NOW, I LOVE MY POOL

THANKS TO C-POOL

A friend’s son (Craig) happened to be working for a pool maintenance company for the summer. He suggested that they might have a solution to the problem. Later that week Craig arrived in a pool store van with a few guys. They tested the water and looked at it generally. “Try this.” They said. They opened the back doors of the service van and removed a small plastic pail. It was unmarked. It was covered in a brown bag so you couldn’t see the name. They broadcasted the powder into the water. No other chemicals. They instructed me to backwash every 24 hours. “Do nothing else. Add nothing to the pool.” Then they left.

After two days, there was no change. Three days, nothing. Four days, still cloudy water, but starting to clear. On the fifth day, I went down to the pool and could not believe my eyes. The pool was perfectly clear. I backwashed the pool one last time. The next day the water was, somehow, even clearer. The sun was shining brightly and the water was dazzling clear. Like in the Bahamas. The words Diamond Clear jumped into my mind.

I was excited and called my friend. “What WAS that product, “ I asked. I learned the name was C-POOL. So naturally, I went to the pool store that had hired Craig and asked for the product by name. They told me that they never use C-POOL and warn their customers not to use it because it was harmful to pools and people. Of course, that was nonsense. (It is approved by Health Canada and the EPA). It was their own service people that had used it in my pool! I wondered why they would say such a thing?

“Retailers are afraid that C-POOL will harm their sales. So many don’t carry it and warn others not to carry it either in case it becomes popular.” I was told by a small retailer distributor. It took a lot of work to find someone who carried the product. It wasn’t advertised and wasn’t on the internet. People were driving vast distances to buy this stuff.

The founder’s son, Mark, was operating C-POOL as a hobby company. He made enough money to live on. Marke produced enough C-POOL in the winter to supply a small network of fanatically loyal distributors. The formula was patented, but the patent protection had run out before they could build the company. Mark had no idea how to market the product and was relying on word of mouth. That’s a great endorsement, but it is too slow.

In 2011, I had sold my successful warranty company and wasn’t ready to retire. I had got to know Mark as he personally delivered C-POOL one by one to London customers. I asked him if he would sell the company, and he agreed.

I was inspired by Victor Kiam. He bought the Remington shaver because he like it so much. I bought C-POOL because I like it so much. Watch the vintage video.