the Biodex products that earn repeat use on real routes, not just on a spec sheet. If you’ve been hunting for reliable pool chemicals, proven stain removers, or safer ways to handle an acid wash, this one is built for you. We start w...

Underbidding can feel like the fastest way to grow a pool route, until you realize you are working harder for less money and dreading stops you used to feel excited about. We walk through the business-side rookie mistakes that quietly wreck a pool service business, starting with the most common trap: quoting a pool, cleanup, or service call without accounting for the real variables that drive time, chemical cost, and effort. We get specific about what makes pricing tricky when you are new: p...

Buying a variable speed pool pump should feel like an upgrade, not a guessing game, but most people get stuck on the biggest horsepower number and end up overspending. We walk through a simple approach that starts with what you already have: match the total horsepower of your current single speed pump within a reasonable range, then use VS programming to run the lowest RPM that still gives you clean water and solid circulation. From there, we get specific about the two things that quietly co...

Bad pool chemistry decisions usually start with one thing: a bad test. We walk through the real pros and cons of the tools most people rely on to test pool water, and why your “best” method changes based on whether you’re running 80 stops a week, bidding a new account, starting up fresh plaster, or managing commercial compliance. We compare test strips, Taylor-style reagent test kits (including the popular K-2005 and K-2006), photometers like the Pool Lab 2.0 and ColorQ 2X Pro, and high-spee...

A $300 variable speed pool pump can feel like the smartest upgrade you’ll make all year, until you try to plumb it in, dial in the flow, or keep it running past the first season. We dig into the budget VS pump wave hitting Amazon and big box retailers, and I share what I’d want any pool owner or pool service pro to understand before betting their circulation system on a bargain listing. We start with the unglamorous stuff that decides whether the install is easy or painful: equipment pad lay...

Algae can make you feel like you’re losing your mind: you raise chlorine, the pool looks better, and then the green haze or mustard dust is back next week. We’re breaking that loop by doing something most pool care advice skips, identifying the real source of algae in a swimming pool, not just treating the symptoms. Some pools are simply under heavier “environmental pressure” from pollen, wind, and nearby trees, while others grow algae because of shade, poor circulation, and those stubborn de...

Algae every week even though the test kit shows plenty of chlorine? That headache usually isn’t bad luck, it’s bad math. We dig into the most common rookie mistakes new pool service pros make and show the chemistry behind why a pool can read “sanitized” while algae still wins. The big unlock is understanding cyanuric acid (CYA) and how it binds most of the chlorine in the water, leaving only a small active portion available to kill algae. From there, we make the fix practical: stop gue...

Your pool can look fine on paper and still be losing the chlorine battle. We dig into the frustrating “problem pool” scenario where you’re pouring in gallons of chlorine and the free chlorine (FC) reading barely budges, then break down what’s really happening when chlorine gets consumed faster than you can add it. With Bob Larry’s help, we walk through how to think like a detective: look at the environment, the deck, landscaping, runoff, bather load, and even the odd stuff people don’t mentio...

If you’ve ever stared at a “perfect” test strip while the pool still acts weird, you’re probably missing one of the quietest drivers in pool water chemistry: TDS. We dig into what Total Dissolved Solids actually means, why a simple digital meter belongs on every service truck, and how TDS can swing your saturation index enough to change your real-world results. Along the way, we unpack the old-school truth behind TDS, what the meter is really reading (conductivity), and why it is still a valu...