The Science
Healthy water starts with understanding water itself
We used to dread taking care of our pool. Then, thanks to research and education from Orenda®, our eyes were opened to a completely different way of thinking about water. We have used these principles to provide you a Personalized Pool Plan, based on how you answer our short questionnaire. Then we ship the products directly to your door, with step-by-step instructions on exactly how to use them, when, and why.
Pool chemistry doesn't need to be shrouded in mystery and confusing buzzwords. It doesn't need to be intimidating. It's actually simple, as long as you can look past the marketing and focus on the nature of water itself. Here are seven core lessons that the Personalized Pool Plan is based upon.
#1 - Water is a natural substance
...and therefore behaves based on natural laws (physics), not rules made by mankind. Water will always return to its natural state of equilibrium. To learn more about this, listen to this Rule Your Pool® podcast episode: The Three Constants.
Pools don't turn green because they hate us. Pools turn green because nature is reclaiming the water. Natural water is not disinfected and clean. Water cannot filter itself, nor can it sanitize itself.
Those of us who take care of swimming pools must accept this reality.
#2 - Water chemistry has two sides
...water balance (naturally controlled by physics), and water quality (unnaturally maintained by human actions like chlorination and filtration).
Pool store recommendations do not guarantee perfect water. They have you try to force water into an unnatural position, which forces water to fight its way back to equilibrium. Pool stores have you fighting symptoms, rather than root causes, leading to more issues and wasted chemicals. Improper use of chemicals creates of most of the issues in our pools. Water is just water.
#3 - Water is the constant
WE are the variable. Water will always do the same thing in the same manner. Physics are universal laws that we must accept and work with.
We get frustrated when water doesn't match meet our expectations (e.g. pool store printouts). But if we were doing things according to what water actually needs, water becomes incredibly predictable.
#4 - Byproducts
Algicides and other synthetic products introduce chemical conflicts and long-term byproducts into our water. We don't need, nor want them.
If you knew the chemical byproducts of algicides in chlorinated water, you wouldn't buy them. And that's only part of why we never add them to our water.
Most algicides contain organic nitrogen compounds, which create chloramines and other harmful byproducts (if you have any combined chlorine in your pool, this applies to you). Not only does it take a LOT of chlorine to oxidize these compounds, when it's all said and done, you're left with nitrates, which are food for future algae.
Yes, you read that correctly. Most algicides create harmful byproducts, consume a lot of chlorine (making it hard to hold free chlorine for several days), and leave behind algae food.
And it's not just algicides that introduce complexity to our pools. Synthetic polymers (like blue clarifiers, poly algicides and more) are unknowingly tying up a lot of chlorine each week trying to oxidize through these complicated organic compounds.
Your Personalized Pool Plan will never include products that create chemical conflicts.
#5 - pH rises naturally due to physics
...not user error. Read this article from Orenda to learn more.
Basically, the same physics that make a soda or beer go flat are what make your pool's pH rise. And the best part? It's predictable! Thanks to the Henry's Law Constant, the Orenda Calculator® can predict exactly where your pH will rise when the pool goes "flat".
Our free mobile app, My Pool Plan, has licensed the Orenda Calculator®, and we have built upon it to ensure you get precisely what your pool needs, when you need it. Warning: you might be amazed at how predictable and easy your water becomes.
#6 - Most contaminants are carbon-based non-living organics
...like oils, tannins, lotions, cosmetics, deodorant and sunscreen. Chlorine is not good at removing these. If it was, you would never have a scum line on your waterline tile, nor would you have stickiness in your filter.
Rather than introducing more chemicals for chlorine to contend with, your Personalized Pool Plan uses Orenda's top-of-the-line CV-600 enzyme to remove these organics and oils.
CV-600 is a favorite among pool pros, and for good reason. CV-600 is what waterparks and swim schools use to manage their bather loads (hundreds, if not thousands of people each week). Even if you had dogs in your pool every day, CV-600 can handle the demand and clear the way for chlorine to effectively sanitize.
#7 - Phosphates are contaminates too
While some people and forums online say phosphates don't matter, pool pros almost unanimously disagree with that. These pool pros clean and chemically maintain upwards of 60 pools per week to make their living. If phosphates don't actually matter, phosphate removers would not be the most popular specialty chemical category in the pool industry. Yet they are.
While phosphates themselves do not conflict with chlorine, they are an essential nutrient for algae and other forms of life. Phosphate removers do not kill algae, but they do limit how many phosphates are available for the endless algae spores that get introduced into an outdoor pool every day. This can slow growth and reproduction rates, giving chlorine more time to stay ahead of a potential algae outbreak.
Oh, and after the cloudiness from using Orenda PR-10,000 clears, the water clarity is stunning.
Summary
Traditional pool care fights symptoms, and does nothing to predict where physics will take your water. It's short-sighted, and encourages pool owners and operators to use products that conflict with one another.
Personalized Pool delivers the Orenda Program directly to your door, and walks you through how to use everything step-by-step. No more guesswork, just a science-based playbook for you to enjoy your pool. Or as they say, a playbook for you to Rule Your Pool.