AFT&C news🗞️ - Page 13 of 18 - Aquatic Facility Training and Consultants

Prevent Drowning In Your Backyard Pool

Post author:Rudy
Post published:July 7, 2019
Post category:Pool Safety

On average, 19 children in the U.S. drown every year on the 4th of July - USA Swimming Foundation This is a tough subject and it's hard to even write…

☁ How to Clear Cloudy Pool Water Fast

Post author:Rudy
Post published:June 30, 2019
Post category:Water Chemistry Apartment Pool Maintenance Home Owner Pool Care Hotel Pool Maintenance Lowering pH pH Adjustments

[responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Male" buttontext="Listen to Post"] Clear Cloudy Pool Water Fast! What the Floc? This is something that folks ask about a lot, and unfortunately, it is a question…

Finding the Time to Take Time Off ⏰ #smallbusinesseveryday

Post author:Rudy
Post published:June 23, 2019
Post category:Pool Service Tips

Who Will Run The Business? Entrepreneurs work 80 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week - Lori Greiner You did it! You decided to take your financial…

Top 10 Swimming Pool Test Kits

Post author:Rudy
Post published:June 16, 2019
Post category:Apartment Pool Maintenance Home Owner Pool Care Hotel Pool Maintenance Pool Tools

Which Kit is Your Go-To Test Kit? Top 10 Selling Test Kits on Amazon #10 Blue Devil B7448 5-Way OTO - Chlorine/Bromine, pH, Alkalinity & Acid Demand #9 Taylor K-2106…

Invasive SwimmingPool – Nonnative Species found in Florida Swimming Pools

Post author:Rudy
Post published:June 9, 2019
Post category:Outside the Pool

See You Later, Alligator? It's only a matter of time before more alien species, like others released into the wild from the pet trade, begin to expand beyond the Everglades…

How Can a Homeowner Tell if a Pool Person Has Had Any Training?

Post author:Rudy
Post published:June 2, 2019
Post category:Pool Management Pool News

Why You Should Hire A Certified Pool Professional to Maintain Your Backyard Pool Lack of Knowledge Could Result In The Formation of Harmful DBPs (Disinfection Byproducts), Zoonoses, Legionella, Equipment…

5 Secrets to Keeping Ducks out of Your Swimming Pool

Post author:Rudy
Post published:May 26, 2019
Post category:Pool News Pool Service Tips

[responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Male" buttontext="Listen to Post"] Get the Duck out of my Pool! Ducks in Swimming Pool Ducks in a Swimming Pool Can Make You Sick Ducks and…

City With The Most Swimming Pools?

Post author:Rudy
Post published:May 19, 2019
Post category:Pool News

[responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Male" buttontext="Listen to Post"] Which U.S. City Has the Most Swimming Pools According to the National Swimming Pool Foundation, over 360 thousand public swimming pools…

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

Bromate from Bromine

Post author:Rudy
Post published:May 12, 2019
Post category:Water Chemistry

Is Using Bromine in Your Pool or Spa with UV or Ozone bad? Veritasium youtube channel: Why are 96,000,000 Black Balls on This Reservoir BROMATE: BrO3- There are many benefits in…

Why Fire Your Customer?

Post author:Rudy
Post published:May 5, 2019
Post category:Marketing

Sometimes The Customer is Wrong‼ and, sometimes your customer is an absolute Asshat, a treacherous snake ? in the grass that makes your life a living hell ?... Not…

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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Magnesium, Salt & the Truth About Water Testing with LaMotte – Part 1

Is your salt test really measuring salt?

What happens when magnesium enters the equation?

And why do two different salt tests sometimes give two completely different answers?

This week on Mondays Down Under, Lee and Nick welcome Hieron from LaMotte for a fascinating deep dive into modern water testing, magnesium pools, calcium hardness, Langelier Saturation Index (LSI), and why understanding your test results is just as important as performing the test itself.

Whether you're servicing pools every day or managing a retail water testing lab, this episode explains why blindly trusting numbers without understanding the chemistry behind them can cost your customers money—and shorten the life of their equipment.

In This Episode

Why total hardness is no longer the same as calcium hardness
How magnesium changes water chemistry
Why magnesium hardness must be separated from calcium hardness
The relationship between hardness and the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI)
Why pH remains the single biggest factor affecting water balance
Does magnesium actually affect scaling?
Understanding the difference between conductivity salt meters and reagent-based salt testing
Why two salt tests can produce dramatically different readings
The hidden problem of ”dead” salt and elevated TDS
When water replacement becomes the only practical solution
Protecting expensive salt chlorinator cells through accurate testing
Why experienced technicians ask questions instead of simply printing reports
The psychology of educating customers and building long-term trust
A preview of LaMotte's upcoming professional training course for the pool industry

Key Takeaways

One of the biggest myths discussed is that all salt readings are equal.

Traditional conductivity meters measure the electrical conductivity of dissolved solids, while LaMotte's Spin system chemically measures usable chloride ions—the portion of salt that can actually produce chlorine. Understanding that distinction can dramatically improve troubleshooting and help explain why older pools often experience chlorination issues despite appearing to have sufficient salt.

The conversation also explores why magnesium pools require technicians to think differently about hardness testing. Magnesium contributes to total hardness but should not simply be substituted for calcium when calculating water balance or the LSI. Accurate testing allows professionals to properly determine true calcium hardness instead of relying on outdated rules of thumb.

Beyond chemistry, the discussion focuses on customer communication. The best technicians don't simply hand customers a printout—they ask better questions, interpret the results, educate pool owners, and build relationships that last for years.

Featured Guest

Hieron – LaMotte

Water chemistry specialist
Professional water testing educator
Expert in Spin water analysis technology
Developer of LaMotte's upcoming online professional training program

Coming Next Week

Part Two continues the conversation with even more practical discussions on professional water analysis, advanced chemistry, and improving customer outcomes through better testing and education.

Listen, subscribe, and join the conversation wherever you get your podcasts.

Support the show

Thank you so much for listening! You can find us on social media:

Email us: talkingpools@gmail.com