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Your total alkalinity is 100 ppm. So is the pool next door’s. Why does one keep climbing in pH while the other takes a dive when you add alum?
On this Floc-It Friday, Rudy Stankowitz breaks down what’s behind that number on your test kit. He runs through a pool with 100 ppm total alkalinity and 100 ppm cyanuric acid, shows how the one-third shortcut changes the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) calculation, and explains where that shortcut can get you in trouble. Then he takes it back to the equipment pad with a pool whose pH keeps creeping up, an acid dose, and an alum treatment.
Rudy opens with a thank-you to Olga Welch at Rutgers University for a letter about his years teaching pool water quality. He also reads past the headline on Haviland’s announced $26 million Indiana facility and gets to the questions that matter when chemicals are included in your monthly service rate. Will it handle the products you buy? Will it change what’s available? What will you actually pay?
And in Hudson, Florida, two pickups roll onto a jobsite with a championship belt for John Poma, the 2026 Talking Pools Podcast Pool Industry Mentor of the Year. Rudy tells the story of the surprise and shares how John handles a late-night call about a plaster problem. He asks what you saw, what you checked, and what you think it means. The next time you see it, you know where to start.
Chapters
- 00:01 A letter from Rutgers and a thank-you to Olga Welch00:38 Haviland’s $26 million announcement and what to ask your supplier03:28 What your total alkalinity test actually measures07:59 The 100 ppm example, the LSI calculation, and rising pH11:48 John Poma’s surprise championship belt reveal13:24 The mentor who shaped John’s approach and how the award was decided19:01 The limits of the one-third CYA shortcut and what happens when you add acid24:21 Alum, alkalinity demand, and why starting pH only tells you part of the story
Got a water chemistry question you’d like Rudy to tackle on Floc-It Friday? Email talkingpools@gmail.com.
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