Pool Chemistry and Maintenance From a Backyard Pool Owner
Nadia Caldwell · July 1, 2026
October, 7 a.m., at a Scottsdale community pool. Three sycamores towered over the deck, their branches shedding leaves with industrial efficiency. I’d cleared the skimmer basket before sunrise. By 9:30, the pump was cavitating hard. Four service calls later — noon hadn’t even arrived — homeowners were already lighting up my phone. You’ve been there … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · July 1, 2026
Two competing pieces of advice circulate constantly around pool decks and online forums, and they directly contradict each other. One says “pH drops naturally over time, so you shouldn’t add acid unless it gets above 8.0.” The other insists “high alkalinity causes everything, lower it first and pH will follow.” One of these is wrong … Read more
Nadia Caldwell · July 1, 2026
Back in spring, I’d notice the identical scene unfolding at a neighbour’s place: a brilliantly clear pool surface completely blanketed under a thick coating of yellow pine pollen, with the homeowner gripping a skimmer net with the expression of someone who’d personally declared war on the local tree canopy. Across more than ten years of … Read more