Pool Chemistry and Maintenance From a CPO
I’ve been managing pools for resort chains and homeowners associations across Arizona and New Mexico for the better part of a decade, and I can tell you with absolute certainty: the mesh pool fence question lands on my desk at least twice a month. “Nadia, should I spend $40 a foot on the dealer system … Read more
I’ve been managing pools for resorts and HOAs across the Southwest for over a decade, and I can tell you this: the moment a family with young children moves into a community, the conversation about pool safety shifts overnight. Last spring, I was consulting with an HOA that had installed permanent aluminum fencing around their … Read more
I’ve been managing pools for over fifteen years — resort pools in Arizona, HOA community pools in Nevada, aquatic centers that never close — and I can tell you that the panicked phone call I get most often sounds exactly like this: “Nadia, I shocked the pool last night like I always do, and this … Read more
I’ve been managing pools professionally for over fifteen years — resorts, HOA communities, luxury properties across the Southwest — and I can tell you with absolute certainty that the question I get most often from homeowner clients isn’t about algae or pH levels. It’s a version of this: “My granddaughter is visiting next weekend. What … Read more
I’ve been managing pools professionally for over a decade — resort properties with 200,000-gallon competition pools, HOA communities with back-to-back weekend swim parties, you name it. And one of the things that still makes me cringe every single time I see it is an old 120-volt incandescent pool light glowing away at the bottom of … Read more
Every spring, I get some version of the same call from a homeowner who bought an above-ground pool the previous summer. The conversation usually starts with “I thought it was supposed to be easy” and ends with me talking them through a swamp-green water crisis, a liner that looks like it aged ten years in … Read more
Let me paint you a picture I’ve seen a hundred times across the HOA communities and resort properties I’ve managed out here in the Southwest. A perfectly clean, well-maintained above-ground pool — water balanced to a textbook 7.4 pH, free chlorine holding steady at 2.0 ppm, cartridge filter running like a champ — and then … Read more
I’ve stood next to more frustrated pool owners than I can count — arms crossed, staring at water that looks like diluted skim milk, chemistry test strip in hand showing perfectly balanced chlorine and pH. “Nadia, I’ve done everything right,” they say. And honestly? They usually have. Chlorine is at 2-3 ppm. pH is sitting … Read more
It’s late April, you pull back the winter cover, and stare at what looks like pea soup. Your pool—the one you closed in November with perfectly balanced chemistry—is now a murky green swamp, and you’re wondering if you should just call a pool service and write a check for $800. Don’t. I’ve managed pools for … Read more
I’ve been managing pools for resorts and HOAs across the Southwest for over a decade, and I can tell you with absolute certainty: the most common question I hear in April is, “Will a solar cover actually heat my pool, or is it just a waste of money?” It’s a fair question. You’re looking at … Read more