Pool News Archives - Aquatic Facility Training and Consultants

Why Pool Coatings Peel

Post author:Rudy
Post published:July 19, 2026
Post category:Pool News Pool Operator Talk News
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Why Pool Coatings Peel: Surface Preparation and Application A quality pool coating is built long before the first roller touches the wall. While contractors often focus on selecting the "best"…

The Reflecting Pool and The One Sad Truth We Actually Know

Post author:Rudy
Post published:July 10, 2026
Post category:Pool News

What We Actually Know About the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Everybody has an opinion. The internet decided what caused the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool coating failure almost before the first…

By Periodictableru - Self-photographed, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9774316

The Ruthenium Crisis and Why Salt Cells Are About to Get More Expensive

Post author:Rudy
Post published:June 1, 2026
Post category:Pool News

Pool Industry News Report: The Ruthenium Crisis and Why Salt Cells Are About to Get More Expensive By Rudy Stankowitz For decades, salt chlorination has been one of the great…

The Certified Pool Operator Is a Risk Manager

Post author:Rudy
Post published:April 21, 2026
Post category:Pool News

The CPO is positioned as a risk manager—responsible for operational oversight, documentation, regulatory compliance, and the protection of bathers, staff, and facility assets.

Understanding LSI, Range Chemistry, and Real Water Balance

Post author:Rudy
Post published:April 14, 2026
Post category:Pool News

Certified Pool Operator Classes: Understanding LSI, Range Chemistry, and Real Water Balance If you’ve ever taken one of my Certified Pool Operator classes, you already know this:Water balance is not…

Oxidation Is Not Sanitation: What a CPO Needs to Know

Post author:Rudy
Post published:March 3, 2026
Post category:Pool News

Oxidation Is Not Sanitation: What Certified Pool Operators Need to Understand About ORP The Olympic Pool, ORP Misinterpretation, Copper Expression, and Why Green Water Is a Symptom — Not a…

Heavy Metals and Algae Control in Swimming Pools

Post author:Rudy
Post published:February 24, 2026
Post category:Pool News

Advanced Pool Chemistry for Certified Pool Operator (CPO) Classes - Algae Control in Swimming Pools In many pool industry conversations, the wrong question gets asked: “Do metals kill algae?” That…

The Truth About Phosphates, Algae, and Pool Chemistry

Post author:Rudy
Post published:February 17, 2026
Post category:Pool News

The Truth About Phosphates, Algae, and Pool Chemistry Let us start with the sentence that will upset half the internet: Phosphates do not reduce chlorine effectiveness.Moreover, on top of that,…

Tech Bulletin: Metals & Pool Water Quality

Post author:Rudy
Post published:November 12, 2025
Post category:Pool News

Metals in Swimming Pools: Pool Water Quality, Diagnostics, Decision Paths, and Alum Copper Stain Removal Diagnostics Metals in pool water—copper, iron, manganese—show up as stains, odd water colors, or persistent…

Technical Bulletin: Aluminum Sulfate Chemical Reduction of Cyanuric Acid

Post author:Rudy
Post published:October 15, 2025
Post category:Pool News

Chemical Reduction of Cyanuric Acid in Swimming Pools Using Aluminum Sulfate- from the published research and field methods of Rudy Stankowitz, with independent confirmations from Service Industry News, PoolSharkH2O, and…

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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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