FALLOF 2015

CLI NEWSLETTER

CLINDUSTRIES.COM

BUILDER SPOTLIGHTPAGE 3

This Fall’s CLI newsletter introduces our readers to the husband and wife team at Raszl Custom Pools and Spas from Ormond Beach, FL. Winners of multiple design awards, Ray and Kim put customer service at the forefront of their growing business.

Winter is knocking at the door, Danny Gallegos from Laguna Pools gives us some quick tips for winterizing your swimming pool.

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT PAGE 8Our West Coast sales manager used to light up the radar gun with his fast ball, but these days Blaine Johnson uses his competitive fire for helping his customers.

ASK AN APPLICATORPAGE 9

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POOL SCHOOL W/RANDY DUKES

CLI NEWSLETTERFOREWORDThere’s always something to look forward to when the seasons change.

With Fall upon us and Winter right around the corner we have football in full swing (high school, college, and NFL), the vibrant colors of fall foliage,Thanksgiving and those last days of warmth inviting you to take a dip in the pool. Your pool’s water color really comes to life this time of year, but make sure you skim those pesky leaves and acorns out so they don’t stain your finish. Then you can sit back, relax and enjoy all things fall, poolside.

In the Fall edition of our E-Newsletter we ask Danny Gallegos from Laguna Pool Plastering how to winterize our pools, learn what makes our West Coast sales manager Blaine Johnson tick, talk swimming pool design with Ray Raszl of Raszl Custom Pools and Spas, and much more.

For more information about our company and products please visit our website, www.clindustries.com. You can also stay in touch with us in real time with Facebook, Twitter (@CL_Industries), Youtube, Flickr, Pinterest and Houzz.

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BUILDER SPOTLIGHTRay Raszl and his wife Kim have been designing and building some amazing pools in Palm Coast, Ormond, Flagler Beach, and St. Augustine, Florida since 2003. They have built a great business by not only helping homeowners design and build their dream pool, but they have made the process easy and enjoyable. Pool ownership can seem daunting at first with so much to learn, so Raszl Custom Pools offers six months of complimentary pool service for every pool they build.

That same customer service motto led Ray to the applicators at Tempool Inc. and the products manufactured by

RAY RASZL of RASZL CUSTOM POOLS & SPASCL Industries. Tempool and CL Industries have dedicated customer service reps to make sure every customer gets a quality product in their swimming pool. Ray is from a rare breed of pool builders that take a hands-on approach to the craft. Ray can be seen plumbing a pool with his crew one day and installing tile another day. Working in the hot Florida heat is no joke. We commend Ray for his strong work ethic and leading by example with his crew. It’s no wonder Ray and team won #1 Pool Builder in the 2014 Reader’s Choice Awards in the Flagler/Palm Coast News-Tribune.

To further help homeowners, Raszl Custom Pool’s team frequently goes to Homeowner’s Associations meetings to take all the guesswork and headache out of the approval process. Along with easing customer’s minds, they also enjoy being creative when designing custom tile installations, mosaics, spillovers, and summer kitchens.

This featured ocean front pool really grabbed our attention at CL Industries. Ray’s design and tile choice brought out the watercolor and iridescent glass bead in the Cove Blue Ice pebble finish. The pictures really speak for themselves!

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Cove Blue Ice

RANDY DUKESPOOL SCHOOL WITH

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The method in which chlorine is electrolytically generated from saltwater is relatively simple. Table salt (NaCl) mixed with water is passed over a low voltage electric current decomposing the salt compound by electrolysis into a chlorine ion and a sodium hydroxide ion. The combination of the 2 ions in water becomes sodium hypochlorite which reacts to produce hypochlorous acid. Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is the primary compound responsible for pool disinfection.

Saltwater pools are not more susceptible to scale, but scale can occur in saltwater pools when there is high uncontrolled pH. High pH readings can be acceptable in colder climates, but heat above 86 degrees, rain, sunlight, and heavy bathing loads require lower levels of pH to maintain active levels of HOCl.

Controlling pH requires the use of pre-diluted hydrochloric or muriatic acid solution. A small pre-diluted amount of acid added frequently (3-5 times a week) is less traumatic than one large does once a week.

* Always add acid to water, never water to acid.

The acid used to lower the pH also lowers the alkalinity. Low alkalinity creates aggressive water that can be hard on the pool equipment and leach the calcium from the cementitious pool surface. Alkalinity is a pH buffer, so when it’s maintained between 90-110 ppm, alkalinity helps prevent a pH swing.

Calcium hardness levels should be maintained at 200, max 400 ppm (mg/l). Calcium hardness is usually more stable than pH, and it should be checked at least once a month. From personal experience, warm Florida pools with salt generators, or any pool in a warm environment or with a pool heater, should have calcium hardness near 300ppm.

Cyanuric acid levels should be maintained at 25-50 ppm (mg/l) Manufacturers recommend a maximum of 50 ppm, but research has shown that high cyanuric acid levels above 100 ppm can cause harmful effects on cement and metallic equipment.

There is much more scientific information available to you if you have further questions about salt systems. This article was not created to dissuade you from purchasing a saltwater generator, but we want to provide our applicators, builders, and home owners with the most accurate information available to us. If you need further assistance with water chemistry and clarification on the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI), please contact Randy Dukes at randy@aquavations.com. He owns a salt water chlorinator, and he is constantly trying to improve water chemistry education in the pool industry.

Randy Dukes

Mr. Johnson has really shown his leadership ability out west as of late. Blaine used to be a pitcher for his college baseball team at Sam Houston State University, so he’s comfortable in that leadership role in the large western territory. Rumor has it he used to bring the heat on the baseball diamond as well, throwing 87 mph fast balls.

Blaine got his start in the swimming pool industry working for Leslie’s Pool Supplies, making good money at an early age. He had his own store in Huntsville, Alabama and then moved back to his home state managing a store in Austin, Texas. Leslie’s Pool Supplies saw rapid growth. The company eventually went public on the stock market, and became one of the biggest in the industry with 65 stores in California and Texas.

Blaine attributes much of his success in the swimming pool industry to working in the retail environment. Learning about customer service, water chemistry, and

UPFRONT: $1,200 - $5,000

MONTHLY: $10 - $15

Chlorine pools have been portrayed as being harsher

to skin and hair. If your skin is itchy then your pH is too

high, if your pool is harsh on your hair then the chlorine

residual is too high.

UPFRONT: Price varies, but

on average in cheaper

than salt.

MONTHLY: $50 - $60

pool equipment proved invaluable in the plaster business.

After starting a family and working the long hours that the retail business requires, Blaine began working with CL Industries under the direction of Jimmy Herring in 2002. Blaine quickly provided great insight into product quality and consumer needs, while focusing on building strong business relationships in the Western region.

Today Blaine’s best sellers are Sunstone in Texas, and Hydrazzo on the west coast of the US and Canada. At the time of this interview, Blaine was in San Diego meeting with builders and distributors. That same day he was also on the phone with pool builders in Vancouver, Canada. The Canadian builders have seen the value in transporting quality pool finishes for their swimming pools with majestic views. Thanks to Blaine and our entire staff at CL Industries for their tireless work during the long summer season.

BLAINEJOHNSON

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1. A Saltwater pool does not feel like the ocean, and the water will not taste salty. A salt pool is about 1/10th as salty as the ocean.

2. There is a common misconception that salt water pools are much easier to maintain once you are educated on the process, but salt and chlorine pools both require diligent maintenance for proper water chemistry and safety.

3. 1x a week isn’t often enough tomaintain a salt-chlorinated poolbecause the pH gets to 8 or 9 andchlorine essentially “goes to sleep”within 3+ days.

This conclusion is the result of a five-month

study commissioned by the Independent

Pool and Spa Service Association at California

Polytechnic State University. When your pH

isn’t balanced, it affects other chemical factors

such as ORP, Oxidation Reduction Potential.

4. All salt products are not created equal. Some dissolve faster and some have more contaminates; ie. Iron manganese, nitrates, copper, phosphates, and sulfates to mention a few. Couple this with chloramine chlorination adapted by many municipalities and you have a condition that makes it difficult for the saltwater generators to reach the free chlorine necessary to overcome algae blooms and kill bacteria on their own.

5. Salt water pools can still create unhealthy swimming environments if not properly maintained. It is recommended that a pH of 7.3 +/- 0.1 be maintained. This number was established because of the pH of the human eye fluids is 7.385

6. It is no secret that salt corrodes, but improper water chemistry in a traditional chlorine pool can cause harmful effects as well.

7. If you don’t scrub the side walls of your pool, you run a higher risk of scale buildup, although this can happen in chlorine pools as well

8. Saltwater pool salt cells need to be replaced every 3-5 years at an average cost of $500-$900. (may last longer if properly maintained)

DISPELLING THE MYTH OF SALTWATER CHLORINATION

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT:

Ozone Chlorinators are quickly becoming popular in the pool industry as

technology is changing every day. Ozone is a terrific oxidizer, so chlorine

levels typically aren’t as high. It’s a slightly more efficient way to use

chlorine, but in the hot summer months you may need to

still keep your pool at 1.5-3ppm of Chlorine.

COST:

SALT CHLORINE

HEALTH:

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11Magazine | 2014

ASK ANAPPLICATOR

This edition’s “Ask an Applicator” is explained by industry professional Daniel Gallegos of Laguna Pools Corp in New Jersey. Mr. Gallegos explained why he is very thankful for the pool industry. He said, “I have met a lot of people in this industry who I truly consider friends. Some I can even consider family. I can call a numerous amount of people with an issue that I can’t resolve and they would try to help me find a solution and even check back in with me to see if the problem was resolved.”

Bill from New Jersey writes: “We live in the Northeast and we are going to winterize our

pool for the first time. What steps do we need to take to make sure our pool is ready to

swim in next summer?”

Daniel explains, “Here in the Northeast we have to deal with the temperatures dropping from summer to fall and fall to winter. That being said, there a several key steps that should be done when closing a pool so that it is ready to swim in next summer.”

BALANCE POOL WATERWater should be balanced to recommended levels prior to putting a cover over the pool. This will help protect the pool finish from scale build up and corrosion. Testing the water over the winter is the best way to prevent scale build up or corrosion. If chemicals are added into the pool water during the winter, a submersible pump should be placed in the water to circulate the chemicals in water since the pool equipment will be winterized.

VACUUM POOLRemoving all debris in the pool such as leaves or anything else that falls into the pool will help prevent staining and also prevent the growth of algae.

ADJUST WATER LEVELDraining the water down below the skimmer mouth will prevent any damage caused by freezing water that expands and could possibly crack the skimmer. Water should be removed from all pipes and pumps so that they remain intact. A winterizing plug should be used to plug return lines in pool to not allow water to get back into the pipes or filtration system.

CLEAN THE FILTERRemove filter hoses, spray the cartridge filter with filter cleaner, and then rinse it off. Open the drain at the bottom of the filter and let out any water that may be in the outlet, and if there’s an air relief valve, open it up. Then put the multi port valve in the closed position, and remove the pressure gauge.

COVER Install a winter or safety cover to keep the pool clean.

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