Maintaining water quality is essential for the health, safety, and comfort of swimmers. It also plays a role in maintaining the integrity of the pool, spa, and hot tub surface and associated equipment. Pool standards and codes require that the values for alkalinity, calcium hardness, pH, total dissolved solids, stabilizer, and the sanitizer all be within specific ranges. More recently, the concept of target values specific for each pool has been introduced, while others are recommending use of a balanced water index over both ranges and targets. This presentation will describe the similarities and differences between the three methods, and will provide a scientific rationale for recommending the best way to maintain the quality of pool, spa, and hot tub water.
Joseph Laurino, Ph.D., is the President and founder of Periodic Products Inc. and frequently conducts educational programs on water chemistry, metal staining, and surface remediation. During his career, he has held positions in both industry and academia, and has authored numerous scientific publications. He is the past chair of PHTA’s Recreational Water and Air Quality Committee, the current chair of its Technical Advisory Council, a member of PHTA’s board of directors, and its current chair-elect.
Earning her B.S. in Chemistry from Allegheny College (Meadville, PA) in the last century, Jody O'Grady has been able to apply her degree working for a leading chemical manufacturer of water testing supplies, Taylor Water Technologies LLC, which was recently acquired by Fluidra. Her numerous jobs throughout the company over the last several decades have included customer and technical services, large account management, product management, and is currently the Director of Customer Technical Support. Taking an idea from concept to supporting it out in the field has allowed this proud Taylor employee to interact with every department in the company along with the customer who it is intended for addressing all technical aspects. Ms. O’Grady is currently the chair of the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA) Recreational Water & Air Quality Committee (RWAQC).
John Weber is a Senior Formulation Chemist with BioLab where he is primarily responsible for new product development, supporting existing products, and evaluating new technologies. John has been in the pool and spa industry for over 26 years. John has been a manager in quality control, technical services, as well as new product development. John has worked with and/or been a member of the Recreational Water & Air Quality Committee (RWAQC) of the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA) for many years, and teaches numerous courses on water quality at trade shows annually. John earned his B.S. at Old Dominion University and M.B.A. at Georgia State University and holds 2 patents for new product development.