Rudy, Author at Aquatic Facility Training and Consultants

How to Get Rid of Black Algae

Post author:Rudy
Post published:April 14, 2019
Post category:Algae

A Few Things That Work We have found Black Algae in some pretty interesting places. Here, Ashley takes us through several different methods that work on eliminating it. 2018 was…

Why is sand coming back into my pool?

Post author:Rudy
Post published:April 7, 2019
Post category:Equipment

When All Things Point To The Laterals ?‍♂️ Check Before You Dig It is true that a broken lateral, or several, could be the reason you are seeing sand on…

Keeping the Pool When the Home Sells

Post author:Rudy
Post published:April 2, 2019
Post category:Marketing

Oh, Crap!? You are chugging along, knocking out pools on your route, and are having a good day. As you approach one of your favorite pools to take care of…

Lowering Total Alkalinity Without Affecting pH

Post author:Rudy
Post published:March 10, 2019
Post category:Lowering pH

[responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Male" buttontext="Listen to Post"] Can the Acid Slug Lower Total Alkalinity Without Affecting pH? The ability to control whether you lower Total Alkalinity or pH by…

Certificación CPO en español

Post author:Rudy
Post published:March 4, 2019
Post category:CPO Certification Class

Certificación CPO en español En Aquatic Facility Training & Consultants, creemos que aprender sobre piscinas no tiene por qué ser aburrido. Enseñamos los cursos de certificación CPO® (Operador de Piscina…

Don’t Undercut the Market ✂

Post author:Rudy
Post published:March 3, 2019
Post category:Marketing

Value-Based Pricing A service priced below market value is often perceived as a low quality service This is Dick. Dick wanted to own his own business and decided he would…

Pool Tools the Pros Use

Post author:Rudy
Post published:February 19, 2019
Post category:Equipment Product Review

Whether you are brand new to the service industry or just looking to maintain your existing pools, buying the equipment needed to keep a swimming pool in good condition can…

Copper Stains in Swimming Pools

Post author:Rudy
Post published:January 13, 2019
Post category:Staining

Blue, Green, Black, Gray, and Purple! Photo credit: CDC, 1964, Puerto Rican public health weighing out a measure of copper sulfate. They would then apply this waterway to control…

Chlorine Gas Cloud Injuries at Public Pools

Post author:Rudy
Post published:December 17, 2018
Post category:Chemical Safety

Chlorine Gas Cloud Injuries at Public Pools: The Role of Circulation and Safety Interlocks Chlorine Gas Cloud Injuries at Public Pools can lead to serious health concerns and need…

Raise Pool Service Prices

Post author:Rudy
Post published:December 11, 2018
Post category:Marketing

Raise Pool Service Prices: A Practical Guide for Pool Service Professionals To successfully raise pool service prices, professionals should communicate transparently with their clients about the reasons for the changes.…

Talking Pools Podcast

If you’ve ever stared at a test kit like it personally insulted your family… welcome home.

Talking Pools Podcast is the pool industry’s “pull up a chair” show—part shop talk, part field manual, part therapy session—built for people who actually live on pool decks: commercial operators, service techs, builders, facility managers, and anyone responsible for water that can’t afford to go sideways. The network was created to level up the pool industry with real-world conversations on water chemistry, filtration, troubleshooting, construction, safety, and the business side of keeping pools open and budgets intact.

Here’s the hook: it’s not theory-first. It’s experience-first—a roster of seasoned pros (with 250+ years of combined “been there, fixed that” wisdom) turning complicated problems into practical moves you can use the same day. And it’s not one voice, one vibe, one corner of the industry: it’s a network of shows designed to reflect how diverse this work really is—different regions, different specialties, different personalities.

Also worth saying out loud: women aren’t “special guests” here—they’re on the mic as hosts, from the beginning, with an intentionally balanced roster. That matters, because the best ideas in this industry don’t come from one lane—they come from the whole road.

If you want a podcast that can make you laugh and make you better at what you do—without pretending the job is easier than it is—Talking Pools is the one you queue up before the first stop, and keep on when the day starts getting weird.

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When the National Park Service added hydrogen peroxide to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the internet immediately decided it had found the culprit behind the peeling coating.

But science doesn't work that way.

In this episode, Rudy Stankowitz takes a research-first approach to one of the most discussed pool stories of the year. Instead of asking whether hydrogen peroxide caused a coating failure, he asks a different question:

Why was hydrogen peroxide chosen in the first place?

Drawing from published scientific literature on cyanobacteria, harmful algal blooms, microbiology, biofilms, and water treatment, Rudy explores how hydrogen peroxide affects microorganisms, why mature biofilms are so difficult to eliminate, and why swimming pool professionals may need to rethink the way they've approached ”black algae” for decades.

This isn't a product pitch.
It isn't a treatment recommendation.
And it certainly isn't clickbait.

It's an evidence-based discussion designed to separate what science has demonstrated from what still remains a hypothesis.

The episode also introduces the first part of Rudy's proposed research protocol—a hypothesis assembled from published mechanisms that has not been validated in controlled swimming pool research—and explains exactly where established science ends and new investigation begins.

If you're tired of opinions masquerading as facts, this episode is for you.

In This Episode

Why the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was treated with hydrogen peroxide
Why concentration matters more than percentage
Correlation versus causation in coating failures
What published research says about hydrogen peroxide and cyanobacterial blooms
The difference between free-floating algae and mature cyanobacterial biofilms
How extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) protect biofilms
Why oxidants often struggle against established biofilms
The biology behind oxidative stress
Photosystem II, lipid peroxidation, and cellular damage explained
Why mature biofilms deserve to be studied separately
Why Rudy believes better questions lead to better science
The first step in a proposed research protocol using aluminum sulfate
Why coagulation and physical removal may reduce oxidant demand before disinfection
Where the published literature ends—and where hypothesis generation begins

Key Takeaway

Science advances by asking better questions—not by rushing to conclusions.

This episode doesn't claim to have solved black algae. It challenges listeners to examine what the published research actually supports, recognize the limits of current knowledge, and think critically about where future swimming pool research should go.

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