Jesse the Pool Guy Takes on the Mushroom Cloud

Jesse the Pool Guy

Chapter 1

By Bob Deakin

There he is. Jesse the pool guy. He’s got the company pickup from Smart Pools Inc., his company polo, and the best attitude a pool guy ever had.

Pool guys and girls get a bad rap for being lazy or rushed, inattentive or overly attentive to chemical balancing, and straying from schedule. Jesse is guilty of ensuring every pool is the best it can be.

That doesn’t mean it's all clear water.

Nothing Good Happens in a Mushroom Cloud

Yesterday, Jesse arrived at the Hahn's pool to find Caleb, their teenage son, standing in the pool with an empty 10-pound bucket of soda ash. Jesse looked in the water to find rapidly expanding white mushroom cloud engulfing the pool.

“Caleb, what’s up with the cloud?” Jesse asked, suspecting it wasn’t his first mushroom of the day.

Caleb was mesmerized. It wasn’t the first time he’s been caught conducting science experiments. A week ago, Jesse arrived following Valentine's Day to find the pool water colored red. 

What did he do for that? Balance, shock, floc, and clean the cartridge… a lot. He was a hero when Caleb’s father came home to a clear pool the next day.

Don’t Violate Your LSI

According to chemical manufacturer OrendaTechnologies, a soda ash cloud is caused by a localized LSI (Langlier Saturation Index) violation of adding too much ash (sodium carbonate [Na2CO3]) too quickly. Soda ash is most commonly used in commercial pools, but in a residential setting, the highly concentrated ash can cause a rapidly expanding underwater mushroom cloud.

“In short, the LSI tells us how saturated our water is with calcium carbonate,” the Orenda team explains. “Perfect saturation is 0.00 LSI, and the acceptable range is between -0.30 to +0.30.”

Like Beer at a Football Game

The Orenda team further explains that if the LSI is below -0.31, water becomes “aggressive” because it is undersaturated with calcium carbonate (CaCO3). The water then craves calcium like fish crave water and sports fans crave beer. 

If conditions are right, we have all the ingredients for the most spectacular mushroom cloud you (or Caleb) will ever see. It’s all fun and games for Caleb, but others will frantically search their phones for the nearest hazmat team. 

Conversely, if the LSI level is above +0.31, the water is oversaturated and turns calcium to waste in the form of calcium scale or dust on the floor.

Carbonates + Calcium = Boom

Your swimming pool pH stays below 8.2 if Jesse is your pool guy, but if Caleb dumps in a bucket of ash, it rises, and bicarbonate ions become carbonate ions. See the chart below:

Courtesy OrendaTechnologies

The Orenda team says “Hydrogen had to leave bicarbonate (thanks, soda ash) and become carbonate ions. So you now have an abundance of available carbonates, and when they find calcium in the water, boom. Calcium carbonate.”

Party on, Caleb!

How Jesse the Pool Guy Peed on Caleb’s Cheerios

To reverse the effects of Caleb’s mushroom cloud, Jesse will clean the filter, add a clarifier, and possibly even add muriatic acid or a pH decreaser. Then it's brush, vacuum, and retest. 

Caleb barely notices as he leaves to get ready for tonight’s Phish concert. Jesse makes his notes and heads for the next adventure.

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