AFT&C news🗞️ - Aquatic Facility Training and Consultants

Oxidation Is Not Sanitation: What a CPO Needs to Know

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

Langelier vs. Carrier vs. Wojtowicz: Strengths, Shortfalls, and Accuracy in Swimming Pool Water

Post author:Rudy
Post published:December 10, 2025
Post category:Water Chemistry

The Langelier Saturation Index, or LSI, was developed by Wilfred Langelier in 1936 to predict the stability of calcium carbonate in water systems. His original method calculated a saturation pH…

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…

Rich Gallo: We’ll bend over backward for our customers. We’re just not going to bend over forward.

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

From rolling a Bobcat at 14 to building Los Angeles’ most concierge-level pool company, Pure Swim’s founder, Rich Gallo, has a mantra: bend over backward for people—and teach them to…

Tim Bolden: From Navy Life in Guam to Poolside Royalty in Atlanta

Post author:Rudy
Post published:October 5, 2025
Post category:Pool News

When you meet Tim Bolden, owner of The Pool Butler in Atlanta, you quickly realize this isn’t just another guy running a service company. He’s a Navy veteran, a…

Technical Bulletin: Sodium Carbonate vs. Sodium Bicarbonate

Post author:Rudy
Post published:September 30, 2025
Post category:Pool News

Sodium Carbonate (Soda Ash) vs. Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) in Swimming Pool Treatment Author: Compiled from research and field guidance by Rudy Stankowitz Purpose & Scope This bulletin consolidates Rudy…

From Scared of Water to Saving It: Kevin Post’s Floating-Pool Vision—and the People He’s Lifting Along the Way

Post author:Rudy
Post published:September 21, 2025
Post category:Talking Pools Podcast

As a little boy, Kevin Post wouldn’t even put his face in the water. After his family moved to Texas, his mom signed him up for swim team because there…

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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.

Pool Pros text questions here

In this episode of Flock It Friday, Rudy Stankowitz revisits the topic of borates in swimming pools, exploring the chemistry behind them, the regulatory history, and why recent geopolitical tensions have brought boron compounds back into the conversation.

Recent instability in key shipping corridors such as the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal has raised concerns about global freight movement. Since Turkey holds the world’s largest boron reserves and supplies a significant portion of the global market through its state-owned producer Eti Maden, disruptions in shipping routes could tighten the supply chain that delivers boric acid to the U.S. market. The chemistry itself hasn’t changed—the mines are still operating—but the logistics that move industrial minerals around the world can shift quickly.

Rudy then breaks down the science behind borates. In pool water, boron compounds typically exist as boric acid and borate ions, forming a secondary buffering system that helps resist pH drift, especially in pools with saltwater chlorine generators, where aeration accelerates carbon dioxide loss and causes pH to rise.

Most pools that use borates maintain concentrations between 30 and 50 ppm. Below that range the buffering effect becomes minimal, and above it there is little additional benefit. Once added, borates remain stable in the water and are only removed through dilution, splash-out, backwashing, or water replacement.

Borates are often described as algistatic, meaning they may inhibit algae growth, but they should not be considered a primary algaecide. Chlorine remains the primary sanitizer responsible for algae control.

The episode also touches on the regulatory evolution surrounding borates. Following the introduction of NSF/ANSI Standard 50 Annex R in 2015, many niche pool chemical additives—including borate products—were not pursued for certification under the updated framework. As a result, borates largely disappeared from modern certification listings, though they remain widely used in residential pools where certification is not required.

The bigger takeaway is that the chemistry hasn’t changed—but the systems that deliver pool chemicals have. In today’s global economy, the most complicated part of pool chemistry may not be the reactions happening in the water, but the international supply chains that bring those chemicals to the pool service professional.

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