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Ancient Pool Warrior: John Poma on Mentorship, Machinery and Alum
Description
Natalie Hood continues her conversations with the 2026 Talking Pools Podcast Top Ten Mentors with John Poma—the “Ancient Pool Warrior” and a two-time Top Ten honoree.
John shares how a summer job pouring precast main drains became a decades-long career spanning commercial pool construction, service, plumbing, equipment installation and heavy machinery. He explains why the best field professionals must sometimes become their own engineers, how mentorship has evolved from guarded trade secrets to open knowledge-sharing, and why mistakes should be fixed—not used to assign blame.
Then it’s time to bust some myths. John explains why excavating a commercial pool involves far more than “digging a hole,” why bigger equipment is not always more efficient and how aluminum sulfate can reduce cyanuric acid without replacing most of the pool water. He also discusses alum’s ability to remove phosphates, clear green pools and lift certain copper stains—as well as what alum cannot do.
John’s advice to the next generation is simple: learn from experienced professionals, attend industry classes, understand flow rates, protect your body and read the damn manual inside the equipment box.
In This Episode
- John’s unexpected entry into the swimming pool industry
- More than four decades of friendship and mentorship
- Building jigs and solving problems in the field
- Why asking “why” helped shape John’s career
- Creating a workplace where mistakes are corrected without finger-pointing
- The skill and situational awareness required to operate heavy equipment
- Why the biggest excavator is not always the best machine
- Commercial-pool excavation tolerances and costly layout errors
- Using aluminum sulfate to reduce cyanuric acid
- What alum can—and cannot—remove from pool water
- The long-term physical cost of ignoring proper safety equipment
- Why commercial flow rates and equipment installation details matter
- John’s ancient pool battle gear: alum and a pool brush
Featured Guest
John Poma
Commercial pool construction professional, field researcher, owner of a small pool service company, foreman with Executive Pools and two-time Talking Pools Podcast Top Ten Mentor.
Mentor Award Sponsors
- Title Sponsors: BlueRay XL and United Chemical
- Gold Sponsor: LaMotte
- Silver Sponsor: Rev’d Up Apparel
- Supporting Sponsor: Aqua Comfort Water Group
Hosted by Natalie Hood on the Talking Pools Podcast.
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