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The Pool Guy Podcast Show
In this podcast I cover everything swimming pool care-related from chemistry to automatic cleaners and equipment. I focus on the pool service side of things and also offer tips to homeowners. There are also some great interviews with guests from inside the industry.
Episodes
1958 episodes
Bob Lowry on Pool Service Rookie Mistakes
Algae every week even though the test kit shows plenty of chlorine? That headache usually isn’t bad luck, it’s bad math. We dig into the most common rookie mistakes new pool service pros make and show the chemistry behind why a pool can read “s...
Bob Lowry on Dialing in Free Chlorine the Right Way
Your pool can look fine on paper and still be losing the chlorine battle. We dig into the frustrating “problem pool” scenario where you’re pouring in gallons of chlorine and the free chlorine (FC) reading barely budges, then break down what’s r...
Bob Lowry Breaks Down TDS in Pool Water
If you’ve ever stared at a “perfect” test strip while the pool still acts weird, you’re probably missing one of the quietest drivers in pool water chemistry: TDS. We dig into what Total Dissolved Solids actually means, why a simple digital mete...
Bob Lowry on the Dangers of High CYA Levels
Your pool water can look “chlorinated” on a test and still be unsafe or algae-prone. The missing piece is cyanuric acid (CYA), the pool stabilizer that quietly binds most of your chlorine and changes how much active sanitizer you actually have ...
Bob Lowry: The Truth About Persistent High pH in Pools
Your pool pH isn’t “random” or “stubborn” and once you understand what’s actually driving the rise, you can finally stop the endless acid cycle. We dig into the real reason pH climbs week after week: CO2 off gassing. Total alkalinity controls h...
All About Metals in Your Pool With Joe Laurino
Metal stains are one of the fastest ways a pool can look “dirty” even when the water is balanced and clear. The tricky part is that metals like copper and iron can hide in plain sight as dissolved ions, then suddenly oxidize and plate onto plas...
Summer Pool Care Tips That Save Time And Money
Summer doesn’t just make pools warmer. It makes them harder to manage, easier to mess up, and way more visible to the people paying the bill. We talk through what really changes once swim season arrives: heavier bather loads, more sunscreen and...
Can a Pool Really Pop Out of The Ground?
A drained pool looks harmless until you realize it can become a boat. We’re talking about pool pop-ups, the real-world risk behind the phrase “the pool can pop out of the ground,” and the simple physics that make it possible when groundwater ri...
Pool Skimmer Tips That Actually Work
If your pool skimmer feels “lazy” and the surface never quite looks clean, the problem usually isn’t the leaves, it’s the setup. I walk through the most common skimmer performance issues I see in the field and the practical fixes that get debri...
How to Know When a Pool Filter Is Done
Filter problems love to disguise themselves as “chemistry issues” and that’s exactly how pool owners waste weekends and pool pros lose hours. We walk through the real decision that matters: do you simply need new filter media, or is it time to ...
Before You Start a Pool Service Business, Listen to This
Everyone loves the freedom of owning a pool service business until the scary questions show up: “What if I fail?” “What if I get sick?” “What about health insurance and retirement?” I walk through the most common negatives people bring up about...
Residential vs. Commercial Pools: No Contest
Commercial pool service can look like the fast lane to bigger revenue, until you realize how many forces you do not control. We walk through the real differences between residential pool care and commercial pool maintenance, starting with what ...
EPA vs. Sodium Bromide: The Real Story Part 2 of 2
A single line on a label can shake an entire trade, especially when that trade has been using the product for 30 plus years. We pick back up with Scott Hamilton, the CEO of United Chemical, to sort out what the EPA’s “not for use in outdoor poo...
EPA vs. Sodium Bromide: The Real Story Part 1 of 2
The EPA’s sodium bromide relabeling decision didn’t just tweak a bottle panel, it pulled a familiar algae treatment tool out of the outdoor pool conversation overnight. We’re joined by Scott Hamilton, the CEO of United Chemical to explain what ...
Nautis VSF Maintains Perfect Flow Automatically!
Your pool doesn’t care what RPM your pump runs at. It cares about flow. And most of the headaches we see as pool owners and pool service pros start when circulation quietly drifts away from what the pool actually needs. I sit down with Sean McD...
Coming Soon! The New PCTI Video Training Program
A lot of residential pool techs learn water chemistry the hard way: a few rules of thumb, a few opinions from the internet, and a lot of costly guessing when something won’t clear up. We wanted to change that conversation, so we brought Terry A...
Summer Pool Survival Guide with Terry Arko
Summer doesn’t “start” on a date for pool pros, it starts the moment the water warms and your easy week turns into a sprint. Terry Arco from HASA joins me to unpack what really changes when pools transition from spring to summer, and why the in...
The Most Frustrating Part of Cleaning a Pool Filter
Filter cleaning is where “simple maintenance” turns into stuck lids, mangled threads, mystery leaks, and the one moment on a job that can actually hurt you. We walk through the common pool filter problems that almost never get talked about, esp...
Pool Service Retention Strategies That Actually Work
A cancellation can feel personal, but the real damage is mathematical: lost monthly recurring revenue, a broken pool route, and extra drive time that quietly drains profit. We dig into what actually makes pool service customers pull the plug, a...
The Pool Recovery Playbook
A pool doesn’t turn cloudy for no reason, and it rarely gets fixed by “just add more chlorine.” When water looks dull, hazy, or starts showing algae, we use a simple three-step reset that gets results fast because it treats the whole pool syste...
Smart Pool Owners Are Future Thinking Their Pool Cleaners
A pool cleaner purchase is rarely just a purchase. It’s a long-term decision about repairs, downtime, and whether the “convenient” option becomes the most expensive option three seasons later.We walk through the real-world tradeoffs bet...
Pool Chemistry Gone Wrong: Common Tech Mistakes Explained
Eyeballing pool chemicals feels fast, but it can quietly wreck your results and your margins. I walk through the most common pool water chemistry mistakes I see on pool routes, starting with the habit of default dosing: “a quart of acid,” “half...
Pool Service Safety Tips That Matter
The fastest way to get hurt on a pool route is to treat “routine” like it means “safe.” We’re talking about the real hazards that show up behind the gate, the ones that don’t always look dangerous until the moment they are: the quiet dog watchi...
Employee Onboarding That Actually Works
One rushed hire can undo years of hard-earned trust on your pool route. We break down how we train and onboard a new pool service employee so customers still get the same clean water, the same reliable routine, and the same professional experie...
Phosphate Removers Explained Simply
Algae that won’t quit is usually trying to tell you something, and a lot of the time that “something” is phosphates. We dig into the real role phosphates play in pool water chemistry, why they’re measured in parts per billion, and why they don’...
