Teaching the BBB method

[257WbyMag]

Where I live, there are several "Community School" type programs which are held annually. Some are affiliated with local community colleges, while others are associated with municipalities and other varying levels of local government. Usually in the early spring, flyers will be mailed out listing different courses that are offered once or twice in the spring for a nominal fee, in areas from everything to landscaping and horticulture, CPR/first aid, basic home improvement topics, etc. These are courses that are taught by the highly credentialed on down to DIY folks who simply want to share some knowledge in an organized and didactic format. Although I am too late to submit to teach this year, I thought about doing a course in BBB next year. I feel as though I have a pretty good handle on it and most importantly, I know where to find the experts if needed (TFP) and also where to send folks for answers as well (also TFP).

Has anyone done this before? If so, what were your experiences? Did you Power Point it? I am called upon to teach rather often with my day job and I am very comfortable with Power Point.

Thanks!

Craig

 

[austinnichols101]

First obvious step would be to set down course objectives and a course outline. Here are some really rough (brain dump) thoughts based on my extensive (90 day) experience with BBB). At this point I'm not really sure how many sessions are practical and/or are needed, but it would be nice to bring a few pools back to blue in the process.

Objectives
- The basics of testing (how to test your own water)
- The basics of BBB
- The chemicals used in maintaining a pool
- How to use poolCalc
- TFP

The Basics
- How big is your pool?
- What is PH? How to test for PH. How to change PH.
- What is a sanitizer? CL, BR, Baq (and discussion of non-sanitizers)
- The relationship between CYA and CL.
- Testing (what to test, how to test, how often to test)
- FC/CC/TC
- BBB, WTF?
- Algaecide (polyquat, others)

Intermediate / Advanced
- Phosphates - do I care?
- The relationship between PH and TA
- Lowering TA
- Borates
- Automation using liquidator or SWG

I'm personally not a big fan of powerpoint (primarily due to it's sedative effect) and really like hands-on. However, I often use it to organize my thoughts and to provide a take-away for students.

 

[jjdurrant]

I would be VERY interested in getting a copy of the PowerPoint!

 

[257WbyMag]

Well, I'll make it a project for the next year. Once I have had a year of doing it, I should have enough comfort level to go forward with it. I'll have to submit it to the mods first for content review. :-D

 

[chem geek]

I've also been working on a PowerPoint training as a background task, but haven't gotten very far. The training is for pool professionals so augments CPO and similar training though it could be simplified for pool stores and pool owners. I organized it by "myths" in the industry:

Cyanuric Acid (CYA) Myths
Myth: CYA doesn’t matter; only FC matters
Myth: High CYA creates “chlorine lock”
Myth: CYA above 30 ppm has no additional chlorine protection effect
Myth: Indoor pools and spas should not have CYA
Total Alkalinity (TA) Myths
Myth: Increasing TA lowers rate of pH rise
Myth: Adding acid quickly lowers TA
pH Myths
Myth: Chlorinating liquid causes the pH to rise over time
Myth: Dichlor keeps a pool/spa nearly pH neutral
Myth: High pH from Saltwater Chlorine Generator (SWG) makes pH rise over time
Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) Myths
Myth: High TDS Reduces Chlorine’s Effectiveness
Myth: High TDS Causes Cloudy Water
Combined Chlorine (CC) Myths
Myth: Breakpoint of CC requires 10x FC
Myth: Non-chlorine shock removes CC
Myth: Sunlight does not breakdown CC
General Chlorine Myths
Myth: Different sources of chlorine produce different chlorine in water
Myth: One cannot prevent algae in a pool using chorine alone
Myth: Stabilized chlorine does not build up CYA very quickly
Myth: Stabilized chlorine does not add salt
Myth: Dichlor is appropriate for shocking
Myth: Vermonter/Northman method using Dichlor for spas has consistent disinfection
Myth: Trichlor is the least expensive source of chlorine
Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) Myths
Myth: LSI only applies to boilers or closed systems
Myth: LSI needs to be close to 0 for all pools
Myth: LSI needs to be very close to 0 for plaster pools
Myth: Only saturation of Calcium Carbonate prevents plaster degradation
Algaecide Myths
Myth: Phosphate levels above 150 ppb require phosphate removers
Myth: Algaecides containing copper will not stain
Alternative Disinfection Myths
Myth: Copper and Silver will not stain
Chemical Product Myths
Myth: Pool store products are different than grocery store products
Myth: One cannot use bleach in a vinyl pool or in a spa

 

[sevver]

Just to kick it out there, there are more professional presentation programs out there other than PowerPoint. You can have motion looping backgrounds with text overlays, you can seamlessly link video, play dvd's, sound effects, music, about anything that you would want or could think of can be done using anything other than PowerPoint. I use MediaShout, and I cannot tell you how much I love it. The slide transitions look better and everything.

 

[257WbyMag]

Waterbear, that is sort of the tack that I was wanting to take. As I believe that you have said in many posts before and with credibility since you have been in the industry for some time, the consumer pool product industry seems to rely much on anecdotal or mythical evidence to support product sales. Of course, not everyone in the industry is this way but those who take the high road and are honest in practicing an evidence based approach are few and far between. Simply performing a Google search for "pool services" and taking a look at the FAQs in some of the independent pool service operators reasonings is a perfect example of how misleading some of the information is. No wonder folks are confused.

As far as presentation software goes, I am comfortable with Power Point. Not all presentations are sleep-inducing. What seems to matter most is the presenter. I get bored with "slide readers". I can read the slide myself. Slides are for bullet points. They take the place of note cards. Speak to people and engage the audience. Keep it interactive.

 

[MikeInTN]

Waterbear, that is sort of the tack that I was wanting to take. As I believe that you have said in many posts before and with credibility since you have been in the industry for some time, the consumer pool product industry seems to rely much on anecdotal or mythical evidence to support product sales. Of course, not everyone in the industry is this way but those who take the high road and are honest in practicing an evidence based approach are few and far between. Simply performing a Google search for "pool services" and taking a look at the FAQs in some of the independent pool service operators reasonings is a perfect example of how misleading some of the information is. No wonder folks are confused.

As far as presentation software goes, I am comfortable with Power Point. Not all presentations are sleep-inducing. What seems to matter most is the presenter. I get bored with "slide readers". I can read the slide myself. Slides are for bullet points. They take the place of note cards. Speak to people and engage the audience. Keep it interactive.

Pssttttt....that was chem geek, not Waterbear...

 

[Guest]

Pssttttt....that was chem geek, not Waterbear...

People confuse us all the time! Must be the glowing yellow eyes and the fangs!

I can actually see the profit motive behind many of Chemgeek's myths. If people knew the truth then chemical sales at the pool stores would drop!

 

[chem geek]

Given my chemistry orientation, I was thinking of doing "experiments" to demonstrate many of the principles debunking the myths. For example, pools are intentionally over-carbonated and the concept of aeration speeding up outgassing of carbon dioxide is easily demonstrated by taking a carbonated beverage and blowing bubbles in it through a straw. The pH (with a probe and meter) can be shown to rise and everyone knows that the beverage becomes "flat" (less carbonated) faster. Similarly, a lower pH can have faster outgassing as demonstrated by adding some acid to water that has bicarbonate in it which makes it bubble a lot. Adding acid (e.g. vinegar which is acetic acid) to baking soda directly also demonstrates the effect of generating carbon dioxide.

The rise and fall of pH from hypochlorite chlorine addition and breakdown can be shown by accelerating the chlorine breakdown either by a strong UV lamp (simulating sunlight) or by adding some ammonia (simulating bather load). Adding CYA can then be shown to slow down the rate of chlorine reduction, not only from sunlight but also slowing down the oxidation of compounds from bather load and by implication killing pathogens.

A fun graphical simulation can be done using a fight between bacterial "soldiers" on one side against disinfecting chlorine on the other side where there is extra chlorine "in reserve" (bound to CYA) that aren't actively fighting and showing how the bacteria population doubles every so often so that the rate of kill from the disinfecting chlorine needs to be faster than that and that the amount in reserve is irrelevant to the rate of kill, but is useful to not "run out" of disinfecting chlorine soldiers fighting bacteria. Then one shows the Free Chlorine (FC) test that essentially takes away the disinfecting chlorine to color a dye but the soldiers in reserve quickly replace the disinfecting chlorine that then gets taken away for more coloring of dye, etc. such that it is clear that the FC test is measuring the total amount of chlorine -- disinfecting chlorine AND chlorine in reserve -- and not just the "active" disinfecting chlorine alone. Compare and contrast these situations to make clear that the RATE of killing pathogens is based only on the disinfecting chlorine while the FC measurement test is measuring something completely different -- the CAPACITY of chlorine including the reserve amount -- i.e. how long you can fight (at a given rate).

There are also actual hypochlorous acid meters in addition to ORP that can be used to further show that the disinfecting chlorine level is greatly reduced in the presence of Cyanuric Acid (CYA).

Richard