Whether it’s from evaporation, filter backwashing, or splash out, commercial swimming pools lose water constantly. It is not difficult to set up water loss tracking in the form of a …
Cartridge Filter Cleaning, A new way
During COVID we released a product we called ZGEN. By lowering the pH before the saline water travelled through the electrolytic cell, we were able to manufacture a product called …
THE CHANGES WE SEE COMING OUR WAY: ARE SALT WATER POOLS THE FUTURE?
If you can get your hands on a 1920 copy of LIFE (I bought one as a collector’s item, sadly it has not appreciated much); you will see a 1 …
The Importance of Pool Turnover Rate
A swimming pool’s turnover rate may be considered the most important aspect of a commercial swimming pool. It is simply how fast the volume of an entire pool can go …
Pump Room Maintenance Considerations
I spend a lot of time in pump rooms. If you are an established facility considering upgrading your pump room and equipment or a facility that is in the planning …
THE MOST IMPORTANT USE OF A POOL
TMI has long had a strong presence in the state of Alaska, with several clients going back almost a ¼ of a century! What drove them to us was the …
How Often Should a Pool be Brushed?
Commercial pools should be brushed daily. For a residential pool, the typical recommendation is to brush once or twice a week. Most residential pools see a ridiculously low bather load. …
Pool Pump Room Size Matters
We recently toured a well-respected New York Architect at one of the high-end spa facilities that we have provided our Salt Pure® automated system to, at his request. He was …
Electricity and Swimming Pools
I read a tragically sad story in a pool trade magazine this morning; about a father who died from an electrical shock he received as he was trying to pull …
Tech Bulletin: Do not use any products that add sulfates to your water!
Certain products increase the level of sulfates/sulphates which is detrimental to all equipment, the pool surface, and the swimmer. They include, but are not limited to, products containing sulfuric acid, …
ENERGY SAVINGS FOR YOUR POOL SERIES: VFDs
Last time we looked at using LEDs for some energy savings: ENERGY SAVINGS FOR YOUR POOL SERIES: LEDs – TMI Sustainable Aquatics (tmiaquatics.com) This time, we look at using a …
Talking Safety
In our industry safety is an issue that should always be on a pool technician’s mind. We actually devote an entire chapter in our CPO classes on safety. I was …
How Does a Sand Filter Work
Filtration is a necessary and important step of any water circulation system but not many understand how it filters the water beyond the basic understanding that the water passes through sand. In this short series, we’ll delve into how different filtration systems function.
CPO® (Certified Pool Operator) COURSES
We believe knowledge is important. Every person in our company is CPO® certified; from management, sales, administration, to techs. If you are working in commercial aquatics, we suggest being CPO® Certified or equivalent.
ENERGY SAVINGS FOR YOUR POOL SERIES: LEDs
This is Ed’s first blog in the Energy Savings for Your Pool Series. Let’s talk LED lighting.
HOW TO CONVERT A COMMERCIAL POOL TO SALT WITH TMI
Converting your commercial pool from traditional chlorine to saltwater pools are where we excel. We look at how and can answer any questions you may have.
CLEANING CARTRIDGE FILTERS
We have always cleaned our cartridge filters, both for the company pool and personal spa with a known filter cleaner that we purchase. I cannot say that it does a …
Please Stop Using Colorimetric Testing
Colorimetric testing is color based. A reagent is added to the pool water sample, it’s held up to the light and judged based on how much color is present. Using …
WILD SWIMMING VS COMMERCIAL POOL
Wild Swimming – lakes, rivers and ocean are becoming massively popular, but are they safe? I get the idea of swimming in nature, and am a fan, especially in the …
Salt System Maintenance
A chlorine generator, also known as a saltwater chlorine generator, or just “salt system”, is a piece of pool equipment that uses salt and electricity to produce chlorine for pool …
How important is pH?
When I teach a CPO class, one of my questions is to ask what the most important chemical test an operator takes. Most come back with that it must be …
Why Do You Need To Test Your Swimming Pool Water?
For those working with pools and spas, the mighty water test is a big part of our daily routine. The results can make us stand back and smile upon our …
Automation and pH Control for Your Pool
I have just visited with a high end HOA, in the desert, close to Las Vegas to discuss upgrading their water to a Salt Pure® system. As is my habit …
Why do we use CYA and Stabilized Chlorine in Commercial Pools?
This question has bounced around my office a few times over the last few weeks. As the season came to an end for most outdoor pools, we saw a surge …
Should You Or Should You Not Use CYA In Your Swimming Pool?
Every year when summer comes around I start getting the questions about whether CYA or “Stabilizer” is necessary. For most of my clients I will say no, but there are …
Pool Noodles Can Carry Pathogens! How To Keep Them Sanitized?
At a very busy indoor pool complex (a client of ours) swimmers and staff began complaining of itchy skin. Over the next few days the incidents of itchy skin continued …
Why Do You Use Pool Chemicals?
Day to day it is my job to help clients find/fix problems, sometimes the problems are electrical, other times they are mechanical, but the problems that are most intriguing are …
Why Bother to Balance My Pool?
So the (convoluted) logic to this one is …” Why should I balance my pool water when it looks fine to me?” By “balance” I mean bring it as close …
3 Reasons For Cloudy Swimming Pool Water
Cloudy water is one of the most concerning aspects of running a commercial swimming pool, and generally is a result of poor attention to one of three areas: 1. Sanitation …
5 Simple Guidelines for Great Water Chemistry
Water chemistry isn’t simple. In fact, it’s rather complicated. Hard water, soft water, phosphates, chloramines, iron, copper, high pH, low pH, nitrates, sun exposure, ventilation, patronage, filtration…all of …
LSI, part 3- Practical tips
Welcome to the 3rd and final installment on my chat on LSI. If you’re reading this, thank you for sticking with me! Let’s talk about some practical steps that …
LSI -The Math Explanation For Pool Maintenance
In my first LSI installment, I wrote a bit about the history and concept of the Langlier Saturation Index. Now it’s time to explore the mathematical equation and some examples, …
Let’s explore LSI – Langlier Saturation Index
I’m in the wind up week after a fantastic CPO class, so water chemistry is fresh on my mind. Days of working through math problems focused on all manner of …
TDS – Total Dissolved Solids – And Your Swimming Pool
What is TDS? TDS – Total Dissolved Solids – is defined in the NSPF CPO® manual as “the total weight of all soluble matter in the water“. Basically, anything that …
Phosphates… What are they and why should you care?
What are phosphates? Phosphates are a natural mineral that is mined and used in many of today’s off the shelf products, including some pool treatment chemicals, personal hygiene products (deodorant, …
Why is There Sand in my Pool?
Do you know why there is sand in your pool? David discusses this maintenance issue in his latest blog.
Maintenance Tip: Check Your Sample Lines and Feeder Lines
I recently was replacing & installing new chemistry controllers at a facility. Before I started the install, I performed a visual inspection of the existing equipment and existing polyethylene water …
UV Maintenance is Important!
If you have an Ultraviolet system (UV), you should always be aware that the systems require regular servicing to maintain the proper UV dosage. Failure to maintain the units will …
Commonly Used Lingo and Abbreviations for Pools
Just like any industry, running a commercial pool comes with a lot of lingo, abbreviations and terms. What is CC, TA, “bicarb”, and others? Here’s a quick breakdown of some …
Why is My Pool Green?
Algae. It’s the most common cause of water turning green. It’s important to understand how the algae got there in the first place so it can be prevented in the …
The Importance of Pump Room Maintenance
We have talked about it before, but it is probably the most important part of running a commercial pool. The pump room of a commercial swimming pool is critical infrastructure …
What is interlocking?
Interlocking is typically connecting (slaving) one piece of equipment to another piece of equipment’s main electrical shutoff often with the utilization of a contractor or other means. Over the years I have …
What happens in winter if you freeze your pool?
The preferred way to winterize an outdoor pool in Texas was pretty much the same as it is here in the Pacific Northwest; when it looks like we are going …
How to use LSI for my pool?
Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) is a method of measuring how “balanced” the water in a pool is. This determines if the pool water is going to have any effect on …
Read Pool Chemical Labels!
Please, red pool chemical labels! It’s important to always understand what the chemicals you’re adding to your pool do. Read the labels carefully for dosing instructions and side effects. Example …
Power Outages at the Pool
Even if power outages at your pool are not frequent, it is good to plan for them.
Fill water – Don’t take it for granted
When we take on a new commercial pool, we like to gather baseline data from the Pool Operator to better understand the account we are going to support. One of …
How many gallons are in my pool?
Do you know how to calculate the gallons in your pool? We can help with that.
Ed’s Winterizing Your Pool V2
Ed’s tips on winterizing your pool, volume 2.
Overhead Lines – Plumbing
Do you have overhead plumbing lines in your pump room?
Aquatics: Calibrating Sensors and Test Kits
It is critical to note that test kits, probes, and some other pieces of equipment require calibration from time to time. Related to this, knowing what the variance of a …
Reopening? A Few Pump Room Start-up Tips
Reopening after a long shutdown? Here are some tips from our resident field technician.
COVID-19 Pool Shut Down Procedures – Drain or Maintain?
COVID-19 Pool Shut Down Procedures – Drain or Maintain? Written by Tim Auerhahn of The Aquatic Council.
Understanding the Model Aquatic Health Code: Facility Operations
In today’s post, we’ll be looking at some of Section 6.4.1 Operations, starting with the first paragraph. (If you missed the intro to this series, click here.) 6.4.1.1.1 Develop The …
Pro Pool Maintenance Tip: Corrosion and Acid
Over the years I have seen hundreds of thousands of dollars in damaged pump room equipment due to the improper storing of muriatic acid tanks/barrels within the pump room. On …