Took a sample to Leslie Pools to test. Well, it was entertaining.
I did the full round of tests before I went in:
FC 2
CC 0
pH 7.5
TA 110
CH 150
CYA 40
The reason I went in was to get another test against my CH. AZ is supposed to have hard water, and my test didn't support that theory.
As I stood there and watched him run the tests, I was amazed. The nicest way to put it is "sloppy".
He had tubes from the last test he ran still sitting around that hadn't been dumped or rinsed.
I watched him take a tube, dump it and start filling it with my water (didn't even bother to rinse a single tube before filling it for a test!).
He may be good, but he never even held one up to see how close he was to the fill marks for each test.
His results
FC 2
TC 2
pH 7.6
TA 80
CYA 40
When he showed me the results, CH wasn't tested and he had already dumped the remaining sample water. I went back home and came back with another sample.
Now, this test ... He did rinse the tube on this one, then filled it (again, he didn't seem too concerned about how close he was to 25ml
He set it on his mixer, then squirted in 21 drops of the first agent (not 20). I'm thinking, already his test is invalid! Then he put 5 drops of the next agent. Then turned on the mixer.
He took the final agent and started putting in the drops - about as fast as he could add them and still come out as "drops". The sample turned blue at about 24 drops, but he added another 5 past that point. I watched closely at the color as he added the extra drops, but there was no additional change in the blue color.
He set the bottle down and said with a great deal of authority that my calcium hardness was 290 - which is good.
I would agree, if it was really 290, but I don't buy his result for a second.
My test process starts with 20 (not 21 drops), and the final agent is well mixed between each drop and it goes to a purple color, then to blue at drop #15 with no additional color change. I always add a couple more drops over just to be sure.
Conclusion, I trust MY testing procedure AND results. I feel his tests were invalidated before he even started!
To think, people actually trust these guys with their pools.
A friend warned me that they will try to tell me how BAD my phosphates are. Sure enough, it tested high according to their procedure (300 ppb) and he seemed quite anxious to want to talk about THAT test result. He wanted to sell me their PHOSfree product.
I just bought 2 gallons of chlorine and left.
I did the full round of tests before I went in:
FC 2
CC 0
pH 7.5
TA 110
CH 150
CYA 40
The reason I went in was to get another test against my CH. AZ is supposed to have hard water, and my test didn't support that theory.
As I stood there and watched him run the tests, I was amazed. The nicest way to put it is "sloppy".
He had tubes from the last test he ran still sitting around that hadn't been dumped or rinsed.
I watched him take a tube, dump it and start filling it with my water (didn't even bother to rinse a single tube before filling it for a test!).
He may be good, but he never even held one up to see how close he was to the fill marks for each test.
His results
FC 2
TC 2
pH 7.6
TA 80
CYA 40
When he showed me the results, CH wasn't tested and he had already dumped the remaining sample water. I went back home and came back with another sample.
Now, this test ... He did rinse the tube on this one, then filled it (again, he didn't seem too concerned about how close he was to 25ml
He set it on his mixer, then squirted in 21 drops of the first agent (not 20). I'm thinking, already his test is invalid! Then he put 5 drops of the next agent. Then turned on the mixer.
He took the final agent and started putting in the drops - about as fast as he could add them and still come out as "drops". The sample turned blue at about 24 drops, but he added another 5 past that point. I watched closely at the color as he added the extra drops, but there was no additional change in the blue color.
He set the bottle down and said with a great deal of authority that my calcium hardness was 290 - which is good.
I would agree, if it was really 290, but I don't buy his result for a second.
My test process starts with 20 (not 21 drops), and the final agent is well mixed between each drop and it goes to a purple color, then to blue at drop #15 with no additional color change. I always add a couple more drops over just to be sure.
Conclusion, I trust MY testing procedure AND results. I feel his tests were invalidated before he even started!
To think, people actually trust these guys with their pools.
A friend warned me that they will try to tell me how BAD my phosphates are. Sure enough, it tested high according to their procedure (300 ppb) and he seemed quite anxious to want to talk about THAT test result. He wanted to sell me their PHOSfree product.
I just bought 2 gallons of chlorine and left.
