A NEW Boss in San Diego!

The SCP (Our Class) Building in San Diego

We opened up our 2010 SCP San Diego CPO class this past Thursday and Friday, March 4-5.  A new boss was in town, too - David Ogren — a.k.a. “David-O”.  Congratulations on the new job and promotion, Dave!  And thank you for the red carpet welcome!

We arrived at SCP the day before class to set up the classroom in advance and everything went very smoothly.

As always, the first day of class is jam-packed with information, but it was no problem for this class!  We had a few 15-20 year veteran pool guys, a 25+ year  aquatics manager of a nearby school district (11 competition pools), and a couple of pool operators/managers of an oceanside resort — one of them was also a bio-chemist!  We had great discussions about pool water chemistry; water balance, chlorine, cyanuric acid (aaah, yes–”cyanuric acid” - “stabilizer” - “conditioner”–whatever you want to call it).

Chlorine / CYA Chart (all values are ppm)

As we were going through CT values of various pathogens it was pointed out that the values did not take in to consideration the effect of cyanuric acid on chlorine.  Yes, CYA does protect chlorine from the sun, but it also slows down the killing time AND oxidation times of the pathogens.  How much does it slow it down? — well — it depends on how much cyanuric acid is in the water.

Here’s a simple chart that shows how much chlorine is needed to have the same killing/oxidation effect per amount of CYA.

Steve Donohoe and David Ogren

There are a couple of great swimming pool maintenance forums out on the internet: Trouble Free Pool and The Pool Forum.  They both have very sound  technical information, backed up by research papers.  This chart comes from the Trouble Free Pool forum: HERE.

Thanks again, David-O….and thanks to your entire SCP crew!  See you again in June!

The Rain Continues — Riverside, February 2010

Michael Torres & E. J. Wamsley working at the SCP counter in Riverside, CA

The rains just keep on coming here in Southern California…but no complaints here! — its all needed and welcomed!

Speaking of welcome —  E.J Wamsley and crew gave us a huge welcome back to open up our first CPO class in Riverside for 2010 this past Thursday and Friday, February 4-5.  Thanks guys!

Our class again was as diverse as ever - new guys, seasoned pool guys, and facility managers.   They came from distant areas of California, too:   Santa Barbara, Yucaipa and Indian Wells!

Starting off  the first day of class, we learned some new terminology, and about constants, formulas and conversions, while also learning about BTU’s,  the area of a circle (πR²), square inches to square feet, PPM…..and much more.

What’s PPM? — Parts Per Million — it is a weight ratio.  An example:  1 ppm of chlorine means that there is 1 pound of elemental chlorine to 1 million pounds of water.  What’s a million pounds of water? — about 120,000 gallons.  How many pounds of elemental chlorine in 1 gallon of liquid chlorine? — Oh, about 1 pound.

They love the Mike n' Ike's & Hot Tamales!

So if you add 1 gallon of liquid chlorine to a 120,000 gallon pool, you will raise the chlorine level 1 PPM (it does not take much).  For a regular backyard pool - 15,000 gallons ( 1/8 of 120,000) it only takes 1 pint to raise it 1 PPM  (1/8 of a gallon = 1 pint) or 1 quart to raise it 2 PPM! .  Hey–you just learned the definition of PPM and how to use it!…a step towards understanding pool water chemistry.

Some popular changes and additions in 2010:

- Our Mike n’ Ike’s and Hot Tamale candies, hand-wrapped in our new CPO class schedule-YUM!….and

- Our new Thursday-Friday classes are a win-win for us, for PoolCorp and for our students (plus everyone gets to go home at 5:00 p.m. on a week day!–hooray!)

Thank you, PoolCorp — you’re AWESOME!

Rain Starts the New Year In Anaheim!

Our New Venue in Anaheim

Our first CPO class this year was held January 21-22, 2010 at the beautiful PoolCorp Anaheim operational support facility (previously, the headquarters for Superior Pool Products LLC).

Despite 5 days of rain (3-4 inches) and some area flooding , we still had a great turnout for class and all students arrived safely.

In addition to the local travelers, we had students from San Diego, Santa Barbara, Simi Valley, and even one from Waikoloa, Hawaii! — everyone commented on the nice building and exceptional classroom environment.

Class started out with our customary student introductions, and then we progressed through the curriculum.  When we got to the infamous Chapter 4:  Pool Water Contamination,  we discussed Recreational Water Illnesses (RWI) and what causes them.  Students were amazed to learn about all the bacteria, parasites and viruses that can and do get into our swimming pool water!  Ugh!!

Recreational Water Illnesses at a Glance

Being aware of these “bad bugs” and knowing how to prevent RWI is a fundamental skill of the Certified Pool/Spa Operator. Check out this brief outline (right) on what can make you sick in the swimming pool.

Thank you’s go to:  Don White for allowing us to have class in this beautiful facility; to Shelly Miller for being such a gracious host; and to Elizabeth Nappi for seeing us out a little late on Friday afternoon.  You guys are AWESOME!  We are really looking forward to our next class there in March!

Shelly Miller and Steve Donohoe -- It was cold and rainy -- but we did stay dry!

Last Class in 2009

Class finale of 2009

We had our last class of 2009 the weekend before Thanksgiving on Friday and Saturday, November 20-21.  We were teaching at our home base:  PoolCorp’s SCP, Orange, CA location.

All the classes have had their own personality and this one was no different.

As we were going through the presentations regarding water contamination, pool water problems, water circulation, and filtration — it all came down to this:  we need to disinfect to kill harmful pathogens.

And then we focused on:  ’How do you get the dead pathogens and other microscopic contaminates out of the water?’  Well, in many ways:

1. Oxidation — by break point chlorination, ozone, potassium, or using enzymes
2. Diluting or draining the pool water
3. Nano filtration

Nano filtration! — What’s that?  Well, as it turns out, one of the students owns a company that built a portable nano-filtration system that can filter out pool water contaminates, calcium and other dissolved solids; thus, reclaiming 75% of the water.  A very interesting coincidence, don’t you think!

We took a few pictures of our last class, but the camera did not make it home from our out-of-town trip.  We misplaced it somehow, and it is not to be found….so no pictures this time–sorry!

Thank you Stan and Matt at SCP/Orange and thank you PoolCorp for a great year.  And a huge thank you to all our students this year for spending your resources and your time to improve our pool service industry!

Check our out 2010 schedule: 2010 CPO Class Schedule

Home Base In Orange, September 25-26 2009

Elise Keeping up with the Gobblers!

Our CPO classes at the SCP Orange location just keep getting better!  It was quite a lively group — 13 guys.  And nine of the thirteen were from a single hotel facility.  They were all co-workers — jab’n and jive’n each other throughout both days.   They did quite well in the class - contributing, asking great questions and doing very well on the test.  We all had a BLAST and laughed a lot!

Elise was workin’ hard to keep up with their hearty thirst and appetites!

Now -- How big is this filter?

The first day of class is always pretty exhausting for the students.  We go over all the formulas, calculations and everything you want to know about pool water chemistry — plus a bunch of other stuff.

Then at about 5:30 p.m. — all go home WITH homework.   Its fun to hear the stories the next morning — some students are dads with grade school/high school kids that poke fun at them — for “dad” having to do homework!  – and in some cases needing help, too!!

Thank you IPSSA and SCP!

Again, we want to thank SCP (PoolCorp)  for allowing us to hold our classes at their facility and IPSSA for enabling us — without them we could not do it!

It was over 100 degrees in Orange both days, and we had a bit of A/C problems in the afternoon….but with two big industrial fans, we made it through okay.  Thanks, Matt, for coming to our assistance!

Hey Matt? Where's your SCP work shirt?

Stan Kim, thank you for setting up for us Friday morning. And Matt Semonza, thank you for taking your personal time to lock and unlock the facility for us and for keeping an eye on us.

We snapped Matt’s picture with Steve outside the teaching facility, too!  Next time–we’ll get a picture of Stan–so get ready Stan!!

11 more in Orange, August 21-22

Eleven More Students in Orange, California learning how to operate an Aquatic Facility

We nearly had a full house in Orange, California this past Friday and Saturday, August 21-22.  I am always amazed at the various and wide variety of backgrounds of the students in our classes.  This class was especially interesting.  Of course, we always have the veteran pool guys.  They are always great and contribute quite a bit to the class — thanks guys!  We also had an realtor broker, who did quite well in the realty business, but got out before the bust.  He is now looking at the pool service industry as his next venture.   We also had two capital investment gurus — they have been studying the pool service industry for the past several months — they think its a very viable business and just wanted to learn the ‘nuts and bolts’ of it.  They are looking to “buy big” into the industry — they just need to find the right company/organization.  As we were finishing up the first day, a comment was made:  ”Do pool guys really know all this stuff?”  – The answer is NO! — You are going to know it only if you want to know it.  And I believe you NEED to know it to succeed in this business.  I think the days are numbered when all you need is a truck, a pole and a bucket of chlorine to be a pool guy.

Elise and I wish to thank Matt Semonza, Branch Manager-Orange and Stan Kim — Thanks again for hosting us and for your generous hospitality — you guys are great!

Palm Desert - again - August 7-8

Steve teaching about pH and the Importance of water balance

Our second class in Palm Desert was yet another great success!  Thanks to the crew at National Pool Tile, Palm Desert — especially Renee #2 (as we call her) — actually the store manager, Renee Nelson, was on vacation and Renee Clark was our host — Thank you Renee!

The desert was great — it was cooler in August than in our past visit in July.

We had nine in attendance.  It was not all guys though: one gal from the L.A. area of Montebello was in class.  She understood the importance of simply KNOWING WHAT YOU ARE DOING.  She was getting ready to go to work for a local aquatic facility.

Our next stop: back in Orange, California — we have 8 signed up so far and expect to have a few more.

Thanks again Renee Clark and the entire crew at National Pool Tile - Palm Desert.  We give a special thanks to Henry Gonzalez for his personal time on Saturday for locking up the facility!

And we cannot forget the continued support and help of Dave Barfuss, Superior Pool Products - Indio. Thanks Dave for the conference tables!

First in San Diego, July 24-25

San Diego - A Great Place to be

We held our first class in San Diego on July 24 and 25, 2009.  Unfortunately my wife, Elise, could not be there.  There was a sudden death in her family and she had to travel to Texas — please pray for her and her remaining family for peace and comfort.

We had a full house!  Nine guys in attendance.   We had entrepreneurial new guys getting into the pool service business and experienced, tenured  ’old guys’  in attendance.  I want to single out and thank these ‘old guys’.  There were two there, and they belong to the San Diego chapter of the Independent Pool and Spa Service Association (IPSSA).  They were there to fulfill their IPSSA chapter’s annual continuing educational requirement.  It was great to hear IPSSA members talk about the promotion of education and actually see them act upon the educational opportunities in the pool service industry.  Thanks guys!

I want to especially thank Brett Devanna, Manager of the SCP San Diego Branch, and his crew for their hospitality and gracious ‘red carpet’ welcome.  We’ll be back September 11-12.  We look forward to seeing you guys again!

CPO Class at SCP-Orange, June 19-20

How much do I add?

We had another great class! — this time at the SCP office in Orange California this past Friday and Saturday, June 19-20.  Eleven enthusiastic students!   They came from as far as Palmdale, Canoga Park, Riverside and San Clemente.   There were pool guys,  property managers, a student from a home owners association and a student from the Parks Division, Riverside County.

Steve is shown here teaching the class how to calculate the amount of chemical to add given a certain amount of water in the pool.

Our continential breakfast was a hit!  Thanks to my partner and lovely wife Elise.  We both want to thank the great crew at the SCP Orange facility: manager Matt Semonza, and Stan Kim — you guys are super!  We are now off to Palm Desert — for the first time.  We’ll be there on July 10-11.  We’re looking forward to it.

CPO Riverside Class-June 5-6, 2009

Steve teaches the Riverside class.

Elise–the novice at picture-taking/video–has new camera in hand and is trying to learn….don’t laugh too hard–this is a first attempt!  :o) Practice makes perfect….or so I hope!

Thank you E.J. Wamsley, Branch Manager, at SCP/Riverside and to PoolCorp for all your generosity in allowing us to teach at your facility!