...and frustration ensued.
I decided to have them close my pool one last time -- I'll be handling the opening and closing from now on. When I called to schedule the closing, they advised they'd bring some shock and algaecide to throw in immediately prior to closing. I told them not to worry about the shock, I'll handle that.
I also asked them what type of algaecide they'd be using. The gal (who I've known forever...small towns and whatnot) seemed quite put out that I asked what was in it and that I specified a polyquat. "I'm not even sure what's in it, <sigh> let me go pull it off the shelf so I can tell you."
After reading around here about the best way to implement polyquat for closing, I decided to stop in yesterday and pick up a bottle so I could dump it in a night or 2 before they came to close the pool. They also asked for a water sample prior to closing, otherwise they won't "guarantee" (not actually a guarantee...) everything will be right come spring. I told them that wouldn't be a problem, but that they probably wouldn't be happy with what they saw, so it wouldn't matter much anyway. :lol:
Then they remembered I've been chlorinating with liquid chlorine. "I'm sure your total alkalinity is too low. That's going to mess up your plaster. Get ready for a new plaster job next summer. And the fact that you haven't been using a stabilized chlorine means you're losing it all to the sunlight, so you're just wasting money. Your pool is going to catch fire and burn a hole straight through the Earth's crust and suck your entire neighborhood into it!!"
(Okay, so I added that last part...but that was the gist).
I told them I've kept my CYA at 40 and have been slowly reducing my TA to about 60 keep my pH from rising too quickly, and that I'd kept a close eye on my CSI, and everything has been good all summer. They looked astounded that I even knew what CSI was. Then back to the song and dance about non-stabilized "products," no telling what my pool water looks like, blah blah blah.
I was very tempted to tell them not to worry about closing the pool, but the husband (who had not participated in this discussion, and actually doesn't disagree with my/our methods...) is the one who does the closing and is, honestly, a great guy to do business with.
Long story short: I went in to buy polyquat and I left with polyquat, but only after a tongue lashing which left me scratching my head.
Do they really believe all this stuff, or is it just a drug-dealer-style scare tactic to try and get people back on their dope?
I decided to have them close my pool one last time -- I'll be handling the opening and closing from now on. When I called to schedule the closing, they advised they'd bring some shock and algaecide to throw in immediately prior to closing. I told them not to worry about the shock, I'll handle that.
I also asked them what type of algaecide they'd be using. The gal (who I've known forever...small towns and whatnot) seemed quite put out that I asked what was in it and that I specified a polyquat. "I'm not even sure what's in it, <sigh> let me go pull it off the shelf so I can tell you."
After reading around here about the best way to implement polyquat for closing, I decided to stop in yesterday and pick up a bottle so I could dump it in a night or 2 before they came to close the pool. They also asked for a water sample prior to closing, otherwise they won't "guarantee" (not actually a guarantee...) everything will be right come spring. I told them that wouldn't be a problem, but that they probably wouldn't be happy with what they saw, so it wouldn't matter much anyway. :lol:
Then they remembered I've been chlorinating with liquid chlorine. "I'm sure your total alkalinity is too low. That's going to mess up your plaster. Get ready for a new plaster job next summer. And the fact that you haven't been using a stabilized chlorine means you're losing it all to the sunlight, so you're just wasting money. Your pool is going to catch fire and burn a hole straight through the Earth's crust and suck your entire neighborhood into it!!"
(Okay, so I added that last part...but that was the gist).
I told them I've kept my CYA at 40 and have been slowly reducing my TA to about 60 keep my pH from rising too quickly, and that I'd kept a close eye on my CSI, and everything has been good all summer. They looked astounded that I even knew what CSI was. Then back to the song and dance about non-stabilized "products," no telling what my pool water looks like, blah blah blah.
I was very tempted to tell them not to worry about closing the pool, but the husband (who had not participated in this discussion, and actually doesn't disagree with my/our methods...) is the one who does the closing and is, honestly, a great guy to do business with.
Long story short: I went in to buy polyquat and I left with polyquat, but only after a tongue lashing which left me scratching my head.
Do they really believe all this stuff, or is it just a drug-dealer-style scare tactic to try and get people back on their dope?