Any Pool Calculator feature requests for spring 2009?

[JasonLion]

The ice on the pool cover is melting and swimming can't be toooo far away. That means that it is again time to turn my thoughts towards the spring Pool Calculator update. If anyone has any requests for features they would like to see in my Pool Calculator, I would love to hear them.

The top item on my list from last year is to add support for different strengths of muriatic acid, ones other than 31.45% - 20° Baumé. The problem is that I don't know what other concentrations it comes in, 31.45% - 20° Baumé is all I run into around here.

Please tell me what you would like to see added. I can't promise to put in everything, but I do have a couple of days free for adding features and not much on my list to keep me busy.

Thanks
JasonLion

 

[Guest]

How about an "autotest" feature where Jason comes to your house, tests your water, and plugs the results into the calculator for you? I think that would be one handy-dandy feature to have!

(And maybe an "autodose" feature where he puts in the needed chems to balance your water!)

(i'm probably gonna get banned for this one! )

 

[JasonLion]

How about an "autotest" feature where Jason comes to your house, tests your water, and plugs the results into the calculator for you? I think that would be one handy-dandy feature to have!

Hum, that could be done, but then I wouldn't be able to give it away for free anymore

 

[meatloaf]

Is it possible to make a Hot Tub calculator? :-D

 

[JasonLion]

Is it possible to make a Hot Tub calculator? :-D

Sure! Actually, my Pool Calculator already does most of what you want in a spa/tub calculator. About the only thing I can think of that is missing is bromine calculations. Of course, I am not a hot tub owner, so there could be other things I am forgetting about.

 

[meatloaf]

I have been using the Pool calculator for adjusting my Hot Tub, but I've heard that somethings are different due to the higher temperatures. So far there haven't been any problems.

 

[JasonLion]

There are some differences in how you care for a hot tub, but they don't have to do with the kind of calculations my Pool Calculator does. They have more to do with chlorine being less stable at high temperatures, increased bather load (per gallon) relative to a pool, less exposure to sunlight, and other things like that.

 

[Guest]

Hum, that could be done, but then I wouldn't be able to give it away for free anymore

You know what they say about people who give it away for free!

Seriously, as far as bromine calculations go, I am not sure exactly how that could be done since bromine (hypobromouse acid) is not added directly to the hot tub like chlorine is but is formed in situ by the addition of both bromine and an oxidizer. There are just too many variables. As far as the other calculations go the present calculator should work just fine.

The main difference for a bromine system is that there would be no CYA and that only total bromine is usually tested so if you had a 'bromine calculator' it would be a bit simplified.

Perhaps you could have a "bromine mode" that eliminates the CYA and FC/CC/TC inputs and just has a TB (total bromine) input.

 

[SCCS]

I would like to see ideal ranges posted on the page. I often do the calculations and need to refer back to my notes for the ideal range. Just a thought.

 

[JohnT]

I'd like to see it tell you how many jugs of liquid chlorine it takes to make the change entered. It already has the percentage and size, I'd just like it to say 3.5 jugs vs. having to do the math.

 

[Guest]

I'd like to see it tell you how many jugs of liquid chlorine it takes to make the change entered. It already has the percentage and size, I'd just like it to say 3.5 jugs vs. having to do the math.

Then you would also need to enter the size of the jug and the strength of the chlorine!

 

[JohnT]

Then you would also need to enter the size of the jug and the strength of the chlorine!

There's already a place for that.

 

[Guest]

Then you would also need to enter the size of the jug and the strength of the chlorine!

There's already a place for that.

Yes, but if someone forgets then they might dose wrong. I think a separate conversion calculator addition might be a better idea. Also, how will you do it when you come up with adding 1 19/64 jugs of bleach? :lol: (no matter how you cut out ounces are going to be easier unless you have to add whole or half jugs!)

The mouse over feature already gives you how many quarts, cups, oz. etc you need and is an accurate way to do it instead of fractions of jugs, which are next to impossible to measure and can lead to sloppy pool maintenance techniques, especially for newbies.
Just my 2 cents.

Edit: actually the mouse over feature DOES tell you how many jugs you need if you are adding more than a jug of bleach at a time. For example, change the default 4 ppm in the calualtor to 34 ppm (with all other settings on the default--clear your cookies!) with a 96 oz jug and 6% and when you mouse over the amount of chlorine in oz. it will tell you 6.5 96 oz jugs needed (along with the gallons, quarts, pints, cups, ounces, etc!)

 

[dschlic1]

Something that migh be of help: Allow user entry of bleach concentration. In my local area there is available 12%, 10%, 6%, 5.25% and 3% and who knows how many others.

 

[Molson]

Something that migh be of help: Allow user entry of bleach concentration. In my local area there is available 12%, 10%, 6%, 5.25% and 3% and who knows how many others.

You can already do that, in the FC box at the top, you can change the bleach concentration numbers.

 

[JasonLion]

SCCS, ideal (recommended/suggested) ranges sound like a great idea. The user will need to fill out a short questionnaire and I will need to find some space to display them in, but that is all possible.

Jugs and bleach percentage strength are both already available, as others have already pointed out. Jugs are probably only useful when you are shocking at high CYA levels or when you have a huge pool, situations where the number of jugs is high enough that the "rounding to the nearest whole jug" error is low, but it was easy enough to do.

 

[H2O_Keeper]

A few things.

1. Add a cost comparison calculator at the bottom. For the math challenged you could just ask for container size and cost. It would do the math for you and let you know your best value.

2. EDIT: Removed.

3. I would assume a portion of the audience does not understand the difference between your results if the chemicals they are buying are marketed by weight or volume. Maybe a quick definition of this somewhere, or even better dont display both and only show the results by the most common method of packaging to the general public.

 

[H2O_Keeper]

Edit: actually the mouse over feature DOES tell you how many jugs you need if you are adding more than a jug of bleach at a time. For example, change the default 4 ppm in the calualtor to 34 ppm (with all other settings on the default--clear your cookies!) with a 96 oz jug and 6% and when you mouse over the amount of chlorine in oz. it will tell you 6.5 96 oz jugs needed (along with the gallons, quarts, pints, cups, ounces, etc!)

Whatever container size you pick the results need to come back with that container size FIRST. For example the above for me came back with:

4 gallons 3 quarts 1 cup 6 oz or 6.5 (96 oz) jugs <--- This only seems to be true for FC

Data is there but until I read Waterbears reply I had never read over far enough to see the 6.5jugs!!! Perhaps list that first or maybe even only the results that way, take off the 4 gallons, 3 quarts 1 cup 6oz in the results. I doubt most will take it to that much precision dosing their pool. For me its a guesstimate to the container size (ie 1 2/3 jugs needed)

SCCS, ideal (recommended/suggested) ranges sound like a great idea. The user will need to fill out a short questionnaire and I will need to find some space to display them in, but that is all possible.

Great idea, perhaps ONE pull down menu below the pool #Gallons. It would just have ALL 6 combinations, examples:

SWG-Plaster
SWG-Vinyl
SWG-Fiberglass
NO SWG - Plaster
NO SWG - Vinyl
NO SWG - Fiberglass

You could create a column between the chemical and the NOW column. They must use your "Water Environment" pull down -menu or the calculator responds with no message or an alert to use the pulldown. DEFAULT is NO selection.

 

[PaulR]

Maybe some quantification of the secondary effects of various additives, e.g. when it says "Cal-hypo adds CH" it would be nice to know how much.

It might clutter the calculator too much to put the conversion right there, but maybe your Chemistry page could say what the ratios are, and the "adds CH" note on the calculator can link to it. Then I can figure out that 4ppm from Cal-hypo also adds 2.8ppm CH, and I won't fret so much.

Thanks,
--paulr

 

[JasonLion]

Maybe some quantification of the secondary effects of various additives, e.g. when it says "Cal-hypo adds CH" it would be nice to know how much.

You can find that out in the "Effects of adding chemicals" section down at the bottom. It works the other way around, you give it an amount of chemical and it tells you what it does to the water.