My friends think I'm nuts...

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Flbeachluvr

Flbeachluvr

Bronze Supporter
Mar 19, 2016
445
Port Orange, FL
I have learned so much from this forum and think I'm doing a good job maintaining my first pool. Since I'm so enthusiastic about the TFPC method I've been telling all my pool-owning friends about it. Well they keep looking at me like I've got two heads. :scratch: When I explain why I like this method of maintaining my pool and avoiding the pool store the typical response I get is along the lines of, "well my pool has always looked great and I just take my water into (insert pool store name here) and they set me up. They never try to oversell me anything. They have been great." Now maybe all my friends have just been lucky and haven't been pool stored but I really have no snappy come back since they all seem so pleased and think I'm nuts for buying a "fancy" test kit when I could just take my water in and have some one else test it. I guess you can lead a pool owner to water but you can't make them test lol. :rolleyes:
 
These are all long-time pool owners who have really never had any problems. Their pools always look great. My brother in law never tests his water, just adds a bunch of chlorine (liquid and pucks) every week. Since he's my neighbor I'm going to go over some time when he's not home and "steal" a sample of his water and test it myself. I bet his CYA is through the roof but he figures as long as it looks good than there's nothing to worry about.

:testkit:
 
In FL, perhaps their only saving grace is water turn-over. For most other places in the country, their CYA would be through the roof and FC could never keep-up. In that respect, lots of rain equates to reduced CYA (and CH) and becomes many FL resident's best friend. :)
 
I have a neighbor that offered to teach me how to take care of the pool.

Him: "It's simple you just float these pucks and when you start to get some algae you just throw a bag of this shock stuff in clears it right up."
Me: "Oh ok cool, well I have been reading up on it and I am going to go with these Stenner pumps and see how it goes but if I have questions I will let you know" :rolleyes:

I am taking a very passive approach to my neighbors if they ask what I am doing I share but other than that I let it be. I have already had one neighbor who can see into my back yard re-plaster his pool because it was so Green and ours being new was so clear. The plaster was starting to get into bad shape, but we all know that is not why it was green. I do wish he had asked but it was standard plaster about 12 years old that was a foreclosure swamp for 2 years and was probably due any way. I just don't want to be the guy that tells people what they are doing is causing them problems. I figure it can be like telling people how to deal with their kids best to leave it unless they ask and even then tread carefully. The most receptive people I run into are the ones staring at the chemicals in to pool isle at Home depot when I stop by to get some MA. I teach them how to read date codes on the bleach and explain the FC to CYA relationship and point them to this site.


my neighbors lime green pool before the re-plaster. It is going to be interesting to see how long the re-plaster neighbor gets by before the CYA catches up with him. I'm thinking he will get a season but will be back on the pool store treadmill next spring.
 

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The best thing you can do is tell them "Well I am glad it works for you. If it ever doesn't feel free to ask me anything" That way you aren't acting smug but are making it very clear that you know what you are doing and confident it will work. If they are happy with their current situation the worst thing you can do is try to convince them they are wrong.

After all, it is your pool you need to keep clear. That will be proof enough that TFP works. They might see the light someday, they might not. All you can do is keep your pool looking good.

From my HTC One via Tapatalk
 
Yeah, I have a similar situation with one of my best friends. He has had his pool a few years now and mostly relies on his UV sterilizer, only occasionally putting in Trichlor pucks in his inline chlorinator. He claims he's only had a pool problem "one time" where his pool began to turn green. He made his usual trip to the pool store and they sold him some shock and that was that.

It seems the problem really lies with the fact that you have to admit you have a problem! He claims he doesn't but has to run his pump 12 hours a day or something crazy. I told him I only run mine a couple of hours a day and he almost didn't believe me. I keep trying to warn him of the impending doom that it is his CYA level but he just looks at me with a blank stare. How his willy nilly approach has not come to bite him in the rear sooner I have no idea. He claims it's his UV, but I know better. Very frustrating.
 

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It all depends on the neighbor and how well you know them. On the rare occasion that my neighbor needs water for his pool he puts a small sump pump in the lake behind our homes and pumps it into the pool. As the water is entering the pool he runs it into a bucket filled with pucks. I obviously don't ask him for pool advice. I also don't offer any unsolicited advice.
 
The TFPC Method relies on a very basic but important principle - self-testing of your pool's water. If a person is unwilling to test their own water, then there is no way you can follow the TFPC Method of pool care. This is why the TFP Mods and Experts will often tell newcomers that they have to choose - it's either the pool store methods or the TFPC Method, you can't mix & match. So, if a person is unwilling to test their own water (for whatever reason) then there's really no point in trying to convince them that the TFP way is better because they have already rejected the basic underlying premise of TFP. Well-crafted arguments about chemistry (which most people think is beyond their understanding) and even cost are irrelevant; if a person does not want to take responsibility for their pool care, then the conversation is over even before it has started.
 
Tell them you have a disease called "Sparkleitis"! LOL

Good for you for taking such good care of your pool! I bet most of your friends could not find a diamond earring in the deep end! We had one PO that did! They had a party and someone lost theirs IN the pool. Everyone got out and they let the water settle and there is was in the deep end. So easy to see in their clear water!

Kim
 
i have found it easier to just not say anything to other pool owners that rely on the pool store. there is an attachment to the pool store, and some magical quality that they seem to believe in. The trend in our country and most other places is to never figure out how anything works and to learn about things. its the same reason no one can do simple repairs or maintenance on their cars or their houses. No one wants to actually take the time to LEARN something. its easier to just take a sample to the pool store and have someone else simplify it to the level of "throw two bags on this stuff in there". the TFP method is so darn basic and simple once you take a few minutes to learn the "chemistry" and i use the term "chemistry" in quotations because that is over-complicating it. it really just boils down to keeping your chlorine at value X or higher, given a CYA of X. there are some other things like pH and TA but those are very basic. No one is asking us to balance equations or figure our mol weights (even though some do :) ). all that you need is a few very basic charts. its simple, but people dont feel they need to learn anything. Thats why i stopped mentioning TFP methods and just nod and say "ok" when i talk to other pool owners. its not saving me any money or time trying to convert them.
 
DaninFLA, you have an excellent point about many people not wanting to learn or do for themselves. I don't know what has brought this about. I brought this up on a different forum and was attacked for having to temerity to take care of my stuff myself. It's almost like there's a certain pride for some in remaining ignorant and unable to do basic maintenance themselves because they can hire it. One of the things I really like about TFP is the encouragement, knowledge, and advice we get from others here on how to take care of our pools ourselves using simple scientific methods.
 
DaninFLA, I agree that most people don't want to bother to figure things out. In fact most of the pool owners in our neighborhood have pool service so they don't have to do anything. I'm the kind of person that likes to keep learning new things so the TFP method works for me!
 
I am a complete do it yourself person, and very scientific/engineering minded. I guess most people don't care too much about how things work. I do everything home and repair related myself. Besides saving a lot of money, you learn valuable things that will always help you in the future.

Don't worry about your friends. They can keep paying the pool guy his monthly fee. I probably spend less a year on my pool than most of my neighbors spend per month. But to be fair, their pools look clean and they don't seem to have algae issues.
 
All my friends just shrug it off as me being a nerd and a little OCD. For me the TFPC method is almost a necessity. I live about 20 minutes from the nearest pool store and it's not along any of my commuting routes. Being reliant on the pool store to test my water was never an option.

It's funny how some people just don't want to accept that in the vast majority of cases you just don't need any specialized chemicals. I think some people use stuff just because it sounds like something you need without giving any thought to whether it really is. Algaecide is a good example.

The whole reason I stumbled across TFP on the Google is because I'm naturally suspicious of anything a retailer tells me I "must" buy. I was looking for validation of whether the pool store chemicals were really anything special. Guess what? ;)
 
Flbeachluvr said:
These are all long-time pool owners who have really never had any problems. Their pools always look great. My brother in law never tests his water, just adds a bunch of chlorine (liquid and pucks) every week. Since he's my neighbor I'm going to go over some time when he's not home and "steal" a sample of his water and test it myself. I bet his CYA is through the roof but he figures as long as it looks good than there's nothing to worry about.

:testkit:
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So I did get a sample of my brother in law's water this weekend as they were out of town. I stopped testing for chlorine after adding 30 drops of reagent and his CYA was off the charts, 100+. I won't say a word as it's none of my business but I think I'll maybe skip swimming in his pool this summer. ;)
 
Flbeachluvr said:
So I did get a sample of my brother in law's water this weekend as they were out of town. I stopped testing for chlorine after adding 30 drops of reagent and his CYA was off the charts, 100+. I won't say a word as it's none of my business but I think I'll maybe skip swimming in his pool this summer. ;)
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TFP has done it again. Another pool snob.
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