Just have to laugh

Jump to latest Follow Reply
wimpy

wimpy

0
Mar 29, 2011
65
Lower Bucks County,PA
Pool Size
7400
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
In the pool store to pick up my 2nd 5gal refill of 12.5% this season and am standing in line. Two separate customers in front of me with shopping carts filled what looked like half the stores inventory. There i stood listening to the two of them discuss their game plan and outdoing each others remedies while the surpressed laughter was building. Combined totals were over $325 and me, walked out with a $18 dollar carboy of cl. Don't ya just love it!!
 
I never have to suppress the urge to laugh, I have to suppress the urge to start shouting. I want to yell, "Why don't you buy your own [Edit: language] test kit and do it right??!!!" When the pool size is given as "I think it's about 30,000 gallons" you just know that whatever they prescribe is going to be wrong. And the little twerp manager is a big proponent of the slug method of lowering TA.
 
I say keep them ignorant, then the price of our "chemicals" won't go up. I fear the day I walk into Aldi's and the bleach is all gone because somebody finally decided to wake up and smell the chlorine (or lack thereof using the BBB Method) !! ;-)
 
That's a good point. I believe someone in my neighbourhood is a BBB'er because at the Wal Mart, there were only two boxes of 20 Mule Team Borax left on the shelf. The Canadian Tire store was likewise very low on muriatic acid.
 
rcy said:
That's a good point. I believe someone in my neighbourhood is a BBB'er because at the Wal Mart, there were only two boxes of 20 Mule Team Borax left on the shelf. The Canadian Tire store was likewise very low on muriatic acid.
Click to expand...

See, it's a great secret to keep ;-)
And most people are ignorant to the fact that chemicals are chemicals, but just because one comes from "the pool store" doesn't make it any better, and most likely is just something that worsens your problems!!
 
I enjoyed walking through Sam's Club with 4 cartons of bleach when someone smiled and said, "got a pool"? I wanted to reply, "nope, dead body", but couldn't do that to what was probably a fellow BBB'er. :lol:
 
Edge said:
I enjoyed walking through Sam's Club with 4 cartons of bleach when someone smiled and said, "got a pool"? I wanted to reply, "nope, dead body", but couldn't do that to what was probably a fellow BBB'er. :lol:
Click to expand...

Husband did reply "Dead body" to that question and got a very weird look in return.
 
thepiratemorgan said:
I say keep them ignorant, then the price of our "chemicals" won't go up. I fear the day I walk into Aldi's and the bleach is all gone because somebody finally decided to wake up and smell the chlorine (or lack thereof using the BBB Method) !! ;-)
Click to expand...

I regularly hit Walmart where they are completely out of the GV bleach even though they have shelf space for about 50 jugs. A local farm store keeps pallets of bleach in the pool section, although they are the only place I've found that sells 10% chlorine at a reasonable price.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Swimgirl said:
I was a little surprised. Local wal-mart had big boxes of borax and baking soda with the pool chemicals.
Click to expand...

Oh no!!! A big box store has learned the secret!!! There goes the prices!!! I've always seen the monster bag of Baking Soda, but never Mule Team near the pool supplies. And who are they kidding with that 10% bleach??? Can't remember the exact cost, but it's pretty high (even if it is 10%) compared to Aldi's 6% 3/4 Gallon at 33 cents a quart.
 
I bought some Arm & Hammer baking soda from Sam's club the other day. It was a 13.5 lb bag and right on the front it had a picture of a swimming pool. I turned it over, and on the back were complete instructions on how to use baking soda in your pool.

The secret is out.
 
Wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people use a form of BBB here, due to our long swimming season (Southern Arizona). I know that Wal-mart, home depot, Lowe's, and Ace hardware all carry a lot of liquid chlorine from around April to October. I really don't think too many people would have to use baking soda around here if using bleach, and I would think the only use for borax would be for borates - being in the desert, our soil is really quite alkaline, and therefore, our tap water (which is mostly ground water) is fairly high pH. I'm always having to lower pH and total alkalinity. I only had to once use anything to raise pH, and that was when I used a little tri-chlor because my CYA was low. :-D
 
I believe I have a fellow BBB'er in my neighborhood as well. Memorial day weekend my local KMart was wiped out of 1.5 gal jugs of bleach. The lady at the register asked if I had a lot of cleaning to do since I had 8 1 gallon jugs of store brand bleach. I love walking into the pool store and doping a rough estimate of how much it would cost to run my pool according to the pool store. This is my 3rd year with a pool and I think all 3 years combined running the BBB method still hasn't cost as much as 1 year by the pool store.

The biggest kick I got was in the spring I replaced my water line tile. I went to the pool store to see what type of thinset they had for pool tile. The guy at the store tried to sell me a 5lb bucket of "pool patch" which is really hydraulic cement for $15 bucks. I laughed and said I could buy a 20lb hydraulic cement at home depot for $10. His reply was but this is specifically designed for pools. Needless to say I walked out of the store shaking my head. To those that haven't worked with hydraulic cement, It dries in 3 minutes (under water at that.) Not ideal for setting tile. My father has been a mason for over 30 years and still hates working with hydraulic because of the super fast set time.

Thanks TFP for the priceless amount of information that has kept me the envy of my friends for always having a crystal clear pool and not breaking the bank to keep it that way!!
 
I believe I have a fellow BBB'er in my neighborhood as well. Memorial day weekend my local KMart was wiped out of 1.5 gal jugs of bleach. The lady at the register asked if I had a lot of cleaning to do since I had 8 1 gallon jugs of store brand bleach. I love walking into the pool store and doping a rough estimate of how much it would cost to run my pool according to the pool store. This is my 3rd year with a pool and I think all 3 years combined running the BBB method still hasn't cost as much as 1 year by the pool store.

The biggest kick I got was in the spring I replaced my water line tile. I went to the pool store to see what type of thinset they had for pool tile. The guy at the store tried to sell me a 5lb bucket of "pool patch" which is really hydraulic cement for $15 bucks. I laughed and said I could buy a 20lb hydraulic cement at home depot for $10. His reply was but this is specifically designed for pools. Needless to say I walked out of the store shaking my head. To those that haven't worked with hydraulic cement, It dries in 3 minutes (under water at that.) Not ideal for setting tile. My father has been a mason for over 30 years and still hates working with hydraulic because of the super fast set time.

Thanks TFP for the priceless amount of information that has kept me the envy of my friends for always having a crystal clear pool and not breaking the bank to keep it that way!!
 
I just made a trek to the local pool store today. Was talking to the guy about my cyanuric acid levels. I measure them at 45. He told me they were around 100. I said, wow that's high. He then told me people don't typically have a problem with CYA until it is around 400-500 ppm?!? I just nodded my head. We then got to talking about borates. I need a significant amount added to get to a base level (their test recommended 77#'s of Supreme Plus. I was like, "ok, how much is that." His response? "Around $160." I was doing the math in my head and figured between muriatic and borax, I would be at about $65.

Very strange, indeed.
 
As an "In The Industry" guy, I get emails from vendors promoting this and that. I responded to one such email. It does contain a typo of my own doing regarding pool paint and risk but the points I made seem to have struck a nerve with the owner of the mail list. They asked for and received my permission to reprint it. Please don't take my responses as a blessing of the products she represents. I haven't tested them on my own pool but will likely soon since I have a bottle on my service van.

Here is the link:

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com ... bVwAwck%3D


Wow, that is an ugly URL but it is what it is. I hope that it makes a difference to some other "In The Industry" types for a better experience to the consumers.

Scott
 
Alas, we live in a capitalist society (not that I would have it any other way!) where greed is the driving factor (this I could live without), not the needs of the consumer (this I couldn't live without).

The forums I participate on, have given me as much, if not more, and helped me be a better pool pro and person. I guess I should also thank my Dad for his wisdom and strong sense of right and wrong. More rubbed off him and on to me than I ever will know.

A happy and safe 4th of July to all Americans.

Scott
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply