Check out our latest ‘Horror File’ entry
February 14, 2021
Check out our latest ‘Horror File’ entry

CAN YOU TOP THIS?

Welcome to the latest edition of our popular “Can You Top This?” column, featuring the newest entry in the Service Industry News “Horror File. ”

This issue’s entry comes to us from English Pool Consulting, of Rick English, in San Diego, California.

“I don’t know if this is a horror, but it sure is funky,” writes Rick.

“This is a fill line for an older pool. It was probably originally plumbed correctly, but somehow this Rube Goldberg was contrived.

“The ball valve, which should be an antisiphon valve, is about 9 feet above the ground. I had to do some serious climbing to test it. A garden hose dangles from the valve down to a PVC pipe which is the fill line. The existing owners had no idea that there was a fill pipe. They had been using a hose.”

Well, that sure is something, isn’t it? The road to invention certainly is a long and winding road.

Other publications like to print lots of pretty pictures of beautiful pools, spas and well engineered installations.

At Service Industry News, we would rather go behind the scenes and take a closer look at the type of stuff our readers encounter everyday — cracked tiles, tree roots, spaghetti plumbing, rats in the heater, cars in the pool and more!

When you are out in the field and you see something that doesn’t look right, send us an email along with a picture and a brief description: Attention Horror File, serviceindustrynewscd@yahoo.com.

LATEST NEWS
Why do CO detection failures persist?
Carbon monoxide illness and death occur because alarms not treated as essential
April 30, 2026
By Marcelle Dibrell Carbon monoxide causes more than 400 deaths and over 100,000 emergency department visits each year in the United States, according...
April 30, 2026
For pool and spa service professionals, responsibility is usually defined in clear, practical terms. Water chemistry is balanced. Equipment is operati...
April 30, 2026
Health officials in Colorado confirmed in March 2026 that multiple cases of Legionnaires’ Disease have been linked to guests who stayed at The Ritz-Ca...