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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.
Talking Pools Podcast
Andrea Unfiltered – Stop Using Test Strips Like They Know What They’re Doing
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
This isn’t a calm episode.
This isn’t a polite episode.
This is Andrea… slightly unhinged… walking straight into the chaos of how people are actually taking care of pools—and calling it out.
From test strips that don’t tell you what you think they do… to calcium myths that refuse to die… to phosphate treatments that turn into unnecessary full-blown disasters—this episode is a reality check for anyone still guessing their way through water chemistry.
And underneath the sarcasm and frustration… there’s something important:
👉 Most bad pool care isn’t complicated
👉 It’s just built on bad habits, bad info, and shortcuts
This episode strips all of that down and replaces it with something better:
Understanding what actually matters.
⚠️ WHAT ANDREA GOES AFTER
Test Strips
→ They don’t test calcium hardness
→ They test total hardness
→ And that difference matters more than people realize
Calcium Hardness Myths
→ “It doesn’t matter in fiberglass or vinyl”
→ Wrong
→ It still needs to be in range—even if the consequences look different
pH Obsession
→ Chasing 7.4 constantly?
→ You’re creating your own problem through aeration and rebound
Cyanuric Acid Confusion
→ It protects chlorine… until it starts limiting it
→ And yes, there’s actual math behind what your chlorine level should be
TDS Panic
→ “Drain it, TDS is high!”
→ Based on… what starting point?
→ Because without that, you’re guessing
Phosphates (the hot take)
→ Not a problem… until they are
→ And overcorrecting them can create more work than the problem itself
🔥 THE MOMENTS THAT HIT
“Phosphates are not a problem… until they’re a problem.”
“If you’re testing while algae is present… you’re probably getting a false low.”
“You don’t even know your TDS limit… unless you know where it started.”
🧪 WHAT YOU ACTUALLY LEARN
- Why calcium hardness still matters in every pool
- The difference between total hardness vs calcium hardness
- Why chasing pH can make your water harder to control
- How CYA changes chlorine effectiveness (with real ratios)
- Why TDS is often misunderstood—and misused
- A smarter, low-impact way to manage phosphates
- How bad testing technique leads to bad dosing decisions
- Why your test kit might be lying to you (and how to fix it)
⚠️ REAL TALK
If your testing is wrong…
your dosing is wrong.
If your dosing is wrong…
everything that follows is wrong.
And most of the time?
It started with something as simple as:
👉 Holding the bottle at the wrong angle
👉 Using the wrong test method
👉 Or trusting a strip that doesn’t measure what you think it does
📲 LISTEN NOW
🎧 Apple Podcasts
🎧 Spotify
👉 Follow the Talking Pools Podcast for more episodes that hit harder than they’re supposed to.
Thank you so much for listening! You can find us on social media:
Email us: talkingpools@gmail.com
