The Field Notes
Chemistry explained. Myths corrected. No guesswork.
Do Pool Phosphates Matter? Why Both Sides of the Debate Are Half Right
Two camps have argued about pool phosphates for years, one says they are irrelevant, the other treats them as a primary threat. Both are half right. The actual mechanism connecting chlorine’s own baseline chemistry to phosphate risk has never been laid out until now.
The Cyanuric Acid to Free Chlorine Equilibrium
The full O’Brien equilibrium model behind the 7.5 percent rule, chlorine lock addressed directly, and real Cryptosporidium inactivation data quantifying the public health stakes. Cited chemistry, not folklore.
Pool Care Has Never Been a Science. Here’s What Changes When It Is.
Pool care runs on inherited folklore, not chemistry, and the little bit of real science it ever borrowed came from a completely different problem. Here is why dedicated pool science barely exists, and what it actually takes to build it.