Good Neighbor Podcast Live

E334: Pool Secrets Unveiled

• Garfield Bowen

Share episode

Dive into the surprisingly complex world of pool maintenance with Ross Negger, founder of Tiki Nui Pool Care Inc. Ross's journey from Vancouver-born mechanical engineer to Florida pool expert is a testament to entrepreneurial adaptability. After building and selling various companies and working in the film industry, pandemic shutdowns led him to seek a recession-proof business—finding his answer in Florida's 25 million privately owned pools.

Ross shatters common misconceptions that plague pool owners. Did you know that crystal-clear water can still harbor harmful bacteria? Or that the strong "chlorine smell" actually indicates you need MORE chlorine, not less? Perhaps most surprising is the truth about saltwater pools—they don't eliminate chlorine; they generate it continuously! These insights represent just a fraction of the expert knowledge Ross has accumulated and documented in his comprehensive pool maintenance book, which he generously offers free to listeners.

The name "Tiki Nui" reflects a personal touch—inspired by Ross's three daughters who dance in Polynesian style. This family connection underscores the values driving his business as it services approximately 300 residential pools throughout the Treasure Coast. When he's not ensuring pristine pools, Ross embraces adventure through international travel with his wife, rides his Harley Davidson Road King, and learns to sail, dreaming of future catamaran journeys through island waters.

Ready to transform your pool experience with professional care or expert advice? Whether you're in Fort Pierce, Palm City, Jensen, or anywhere on the Treasure Coast—or simply seeking knowledge about proper pool maintenance—visit TikiNui.com or call 772-828-2281 to connect with a company that truly cares about being "the best, most professional pool company on the Treasure Coast."

Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Garfield Bowen.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of services or repairs for your swimming pool? Well, we may have somebody close to you. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, ross Negger, with Tiki Nui Pool Care Inc. Ross, how's it going today?

Speaker 3:

Hey, that's right. Thanks, Garfield. Thanks for having me on the Good Neighbor podcast.

Speaker 2:

Listen, we're excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us about your company.

Speaker 3:

Okay, well, maybe I'll go back to where I'm from. So I was born in Vancouver, canada, way over on the other coast, and studied mechanical engineering and, as many people do, I decided to do everything but what I studied, and so I've had a number of different careers over the years and I've built and sold various companies, and most recently I had been working in the motion picture industry in Hollywood North and Corona again, and shut everything down. And then, you know, eventually we came back and then we had two overlapping strikes which shut down the industry again. So I was looking for something that was sort of recession slash, pandemic proof, and I've always wanted to move to Florida.

Speaker 3:

So my research led me to swimming pools and I discovered that the state of Florida has 25 million privately owned pools, so it's a huge business. So, you know, one thing led to another and I found a gentleman on the Treasure Coast here that he and his wife were ready to retire, and I bought their book of business and formed a company named Tiki Nui Pool Care, and that name is strange to some pool care, and that name is is strange to some. But the background of that is my three daughters dance Polynesian style, dancing like Hawaiian hula, and so they wanted something that reflected that Polynesian spirit, and so we came up with this name. That is quite different and unique, and today we have four technicians and we service around 300 residential pools on the Treasure Coast.

Speaker 2:

When it comes to pool care and repair. What are some of the myths and misconceptions?

Speaker 3:

I'm glad you asked. I actually I'd say I have five or six that come up regularly and form a lot of the conversations that I have with people. So the first myth around pool cleaning is if my water looks clean, then it must be clean, and that's not always true. Pool water can look crystal clear but still have bacteria, microalgae and a serious imbalance of chemistry that can affect your health and your pool equipment. The second myth about pool cleaning is you know, my pool smells like chlorine, so it must have too much chlorine in it, and while actually pure chlorine is almost odorless, what you're actually smelling is chloramines, which is a chlorine that is bound to all that nasty stuff that gets into the pool, like sweat, urine and other dissolved solids. So if you smell that, the solution is actually, ironically, more chlorine to break up all of that stuff. The third myth around pool maintenance is I don't see any debris in my pool, so it must be okay to turn off my pump and not run it much. Well, most of those contaminants that you were talking about are microscopic and a pool ideally should actually run 24 hours a day. You know, the only reason we turn off our pool pumps is to save money on the electrical bill. So you know, in a perfect world we would run our pool pump around the clock.

Speaker 3:

Myth number four around pool maintenance is the sun helps to disinfect my pool, and this is completely false. Actually, the sun is our worst enemy, and it not only feeds algae, which is an organic marine plant. So one of the two things a plant needs is sunlight, but the sun also destroys the chlorine in a matter of hours. The liquid chlorine that we put in the pool is completely vaporized by the sun if there is no stabilizer, um, and of course too much stabilizer is also bad, because that renders the pouring ineffective. Uh, and that kind of leads us into point number five, which is I never need to change my pool water because it rains so much here in Florida, um, that it's always full, and you know that might be true, but there are certain solids, minerals, things like calcium that build up over time and there's no effective way to remove these things. You know our guys, with a net or vacuum, cannot get those microscopic particles out of that water.

Speaker 3:

So a pool should be drained and refilled every four or five years, and you know we have some pools we manage that I'll bet have not been drained in 25 years. So you know, for your health, you know your pool should be drained occasionally. And then the last, and this is really my favorite, and this may be because of just general misconceptions, it may be because of you know, sales pitch, you know from the equipment stores or wherever, but I've heard this at least once a week for the last two years, and it's saltwater pools do not use chlorine, and that's completely false. It's funny Saltwater pools actually generate chlorine all day long. Water pools actually generate chlorine all day long. And so it's true that you're not dosing chlorine into a saltwater pool, and that's only true because the pool is making the chlorine as it goes. So I would say those are the top six myths when it comes to pool cleaning and maintenance.

Speaker 2:

Very interesting. I'm sure my listeners can learn a lot. I took some notes while you were talking there. Now we know marketing is the key to every business. Who's your target audience and what are you doing to attract them?

Speaker 3:

That's a good question. Well, basically our target audience is anyone that lives to the north, I'd say in Fort Pierce, anyone south to Palm City, over to the east, over to Jensen, that owns a house with a pool in the backyard. So we basically will service just about any type of residential pool and spa. Just about any type of residential pool and spa. The only one that we really have difficulty with is the. You know the above ground, you know pop-up pools, and for those we're happy to lend advice and or to do the chemistry to help folks with those.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 3:

And have you ever thought about doing your own podcast? I actually have. I've dabbled a little bit. I have the professional microphone and I actually am quite interested in the engineering.

Speaker 3:

As a, as a young person, I love to, um, to get to the, you know, down to the nitty gritty and go down the rabbit hole and really become an expert at the thing I'm doing. And so, um, you know, I've I've spent much of my free time the last couple of years studying pool chemistry and what makes a pool great and what makes pools go bad, and I've actually written a book that um. You know that I can. I'd be happy to send folks a free digital copy if they're listening to this podcast. That will help someone, whether they live in our area or not, to manage their own pool everything from the chemistry to the cleaning to the diagnosing, you know, leaks and problems, and I'd be happy to give that to anybody that either wants to manage their own pool or just sort of bone up on their knowledge so that they can have an intelligent conversation with their pool professional.

Speaker 2:

I know a lot of our listeners here. They want to know more about Ross Outside of work. When you're not busy running your business. What do you like to do for fun?

Speaker 3:

Oh well, my wife and I love to travel. I think we've been to about 10 countries since the end of Corona. Again, I've got a Harley Davidson Road King that I don't get on enough, but I love to ride and the last year and a half or so I've been learning to sail and so that's sort of you know, somewhere off in the sunset for my wife and I may be spending some time on a catamaran out in the islands.

Speaker 2:

Okay, ross, I want you to tell our listeners, if nothing else, that they were just to remember one thing, what should be the one thing they should remember about Tiki Nui Pool Care Inc.

Speaker 3:

We care and we want to be the best, most professional pool company on the Treasure Coast and whether you're hiring us or you're just looking for some advice, you know we'd be happy to, even to give you some information. If you're not in our area you live in Texas or California I'll give you some advice on how to select a professional pool company.

Speaker 2:

Okay, Listeners here now just have one word on their lips, and that is how. How do we get more information on Tiki Nui Pool Care Inc.

Speaker 3:

Oh, the easiest way is just to go to our website. It's TikiNui T-I-K-I-N-U-I dot com, or call us at 772-828-2281.

Speaker 2:

Listen, Ross, we really appreciate you having on the show. We wish you and your business the very best Moving forward.

Speaker 3:

Thank you so much, garfield, I really appreciate you.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to thefield. I really appreciate you. 772-362-3840.