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.
Talking Pools Podcast
Range Chemistry & the LSI Reality Check
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
This Friday episode digs into one of the most argued topics in pool care: range chemistry and the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI).
Rudy takes us back to 1936 and the work of Wilfred F. Langelier, who developed a model to prevent municipal water pipes from dissolving or scaling shut. LSI was never designed for swimmers. It was built to answer one simple question:
Will this water dissolve calcium carbonate… or deposit it?
That’s it.
Pools adopted LSI later because plaster behaves like municipal concrete. Your pool is essentially a miniature water system — just with sunscreen and cannonballs.
What LSI Does (and Doesn’t Do)
LSI predicts calcium carbonate equilibrium. It protects:
- Plaster
- Grout
- Heaters
- Salt cells
- Tile lines
What it does not tell you:
- If chlorine is killing pathogens fast enough
- If chloramines are rising
- If nitrification is occurring
- If biofilm is forming
- If oxidation demand is being met
LSI protects the vessel.
It does not guarantee sanitation.
Where 7.2–7.8 Came From
No single person invented the modern pH range. It evolved from the overlap of:
- Human physiology (comfort and irritation)
- Chlorine chemistry (HOCl vs OCl⁻ balance)
- Cement durability research
- Regulatory standards
Even phenol red test kits influenced it — operators standardized what they could clearly see and control.
The Cyanuric Acid Blind Spot
If you don’t subtract roughly one-third of CYA from total alkalinity before calculating LSI, your saturation balance is wrong.
And LSI does not account for chlorine kinetics at all.
You can have:
- A perfect 0.00 LSI
- High CYA
- Slower disinfection
- Rising combined chlorine
- Biofilm quietly developing
The plaster may be safe.
The water may not be optimal.
Salt Cells, Heaters & Microenvironments
LSI models bulk water.
Inside salt cells and heaters, localized pH spikes can create scaling even when your overall LSI reads balanced. Context matters. Temperature matters. Ionic strength matters.
Water chemistry is not binary — it’s gradient-based.
The Real Takeaway
Range chemistry isn’t stupid. It’s probabilistic. It works under average conditions in average pools.
The mistake is believing ranges are universal laws.
LSI is necessary — but not sufficient.
Balance is not a number.
It’s interaction between thermodynamics, kinetics, microbiology, and material science.
Stop worshiping the calculator.
Start managing the system.
Thank you so much for listening! You can find us on social media:
Email us: talkingpools@gmail.com
