Non-BBB pool owner's pool party. Ick

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CaraR

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May 23, 2011
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Hubby and I went to a pool party at a new friend's house recently. Keep in mind, I'm a new pool owner as of early June and immediately started BBB method when we moved in and tested water. I've NEVER had a problem, never had to shock, etc...
Our friends have had their pool for years and are having a POOL PARTY. I walk out onto their patio and the pool water had a dull, watered down skim milk look to it. It felt SO slimy, too. My friend was happily floating in it, while I didn't dare put more than my toes in it. It had a funny smell, too. :shock:
I mentioned how disgusting it was to my husband when we were on the way home. He says he didn't notice the water. REALLY?!! ICK. He didn't go in, though, and had he tried I might have stopped him. lol

Once I know these people better I might give them a little pool advice/help. Nobody should throw a pool party with water like that! So thankful I found this site. It has made first-time pool ownership SUPER easy. :goodjob:
 
CaraR said:
Once I know these people better I might give them a little pool advice/help. Nobody should throw a pool party with water like that! So thankful I found this site. It has made first-time pool ownership SUPER easy. :goodjob:
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You can try but you'll learn, like many of us have, that criticizing a friend's pool water or even offering suggestions for improvement will fall on deaf ears and may strain the relationship.

What sometimes works is to invite them to your pool, or just over for tappas and wine or whatever, and make it a point to test your water with your own test kit. You can get all enthusiastic about how much fun the testing is and how easy it has made your pool maintenance, and then say something inane like, "I'm so excited about this water testing thing, mind if I try it on your water?"

What you don't want to do is go into any detail or an at-length discussion about BBB. People don't want to hear it. It's like any other conversion, political or religious or dietary: it's perceived as criticism. The trick is to let people get curious, let them notice that your water is of drinking water quality and theirs looks like curdled milk. Let them come to you.

In my own case, it was when I told my friend I could no longer let my dog swim in her pool because the water looked, smelled, tasted and felt bad. Having the dog share our pool afternoons had been one of her great joys. She eventually converted from Baqua to a SWCG but it took 2 years.
 
I would have had the same response as you believe me. Yuck...

I think the suggestion for inviting them over is the answer. If they notice your water and ask, maybe the door will open. I'd probably be the first to say the wrong thing though as is it is SO hard for me to keep my mouth shut. But if they ask, it will be funn telling them what you use and don't use....and that you never get "pool stored". :lol:
 
Richard320 said:
Two months in and you're already a snob!!!


:mrgreen:
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And proud of it! :lol:

They are coming over for a UF football game next month. I'm sure the pool with come up. I seriously just wanted to dump about 20 gallons of Clorox in that pool. lol
 
sometimes ignorance is bliss.....we just got back from vaca and the pool at the hotel left something to be desired..couldn't see the deep end. My 12 yr old son wouldn't go in, of course my 7 yr old didn't much care.
 

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I think many of us are now "pool snobs". :)

I too find it very hard to swim anywhere else now that I know how to maintain a pool and love having a clean and sparkling pool. The others are right that most people won't listen to you about pool maintenance... they prefer to go by what the pool store suggests. Once people start to see your pool and you do a little bragging about how easy it is to take care of your pool, they may begin asking questions.

We have some friends that have had a pool for years. They came out for dinner one night and she saw the pool through the fence and asked my Hubby how we kept it so clean. He told her it was all my doing... too bad he didn't tell her how easy it was and do a little bragging... might have converted her as I think they are puck users. We were invited to their pool at the end of last season and although it wasn't bad, it wasn't sparkling.. oh how I'd love to get them here... but being much newer at pool care I don't know that they'd believe me. Maybe someday...
 
It's frustrating, I know! My neighbors have a beautiful inground pool, and have not been able to use it this year due to water problems. They can't keep chlorine in it, and have both local pool stores dump whatever they recommended into it. Since we are newer pool owners with a 'toy' pool, my opinion doesn't hold weight with them. They will continue to scratch their heads and toss in stuff they don't need, before giving up and closing early for the season. Other neighbors bought a pool like ours since we have no real problems and plenty of fun. They only test at the pool store once a month and toss in pucks per their schedule. Right now the pool is dark green and the kids won't go in it. But they don't want any advice, since they are doing what the professionals tell them. Maybe next year....
 
frogabog said:
You could always bring up the recent dead woman in the public pool in Boston who was submerged for 2 days and no one bothered to notice while the pool was used by hundreds of people after she drowned.
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Oh gross!! For real? I've got to Google that story. Nasty!!!
 
OK, I just Googled that story about the woman in Boston and that's nasty. But the picture of the water is exactly like what my friend's pool water looked like - when she was standing in it I lost sight of her legs. PUKE!!!
 
I've found it's no use suggesting, hinting or anything about anyones pool care or lack thereof. However gentle in anyone's suggestion offering, people usually take it as insulting. My neighbors have seen my pool, saw me with my test kit, & just give me this crazy look. They are puck & powdered cal/hypo users, & won't change (but their pool is sparkly clear also). You just have to lead by example & let them ask you for help.
 
thewags said:
It's frustrating, I know! My neighbors have a beautiful inground pool, and have not been able to use it this year due to water problems. They can't keep chlorine in it, and have both local pool stores dump whatever they recommended into it. Since we are newer pool owners with a 'toy' pool, my opinion doesn't hold weight with them. They will continue to scratch their heads and toss in stuff they don't need, before giving up and closing early for the season. Other neighbors bought a pool like ours since we have no real problems and plenty of fun. They only test at the pool store once a month and toss in pucks per their schedule. Right now the pool is dark green and the kids won't go in it. But they don't want any advice, since they are doing what the professionals tell them. Maybe next year....
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Invite the neighbor kids over to swim in your pool. They can take home stories of how nice your water is and you won't have to say a thing.
 
Good suggestion Frog. My other neighbors' (without a pool) daughters swim in mine regularly. The mother continually comments on how their daughters say they can open their eyes underwater & they don't hurt like they do in all other pools. She says it has to be the salt in mine, because the chlorine that other pools have just hurts their eyes. I've explained the SWG/chlorine workings to them a few times before, but they don't get it. They think my pool doesn't have chlorine in it, lol. Oh well, they're happy in my pool, safe & sanitized. Still puts a notch in my ego belt, so to speak.
 
Ya it's frustrating when you tell someone who seems to love their pool, but not enough to take the time to properly care for it. I've mentioned it to a friend of mine, but I try not to push it as to not be a bother. Their pool got cloudy last week, I told her to put 5 182oz bottles in (thinking she'd need more like 10), which it "helped", then they put in some powder shock, and some more bleach in just a day or 2 ago, but with only using test strips and a cheap tester, she really has no idea where she is, or where she should be.

Needless to say a week later, it's still not cleared up. I've offered to come by & test it for her, bring my wife over so they can talk, and educate her husband on "the process". If you can get through to a man that he can save $$$ by going this route, they'll usually listen.
 

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