A living journey of learning.

The CW Pools Library is our living collection of knowledge, research, experience, ideas and discoveries about water.

This isn't a finished library. It is a journey. As we learn, we add. As technology changes, we update. As new research becomes available, we explore it. And as our understanding of water continues to evolve, this Library will evolve with it.

Pull one down and read it.

We created the Library for anyone who wants to understand more about the water they live with — not just the professional, but the homeowner, pool enthusiast, designer, builder, property owner and curious mind.

You may arrive here because you want to understand filtration. You may want to know why water balance matters. You may be researching equipment before purchasing a home. You may be interested in responsible pool care, alternative water-management technologies, or the future of intelligent pool systems.

Or perhaps you're simply beginning to ask a bigger question.

Pool science & water quality

Filtration, circulation, hydraulics, water balance, sanitation, chemistry, algae, equipment, and the fundamentals of maintaining healthy water.

Responsible pool care

Understanding chemicals, reducing unnecessary intervention, protecting equipment, conserving water, and learning how to care for a pool responsibly.

Equipment & technology

Pumps, filters, heaters, circulation systems, emerging technologies, connected equipment, monitoring, automation, and the intelligent pool systems of tomorrow.

Water research

Books, scientific papers, emerging research, hydrogen, minerals, water structure, environmental influences, and other areas we believe are worth exploring.

Arizona water

The unique challenges of desert water, heat, evaporation, hard water, monsoons, sunlight, and the environments surrounding Arizona pools.

Living Water

Our evolving exploration of the relationship between water, nature, landscape, architecture, experience, and the spaces in which we live.

Books & recommended reading

Books and resources that have influenced our thinking, or that we believe offer something valuable to the curious reader.

Case studies & field experience

Lessons learned from real systems, real equipment, real projects, and the problems and solutions encountered along the way.

The Living Water series

• Living Water: why water is more than H₂O — movement, oxygen and exchange, and where the philosophy stops
• The chemistry of Living Water — hydrogen bonding, boundary layers, the carbonate system, cymatics
• The wisdom of Living Water — what Indigenous water traditions of the Southwest can teach us
• Water movement — moving water, stagnant water, and designing circulation properly
• Chemical balance — the protection system for your pool, your equipment and your investment
• Structured Water vs. Dead Water — what is established, what is emerging, what remains exploration

Professional practice

• When to Know You Need an Appointment — the signals your pool is giving you
• Prepare for Your Appointment — get the most from your visit
• What Will It Really Cost Me? — the true cost of pool ownership
• The Pool Water Doesn't Lie — when to put your detective hat on
• Why a Professional Pool Inspection Is Worth the Investment
• The Homeowner's Responsibility — protecting the pool, the people and the environment
• Before You Build — a homeowner's guide, with a pre-build checklist
• Before You Build, Buy or Sell a Home With a Pool
• Bought a House With a Defunct Pool? — Arizona remedies when pool work goes wrong
• Filtration Is Key — hydraulics, media and micron ratings
• Muriatic Acid: What Pool Owners Should Understand
• Are We Accidentally Creating Better Conditions for Algae?
• Shade: One of the Most Overlooked Pool Technologies
• Frequently Asked Questions

Related reading

• Legal, Standards & Responsible Pool Care
• Our Vision for the Future
• Buddha Pools — designing backyards around living water

We use the word living deliberately. The Library is not intended to become a collection of pages that are published once and forgotten.

It will continue to change. Some articles will be expanded. Some ideas will be challenged. Some technologies will become obsolete. New technologies will emerge. And some questions may remain open for years. That's part of learning.

We also believe in distinguishing between established professional knowledge, emerging research, and personal exploration. When something is well established, we'll say so. When research is developing, we'll identify it as such. And when we're exploring an idea that doesn't yet have scientific consensus, we'll tell you that too.

Filtration

• Understanding micron ratings
• Cartridge, sand and DE compared
• Flow rate and filtration
• Turnover: what it does and what it doesn't tell you
• Why clear water isn't necessarily balanced water

Water balance

• Understanding pH
• Total alkalinity
• Calcium hardness
• Cyanuric acid
• Saturation and scale
• Corrosion
• Temperature and water balance
• Why Arizona water creates special challenges

Chlorine and sanitisation

• Chlorine: necessary tool or default solution?
• Understanding chlorine byproducts
• Sanitising water vs managing water
• Why more chemical isn't always better

Arizona water

• Arizona sun, evaporation and pool chemistry
• Monsoon season and your pool
• Hard water in the desert
• Extreme heat and pool equipment
• Sedona pools: designing water for the high desert
• Mohave County: water, heat and equipment

Equipment & intelligent systems

• The intelligent pool
• Connected equipment
• Remote water monitoring
• Sensors and water management
• AI and the future of pool equipment
• From scheduled to condition-based maintenance
• When your pool can tell you what's wrong

Water research & reading

• Copper-silver ionisation: what pool owners should know
• Hydrogen, molecular hydrogen, hydrogen ions and pH
• Water Quality: An Introduction — Claude E. Boyd
• Pool & Spa Operator Handbook
• The Fourth Phase of Water — Gerald H. Pollack

The people who trust us with their water shouldn't have to remain dependent upon us forever.

We want our clients to become more knowledgeable about their own systems. To understand their equipment. To recognise problems earlier. To ask better questions. To understand why a recommendation is being made. And ultimately, to become better stewards of the water around them.

That is why the Library will continue to grow. Every article, book, study, field lesson and new discovery becomes another piece of the journey.