Commercial vs Residential: Bob Lowry Explains the Big Differences

Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (01:51):
Welcome to the pool of backyard Bob Lowy.
We're going to tell thedifference between a commercial
pool and a residential backyardpool.
And of course, Bob Lowy is apremier expert on regular
residential swimming pools,although he does know a lot
about commercial pools as well.
It'll compare and contrast thosetwo different pool categories

(02:14):
for you.
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(02:35):
I get asked this a lot, andyou're the expert on this
because of your residentialcertification course.
Plus, you were a CPO instructorfor many years.
What's the main differencebetween a residential and a
commercial pool?
What would be some of the maindifferences that you can point
out to the listeners?

SPEAKER_01 (02:52):
Well, people ask me sometimes what's the difference
between a CPO course and ourcourse?
And frankly, the CPO course hasabout 50 pages of pool
chemistry.
And our course has 228 pages ofchemistry, and then a
supplemental book that's another28 pages.

(03:12):
So we have something like 260pages of chemistry in our class.
So if you if you want to learnchemistry, we have chemistry.
If you want to learn CPO, thenthey do.
They teach you how to cleantoilets and showers and you know
take care of the books and youknow stuff like that.
So it's not the same thing.

(03:34):
But you know, if you're doingcommercial pools, they're
required.
So people say, well, what's thedifference in chemistry?
And frankly, the chemistry isthe chemistry.
What it boils down to, the onlydifference is that in a
residential pool, the chlorineand oxidizer is there for uh we

(03:57):
are trying to prevent bacteriaand algae.
And oxidation of swimmer wasteis kind of secondary to what
we're doing because the mainproblem is algae and bacteria.
In a commercial pool, thebiggest problem is beta

(04:19):
contamination, and it uses upall of the chlorine, and then we
have unsafe water.
So the difference being that ina residential pool, the reason
for chlorination is to get ridof uh bacteria and algae.
In a commercial pool, thebiggest reason that we had uh

(04:42):
that we add chlorine is to getrid of beta contamination and to
keep the water safe.
So there's two differentpurposes, and as a result, in a
residential pool, we can testthe water once a week and have
some chlorine.
In a commercial pool, we have tocheck the pinning on the pool,

(05:05):
either we have to check itcontinuously, or we at least
have to measure it one time aday.
And most health department codeson most commercial pools require
that you measure the chlorinelevel one to three times per day
minimum.
And so you need to check thefilter, the chlorine level, all

(05:28):
the time and dispense chlorineto keep the level up.

SPEAKER_00 (05:32):
And I guess another question I get asked too I know
here in LA County you can eitherbe CPO certified or be certified
through the county through thehealth department test.
So when did it become kind ofthe rule for, you know, when
we're talking commercial poolshere, we're talking hotels,
apartments, HOA communities,anything where it's not in a

(05:52):
residential backyard setting, soto speak.
Where did it become like part ofthe code to have to be certified
to do these pools?
You know, where did it all comefrom?
And is it, you know, theresidential pools, you don't
need CPO certification in mostareas.
What would be the reasoningbehind being CPO certified?

SPEAKER_01 (06:12):
Well, you know, eventually I think the the
homeowners are going to demandthat service techs know what
they're doing.
And there's going to be somekind of certification required
because, you know, after all, ifyou look at what's happened with

(06:32):
parents at schools and at uhdaycare places and stuff like
that, they're concerned abouttheir children.
And and are they safe?
And are they gonna get diseaseand are they gonna you know come
home with black eyes or get in afight and have somebody bite
them or something?
There's all kinds of things thatthey're concerned about, their

(06:54):
children.
And so, rightfully so, peopleare concerned about their kids.
And and the bottom line isthey've got a swimming pool and
they rent the they want thewater to be safe, and they are
depending on their pool guy tomake their water safe.
And there's nothing to say thatthat the pool guy knows what

(07:20):
he's doing.
You know, you can you can go buya pole and a vac and some hose
and go buy some chemicals andput them in the back of your
truck and call yourself a poolguy.
And there's no differencebetween him and some guy that's
been been through my course andand been in business for eight
or ten years that taken mycourse and really knows what

(07:41):
he's doing, versus some guythat, you know, never even read
the label on a on a chlorinebottle and you know, taking care
of your pool.
As soon as somebody gets sickand they can prove it came from
the pool, guess who they'resuing?
And and and even at that, aservice guy doesn't have
anything to point to.

(08:02):
You know, all he can say is,well, I followed the PHTA
guidelines, you know, and that'sall he can say he did.
He can't say certified, he can'tsay, you know, he can't point to
anything he's done except maybehe's a CPO, but that doesn't
prove that he knows how to takecare of a residential pool.

(08:22):
So I think that the public isgoing to demand um that we know
more.
You know, you have guys thatwork as electricians in your
house and they have to becertified.
We got guys that work in yourhouse, and you know, they have
certification, they haveinsurance, they're bonded, you
know, those kinds of things.
And and eventually I think it'sgoing to happen with service

(08:46):
tax.
And I have heard in in Floridathat there is a movement right
now to have all service techcertified in the state of
Florida.
You mean like CPO certification?
Well, no, not CPO, but just becertified.
But the problem is that therehasn't been any kind of

(09:07):
certification until the PoolChemistry Training Institute
came along and said, we havecertification.
So perhaps something like ourcourse will be adopted as a as a
uh as a uh course in Florida,and other people can copy our
course and give a similarcourse.

(09:28):
You know, in LA County, you'vehad to have a uh a license there
to be a service tech for uh itgoes clear back to the 1970s.

(09:58):
You know, I uh I moved toCalifornia in 1977, and believe
it or not, I don't know if youknow this or not, but even
though I started Leisure TimeChemical in 1977, in 1978, I was
a pool guy for six weeks.
And I rode with a guy that had aa pool service business in La

(10:23):
Cagnata, California.
And I did this on purposebecause I wanted to understand
what service decks do and howpools operate and all that
stuff.
So every day for six weeks, Irode with a pool guy who was a
smart guy.
He actually in those days taughtclass to prepare you to take the

(10:44):
LA County exam.
And he used to teach people thewhat they needed to know to take
the exam.
And so he's a smart guy aboutpools, but he wasn't a chemist,
and I wasn't a pool guy.
So we befriended each other andand I asked him if he could do
us.
I took six weeks off from my joband rode with him every day for

(11:07):
uh for six weeks.
And so I've done everything thata pool guy can do, and I've been
a pool guy.
So, and and I'm a chemist, so Ihave a unique position uh where
I know about pools and I knowchemistry.
So I'm in a better position thana lot of other chemists in this
pool industry are in.

SPEAKER_00 (11:30):
Yeah, so the CPO certification for commercial
pools just kind of protects theyou know, protects you as a pool
service provider and also theperson that hires you, right?
That you're certified.
And if there's a problem, youknow, it goes, it falls on
somewhere, you know.

SPEAKER_01 (11:46):
Yeah, but I was a CPO instructor for 21 years, and
um a lot of people just took thecourse just because they needed
to be certified.
And and some people took itbecause they really wanted to
know.
But frankly, you know, you usechemistry all day long in those

(12:06):
courses, in those classes.
And if you've got commercialpools, what's the first thing
you do?
You check the water and adjustthe chemicals, you know, and
they teach a little bit aboutpool chemistry and the CPO
course, and it's not reallyenough to give you a good
understanding of chemistry.

SPEAKER_00 (12:24):
Yeah, we we talked kind of about the next question

here already (12:27):
certified residential versus the CPO
course, and you mentioned howyou focus more on chemistry.
So I think I'll just throw itout there.
If someone gets their CPO andthey're taking care of a
commercial pool, usually theyhave residential pools also.
So I think your course kind ofcomplements the CPO course in a
way, or maybe the CPO wouldcomplement your course if you

(12:48):
look at it that way.
But I think you probably needyour course regardless if you
had the CPO or not.

SPEAKER_01 (12:54):
Yeah, I I do believe that you know our goal was to
teach pool chemistry.
And I didn't want to be confusedor compete with CPO.
So I didn't want to createanother CPO course.
What I wanted to do was create achemistry course.
And so we created a chemistrycourse.

(13:15):
So I can't give you all thestuff that that the CPO teaches.
You know, they teach a whole lotof things about you know
evaporation and wind and andtaking care of locker rooms and
and making sure you adjust thisand figure that out in the books
and all kinds of stuff.
And and while it it's a great, agreat thing to teach you to be a

(13:38):
commercial pool operator, itdoesn't teach you to, it doesn't
teach you very much chemistry.
It doesn't teach you what to do.
So we teach chemistry.
That's where we are.
And I think that a lot of peoplehave taken our course, um,
understand chemistry better, sothat they can be a better
commercial pool operator, forsure.

(14:01):
Because all of the chemistry isthe chemistry, regardless of the
pool.
So the chemistry is thechemistry until we get to
disinfection and oxidation.
And that's where it changes.

SPEAKER_00 (14:12):
And I think what what can you tell someone who's
thinking about switching over oradding commercial pools to their
account?
The first thing I tell themmyself is that, well, you're
gonna have to deal with thehealth inspector, something you
probably never have dealt withbefore at residential pools.
And what other advice do youthink we should give the
listeners here if they'rethinking about expanding into

(14:33):
maybe the HO community and anapartment complex or hotel?

SPEAKER_01 (14:38):
Well, it it's a whole nother world.
It's a lot different than youhave been exposed to if you've
only been doing residential.
It's not gonna be possible foryou to go to a one-time a week
uh commercial pool.
It's not gonna be possible foryou to do that.
And and you're taking on theresponsibility of providing safe

(15:02):
water to everybody that gets inthat pool.
Uh, for the most part, uh,you're gonna have to go to that
pool every day, and you're gonnaneed to keep accurate records
because at some point somebody'sgoing to get bring a lawsuit
against that hotel or motel orhomeowners association or

(15:24):
something.
Somebody's gonna have a lawsuitand start legal legal uh things
going, and you're gonna need toprovide your records, and if you
can't provide records, thenthey're gonna find you at least
partially at fault.
Because you're gonna say, well,you know, I keep the pool

(15:46):
between 2.0 and 4.0 parts permillion, I keep the pH between
7.2 and 7.8, and you're gonnasay, yeah, where's your records?
Where's the test you made on thepool every week, every time?
You're gonna need to make allthe tests every time you go
there.
If if, well, not necessarily ifyou're gonna go there every day,

(16:09):
but you need to at least makepH, alkalinity, and chlorine
level every time you make a teston the water, two or three times
a day, even.
So you're gonna need to getautomation in there.
So you may need to understandORP and pH so that you can
adjust the pH and chlorinelevels automatically.

(16:32):
And so you're gonna need tounderstand how that works and
understand how they can help youto maintain the water because
they they measure chlorine andpH continuously.
And that's a good thing becausethey're measuring it all the
time.
And if you have to go back andprove what the pH was at a

(16:53):
certain time, you can provethat.
That part of it's good, but youneed to understand there's a lot
of liability here.
And the only way you're gonnacover yourself is by keeping
really accurate records.
And the more work you have to doto keep records and keep things
up to date, you have to chargemoney for your time.

SPEAKER_00 (17:14):
And you have to uh charge for the hassle factor
because you're gonna get a callthat there's a diaper floating
in the pool from the managementcompany.

SPEAKER_01 (17:23):
So there's Yeah, and you're gonna get that.
You're gonna get lawn chairs inthe pool, you're gonna get
people, you know, you're gonnaget diapers in the pool, as you
say.
You're gonna get all kinds ofstuff.
They're gonna give you a calland say, hey, somebody pooped in
the pool.
What are you gonna do?

SPEAKER_03 (17:38):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (17:38):
And they expect you to drop what you're doing and be
there right now.
Otherwise, you know, their onlyoption is they the health
department finds out and theyclose the pool.
And believe me, no hotel, motel,homeowners associated once their
pool closed by the healthdepartment.

(17:58):
There's too many rumors and toomany opinions about what caused
it.
And it's bad for business.

SPEAKER_00 (18:05):
You know, I think in California, a lot of companies
will either do all residentialor all commercial because it's
really hard, like you said, tosplit it.
So if you have you know 60residential and three commercial
pools, it's really hard tomanage that.
And I think that's something tolook at.
And also you're gonna need moreliability insurance.
Most of the commercial accountswill require you to have$2

(18:25):
million per incident incident.
So, like you said, there's a lotthat goes into commercial pools.
And I I'm of the opinion thatthere's plenty of residential
pools out there, and commercialpools are gonna give you
migraine headaches, sleeplessnights.
Uh I've done I've I've donethose for many years myself, and
I'm glad I'm not doingcommercial pools anymore.

SPEAKER_01 (18:47):
Yeah, I think the only way it makes sense to do a
commercial pool is is if you gothere every day, and then you
still have somebody that's therethat's that is the operator of
the pool that can assist you.
Because if you're the only guy,I mean, some of these places,

(19:07):
they're gonna they're gonna callyou and tell you there's a bobby
pin on the bottom of the poolcalled the stain.
And it's gonna call you at twoo'clock in the morning and
expect you to fix it.
You know, and they're justthere's all that kind of stuff.
And frankly, I I I would notwant to do very many commercial
pools.

SPEAKER_00 (19:28):
Yeah.
I'm in agreement with you.
Unless you do it, unless you doit specifically as your business
model.

SPEAKER_01 (19:33):
If if that's your business model, then my my idea
of that would be perhaps youcould you could do three pools a
day.
How much money are you gonnamake?
How much money do you want tomake?
If you're only gonna have threepeople paying you, how much are
you gonna make?

SPEAKER_00 (19:51):
And then you have the other aspect, if you lose
one of those accounts, you loseone-third of all your income.
So many factors to, you know,the commercial pool thing is not
just getting your CPO, there's alot of things that are on the
periphery that you need toreally think about.
And I think it's important toaddress that.
And and I think your residentialcourse definitely will help them

(20:11):
to understand what's going on ina commercial pool, because to
me, I think the chemistry of acommercial pool is much harder.
Not only do you have the healthdepartment making sure that the
spa pH doesn't drop below 7.2,you know, or 7.4, whatever,
however, that however picky theyare, but you also have the
chlorine demand being higher.
So the chemistry part of it, Ithink, like you mentioned, the

(20:34):
CPO course is focused on maindrains and other things of that
nature.
So your course definitely wouldcome in handy for anyone doing
residential and commercial.

SPEAKER_01 (20:45):
Yeah, I I believe so.
I think you know, you need toknow the chemistry no matter
what you do.
Uh you need to understand what'sgoing on and how it all works.
And having that knowledge willhelp you and take care of
commercial pools better.

SPEAKER_00 (21:01):
Well, thanks again for your time.
And I know that you're you're umnot in your usual spot in Peru.
And taking time out of your weekto do this is uh really
thoughtful of you for thelisteners here, and we really
appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 (21:16):
Well, you know, I uh I also make a commitment, you
know.
I told you that I would do amonthly uh uh broadcast with
you, and and uh that's mycommitment, and I want to give
back to the industry.
I have been in this industry formany years, and I I would like

(21:38):
to give back to our industry,and this is my commitment to
once a month uh providing uh anhour or so of of my time with
you to to chop up into some somesmaller segments so people can
listen to them.
And and I enjoy it.
This is my life, this is mypassion.
This is my 48th year of doingthis.

(21:58):
And uh as somebody said, you'vegot all the knowledge.
We just have to ask the rightquestions.
Yeah.
So true.
But it it's all there.
All we need to do is somebody toask me about it, somebody to
access it.

SPEAKER_00 (22:11):
And if you're interested in another podcast,
you can find those by going tomy website,
swingfullearning.com, clickingon the banner.
There'll be over 1800 podcastsfor you to listen to.
And if you're interested in acoaching program that I offer,
you can learn more atPoogaiCoaching.com.
Thanks for listening to thispodcast.
Have a great rest of your week.
God bless.

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Commercial vs Residential: Bob Lowry Explains the Big Differences

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