The Pools Scientific Podcast

John Cooper
  • 5.0 (25)
  • Science
  • Updated Weekly

The Pools Scientific Podcast is the only science-based pool care podcast hosted by a credentialed engineer. John Cooper — M.S. Nuclear Engineering, B.S. Chemical Engineering, U.S. Navy Nuclear Operator and submarine veteran, and five-time PHTA certified professional — breaks down pool water chemistry, the Langelier Saturation Index, salt chlorine generators, CYA management, water balance, and everything in between. Built for pool owners who want to understand their water, service professionals who want to sharpen their science, and pool company owners who want a knowledge-based competitive edge. New episode every Tuesday. PoolsScientific.com

  1. 6d ago

    Episode 17: Pool Additives: What Borates, Enzymes, Clarifiers, and Phosphate Removers Actually Do | The Pools Scientific Podcast

    Ten products sit on every pool store shelf with almost no real explanation attached: borates, enzymes, non-chlorine shock, chlorine neutralizers, clarifiers, flocculants, mineral and ionizer systems, scale control, defoamers, and phosphate removers.  This episode goes through each one with the actual chemistry, what it is, what it does, and when it earns a place in your pool, no gimmicks, no shopping list.  Learn the real mechanism behind pool clarifier versus flocculant, whether a pool ionizer is worth it, what phosphate remover actually does to algae risk, and why enzyme treatment might save your sand filter media for decades.  Show notes and free resources at PoolsScientific.com. Subscribe to the weekly email list for episode updates. Ebooks available at payhip.com/poolsscientific. Follow us on Instagram @poolsscientific24. The Pools Scientific Podcast is produced by Pools Scientific LLC — Elevated Pool Care Through Science and Technology.

  2. Aug 5

    Best Pool Test Kit: Which One Should You Actually Trust | The Pools Scientific Podcast

    Test strips, drop titration, photometric readers, digital salt meters, TDS probes, automated monitors, even your thermometer.  Every real type of pool test kit, not sponsored or promoted, explained with the honest pros and cons of each, so you can pick the one that actually fits how you test.  Then a real world comparison: five different kits, one pool, wildly different numbers, and the actual reason why.  If you're trying to find the best pool test kit for your own water, this covers the whole decision, not just one product pick.  Show notes and free resources at PoolsScientific.com. Subscribe to the weekly email list for episode updates. Ebooks available at payhip.com/poolsscientific. Follow us on Instagram @poolsscientific24. The Pools Scientific Podcast is produced by Pools Scientific LLC — Elevated Pool Care Through Science and Technology.

  3. Aug 4

    Episode 16: Too Much Chlorine in Your Pool? Why This High Reading Was Actually Correct | The Pools Scientific Podcast

    A health inspector failed a pool that had nothing wrong with it, for having too much chlorine.  What actually happened next traces back through a hundred years of pool chlorine history, a cyanuric acid relationship most codes get wrong, and a real arithmetic error sitting inside a real municipal pool code.  Full citations, both code excerpts, and the chemistry sources are in the show notes at poolsscientific.com  Show notes and free resources at PoolsScientific.com. Subscribe to the weekly email list for episode updates. Ebooks available at payhip.com/poolsscientific. Follow us on Instagram @poolsscientific24. The Pools Scientific Podcast is produced by Pools Scientific LLC — Elevated Pool Care Through Science and Technology.

  4. Jul 28

    Episode 15: Pool Circulation: Hydraulics, Thermodynamics, and the Machine Nobody Explains | The Pools Scientific Podcast

    Every pool runs on the same hydraulic loop, suction, pump, filter, and returns, and almost nobody who owns one has ever had it explained.  John Cooper walks through the real physics behind pump cavitation, why turning a pump up rarely fixes a dead spot, and how a simple piece of equipment most pool owners have never heard of uses pure physics to protect a cartridge filter.  From there, the same water carries into thermodynamics: thermal stratification, evaporative cooling, and how temperature swings quietly move a pool's LSI hour by hour.  It all closes on a real field story, a negative edge pool, a pump fighting sixteen feet of head it was never built to handle, and the pump curve that finally proved it.  Show notes and free resources at PoolsScientific.com. Subscribe to the weekly email list for episode updates. Ebooks available at payhip.com/poolsscientific. Follow us on Instagram @poolsscientific24. The Pools Scientific Podcast is produced by Pools Scientific LLC — Elevated Pool Care Through Science and Technology.

  5. Jul 21

    Episode 14: Pool Algae: What Actually Kills It (And Why You Probably Don't Need Algaecide) | The Pools Scientific Podcast

    Your pool can test high on free chlorine and still turn green.  This episode walks through the full life cycle of a pool algae bloom, how it stays dormant for weeks, why it seems to appear overnight, and what actually happens at the cellular level when it dies.  We cover all four types you'll actually run into, green, mustard, black, and pink slime, plus the real chemistry behind the cyanuric acid to chlorine ratio that determines whether a bloom takes hold in the first place.  Then we get into pool algaecide itself: what's actually in the bottle (quats, polyquats, copper), how each one works, and an honest answer to a question the industry rarely explains clearly, does algaecide actually work, or is it solving a problem correct chlorine already solves on its own.  Show notes and free resources at PoolsScientific.com. Subscribe to the weekly email list for episode updates. Ebooks available at payhip.com/poolsscientific. Follow us on Instagram @poolsscientific24. The Pools Scientific Podcast is produced by Pools Scientific LLC — Elevated Pool Care Through Science and Technology.

  6. Jul 14

    Episode 13: The 10X Lie: Shocking Your Pool Isn't What You Think It Is | The Pools Scientific Podcast

    Shock has become the answer to every pool problem, which is the first sign nobody's actually answering the question. There's exactly one chemistry accurate definition of shocking a pool: achieving breakpoint chlorination. Everything else calling itself shock is borrowing a word it was never entitled to. This episode traces the industry's 10X shock rule back to where it actually came from, a mismatch between a ratio built to measure raw ammonia and a test kit reading of chlorine that's already reacted, decades old and never caught. Then it walks through what actually happens in your water during breakpoint chlorination, how chloramines form, how they break apart, and the real math behind how much chlorine you actually need, using real product pricing to show exactly what the old rule has been costing pool owners for years. Includes a working shock dose calculator, live now at PoolsScientific.com, so you can run your own numbers before you add another pound of anything to your water. Show notes and free resources at PoolsScientific.com. Subscribe to the weekly email list for episode updates. Ebooks available at payhip.com/poolsscientific. Follow us on Instagram @poolsscientific24. The Pools Scientific Podcast is produced by Pools Scientific LLC — Elevated Pool Care Through Science and Technology.

  7. Jul 7

    Episode 12:Combined Chlorine and Chloramines: Why Your Pool Smells Like Chlorine When You Actually Need More of It | The Pools Scientific Podcast

    If your pool smells like chlorine and your eyes are stinging, you've probably heard the same explanation everybody hears: too much chlorine.  That answer is backwards. In this episode, John Cooper breaks down what's actually happening in that water. Free chlorine reacts with the nitrogen everyone brings into a pool (sweat, saliva, sunscreen, and yes, urine) to form chloramines. There are three of them, monochloramine, dichloramine, and trichloramine (also called nitrogen trichloride), and the last one is the compound doing the damage. It doesn't stay in the water. It leaves, right at the height of your nose and eyes, which is why that chloramine smell and the red eyes it causes are so much worse indoors and in a hot tub than they ever are in a backyard pool. John walks through the real history behind this chemistry (a 1974 water treatment textbook, a case report that named a condition called lifeguard lung, and a CDC investigation into indoor pool air quality at a water park where the water tested clean the entire time) and a real field case from a Kansas City metro hot tub. He also explains why hot tub chemistry is the single most demanding body of water on your property, and why a clear hotel hot tub with a chemical smell isn't reassurance. What you'll learn in this episode:  Why combined chlorine and trichloramine, not too much chlorine, cause that smell and the red eyes  The three chloramines and why each one matters differently  Why hot tub chloramine problems build faster than pool problems, and what that means for you  Why pool shock not working for long is the expected outcome, not a fluke  What to test for before you get in a hotel hot tub Before next week: test your own water. If you don't have a good test kit, get one, and learn to use it. A combined chlorine reading above 0.5 ppm means chloramines are building in your water right now. Next week: breakpoint chlorination, and why the number everyone's heard for it is wrong. Full show notes and sources for this episode are at Poolsscientific.com. Show notes and free resources at PoolsScientific.com. Subscribe to the weekly email list for episode updates. Ebooks available at payhip.com/poolsscientific. Follow us on Instagram @poolsscientific24. The Pools Scientific Podcast is produced by Pools Scientific LLC — Elevated Pool Care Through Science and Technology.

  8. Jul 1 ·  Bonus

    Stop Buying Pool Chemicals You Don't Need: The Chemist's Circle, Explained

    A short, straight answer to what the Chemist's Circle is, what it costs, and why it exists. Two personalized chemistry submissions a month, a real response within twenty four hours, written for your pool, not a general answer. Plus the founding rate, the one thing this week's episode doesn't say on air, locked in permanently for as long as you stay a member. The first hundred people get it. After that, it moves to standard pricing and doesn't come back down. Join at poolsscientific.com/chemists-circle Show notes and free resources at PoolsScientific.com. Subscribe to the weekly email list for episode updates. Ebooks available at payhip.com/poolsscientific. Follow us on Instagram @poolsscientific24. The Pools Scientific Podcast is produced by Pools Scientific LLC — Elevated Pool Care Through Science and Technology.

See All (19)

5
out of 5
25 Ratings

About

The Pools Scientific Podcast is the only science-based pool care podcast hosted by a credentialed engineer. John Cooper — M.S. Nuclear Engineering, B.S. Chemical Engineering, U.S. Navy Nuclear Operator and submarine veteran, and five-time PHTA certified professional — breaks down pool water chemistry, the Langelier Saturation Index, salt chlorine generators, CYA management, water balance, and everything in between. Built for pool owners who want to understand their water, service professionals who want to sharpen their science, and pool company owners who want a knowledge-based competitive edge. New episode every Tuesday. PoolsScientific.com

Information

  • Creator
    John Cooper
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    19
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Pools Scientific Podcast
  • Show Website
    The Pools Scientific Podcast

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