Your Pool Guy Isn’t the Problem—You Are

🚨 Warning: This episode contains intentionally abrasive commentary and strong language. 

Most Talking Pools questions come from pool service professionals. This week, Rudy clears the inbox of questions submitted by pool owners—and provides pool pros with a little emotional support in the process.

Why is the pool consuming so much chlorine? Why did it turn green after the technician left? Should the pump run longer during extreme heat? Why does a saltwater pool still need chlorine? Are chemicals, brushing, filter cleaning, equipment repairs, storm recovery, and emergency duck removal included in the monthly price?

The short answer: read your service agreement, communicate with your pool professional, and remember that weekly service means someone visits once every seven days. It does not mean the technician secretly lives inside the filter, guarding your chlorine around the clock.

Rudy tackles common homeowner questions with practical answers, pool chemistry, and the appropriate amount of profanity. He explains why heat, sunlight, swimmers, storms, landscaping, aging equipment, and a 30-person backyard party can create problems that no technician could prevent during one weekly visit.

Before getting to the pool questions, Rudy also examines gossip, fake intimacy, and the relationship between the “shit talker” and the “shit bucket.” If someone constantly talks to you about everyone else, you are not part of a protected inner circle—you are simply today’s audience and tomorrow’s material.

Topics discussed include:

• Why successful people rarely waste time talking behind your back
• How gossip creates counterfeit intimacy
• The relationship between the shit talker and the shit bucket
• Why chlorine demand increases during extreme heat
• How swimmers, sunscreen, sweat, debris, and sunlight consume chlorine
• Running pool pumps during unusually warm weather
• Why pools become cloudy or green after heavy rain
• Preparing a swimming pool before and after a major storm
• Preventing algae from returning during extreme heat
• Why saltwater chlorine generators sometimes cannot keep up
• How to determine the correct salt-cell output percentage
• Diagnosing a dirty, undersized, or worn-out salt cell
• Why saltwater pools may still require manually added chlorine
• Whether saltwater pools need to be shocked
• The real cost of converting a pool to salt
• Reducing the electrical cost of pool circulation
• What weekly pool service actually means
• Chemicals included with service versus chemicals billed separately
• Whether technicians should provide complete test results
• Brushing schedules and complicated pool designs
• How often filters should be cleaned
• Who is responsible when aging pool equipment fails
• Why specialty chemicals may result in additional charges
• Verifying training, certification, licensing, and insurance
• The difference between maintenance companies and repair companies
• Whether homeowners should expect the same technician every week
• Additional service following storms, parties, equipment failures, and extreme weather
• Temporary treatments versus correcting the underlying cause
• How homeowners can evaluate whether a recommended repair is necessary

Pool owners should ask questions, request readings, review photographs, understand the diagnosis, and learn what their service plan includes. What they should not do is assume one weekly visit creates a protective dome capable of repelling rain, pollen, equipment failure, fertilizer, sunscreen, relatives, and urine.

Have a question for Rudy or the Talking Pools Podcast team? Email talkingpools@gmail.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:53

There are two things I learned about people. Neither one of them is particularly complicated. First, nobody who's doing better than you is sitting around talking shit about you behind your back. They don't have the time. They're busy working, they're busy learning, they're busy building something, fixing something, losing something, recovering from something, or trying to figure out how to take the next step without falling flat on their asses. People with a purpose have somewhere to put their energy. Second. If somebody constantly talks to you about other people, you can bet your ass that that person is talking about you to other people. You're not sitting in some sacred little circle where everybody else's business gets discussed, but yours is protected by an invisible fucking force field. You're just simply today's audience. Tomorrow, you get to be the material. That's how gossip works. It creates counterfeit intimacy. Somebody leans in, lowers their voice, and says, I probably shouldn't tell you this. And right there is your warning. They're the self-appointed director of human fucking resources for a company nobody hired them to manage. And by telling you, they get to purchase your attention with somebody else's privacy. That's what gossip really is. It's social currency for people who don't have enough of their own shit going on. Talking about another person is not automatically gossip. Sometimes you need advice. Sometimes you need to work to work through a legitimate problem. Sometimes somebody has done something dangerous, dishonest, abusive, or completely unfucking acceptable, and keeping quiet only protects the person causing the damage. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the person who always has an update on somebody else's job, mistake, argument, accompanied business, or bad fucking decision. They don't want a solution. They want a reaction. They want the raised eyebrow. They want the gasp. They want you to say no shit. Really? That reaction is their payoff. And if you give it to them often enough, congratulations, you've just become their preferred shit bucket. Because the truth is a shit talker can't survive without a shit bucket. They live to talk shit, spread shit, stir shit, and make their shit everyone else's shit, but all that shit needs somewhere to go, so they find a shit bucket. The person willing to sit there, listen to shit, absorb the shit, validate the shit, eventually carry that shit around for them. Take away the shit bucket, and the shit talkers left standing there holding their own shit with nobody to give a shit. Welcome to Friday. I'm Rooney Stankowitz. This is the Talking Pools Podcast. I hope you've had a great week. We've had nothing but fucking rain day after day after day, and I know what a pain in the ass that can turn pool service into. But that's not what we're gonna talk about today. I want to do something a little bit different. Most of the questions we receive via email or in Messenger come from pool service professionals, the men and women who actually stand beside the water testing it, treating it, repairing equipment, and trying to understand how a swimming pool can develop problems between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. But every now and then we also get something that sneaks in the mix from pool owners. So I thought today that I would try to answer all their questions. Just one episode, one convenient location, a complete public service for anyone who has ever hired a weekly pool professional and quietly assumed that monthly service included unlimited chemicals, free equipment repairs, emergency storm response, 24-hour remote surveillance, and legal guardianship of the backyard. Pool service professionals, make sure you listen. You've probably heard most of these questions before. Possibly while standing in triple-digit heat, as the homeowner explained water chemistry to you from an air-conditioned kitchen. But there may be one or two that you hadn't been asked yet, and even if you'd heard every single one, the wording might help the next time you need to explain politely, professionally, and without pushing anyone into the deep end that weekly pool service does not mean that the technician secretly lives inside the filter. So, pool honors, these answers are for you. Pool professionals, consider this emotional support.

SPEAKER_03 5:58

Shout out to Ken Post. Ken is the Mensh of the Week. On a different note, if someone corrects your language because you drop an F bomb, take it in stride. Don't be a putt.

SPEAKER_09 6:09

God bless the pool pro Yeah, God bless the pool pro.

SPEAKER_08 6:21

Pull up on my detail, gate down, test the get out, PH back, T F Y H run around off the top metal, too, about the topic claw ring by car casting. Oh my god. Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Uh black don't fly on the gun that's a dog, let the fool grow, roll, let's let the fool God let the pool grow, roll, roll, grow, roll, roll, god, let the pool grow.

SPEAKER_05 9:26

First question. Why is the pool consuming so much chlorine during this heat wave? Well, because your family turned it into bath water. Seriously, the sun is a ninety-three million mile-away nuclear asshole that steals chlorine one molecule at a time from the water. Meanwhile, your family is marinating in the pool like a six-person human soup. Sunscreen, sweat, body oil, whatever schmutz and gak that came of Uncle Gary and from under his toenails. Your chlorine isn't disappearing. It died in friggin' combat. Next question: Should I run my pump longer when the water is extremely warm? No. Let the algae finish moving in. Turn it off. Let the water sit perfectly still in 90 degree heat until it develops its own language, religion, and territorial ambitions. Of course you should run it longer. Warm, stagnant water is basically Craigslist housing for algae. Next question. Why did the pool turn cloudy or green after a heavy rain? Well, that's easy, because the sky took a shit in it. Rain isn't magical distilled water delivered by woodland ferries. It drags dirt, pollen, bird crap, lawn fertilizer, roof filth, and the accumulated sins of your entire fucking neighborhood into the pool. Then you stare at green water like the rain personally betrayed you. Get a grip. Next question. What should I do to the pool before and after the next major storm? Before? Prepare it. After, identify the patio furniture floating in it. Before the storm, test it, clean it, secure the furniture. Make sure the water can handle the environmental shit smoothie. After the storm, remove the branches, patio cushions, dead frogs, and your neighbor's trampoline, then test the water again. Do not dump 17 random chemicals into it because Brenda on Facebook said her cousin did that once and the pool looked amazing. Brenda is a dumbass.

SPEAKER_07 11:24

The 2026 top 10 mentors, Jeff Hamp, Chris Kavanaugh, Tim McDowell, Lacey Davis, Jerry Wallace, John Poma, Greg Beard, Terry Taminen, Peter Wiederman.

SPEAKER_04 11:38

The sponsors of the 2026 Talking Pools Podcast Pool Industry Mentor recognition are Blu-ray XL, United Chemical, Lamotte Company, Revved Up Apparel, and Aqua Comfort Water Group.

SPEAKER_05 11:53

I've been getting Service Industry News since I first stepped into this business, and every time it landed, I did the same thing. Flip straight to the horror file. The weird installs, the absurd finds, the stuff only pool pros ever see. Then I'd go back and read the articles. Service Industry News is a twice-monthly trade publication for pool and spa service text, 24 issues a year, emailed free to over 10,000 texts and available on their app. Every issue covers nationwide industry news and real technical content you actually will use. Get your free subscription at serviceindustry news.net. Again, that's serviceindustry news.net. Do it now. Next question: How do I keep algae from returning during extreme heat? Stop making it feel welcome. Maintain enough chlorine, brush the pool, circulate the water, and stop treating algae like a fucking seasonal house guest who bought potato salad. Algae returns because you keep leaving the door open, setting out snacks, and acting surprised when it moves into the guest room. Next question. Why is my salt cell not keeping up with chlorine demand? Your salt cell is a chlorine generator, not the fucking infinity gauntlet. It has limits, heat, sunlight, swimmers, algae, debris, and your Fourth of July Human Broth Festival consumes chlorine faster than the cell makes it. The little box isn't lazy. You gave it the workload of an industrial treatment plant and the body of an electric panini press. Next question. What percentage should I set my saltwater chlorine generator at? What percentage should I set my saltwater chlorine generator at? How about we try the correct one? That would be the percentage that maintains the chlorine level your pool actually needs. I know, devastating. You wanted a sacred number carved into a stone tablet. Thou shalt set thy A word to 23%. Doesn't fucking work that way. Pool size, cell size, pump routine, sunlight, water temperature, CYA, and bather load all matter. Test the water, adjust the output. Otherwise, just spin the fucking dial while shouting, come on, daddy. Next question. Is my salt cell dirty, undersized, or simply worn out? Possibly. Inspect it. Test its production. Compare its capacity with the pool and check its age. Don't diagnose it by standing three feet away from it with your hands on your hips saying, That son of a bitch done look right. It's a salt cell, not a teenager sneaking into the house at two in the morning. You need evidence here. Next question: Why does my salt cell still need additional chlorine? Well, because salt is not chlorine Jesus. A salt pool is a chlorine pool. The salt system makes chlorine. It doesn't replace chlorine. Sometimes demand exceeds production, so you add chlorine manually. Welcome to chemistry, where putting salt on the control panel does not turn the pool into a Mediterranean wellness retreat. Do salt water pools need to be shocked? Sometimes, not every Tuesday, because a laminated pool store calendar said so. You shock when conditions require it, not because the moon entered Aquarius and Leslie's happened to have 12 cases stacked together by the register. Test, diagnose, treat. I realize this method lacks the excitement of throwing in a bag while yelling, let's wake this bitch up. But it usually works a little bit better. Is converting the salt actually cheaper than buying chlorine? Maybe eventually, maybe not. You trade the repeated cost of chlorine for equipment, installation, electricity, acid maintenance, and eventually a replacement cell priced like it contains a human kidney. Salt can improve convenience. It does not open a portal to free chlorine narnia. Next question: How can I lower the electrical cost of running my pump?

SPEAKER_10 16:06

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SPEAKER_01 16:36

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SPEAKER_00 17:10

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SPEAKER_02 17:45

That is amazing. I can actually go out and make money doing filter cleanings if you look like this. If they were AquaStar filters out there, then I could be a filter cleaner girl.

SPEAKER_06 17:53

We can do that. Make it happen. Let's make it happen. Todd? There you go. Awesome. Thank you, Jules the Pool Girl. Again, Aquastar Pool Products Pipeline filters. Super easy, right?

SPEAKER_02 18:05

Super easy.

SPEAKER_05 18:10

Next question. How can I lower the electrical cost of running my pump? Shut it off. Serious. Stop running it like you're draining Lake Fucking Erie through a drinking straw. Run the pump efficiently, use lower speeds when appropriate, keep the system clean, and stop operating an oversized single-speed dinosaur that sounds like a helicopter evacuating Saigon. Also, don't run every waterfall, fountain, bubbler, deck jet, spa spillover, and illuminated backyard ejaculation 24 hours a day and then accuse the electric company of witchcraft. Next question. Easy. You own it the other six days. Weekly service means the technician visits once every seven days. Doesn't mean he moves into your pump room and guards the chlorine around the clock with a shotgun. For the other 167 hours, the pool belongs to you. The sun, the rain, the broken pump you forgot to mention, the 14 people at Saturday's barbecue and your Labrador retriever who all spent the afternoon using a shallow end as a combination bathtub, toilet, and sports drink. What does my monthly service price actually include? I don't know. What did your pool service person tell you that it actually fucking included? Because it's probably that. Seriously, if you have a service agreement, go look at it. It includes whatever it says it includes. If you don't have a service agreement, you should have paid attention when you were talking to your service person when they first came out. Just keep in mind, you hired weekly pool service, you didn't purchase a live-in aquatic butler unlimited equipment replacement, emergency duck removal, complimentary deck pressure washing, and a personal apology every time a leaf hits the fucking water. Next are chemicals included or billed separately? I don't know. Open your invoice. Surprise yourself. Look, this is not an archaeological mystery. Nobody needs to carbon date the invoice or summon the ghost of Jacques Cousteau. Just read the friggin' proposal. Some companies include routine chemicals, some bill separately, some include normal usage, but charge for specialty chemicals? The answer was probably printed directly above the line where you signed without reading because the technician seemed trustworthy and you had mozzarella sticks getting cold. Next question. Should the technician leave my complete test results after every visit? Why? You ignored the last twelve they left. I mean, if that's part of the company's service and reporting system, then absolutely. But let's be honest about what happens next. You'll receive chlorine, pH, alkalinity, calcium harness, CYA, salt, and filter pressure readings. Then you'll ignore all of them until the pool looks strange, at which point you'll send a photograph taken through a kitchen window and ask, Does this look like phosphates? The test results are useful. They are not decorative pool astrology. Is brushing included, or is the company only emptying baskets and adding chlorine? Check the friggin' service agreement. Some plans include routine brushing, some rotate brushing through different areas, some charge according to the actual labor required, and some pools need more brushing because the homeowner bought a backyard ecosystem with twelve benches, three ledges, a grotto, a beach entry, eighteen corners, and enough decorative stonework to conceal a South American rebel army. You can't build the aquatic equivalent of hogwarts and expect it to be maintained for the price of a blue plastic kiddie pool. Next question. How often should the filter be cleaned? How about before it becomes load-bearing? More precisely, when its condition pressure, flow, filter type, debris load, and manufacturer's guidance indicate that it needs cleaning. Not every third Thursday because your neighbor cleans his den. Your neighbor has a cartridge filter, two maple trees, and no enclosure. You have a sand filter and a husband who blows grass clippings directly into the pool every Saturday like he's feeding livestock. Different pool, different conditions, different answer. Next question. How about the person whose house the pool is attached to? Unless, of course, you purchase the pool equipment ferry package. She arrives at midnight in a tool belt, replaces the motor for free, updates the automation, cleans the salt cell, and leaves a handwritten apology beneath your pillow. In the real world, equipment belongs to the homeowner. The service company may identify the problem, offer repairs, or refer you to someone qualified, but weekly maintenance does not make the company financially responsible because your 15-year-old pump finally coughed twice, screamed like a raccoon in a wood chipper, and then went to meet its manufacturer. Next question. Why was a chemical added and what condition was it treating? It probably added to fix something that you broke, some chemical catastrophe that you fucking caused. That's a reasonable question you asked, but how about ask the pool professional that treated it? Because you want to understand. Not because you spent nine minutes online and now you believe sodium bicarb is an international pool industry conspiracy. The chemical was presumably added because testing or observed conditions justified it. Your technician should be able to explain why. You should also be emotionally prepared for an answer more complicated than blue juice makes pool happy. Next question. Why am I being charged for phosphate remover, algicide clarifier, or conditioner? Easy. Chemicals cost money. They do not grow behind the pool store in a magical garden where technicians harvest them under the moonlight. Routine service covers whatever routine service covers. Correcting unusual contamination, excessive CYA loss, severe algae, storm damage, lawn fertilizer runoff, or the aftermath of your daughter's 30-person graduation party may require products beyond normal maintenance. Look, you invited half the county to come sweat in the pool, but now the $80 specialty treatment is where fiscal responsibility suddenly begins. Next question Is the technician trained, certified, licensed, and insured? Fantastic question to ask before you hired them. Don't wait 11 months, approve three repairs, recommend the company to your sister, and then become a forensic licensing investigator. Also, certification, licensing, and insurance are not interchangeable. Requirements vary by location and by the work performed. Ask for the appropriate credentials, but understand that a laminated car does not bestow supernatural control over weather equipment failure or bubble bath into the spa. Does the company repair equipment or only maintain water? Call them. Experience something new. We call it communication. Pool professional is not one universal occupation. Some companies clean pools, some balance water, some repair equipment, some perform renovations, some do all of it. You'd not ask the person mowing your lawn to rebuild the transmission and your Ford F-150 because both machines contain gasoline. Stop assuming everyone who touches water is automatically qualified to rewire an automatic panel during a thunderstorm. Will I receive the same technician consistently? Probably not once they've had the chance to meet you. Companies do usually aim for consistency, but let's be real. Employees get sick, they take vacations, they change routes, some quit, some get promoted, and occasionally, sometimes they decide they no longer want a career involving your aggressive Pomeranian. The important question is whether the company follows a consistent service protocol, not whether Brandon remains permanently assigned to your backyard until death or retirement. You hired a company, you did not enter an arranged marriage with your pool technician. What happens after storms, parties, equipment failures, or unusually hot weather? You receive an invoice with consequences. The pool experiences conditions beyond normal weekly maintenance. I understand that this comes as a shock. You thought the monthly payment created a protective dome over the property, repelling lightning, rainwater, sunscreen, urine, pollen equipment failure, and relatives. Additional service, chemicals, cleaning, or repairs may be necessary. The technician can't service the pool on Tuesday and remotely prevent your Saturday party guests from pissing into the lukewarm water. Is the company treating the cause or repeatedly selling me the temporary cure? Well, did you decline the permanent repair? Sometimes temporary treatments are necessary because the permanent cause is something you refuse to correct. Your circulation is inadequate. Your filter is undersized. Your CYA is through the goddamned roof. Your pump runs four hours a day because electricity costs money. Your landscaper dumps fertilizer into the pool, your dog swims every day, your water level is low, your salt cell is dying. Listen, the company recommended repairs six months ago, but you said, let's just keep an eye on it. Well, congratulations. We kept an eye on it, and guess what? It's still broken. How do I know whether a recommended repair is truly necessary? Why not wait till it becomes catastrophic? Did you grow up in a box? Do you live in a closet? I mean, seriously, ask the technician to explain the symptoms. Ask them about the diagnostic process, the failed component, and repair options, request photographs, readings. That is reasonable consumer behavior. What is not reasonable is refusing a $600 repair because you watched a friggin' YouTube video. Listen, dudes and dudettes, equipment fails, parts wear out, bearings seize, seals leak, motors die, salt cells expire, nothing lasts forever. Not your pump, not your filter, not your heater, and certainly not the technician's will to live after explaining the same repair to you for the sixth consecutive week. I hope that clears everything up. As always, got questions? Talkingpools at gmail.com. My name is Rudy Stankowitz. This is the Talking Pools podcast. Until next time, be good. Be safe.