Mondays Down Under – LaMotte, Water Testing, and Why Professional Testing Matters (Part 2)

What separates a professional pool service company from someone simply adding chemicals?

In Part 2 of this special Mondays Down Under discussion, Lee Salisbury and Nick dive deeper into professional water analysis with the team from LaMotte, discussing why consistent, accurate testing is one of the biggest differences between average pool care and true water management.

The conversation explores the value of the WaterLink® Spin system, reducing user error, interpreting test results correctly, common mistakes professionals make after shocking a pool, and why understanding chemistry matters far more than simply reading numbers off a report.

Whether you're running a retail store, servicing residential pools, or maintaining commercial aquatic facilities, this episode is packed with practical advice that can improve both your water quality and your bottom line.

In This Episode

•  Why experience matters just as much as chemistry knowledge 
•  Learning to interpret water test results—not just read them 
•  Why every unusual water test should make you ask more questions 
•  How customer conversations often solve water chemistry mysteries 
•  When to consult technical support or laboratory analysis 
•  Why professional testing equipment pays for itself 
•  Reducing user error with automated water testing 
•  The business case for investing in better testing equipment 
•  Saving time while improving customer service 
•  Comparing photometric testing to traditional reagent testing 
•  Why complete water analysis is more valuable than testing only chlorine and pH 
•  Protecting pools through proper water balance 
•  "It's easier to keep it clean than bring it back from green." 

Technical Topics Covered

•  WaterLink Spin technology 
•  Photometric water testing 
•  Traditional liquid reagent testing 
•  Test repeatability and consistency 
•  Eliminating sample contamination 
•  Proper sample volume 
•  Test accuracy versus operator technique 
•  Water balance fundamentals 
•  Customer communication during water analysis 
•  Laboratory troubleshooting 
•  Commercial pool testing 
•  Residential pool testing 

Common Testing Mistakes Discussed

•  Misinterpreting zero alkalinity after shocking a pool 
•  Understanding the effects of chlorine above 15 ppm 
•  Why high chlorine can produce misleading alkalinity readings 
•  Using high-range chlorine test strips for confirmation 
•  Running additional tests on the same high-chlorine sample 
•  Recognizing when the instrument is giving you an indicator—not a bad result 

Best Practices

•  Use professional-grade testing equipment 
•  Perform complete water analysis whenever possible 
•  Verify unusually high chlorine levels before making chemical adjustments 
•  Store Spin Discs properly 
•  Reseal foil packaging after every use 
•  Protect discs from moisture and light 
•  Understand shelf life after opening 
•  Train technicians to recognize abnormal test patterns 
•  Build testing costs into your professional service 

Commercial Aquatic Facility Discussion

The episode also covers:

•  Daily health department testing requirements 
•  Three-test commercial Spin Discs 
•  Testing multiple water bodies 
•  Managing public pool safety 
•  Protecting swimmers through accurate testing 
•  Creating efficient testing workflows for aquatic facilities 

Key Takeaways

Professional water testing isn't about owning expensive equipment—it's about making better decisions.

Accurate testing saves time, improves customer confidence, reduces costly mistakes, and helps protect both swimming pools and the people using them. Understanding what your test results are actually telling you is every bit as important as obtaining the numbers themselves.

Featured Guests

•  Lee Salisbury 
•  Nick (Mondays Down Under) 
•  Hiren Patel – LaMotte Company 

Connect with Talking Pools

🌐 Website: https://talkingpools.com

📧 Email: talkingpools@gmail.com

Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and never miss an episode covering pool chemistry, service techniques, business growth, industry news, and conversations with some of the most knowledgeable professionals in the swimming pool industry.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Welcome back to part two of Lamont Down Under on the Monday's Down Under show on the Talking Pools podcast, where we find out what happens when you give an Aussie Pool Pro a spin touch. We join the team in the Southern Hemisphere in mid-conversation. Congratulations to the 2026 Talking Pools Podcast Top 10 Pool Industry Mentors. Your willingness to teach, mentor, encourage, and elevate others has made a lasting impact on the swimming pool industry. These honorees were selected by the hosts of the Talking Pools Podcast in recognition of the difference they have made in the lives and careers of pool professionals.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

The 2026 Top Ten Mentors, Brandon Reed, Jeff Hamp, Chris Kavanaugh, Tim McDowell, Lacey Davis, Jerry Wallace, John Poma, Greg Beard, Terry Tammanin, John was a piece of equipment failure, maybe the chlorinator's not working, the cells not producing.

SPEAKER_05 1:59

It makes us ask so many questions. So interpreting the test results, looking for the rhyme and reason behind water changes, and probing the customer for those and those answers to our questions.

SPEAKER_03 2:15

It's also don't get me wrong, but you've spent over 25 years or 30 years around in the industry. You're making me feel old here and that that's what that's the part I'm sorry about. Otherwise, that's you you've become natural in that sense. And this is what the industry really needs to put down and someone to look up to to get that thing floating around. And we've tried our best to do this sort of small little thing in this course, but obviously there is not all the cases can be covered in in an online training. And that that's where the physical person is really required to navigate or hold hands, actually.

SPEAKER_05 3:02

It's the experience when you speak from a place of experience where you've actually used the chemicals and tested the water and you've had those weird situations or the the weird test results, I should say, with uh with water that you can then scratch your head and go, why is this so? Um and and learning from it each time. I think as I always say, you never stop learning in this industry. And I know Nick, you've been in the industry for a long time too. You've you've seen all these things from customers, you've heard their excuses and their, let's say they're they're non-verbal communications.

SPEAKER_02 3:37

Yeah, we had an interesting one the other day where we went through all throughout the war test, and it wasn't until the last questions like, oh, how is uh what's the temperature of the pool? It was 31 degrees. They had a heater on it, which just changed absolutely everything. You know, we were expecting it to be 20 degrees, but you know, they're actually using it. But I have also had uh a problem with some issues and some questions and always reached out to you guys and have been super helpful when I've had that curly question, or I'm getting the zero calcium, or why does this do this, or you know. Um it's always great to have that extra knowledge.

SPEAKER_03 4:11

We we've got a full team here who is ready to take on calls in just not only delight it made us, it's also we expand our wings towards spreading knowledge in sense of chemicals and everything. So we've if I can't answer a question with relation in relation to the chemicals or anything like that, or chemistry behind the pool, we actually have an internal chemist who deals with all this in in-depth and he can catch on onto all the complex stuff which could be often missed out.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

I I sent water down to you guys once because I just didn't know what was going on to this pool and you just looked through it and and gave me some advice. So yeah, it was very helpful.

SPEAKER_03 4:53

We we are lucky to have a little lab as well here now.

SPEAKER_05 4:58

Well that actually lends us in to a really good question, and that is testing equipment. Like all testing equipment is not equal. Like we've you you guys have got obviously a a fantastic machine, and it is certainly seems to be the industry benchmark for a professional water test, but we do get some pushback because of obviously the cost of the discs and the fact that that applies to every test that you're doing in store or out in the field.

SPEAKER_03 5:32

I want to say something which is something different, and uh I know there is uh there's a reason I am saying it because I work for Lamotte. It's not just that. It it's in fact, if you're not using a rolling spin, you are putting a lot of money on the table. Your business by not implementing the spin, you're losing money rather than spending money. You're losing way more than what you could really earn out of it. It's a best salesman you can ever get, actually. It's is on time. You don't even have to pay it super accurate. True. It's consistent. And it always comes on time every morning. It's one of the most employees you can get.

SPEAKER_05 6:18

It carries a it carries a big load in every pool shop and and service vehicle, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

Yeah. And it's comparing with other photometric tests, we also we are just I know we've been regarded since 2012, we've been known as Waterlink Spin. And in fact, we also branded ourselves as Waterlink Spin. We're a little bit more than that, too. It's not just limited to we've got um we've got color cue, which is sort of uh traditional equipment as well. Not traditional, it's got a lot of features in it, but it uses the traditional method of liquid reagents, test tabs, and everything. It's it's different of what we've already seen throughout our journey. And bottling spin, we don't have to worry about a lot of stuff. And that's why it became more popular. Yes, speed is something which is common. More than that, there is exact amount of water sample that spin discs can take. There is exact amount of reagents with no contamination in it. There is it is it's something which you can rely on. And you can do repetitive tests through it. As far as you fill the disc correctly on a calibrated meter, you are put to cover. There are not a lot of things to be considered a lot.

SPEAKER_05 7:35

It eliminates a lot of user error.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

Yeah. In a traditional equipment, uh the if for example, you had to take 5 ml sample to test for your chlorine. You take 0.5 ml more or less. You're already out by 10% before you even start the test. And hence you get that discrepancy, and hence that trust is lost. And we often rely on what we were doing previously, then what a new technology is helping us. It's a don't don't put your money on the table. Test for each test factors, which will help you help your customer to balance their water accurately, rather than just going down and leaving other test factors and okay, I'm going to do cloning today, I'm going to do uh pH, I I'll do I'm going to oh, I don't have time to do hardness, I'll do it later. What are we doing? We're not selling chemicals and we are also not helping our customers.

SPEAKER_05 8:29

So And we're not going to have as good a quality water. Like when you balance the pool properly, you have beautiful water. And that's what our customers are paying us for.

SPEAKER_03 8:39

Water can be very aggressive if it's not balanced correctly. Absolutely. Balanced correctly, which we all are enjoying in our backyard.

SPEAKER_05 8:48

It it it's better for the investment of the like in the cost of the pool shell, the cost of the equipment. It's protecting your investment. It is better for the user and it's easier to maintain. When your pool is well balanced and regularly checked, tested, balanced, it is so much easier to maintain.

SPEAKER_03 9:08

Yeah. Yeah. Maintain pool is an enjoyable thing. Unbalanced pool is alright.

SPEAKER_05 9:15

Well, that's what I my my motto that I lived by in our shop was it is easier to bring it back. Sorry, it's easier to keep it clean than it is to bring it back from green.

SPEAKER_03 9:26

That's right. And it's a nice rhyme too. Yeah. It is a spot on. You can't go bad.

SPEAKER_05 9:33

But I do have to say, the very small amount of water that you need for a waterlink spin has actually got me out of trouble a few times. And it actually happened at your business, Nick. A busy, a busy Saturday morning when you accidentally tip out somebody's water sample.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

No, it happens.

SPEAKER_05 9:50

It happened before actually testing it. It's like, yeah, so you haven't actually tested it. You sort of get carried away and it's like, yep, on to the next test. You chuck out that one and then you go, shit, that was the next test. And because the waterlink spin takes such a small amount, it only takes a dribble out of the client's bottle to actually get enough of a water test. Now there is no way known I could have repeated that with a palantest photometer or anything like that. So um yeah, it has got me out of trouble.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

You can win customers here too.

SPEAKER_05 10:32

Yep. And um the other thing is the whole, like we we touched on it with the palant can comparing the waterlink spin with a photometric test where you've got to use 10 mils and and that sort of thing. But yes, we've got liquid reagent tests like the four-in-one test kit and the test strips. But I would implore our listeners that if you are a professional, if you want people to take you seriously, if if you want your trade to be recognized as a true trade, then you need to treat that as a true trade and you need to test with professional equipment. You are charging for a service. If you're if you come to my backyard and you do a water test with a test strip or with a water with a four-in-one test kit, am I truly paying a professional? What am I paying you for? I can do that myself. The end user can do that themselves. What is setting you apart? So I would really ask our listeners to think about that when they, if they're not using a waterlint spin or a photometric test, are they truly giving a professional service that they're charging for?

SPEAKER_03 11:50

Most of them do charge for the tests test as well as under consumer test. So it is it has become natural now for the end users to see that it's a consumable charge.

SPEAKER_05 12:01

Yeah, look, I completely agree. And like if if if it's a cost of doing a service, then it's a cost you can pass on to the customer. But I would actually say I wouldn't put it in as part of like I'd build it into my price. That's just me. Because if it's part of the service that I'm delivering and it's always there, then I would just build it in. If you offer a test service that doesn't include a Waterlink spin disk, then you need to itemize that on that bill and say a non-computerized water test or a um quick check water test, whatever you want to call it. But yeah, I I wouldn't differentiate having charging for an actual disc on the invoice because to me it's part of the service.

SPEAKER_03 12:53

You either eat it in this way or that way.

SPEAKER_05 12:55

Yeah. Yeah, that's ex that's exactly right. And but it raises an interesting thing because I have to say I'm always a bit of a skeptic. And I am one of those pool businesses that I got burnt a few years ago, many years ago, by a supplier. And we were left holding a few products or the warranty of a few products. So I was always cautious of jumping in too quick with new technologies, let's say. And I have to say, like I was the same when threatened variable speed pumps came out. I was cautious. I let everybody else trial them for about six months before I sold any and worked out which one were the good ones and which one weren't. And I have to say, when the waterlink spin came out, I definitely bought one. Jumped straight in. But for about two months there, for every water test, and I was very lucky because it was winter, for every water test, I ran a waterlink spin and a palant test, reagent test. And I used to do the full range, well, obviously not as full as the waterlink spin, but I'd do free chlorine, total chlorine, pH, alkalinity, calcium hardener, cyanuric acid. They were our staple tests that we did with every water test manually. And I did a comparison and I was actually really impressed with the consistency in the test results. So that was one of the things that I was testing for. And then I actually sat down and I worked out exactly how many cents it was costing me for each test versus what the discs was were costing me at the time. And I remember at the time that I did it, it was about a 50 cent difference between the cost of the disc and the cost of the reagents. Now the reagent test wasn't doing all the tests that the spin did. So therein lies one difference. Yes, it was cheaper, but was it a full suite of tests? But the next thing is how much time it saved me. So especially on a busy Saturday morning, as we know at Nick's shop, there's four spinning at the same time. Sometimes five.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

Yeah, back when we changed and we were using the old uh titration test kit, I can't do two things at once. So I'm focusing on what I'm doing, counting the drops, looking at the colours. Now with the spin, I've got a minute to talk to the customer, to engage, to ask them how this is, to find out what's happening with this and how their dog is and and how the kids and everything like that. And you just get such a better relationship with the customer. It integrates with our system, it pops up on the on the screen and you're good to go.

SPEAKER_05 15:47

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 15:48

So the ecosystem for you, which helps you derive the recipe at the end of the test with your software platform, whichever you are using. We also have one of our own uh as well. It's called uh Waterlink Solutions or Lamar Solutions now, and uh there is another type of it as well for the homeowners, which can be linked to the pro professional app. So if the homeowner is living in a regional area, wants to do his trip test or wants to do his color cute test, he can do it by himself. That test gets back to the shop straight, and the shop owner can see it. If they require chemicals and stuff, they can actually make a purchase request. The homeowner can make a purchase request to the store, store can strike Deliver. It creates that complete ecosystem from step to step for everyone there.

SPEAKER_05 16:41

So, yeah, testing, I think we can justify the expense with time, with efficiency, with the fact that it eliminates a lot of user error. Like anything, there's things aren't faultless. We we recognize that, but you need to look at what you're doing to that can cause that fault. Is there air bubbles? Are you touching the top or the bottom of the disc? Are you storing the disks properly? All of the things that Hirin's taught me over the years.

SPEAKER_03 17:14

There are definite some red flags, I would like to say, which often messes up with the chemistry of the pool or it often messes up with the readings in the spin. And the most common one what we get is when we test our pool after you've just shocked it. And if your chlorine levels are going to the first red flag is zero alkality. Oh, there's zero alkality. I'm going to dump a hell of a buffer into it to bring it up. Excuse me. Stop. That's reading. It's an indicator there. It's actually it it is telling you the chlorine is more than fifteen parts per million, which is well above the health guidelines, but it only really 15%.

SPEAKER_05 17:56

And the spin might not actually say over 15.

SPEAKER_03 17:59

It's it's actually once once it reads zero alkalinity, that's your indicator. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 18:06

I've actually seen the alkalinity drop, but not drop out. So it's got low. So the higher obviously the higher the chlorine gets, the lower the c alkalinity drops, I suppose.

SPEAKER_03 18:20

So if you want to look it up in this way 15 parts per million, anything more than that for chlorine. We've internally tested it, it reaches up to 18 parts per million. But as per the guidelines, it says 0 to 15 parts per million. Anything more than that, then then the tolerance really increases. We are not really accountable for it. And as you go from lower numbers, 0 to 5, it's like spot on, 0.10, the differences increases and the tolerance has to increase. Then 10 to 15 is even higher tolerance. So what it really means, this is an example. Say if the tolerance of 10%, at 15 ppm of chlorine, what you're expecting is to read 1.5 ppm less, which is you could expect it to read 13.5 to 16.5. So that that that's something the higher higher you go, higher the tolerance. But above 15, it really loses us. Mine gives you zero alkaline D. That's your indicator. You stop there, you do not do another test onto the same water sample, otherwise, you're again going to get the same results. You've not changed anything. Nothing's going to change.

SPEAKER_05 19:29

And this is where I pull out my Lamotte test strips.

SPEAKER_03 19:33

This is where you there are other, we've got other test strips which can read for higher range as well. If you really want to look into it, you can get the wide-range test strips for pH and chlorine.

SPEAKER_05 19:45

Yeah, I love your high-range chlorine test strips. So if somebody is, because that's a question I often get asked, um, but I only have a water link spin, and how do I know where my chlorine level is at? So you having those high-range test strips, chlorine-level test strips in your vehicles is really beneficial so that you can actually accurately gauge how high the chlorine actually is. And and also I use the three-in-one, they're my favorite product. Well, when I say favorite product, other than the Waterlink spin. But the three-in-one test strips were always a big seller in my shop. I have to say they have been my preferred brand for probably the last 20 years. Actually, Ben even rang me one day and said, Can you please tell me why you sell so many test strips? How do you do it? Because we actually sold quite a few of them. They are by far the most accurate ones on the market that I have found. They're easiest to read. The colour variations are very easy to interpret. A lot of other brands out there can tend to be quite wishy-washy in that, in that colour change and therefore make it difficult to read and interpret the results. But I always used to grab my Lamotte water test strips out. If my alkalinity had dropped in my water test and I'm was suspecting high chlorine because I had a high chlorine level, I would pull out the test strips and it taught my service tech the same thing. Grab out your test strips, test the same water with the test strip. If you've got a nice green alkalinity result, because that's green's the color on the test strip for alkalinity. If you've got a nice green test result, you know that the waterlink spin is inaccurate because the chlorine level is so high. It's easy.

SPEAKER_03 21:48

You know what, my copper is being high on all the test factors. All the every every pool I go to, whether I have done an LGI treatment or not done an LGI treatment, I always get high copper. It's actually the best practices we want to follow here. With the dish, when we accidentally leave the bag open for over 24 hours, that's when the disc has gone mad. Actually, what has happened is the moisture has reacted with the reagents and giving you inaccurate results. So what happens within six hours the reagent starts reacting with the moisture. 24 hours of bag left open. So some sometimes we leave the bag open behind somewhere in our youths and we've forgotten about it. Five days later we come to it, those discs are not going to be nice. So we want to really look after those discs very easy. It doesn't take a second to just seal the foil bag. It in fact says on the bag itself, reseal the foil bag.

SPEAKER_04 22:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 22:49

I I understand it's not happening in Nix store because. He's chewing up the discs faster than six carbons. He does. And then he's he's going through. Sorry, Nick, I thought I'll put you in the double bit.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

It gets a little bit crazy with the spin discs running. But I did notice one shop they used to stack them up. And I think that'd be fun to do to see how high you could get it.

SPEAKER_05 23:11

I I actually think you should put them on fishing line and hang them from the ceiling, Nick. I reckon if you could make Christmas decorations out of them this year.

SPEAKER_03 23:18

All right, we'll try that. We understand the practical scenario. That's what I wanted to point down to, not pointing out the link. We understand practical scenario where you're going to chew off the ten this in no time. We understand that. But the best practice is to seal the foil back between each uses. So when with a hot seal on the bag, this never open, these are valid until the date it really specifies on the packet, which is usually around two years from the date of manufacturing. By the time we get it here, you're comfortably getting more than 18 months, especially for two or four, I would say.

SPEAKER_05 23:53

Are they affected by light?

SPEAKER_03 23:56

They they can be affected by lights, yes.

SPEAKER_05 23:58

Yeah. So my question for this was, and you I might get wrapp wrapped over the knuckles here. In my shop, because we used to go through so many of them, and my staff weren't good at closing the bag, we actually had an airtight container that we used to decant the discs into. And we actually purposely, because we weren't sure whether they were affected by light or not at the time, we actually plastered the container in the foil from the bag. One, it showed what was in the container, but two, it actually kept the the light out. Is there anything wrong with doing that?

SPEAKER_03 24:34

So best practice and how we know that the discs are going to be contained into the best environment is to leave it in that foil bag itself. The bag has moisture absorbent pillow end. That's number one. Number two, the bag has become now even thicker. The quality of that bag has even gone to the level up. And we know the integrity of that bag. We know there has been a heavy experiments done onto that particular bag, so we know how long it can last into. So we want to look after those sort of things. Now the second part to that, when you open the hot seal from the bag and religiously seal the foil bag, how long are those things valid now? They are now not valid until the date it specifies on it. Because now we've introduced the moisture to that thing. They are valid for 30 to 60 days depending on how we go.

SPEAKER_05 25:30

How well we seal the bag.

SPEAKER_03 25:31

That's right. And the third part is which I've already opened is when you leave the bag open. It only lasts for 24 hours. So we want to look after this little thing. And the life is really dependent on you sealing the foil bag. How easy it is to do that. One of the best practices, what we say, is to seal the foil bag. Very easy to do so.

SPEAKER_05 25:56

I wish you still did the individual wrapped ones. I know Nick doesn't, but I wish that that way for home. Because I have a water leak spin, of course, because I use it for my training. But of course, when I use that for training, I'm only using sort of one disc at a time. And it can be quite a gap in between training deliveries. And so I often find the bag spoils, which is really annoying. And if I need to open a bag for my pool at home, I always feel guilty. So so I would would appreciate individually wrapped ones, but Jason tells me that's not happening anytime soon.

SPEAKER_03 26:34

So the reason the reason we went from single wrapped to we still have drinking water discs.

SPEAKER_05 26:41

We still have the 501s and the 601s, they're all individually wrapped, aren't they?

SPEAKER_03 26:47

They are all individually rare. They still come in that little thing. The the reason it's gone in that is for two re two main reasons. One is obviously the environmental factor. Individually rare did create a lot of environmental waste. To reduce that a single foil bag. And on the other side of it is we could contain the price for our end user.

SPEAKER_05 27:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 27:13

And and that's one of the major reasons with we could we can do everything. We want to do anything and everything at our disposal to not increase the prices. We want to take all the opportunities so that the end user can uh get the same price what they got last year.

SPEAKER_04 27:32

Yes. And we all like that. We all like that one.

SPEAKER_03 27:36

With with this, it helped us import a larger quantity into a smaller box. Hence we could contain the price. So that that's the main reason. And and going back on individually laptop would be a challenging one again.

SPEAKER_05 27:50

Yeah. No, I completely, I completely understand. But yeah, it's probably a few listeners out there aren't aware of all the different disks that you do do. So the I'm just mentioned the 501s and the 601s. I see them because I work with aquatic facilities and uh my commercial clients used to use them. So the 501s now, correct me because my memory might be not so good here, but the 501s are the free chlorine and total chlorine and pH. And then the 601s are the free chlorine, pH, and alkalinity.

SPEAKER_03 28:27

Hold on, look at you call it.

SPEAKER_05 28:28

Alzheimer's hasn't set in yet. I might be in the industry for nearly 30 years, but but the they have three tests in one disk. And that always amazes me. How does it know?

SPEAKER_03 28:41

There is uh obviously spin is smart enough to know the reacted, the current reacted section. So there are three sections on that particular disk. And each section can be filled once. The idea behind that if you're using a software platform, you fill one section and you get the results for it, and let the software evaluate what is required and a recipe is generated to balance it. That's that's the whole story behind it. But some of the aquatic centers where they have three water bodies, they will fill one, two, three sections.

SPEAKER_04 29:26

Oh, it can.

SPEAKER_03 29:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:28

I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_03 29:29

That that that is something which can be only done on the spin touch unit itself. But when you're going to use it with the software, the software is not capable to get that in one go, and also not able to tell the software. I mean, the spin is not able to tell, or software is not able to accept that particular thing. Then it's good. This is for pool A.

SPEAKER_05 29:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:51

This is for pool B. Pool C.

SPEAKER_05 29:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 29:54

That that link is sort of missing, but you can do three tests together, many of them don't.

SPEAKER_05 30:00

And you gotta remember which pool you put in, which um examining. It it for them is uh A, B, C pool, and for it's like because there is it's written on the this, which is section one, which is section two, and they're they're yeah, they're very clever, and and I've even suggested them to businesses that I've worked with that actually are testing pools on a daily basis, they don't need to do the full range of tests, they only need to do it once a week. So why not use the the three test discs when when you're testing yeah. So can you use you can can you use that one disc? So let's ask the question. If I've got a swimming pool and I'm a commercial aquatic facility and I don't need to do the full range every day, I just need to do free chlorine pH and total clo uh total alkalinity, let's say, or free and free and total and pH. Either way, it doesn't matter. If I only need to do that test once a day, though, can I use chamber one today, chamber two tomorrow, chamber three on Wednesday?

SPEAKER_03 31:07

That that's going to be tricky because the life of the bag is only 24 hours. Ah, right. That's that that's where it goes slightly wonky. And after 24 hours, the results cannot be really relied on.

SPEAKER_05 31:20

Because the disk is open to the air.

SPEAKER_03 31:23

Yeah. The the whole point is is as a general rule, you want to or most of the health guidelines say it slightly differently, but they are very close to each other. And the health guidelines say you want to do free chlorine, total chlorine, get the reading for combined chlorine, pH. Depending on what sort of system you have, you won't you may have to do every three hours, every four hours, depending or at least once a day. And for those people who want to do once a day, they can do uh two or fours, and every day they do the same story. You can use 501s at 8 a.m. today, one section, then eight before eight a.m. second day, then you're going to waste the third section. Rather than that, get the tester because there will be so much weather load in it.

unknown 32:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 32:07

You want to really protect your patrons into the pool rather than put them up for challenge. So you go down, do the idea behind that was do two or fours in the morning and throughout the day you keep an eye out using five or one series. This doing every four hours do a test. At least measure your combines and pH so that everyone's happy in no one's falling sick and they constantly. I often take my daughter to the to the local swim school. And I know how they l when when there's an accident, and I know how they look into it. And she's mm she loves swimming. She's crazy about swimming. Not because that RV are there in the industry. She she just loves swimming. She's been swimming from 18 months, age when she was 18 months. So all these accidents are something which happens. And I'm not saying that that happens regularly, but there are so much contaminants from our body that goes into the pool. And I we know what kids do into the pool. They've not gone of the pool for a long time. So that's something which we can keep in contain by using the manual testing and always help our patrons to have healthy and safe swimming, I would say.

SPEAKER_05 33:24

Yeah. I do have to say my husband Scott was guilty of taking test strips with him to swimming lessons one day and turned around to find them bobbing behind him in the water. You can take the pool. Yeah, you can take the pool technician out of the industry, but you can't take the industry out of the pool technician. No. He was well and truly entrenched at that time. But yes, it does make you once you understand water and you understand water quality and how important it is to bathe a health and safety, you do look at public swimming pools so differently. So differently.

SPEAKER_02 33:57

I'm lucky. I'm lucky where the girls learned that we look after the pool there. So even extra motivation to make sure it's nice and clean.

SPEAKER_05 34:06

Well, thank you so much for joining us today. Um, this has definitely been a lengthy one. So I know Rudy will split this into two episodes. But as always, you are a wealth of information. And I think Nick and I have both got a lot out of the conversation.

SPEAKER_04 34:23

Most definitely.

SPEAKER_05 34:24

And I'm sure our listeners have too. So thank you so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_03 34:29

Good for having you.

SPEAKER_05 34:30

We hope that you'll come back sometime soon and join us again.

SPEAKER_03 34:34

Yes, definitely. I'd love to be here. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_05 34:38

So, listeners, thank you very much for joining us. I'm sure you got a wealth of knowledge out of today's episode and probably last week's episode by the time we split this into two. But thank you very much for listening. If you have any questions, please reach out at talkingpools at gmail.com and Rudy will dish those questions out to the most applicable host. Until next week, when we hope that you will join us again on Mondays down under on the Talking Pools podcast. Have a fantastic week ahead. Thanks, guys.

SPEAKER_00 35:11

Bye. Bye.