Aquatics Professionals React Positively to New Calculators Based on reader interest, Aquatics International has named both the "wheel" and the electronic Watergram Water Balance Calculator to its list of Most Valuable Products for 2008. The trade journal for aquatics professionals highlighted 25 products in the June issue. Either one makes it easy to play with different treatment scenarios to see which of the water balance parameters makes the most sense to adjust. And more good news—both are highly affordable! Less than a burger and fries at your favorite lunch stop if purchased separately to upgrade your existing test kit. The improved 6026 has become a three-disk sliderule, thus eliminating the manual subtraction step in the original version to get to the Saturation Index value. You'll find it in 2000 Series combination test kits and our countertop labs. We've also developed an electronic version that's as small as a credit-card-size pocket calculator (6028). Indeed, it can be used to perform basic mathematical operations besides the water balance calculation. The programming automatically takes into account the effect cyanuric acid has on total alkalinity and allows a user to override the default value for total dissolved solids with a specific TDS level. "What if" adjustment scenarios are a snap to perform with this solar-powered version, as only the changed value(s) needs to be reentered. The 6028 is included in all Professional Series test kits. Note:  both models offer a temperature choice of degrees Fahrenheit or degrees Celsius. To read more about the advances made in the Watergram, click here. No Vehicle Graphics? A Cure for Plain Panels If you are a pool/spa retailer, installer, builder, or service company and can't afford custom lettering and graphics for your whole fleet, here's a way to promote your business on every company vehicle! Simply attach a pair of these colorful magnetic signs to the side panels of your plain vans, trucks, and cars so potential customers can see how to hire you. Just under 11" by 17", the eye-catching magnets adhere to any smooth, clean, metal surface. The white area of the sign (2 or 3 lines, as shown) is available for customization. Black lettering is standard. Choose your business name plus location, phone number, or website address. Cost is $49.45 per pair, including shipping. Call 800-TEST KIT to order. (Not available for purchase on our website.) Latest “Brain Strain” Winners Congratulations to the following Cornerstone newsletter readers who were the first to submit correct answers to the last brain teaser: Michael Kondolf Loraine Huchler Eric Fraser Frank Lloyd Mike Smithart Chris Golden's real-life puzzle stumped many readers. Briefly, the problem was the piping configurations associated with each of the boilers after the common feedwater header were so different they caused the boilers to fill at different rates. Boiler A took longer to fill each time feedwater was required. This caused the polymer chemical feed pump to be feeding for a longer period of time than when Boiler B called for water. Because the cycles of concentration (based on the consistent boiler water conductivity levels) were essentially equal, the polymer cycled up to higher levels in Boiler A. The best corrective action is to have separate chemical feed pumps for each of the boilers so that each chemical feed pump can be tuned to its boiler. Look for his full explanation in the next issue. They Like It! Service Industry News, the voice of the pool and spa service professional, prominently featured both the new "wheel" Watergram Water Balance Calculator and the alternative electronic version in its March 31 edition. The product review was part of an issue largely focused on the importance of maintaining water balance in vinyl pools in order to prevent wrinkling, stretching, discoloration, and loss of strength. Service Industry News reports more than half of all new pools sold in the U.S. are vinyl lined, and says their special maintenance needs may be a challenge for service professionals. Routinely using a Watergram poolside makes it easier for a service tech to determine when the water's chemistry needs adjustment, potentially adding years to the life of a liner through early intervention. Just Desserts Paulette Pitrak, Deputy Executive Director of the Northeast Pool & Spa Association, arranged a surprise to honor our own Wayne Ivusich at the recent Atlantic City Pool & Spa Show. To mark the occasion of his fifteenth consecutive year as a guest speaker, she had a huge sheet cake delivered to his seminar room. (Pictured left to right:  Paulette, Wayne, and Pete Lucey.) Free Consumer Product Display For 2008, Taylor is offering retailers of pool/spa supplies a 5-1/2' tall revolving display rack free with a minimum purchase. Promotion details are available here. This offer has a retail value of $750, including shipping in the contiguous U.S. The wheeled metal-frame unit has a 2' x 2' footprint and its four spinners will hold a wide assortment of test kits, replacement reagents, and literature. New Kit for Freeze Point Control When closed-loop systems are operated in cold weather zones, it is important to know they have been adequately protected from freezing. This is commonly accomplished with a glycol-based antifreeze. Readings from our Freezing Point Determination Kit (K-1540) will provide that assurance. Ice plant operators using a brine solution to make chilled water for comfort cooling or even light process cooling also will find this kit useful. The kit consists of a 200-mm glass hydrometer cylinder and two hydrometers for determining specific gravity in the ranges 1.000–1.070 (for ethylene glycol or propylene glycol solutions) or 1.000–1.400 (for calcium chloride and sodium chloride brine solutions) plus a chart showing the correspondence between the percentage by weight or percentage by volume of the sample with its freezing point in degrees Celsius or degrees Fahrenheit. Swim Coaches Endorse Taylor Test Kits VP of Marketing Pat Fitzgerald says the American Swimming Coaches Association and its sister organization, SwimAmerica, have again designated Taylor Technologies their preferred provider of pool and spa water-testing supplies. 2008 is the eighth year in a row ASCA has chosen to partner with Taylor. “The ASCA's endorsement means a lot to us,” Pat says, “since maintaining water quality for swimmers is a key concern of their coaches.” The American Swimming Coaches Association is a professional service organization whose membership includes age-group coaches, high school and college coaches, learn-to-swim professionals at YMCAs and the like, master swimmers, and every former Olympic coach since 1956. All are dedicated to building a stronger swimming community through leadership, education, certification, and cooperation. Its affiliate, SwimAmerica, is the nation's leading learn-to-swim school. Taylor Celebrates ISO 9001:2000 Certification November 29 marked the first anniversary of Taylor Technologies' certification to ISO 9001:2000, an internationally recognized quality management standard promulgated by the International Organization for Standardization. To become certified to ISO 9001:2000, every aspect affecting the quality of the applicant's goods and services is rigorously examined. For example, employees at all levels must show their dedication to optimizing organizational performance, and the company must specify the metrics used to track progress. Periodically thereafter, the quality management system is reaudited by the registrar. Because of this, customers of a certified business can use ISO conformance as evidence of their supplier's commitment to continually improving the quality of its products. The elite designation is also indication customers can expect to receive accurate and timely service from a staff motivated to excel. Convenience without Compromise: sureTRACK Test Strips Pool and spa owners simply shake, dip, and read our sureTRACK test strips to get water analysis results that compare favorably with Taylor wet-chemistry tests'. Our unique shaker dispenser eliminates contamination from wet fingers. sureTRACK's color standards deliver the accuracy and consistency only spot-printing technology can. Target concentration ranges meet the latest NSPI recommendations. sureTRACK-4 (K-1300) tests free chlorine or bromine, pH, and total alkalinity. sureTRACK-6 (K-1310) determines all of these plus total hardness and cyanuric acid stabilizer. The CYA test was reformulated in 2007 to offer greater stability than ever before. In addition to being available in bottles, sureTRACK-4 test strips are now available in resealable foil packaging (K-1305). While each sureTRACK bottle contains 50 strips, the new foil pouches contain 10 strips. Take some with you when you travel! Taylor Gets an A+ Rating from ChemTreat Report cards aren't just for students. ChemTreat, one of the nation's largest industrial water treatment companies, grades its key suppliers regularly in four core operational areas:  product quality, on-time delivery, carrier/equipment issues, and administrative issues. For the last grading period, we earned a performance rating of 99.95%! Providing this level of service is what makes Taylor "the most trusted name in water testing." Three Big Names Team Up with Taylor Three leading lights of the water treatment business have selected Taylor to provide their water-testing supplies in 2008. The Water Treatment Products division of Arch Chemicals is now selling our liquid test kits and test strips for residential pool/spa use under the brand names HTH and POOLIFE. Leslie's Poolmart, which bills itself as "the world's largest specialty retailer of swimming pool supplies," is offering several private-label test kits in its 500+ stores, as well as in its nationwide mail-order catalog and on-line. Leslie's has also outfitted all retail locations with a Taylor countertop laboratory for in-store water analysis. Clearon, part of ICL-Industrial Products, is providing Taylor pool/spa test strips to Sam's Club, the wholesale warehouse giant. Cornerstone Newsletter Circulation Nears 14,600 After only seven years of publication, The Cornerstone's subscriber base numbers nearly 14,600. This quarterly newsletter offers timely and profitable information for those who test water in boilers and cooling systems in commercial, industrial, and institutional settings. If you're not already receiving this publication, some of the topics you've missed include tests for cycle monitoring in steam boilers, measuring nitrite in cooling systems, new tests for polymer in boiler and cooling waters, a tutorial on analyzing alkalinity, the finer points of chloride testing, summaries of our hardness and sulfite test choices, chlorine tests for the food industry, and a review of testing techniques. To sign up for a complimentary subscription, click here. Don't miss another issue! ¡Hablamos Español! Two of the Residential Series pool/spa test kits, the Basic OT (K-1000S-24) and Basic DPD (K-1001S-24), are now available with case labels and instructions in Spanish. Updates to the dosage charts include metric measurements and a treatment product with 45% available chlorine content. Twenty-four kits ship in a carton that converts to a colorful countertop display. Taylor offers French versions of these kits (K-1000F-24 and K-1001F-24) too. Entertain & Educate Customers with the Pool Investigotter! Nature's premier aquatic detective, the Pool Investigotter™, makes a colorful pitchman for Taylor's testing products. Retailers are invited to take the survey now running on our website. In return, you'll receive a vinyl banner, poster, counter mat, door decal, and take-one pad of testing tips starring our intrepid “PI.” Partnering to Bring Safe Drinking Water to Needy At Taylor we believe in lending a philanthropic hand beyond our geographical and cultural borders. In 2007 we continued our donations of cash and water test kits to New Life International, Water for People, and Safe Water International Ministries, three charities that help battle poor sanitation and unclean drinking water around the globe. New Life International volunteers assemble water purifiers that have saved countless lives from waterborne diseases in more than 50 countries. Water for People supports projects to bring sustainable drinking water, improved sanitation, and awareness of hygiene to impoverished communities in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific. SWIM volunteers visit remote villages in developing countries to deliver a simple lightweight device that generates chlorine for disinfecting potable water by the electrolysis of common table salt. We were pleased to be able to help the SWIM team in Nicaragua purchase a much-needed four-wheel-drive vehicle in 2007. To learn more about the work of these charities and how you could help, check out www.waterfortheworld.com or www.water4people.org or www.SWIMforHim.net.