A Splash of Wellness
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Josh Johnson of Pure Aquatic Solutions makes a case for rethinking everything you know about pools.
Writer Andrea Manokian
Photography Richard Garnica
In a sunny seaside enclave like Santa Barbara, where rainy days are the exception rather than the rule, taking a dip in a glistening pool while soaking up the afternoon rays feels like the ultimate pastime. Yet while many people carefully consider the quality of the food they eat, the products they use, and the wellness rituals they practice, few stop to think about the quality of the water filling their backyard pools. After all, shouldn't the water we immerse ourselves in be held to the same standard as the things we put in and on our bodies? This is the question I explored with Josh Johnson, owner of Pure Aquatic Solutions.
Pure Aquatic Solutions was founded in 2020 and has since grown into a team of nine. The company specializes in pool maintenance and repair, servicing residents in Santa Barbara, Ojai, and Carpinteria, as well as recreational spaces like Ganna Walska Lotusland. The company stands out for its commitment to quality care and its willingness to accommodate modern-day wellness pools. Rather than relying entirely on high levels of chlorine for sanitation, wellness pools distribute sanitation responsibilities across several complementary technologies, reducing chemical reliance while maintaining superior water quality.
Josh is passionate about encouraging homeowners to rethink the role water plays in their everyday well-being. Simply put, every pool needs some type of sanitization to prevent people from getting sick. “Traditionally, we’ve always used chlorine. That’s why no one has really gone in a different direction, because no one has challenged it,” he explains. That’s where Pure Aquatic Solutions steps in, maintaining not only traditional high-chlorine pools, but also unconventional pools and systems such as hydrogen peroxide pools, saltwater pools, natural water pools, cold plunges, heated spas, koi ponds, water fountains, and Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs), such as UV sterilization and ozone systems that work synergistically to clean bodies of water. Put simply, “Our goal is to reduce chemical dependency intelligently while still maintaining safe water,” explains Josh.
A Santa Barbara County local with decades of pool maintenance and repair experience, Josh is well-equipped to care for pools of all sizes and use cases. At one point in his career, he even specialized in quarantining koi fish flown in from Japan—a service he still offers for those interested in sourcing healthy freshwater fish for their ponds.
After graduating from Carpinteria High School, he enrolled in the Marine Diving Technology program at Santa Barbara City College, where he studied underwater mechanical systems, hydraulics, and flow rates and dosing in commercial aquatic environments. In 2007, he moved to New Orleans, where he worked as a diving tender for one year and dove to ocean depths of up to 150 feet. Afterward, he returned to Santa Barbara and put his impressive resume to work, kickstarting his career in pool maintenance.
One conversation with Josh, and I’m already rethinking all the pools I’ve mindlessly succumbed to during vacations past. Traditional high-chlorine pools can lead to an array of side effects such as dermal rashes, damaged hair, and eye irritation. “Having irritated red eyes is a primary root cause of having the incorrect pH balance in your pool,” he says, a pesky side effect that can be eliminated by installing a pH controller. “These are the little tweaks that people aren’t aware of—relatively modest investments that can make a huge difference,” he explains.
In recent years, saltwater pools have become a popular alternative as they rely on lower volumes of chlorine. I ask Josh why people prefer saltwater pools to traditional pools if they still rely on the chemical to some degree. He explains that saltwater pools are more suitable for the skin because of their lower chlorine content. “A lot of people rave about how saltwater makes their skin feel better,” he says.
However, there are those who don’t wish to rely on chlorine at all. This emerging preference has led to the rise of hydrogen peroxide pools. Josh tells me about Stevie Ellison, a client based in Ojai who had a hydrogen peroxide system installed by another company. However, she wasn’t notified upfront about the cost of maintaining such a system. “A gallon of hydrogen peroxide is three times the cost of chlorine, and it also wears away three times quicker,” he notes, which adds up to maintenance costs that are nearly 20x more expensive than a chlorine pool.
In an attempt to explore her options, she contacted Pure Aquatic Solutions. Josh stepped in and proposed a crafty solution that involved a UV sterilizer, an ozone generator, and a backup salt chlorine generator, but one that didn’t rely on a chlorine stabilizer. “A chlorine stabilizer makes chlorine last longer in the sunlight,” he explains. “If you don’t stabilize your chlorine, the sunlight will make it go away within a couple of hours,” he says. Therefore, the client’s wish to retain a chlorine-free pool was still plausible. His solution required only a two-day setup, and cost a fraction of what it would take to maintain a hydrogen peroxide pool system.
The Pure Aquatic Solutions team is no stranger to a challenge. In fact, they tend to an estate that includes an acre-and-a-half lake, a 3,000-gallon koi pond, a large pool, two heated spas, a cold plunge, and 15 water fountains. Needless to say, no job is too large or too small. Josh prides himself on being able to service a variety of clients—those looking for wellness pools and those looking to maintain traditional chlorine pools. “I try to find the value point for everyone. I have clients on different levels of the spectrum,” he says. And for those clients who are interested in diving deeper (pun intended) and exploring healthier options, Josh is all ears.
The conversation turns to emerging pool trends in the Santa Barbara community. He shares that Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) are becoming popular, a term the industry has coined to describe technology that combines UV and ozone sterilization. “I think this is the best thing in the industry right now, and I think we’re going to be seeing a lot more of it,” he says. Josh goes on to explain that in order to implement an AOP system that delivers exactly what it promises—a healthier way to sanitize your pool—one must work with a company that creates separate, bespoke systems that are appropriately sized and correctly installed. “The only thing I don’t like about AOP systems are the consumer-available pre-made systems that are vastly undersized for what customers think they’re getting,” he notes.
As someone with such a wealth of knowledge around creating and maintaining pools, I can’t help but ask Josh what his dream pool would look like. He tells me about his family cabin in Wisconsin. “When I’m there, I’m always swimming in really nice, clear lakes, and it’s like—why can I swim here and not get sick? It looks beautiful, and it doesn’t irritate my skin,” he says. “There has to be a way I can achieve that feeling in pool form, and that’s what a natural water pool does a really good job of,” he adds. I’m quick to recall all of the online videos I’ve seen of people showing their natural water pools, which look more like ponds—teeming with freshwater fish and beneficial aquatic plants. He emphasizes that natural water pools are better as a ground-up project.
After my conversation with Josh, I’m eager to share all I’ve learned about pools with just about anyone who will listen. Alas, I’ve decided to spare the familiar faces in my life and share them with you here instead. But getting people to give pools a second thought is exactly what Josh and his team are trying to do. When you want to float away your worries in a body of water, it’s best to do it in a pool you trust—one that’s been vetted—so you can focus on playing mermaids or doing laps, and less on pool systems that don’t deliver.
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