Advice for good ol Dad

[Concho]

Hi all,

I'm a satisfied BBB'er trying to get my dad to follow suit...but he's very set in his ways. Here's his story....just filled his pool with lake water...pretty green looking...pool store told him to shock with about 20 bags or so of cal-hypo....set his filter to recirculate and vacuum to waste...and don't do anything else until they come to his house on Friday to check everything out. I was of course curious to his FC level so I snuck into his yard last night and measured...FC was 6. I'm assuming there is no CYA in the water. Checked again this morning and FC was 0. I poured in 3 more bags of cal-hypo. Checked again at 1:30, FC was 2. I put in a gallon of 10% bleach. In the meantime, he called his pool store and they told him to quit adding any more shock to the pool....just want him to put some sticks of trichlor in the skimmers and wait til Friday. What do you good people suggest? I was thinking I should add some CYA and target 20-30ppm....and shock accordingly.....he wants me to leave it alone until the experts come out.....they told him to NOT put any stabilizer in the water. I can't just sit idly by and watch him spin his wheels. Should I sneak over there and do what I know will help...or let him flounder and get bad advice from the pool store?

 

[jblizzle]

Tough call ... you are of course correct that you should raise the CYA and follow the shock process (which is going to be way cheaper than what the pool store is going to suggest) ... unfortunately, we all know how parents can be

I would not suggest adding CYA without anyone knowledge as the pool store may eventually suggest adding more and think it is still zero.

You should see if he would give you a week or so and if nothing improves then hand him back control.

 

[linen]

he called his pool store and they told him to quit adding any more shock to the pool....just want him to put some sticks of trichlor in the skimmers and wait til Friday.

...well in fact they are asking him to put in stabilizer:

just want him to put some sticks of trichlor in the skimmers and wait til Friday.

How many sticks?

You are in a tough position... we do know that following both pool store and tfp method advice is a recipe for disaster. I would say either your Dad goes totally in on the tfp method (or he gives you full reign and you doit) or he sticks with the pool store.

 

[Concho]

I figured the sticks would slowly add some CYA....just didn't know how fast they dissolve. I think there were 4-5 sticks in the skimmer....pool is about 36k gallons...

 

[jblizzle]

It is also not recommended to leave sticks/pucks in the skimmer unless the pump is running 24/7 ... otherwise the stagnant water in the skimmer with the pump off overnight gets to be very acidic and then you pull that through the equipment.

 

[woodyp]

Sad thing is..............you could have it half way or better fixed by the time his "experts" even come out on Friday...much less get started on their latest magic bullet strategy. Maybe suggest that to him? How they expect it to hold any FC without any CYA reasonable level is beyond me.

 

[Isaac-1]

I would suggest economics as the best way to convince him, show him how much cheaper our way is.

 

[Concho]

It's hard to convince him....he seems to agree with everything I tell him...but when its time to make a decision...he trusts the pool store more than me. I told him I haven't shocked my pool in over a year....he shocks every week...and constantly has algae and cloudy water issues. And money is no object to him so I can't go down that route....I think the pool store realizes that money is no object to him also....that's why they tell him to ignore me.....he has tons of bottles in his pool shed of clarifiers , algaecides, anti foam....ph up...ph down...alkalinity up,,,alkalinity down, burnout, trichlor sticks...etc...he alone probably keeps them in business!

 

[Richard320]

The tables have turned with time.

Stop helping him! He'll never learn how to do it if you keep doing it for him. Let him struggle a little, he'll figure it out. And all that stuff parents say about their kids.

Seems to me that no matter how set in his ways or stubborn he is, if he's still fighting it and getting poorer by the day and your pool is crystal clear, he might start wondering how.

And I'm serious about not sneaking over and helping him. If you're speeding things along, you're really only helping the pool experts rip him off!

You asked for advice...

 

[Smykowski]

I'm with Richard.

In terms of true BBBers, the people that "get it" have kind of an epiphany moment. Everyone else just really isn't ready to listen.

We tell people all the time, "You can do it our way, or you can do it the pool way, but you can't do both." You probably need to tell him the same thing. If he doesn't ask for your advice, it's his time and money that's getting used or wasted. If he DOES ask for your advice, your answer needs to be our answer: pool store way or my way. I think you can very diplomatically tell him that you don't believe in the pool store method. You believe in BBB. If he wants to do it that way, you'd be happy to help him, but if he decides to do something else, best of luck, hope it works out for you.

I understand the family thing, and I understand easier said than done, so good luck, and let us know how it works out.