ock Hamilton, one of the pool and spa industry’s leading, and at times controversial, experts on water chemistry died Oct. 20 of cancer. He was 61.
Hamilton grew up in Southern California, where, in 1961, he started a service/repair business called Allied Pool Service and Engineering.
In 1972, he expanded that business to include water chemistry and changed the firm’s name to United Chemical Corp.
During this period, Hamilton opened a cyanuric acid production plant in Torrance, Calif., going against industry tradition, which held that such chemicals couldn’t be manufactured by small, independently owned companies. At the time, Hamilton told Pool & Spa News, “Even as I was producing the stuff, people were telling me I couldn’t be and that only big chemical corporations were capable of doing it. In some ways, that attitude caused me more problems than the technical side of things did.”
Industry friends of Hamilton refer to him as “a maverick who did things his own way.” He has been described as a man who was “honest and abhorred lying and cheating and was generous to fault ... someone who did a lot for the industry, giving a lot of his time and his money.”
Hamilton was a constant presence at the Pool Industry Expo and Western Pool & Spa Show, where he taught water chemistry classes. His teachings included a water-balancing system dubbed the “Hamilton Index,” which he developed to replace the Langelier Saturation Index. Hamilton noted that the Langelier Index originally was designed for underground water pipes used by municipal water districts and was adopted by the pool industry in the 1960s. He claimed the industry had outgrown the system.
Part of the Hamilton Index system was the requirement that pool water pH be kept in a higher range, 7.8 to 8.2, one of his most controversial ideas.
By 1991, United Chemical had ceased production of cyanuric acid and was making specialty chemicals, such as algaecides and stain removers. The company purchased WET Industries, a manufacturer of pumps and filters and moved its operations to Piru, Calif.
In 1999, Hamilton sold the assets of WET Industries, along with its dealer program, WET Institute, to an investor group so he could focus more on his line of specialty chemicals. The two companies still share the same facility in Piru.
Hamilton was president of the National Spa & Pool Institute’s Southern California Chapter from 1992 to 1993.
He is survived by his wife, Jackie, and son Scott.
