After a borderline-grammy-worthy intro, Eric discusses the volatility of all different chlorine types, and how they should and should not be used, handled and stored. This is the first of a multi-episode series on chemical conflicts.

We are joined by Dr. Darla Goeres, the world's leading biofilm researcher and expert. Dr. Goeres defines biofilms, explains why they matter and what we can do to prevent and remove them in recreational water.

Does calcium hardness still matter for fiberglass and vinyl liner pools? Does the LSI still matter? Tyler and Eric discuss the importance of both, especially in non-cement pools. Chalky white discoloration of fiberglass pools and fading vinyl liners are just some of the symptoms of not having enough calcium hardness to balance the LSI year-round.

Terry schools Eric and Jarred on green and yellow algae, based on research and wisdom he has obtained experientially. Jarred piles on and complains about brushing...or something.

Eric and Jarred talk about "black algae", which is technically a cyanobacteria. They cover what black algae is, and what you can do to remove it and prevent it from coming back.

Eric talks about SC-1000 and why it reduces free chlorine on its initial purge dose, and what you can do about it. The episode also covers the comparison between chelating agents like SC-1000 and sequestering agents.

Does your pool have enough calcium hardness in it? Most pools do not. And yet, calcium is the bedrock of water balance. Eric explains what calcium is and why it's so important.

Terry Arko and Eric discuss bromine chemistry and how it differs from chlorine. They talk about bromine byproducts like bromamines, harmful trihalomethanes and even-more-harmful bromates.

Tyler Mills joins the podcast to help customers forecast chemical consumption and purchase more proactively from distributors. Too often products are not stocked in the sizes or quantities needed, so we need to think ahead of what we will purchase so distributors have time to stock it.

Eric contrasts traditional reactionary pool care with what he's doing on his own pool, following the Orenda program. Minimalism wins the day.

Harold returns from a world-wide cruise, and while he was gone, Orenda was acquired by HASA. This episode lets Harold explain why he sold and his outlook on our future with HASA.

Eric's pond is finally a clean pool, after a botched green pool cleanup. Why? Because Eric was distracted during filming on facebook live, and failed to net enough leaves out, and he forgot to brush.

Kathryn Varden has been our Western Regional Manager and team mom. Sadly she is moving on to get back to her roots in the pool industry, selling slides and other accessories. In this episode, we honor Kathryn and her contributions to Orenda, and enjoy her top 10 things she learned while working with us.

In today's Rule Your Pond podcast, Eric talks about breaking bad water. This is like a hard reset on both water quality and water balance. Orenda products help with water quality, and this episode covers the Orenda green pool cleanup procedure.

Orenda 4.0 is a complete rebuild of the Orenda app from scratch, in a a cleaner, cross-platform code base. It not only makes the app easier to update and de-bug, it unlocks enormous potential for pool owners and professionals alike.

We briefly introduce our incredible people who made Orenda into what it has become: Laura, Kelly, Miguel, Joe, Kathryn, Ryan, Shaun and Tyler. Then we introduce Terry Arko from HASA and discuss how our teachings differ and what we share in common moving forward.

We have some heavy news: Orenda has been acquired by HASA. While the decision to sell was painful, from a strategic standpoint it was the right thing to do. It allows us to focus on our strengths and continue to grow our company while better serving our customers.

Calcium sulfate scale looks like sharp glass crystals. These crystals are not to be confused with calcite crystals, which grow out of cement due to cold, aggressive water. Since calcium sulfate is a different compound than calcium carbonate, the LSI is not much help in preventing the issue.

It's pollen season! Orenda's Southeast Regional Manager, Shaun Mulhall, joins the podcast to share what he learned about pollen while researching it for the show. Shaun and Eric talk about what pollen is, how it spreads, how it gets in pools, and how to manage it.

As the busy season continues to heat up for us at Orenda, Eric and Jarred share a glimpse of how overwhelmed we are with inbound phone calls and other help requests. So this episode is to guide customers on how best to contact us while being respectful of our time and our limited bandwidth. We want to help everyone who contacts us, so please be patient with us and ask your questions clearly.

After a training event in St. Louis where virtually nobody had ever heard of Orenda or our message, Eric gets back to basics and outlines the foundation of TRUE water balance; not what the traditional range chemistry that the pool industry has been teaching for decades.

We cannot believe we made it to our 100th episode. So we decided to say thank you while we were together in our booth in Atlantic City during the Northeast Pool & Spa Show. Shaun Mulhall joins us as we say thank you to our growing audience.

In this new year's episode, Eric makes a plea to the homeowners listening to the Rule Your Pool podcast: please stop helicopter parenting your pool. Many of the problems customers call Orenda for would not exist if not for constant tinkering with the pool and its chemistry.

For this special Christmas episode, Jarred and Eric walk demonstrate how to use the Orenda App. More specifically, the Orenda Calculator. This episode is also on video and will be published on YouTube and the Orenda website.

After a brief overview explanation of phosphates, we discuss where phosphates come from, and how to remove them. In short, phosphates are pretty much inevitable, and since chlorine cannot oxidize them, you need either a phosphate remover or RO filtration to remove them.