Here is the Introductory Letter to the Journal of the Swimming Pool and Spa Industry:

I am excited to announce the founding of the Journal of the Swimming Pool and Spa Industry (JSPSI), an independent, non–profit trade journal catering specifically to those interested in technical information relative to pools and spas.

Many excellent publications are currently available in the pool industry, each designed for a different purpose and a different readership; from general to service to retail. As of yet, however, there is not one seeking out and publishing purely technical material. This is the function of our journal – to publish that kind of material that is too technical for publishing in a trade magazine. Some existing tech journals publish, from time to time, articles which relate to our industry (such as the Journal of the American Water Works Association, or the Journal of Applied Microbiology,) but they don’t delve deep enough, much less exclusively, into the swimming pool and spa industry. There is a wealth of material available in the technical realm, from conventional water chemistry to plaster technology, from alternative sanitizers to alternative surfaces, from plastic performance to motor curves. Some of this material describes new research, some explains conventional wisdom in a technical manner not readily avalable or understood in the industry today. It is the intent of the JSPSI to assemble, edit, and publish this type of material, providing an open forum for education, discussion and debate.

The journal format is time–honored in the world of academia. JSPSI will not attempt to reinvent the format, but will be structured much the same as other existing journals. The following is a list of what we expect to include in issues:

Research Papers: A wealth of research is currently being conducted in the industry, and the primary purpose of this journal will be to provide a forum for the publishing of research findings. Published material is expected to detail completed projects, although some papers describing works in progress may be accepted. Papers will include documentation as needed, including chemical formulas, mathematical support, tables, illustrations, and references.

Informative papers: Some areas of knowledge are well researched and understood in certain circles, but not in the general pool industry. For example, cement curing, metal ion and ozone activity in water, heater efficiency and emissions, motor performance curves, etc. are all well understood in selected circles, but not to the industry as a whole. Informative papers will be printed which explain, at a technical level, these types of ideas for the education of those in the industry who are technically minded, but not yet exposed to that particular segment of knowledge.

Annotated Bibliographies: When appropriate, annotated bibliographies will be printed. The purpose of this type of bibliography is to collect in one location as complete a listing as possible of documentation on a particular subject. Such listings may be useful in furthering research in a given area. Unlike a simple bibliography, which merely lists all of the publications containing the data, annotated bibliographies include paragraph–long descriptive or evaluative summaries after each citation, so that the reader knows what he may expect to find without having to locate and read each separate work. For example, annotations relating to the Saturation Index might look like this:

Cardall, John T. and Jonathan S. Powell Jr. “The Fallibility of the Langelier Index.” Pool News (4 Aug. 1974): 40–43. [Cardall and Powell discuss the inappropriateness of applying the Langelier Index to swimming pools, and describe experiments which they conducted, refuting the validity of the index in the pool environment. They discuss some of the factors in the pool environment which interfere with the index.]

Hamilton, Jock qtd. in Paul Konrad. “Whose Numbers Tell the Story?” Pool and Spa News (10 Apr. 1989): 22–26. [Hamilton is quoted in this story as refuting the Langelier Index’s appropriateness in swimming pools, and offering an alternate index (the Hamilton Index) which he claims sufficiently addresses the pool environment.]

Langelier, Wilfred F. “The Analytical Control of Anti–corrosion Water Treatment.” Journal of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) v28 #10 (1936):1500–1521. [This is the original paper published on the saturation concept, which has since become known as the Langelier Saturation Index. Langelier is cited as an associate professor of sanitary engineering at UC Berkeley. The article contains formulas, tables, photographs, and references, as well as a history of study on saturation. The index is applied to municipal water piping systems. No mention is made to possible swimming pool applications of the concept.]

Thomas, Jerome qtd. in Paul Konrad. “Whose Numbers Tell the Story?” Pool and Spa News (10 Apr. 1989): 22–26. [Dr. Thomas, successor to Dr. Langelier at UC Berkeley, is quoted in this article. He maintains that the Langelier Index “has no significance to open bodies of water – including swimming pools and spas.”]

Book Reviews: Books relating to technical aspects of the swimming pool industry may be reviewed. Reviewers will be qualified, independent persons, who will evaluate books based on such factors as content, accuracy, and readability.

Letters to the Editor: Appropriate letters to the editor may be printed. Letters will be responses or rebuttals to material in previous issues of the journal, and must be technical in nature.

The Journal will maintain a scrupulously unbiased policy relative to the selection of material published. I will be assisted in this regard by an editorial review board, comprised of a wide selection of professionals in the publishing, technical, and service facets of the industry. They will decide what material is to be included, and assist in advising the editor and the authors as needed.

As Editor and Publisher of the Journal, I am excited to inform you of this new publication. The subscription rate is $50.00 annually, with four issues per year. Single issues will be sold for $15.00 each. If you are interested in subscribing to the Journal, or submitting material, I can be contacted via the following methods:

by mail: The Journal of the Swimming Pool and Spa Industry

J. Que Hales, Editor

3114 E. Pennsylvania Street

Tucson, AZ 85714–2035

by phone: (520) 573–6696

by fax: (520) 625–1918

Thank you for your time! I look forward to providing for you a publication of such interest that you won’t want to miss a single issue, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely, J. Que Hales