Chairman’s Award Winner Named Commercial Sales Director APi Water, Inc. (FL), a specialty manufacturer of stable oxidizer treatment products, announces Jody O’Grady, B.S. Chem, CPO™, has accepted the Director of Commercial Sales position with the company. Ms. O’Grady stated she started in the pool & spa industry in the last century. Her multiple decades of experience include large account & product management, sales representative management, technical solutions, and customer experience, skills she learned from numerous jobs held with water testing supplies manufacturer, Taylor. Tasked with managing and growing the EZPRO Lineup of Commercial Water Care Products: RevivePRO^®, EZPoolPRO^®, ENZymePRO, and PepperPRO^®, the new Director will be working closely with their manufacturer sales representatives group, The Grit Game, to promote these NSF/ANSI Standard 50 listed products to recreational water facilities and institutions throughout the country. “Jody’s impeccable resume and engaging personality made her the best choice for this position,” says Brandon Overall, COO of APi. Jim Overwyk, the organization’s President added, “After a few conversations with Jody, I was wowed with her presenting skills and impressed with her technical prowess.” In her greater than 10 years of volunteer leadership, Jody is now Chair of the Recreational Water & Air Quality Committee for the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA) and was recently elected Vice-Chair of their Technical Advisory Council. In 2022, she received the Chairman’s Award. Ms. O’Grady resides in Maryland and will start with the company in May.

Buckle Up! 

This is a longer article than the others, BUT...we have PICTURES!  

Problem solving costs a lot more than problem preventing.  Anyone who tells you otherwise isn't a true friend. 

Let's look at a pool that has metals, causing stains & discoloration, as our example of a "simple problem".

 

Now that we have the stats on the problem, let's troubleshoot! Follow the four steps outlined below to do so.  

1. Drop the chlorine level- $15* chlorine reducer
   1. This stops the oxidization of the copper that is producing the color & staining
2. Apply stain remover (typically acid based, often ascorbic acid)- $30* stain remover 
   1. This can pull the metals from the affected pool surfaces and temporarily clear the discoloration present in the water
3. Apply a stain & scale/metal remover product- $30* stain & scale/metal remover product
   1. Most of these products do not remove the metals, they simply hold them in the water to prevent staining and discoloration
   2. Most are not compatible with high levels of chlorine
   3. Some are phosphate based 
4. Gradually, bring the free chlorine level back up to properly sanitize the pool- $25* chlorine shock

Okay, so four steps doesn't seem so bad, right?! 

We promised you pictures and we are BIG on keeping promises, so check out what happens to your pool after completing Step 3 from the above list...

This is a realistic example of what happens when you add a couple gallons (or pounds) of shock to the pool all at once! 

SHOCKING, huh?!  Yes, that pun was intended! 

What happened? Well, the addition of the shock all at once causes the stain & scale or metal remover product to break down.  The high chlorine (shock) releases its hold on the metals and they end up back in the water, reacting with the chlorine.  The green discoloration, often referred to as Mountain Dew Green for its neon coloration.  With this discoloring of the water, the likelihood of staining on the pools surfaces is high as well.  In addition, the water is also dealing with an increased phosphate level because of the composition of most stain & scale and metal removal products.  At this point, the pool is even more of a problem that it was when cleanup started.  Metals are STILL present...discoloration is STILL present...the potential for staining is STILL present...phosphate levels have SPIKED...you have lost TIME, MONEY, and ENJOYMENT in your SIMPLE pool problem.  

The worst part is, the next step to resolve the problem is the EXACT same process previously outlined.  But this time, you will not need a phosphate removed to bring those levels down. ($130+* on top of the $100* you've already spent) And, technically, you haven't done anything to prevent the problem from reoccurring!  SIGH! 

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How to Prevent the Problem?  Use Smarter Chemicals!

Use chemicals that are multi-faceted and remove the causes of problems BEFORE they build up enough to cause issues.  Revive!^® WEEKLY ($45*) is one such chemical.  This product is a weekly clarifier that physically attaches to contaminants and uses your pools filtration system to REMOVE them!  

As always, it is entirely up to you, BUT, hundreds of dollars all at once with NO REASSURANCE that the problem won't return,

compared to a few bucks a week to REMOVE the cause of problems, for me, it's a no-brainer! 

I'm going with Revive!^®  

If you have questions on Revive!^® or ANY our products, call or text us!

(877) 274-7261

 

 

 

Cleaning up after a fun July 4th pool party can be a rather unpleasant chore.  How do you clean what you can't see?!  

Of course, we are talking about CC or Combined Chlorine...they don't call us Chemical Geeks for nothin'! 

 

When caring for a pool or spa, keep in mind there are three forms of chlorine for which you will be testing...

An easier way to think about it is FREE (FC) is good chlorine and COMBINED (CC) is bad chlorine.  CC is formed when FC hooks up with wastes that are introduced to the pool via swimmers or from the environment around the pool.  Ideally, CC levels should be maintained as low as possible (ideally at 0ppm).  When CC is too high, it reduces the efficiency of the FC.  This can lead to A  LOT of water quality issues.  So, after your "major rager" of a July 4th party with half the neighborhood in the pool, you will most likely have a  CC level that needs addressed.  

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There are two ways to chemically remove or reduce COMBINED CHLORINE:

Breakpoint Chlorination

This consists of adding massive amounts of FC (10x the amount of CC) to overwhelm and break down the CC.  Several factors that should be looked at prior to breakpoint chlorination are; pH, stabilizer level, and time of day FC are added.  These factors influence the killing power of the FC and may require additional chlorine be added to overcome them.  You may have to obliterate the pool with FC if your CC is too high.  If you don't add enough FC to overwhelm the CC you can be adding to the level of CC making the problem even worse!  

Chlorine Free Shock

These products work in a slightly different manner.  They oxidize contaminants allowing the CC to break down.  Using chlorine free shock can't add to the creation of CC, in turn, it cannot make the problem worse.  If your pool still has a CC reading after treatment, simply add more to remove it.  With most products of this genre, the great news is, you can typically swim within 15 minutes of dosing.  The bonus?  You aren't increasing your FC levels high enough to void warranties on your pool equipment and surfaces. 

 

There is a lot more information on this topic, but a good rule of thumb is after periods of high use, pools should test and ensure that COMBINED (CC) levels aren't high, treat promptly to keep the pool looking and operating great.  APi products such as:

 

all contain a chlorine free shock to prevent COMBINED CHLORINE formation and greatly reduce the amount of time spent troubleshooting! 

 

For more information on these or any of our products, visit us at our YouTube channel or call/text us at (877) 274-7261.