Converting Others to BBB

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IkeRay

IkeRay

0
May 20, 2007
154
Houston, Tx
What is the best way? I was tempted to forward the newsletter from May, http://www.troublefreepool.com/newslett ... wsletter=6 but, worried I will get the shrug off for that. I also want to point them to the website, but we are talking about 2 people who don't care about throwing money at the pool....I am just tired of the complaining.

the two people are my father-in-law and my brother. my brother's pool gets green on tuesday and he has to shock it on wednesday and thursday to get it cleaned by saturday. he constantly complains about it when I'm there, but I know if I tell him to use bleach in his pool I will get the 3rd degree about how bad it is.

my father-in-law is the same way, he complains about the pool constantly, but always has to point out how much he spends on it. each of them, in the past month, have spent over $150 on chemicals, while I on the other hand have spent ~$40 on chemicals(bleach and acid). The biggest obstacle is that I am only 23, so they both look down on me, despite how knowledgeable I may be on subjects. Originally, I was just going to keep my mouth shut about it, let them waste their money, but as the complaining has increased over the season now, I just want them to be able to handle the pool cheaply and by themselves...

so to recap, how have you convinced non-believers/thick headed individuals?
 
It's very frustrating, isn't it? All you can do is lead the horse to water. I have a very similar situation with friends in Virginia, Baquacil people who frequently complain about their pool's condition; when I suggest converting to chlorine I'm told that "the nice lady at the pool store says chlorine is bad for liner pools."

I've stopped talking to them about pool maintenance. People will do what they want to do. You've told them about BBB, you've given them the TFP link, and presumably they've seen your own pool. Either the light will go on, or it won't.

My Virginia friends don't grant me credibility because I've only had the pool for 3 years compared to their 6, and because mine is "just" and AGP. You're dissed by your relatives because you're young. Altogether, they're the losers, not we.

Enjoy your pool. Send them a JPEG every now and then of you and your family and friends in the pool, and when the f-i-l once again complains about how much he spends at the pool store maybe you can mention how inexpensive bleach, baking soda, and borax are, and how well you're able to support his daughter because of all the money you DON'T have to waste on pool care :)
 
I can relate.. I have friends with pools and they look down on me and laugh when I try and explain BBB and its benefits. They look at me crazy when I tell them the various chemicals I use like bleach, MA, etc. Hard to convince and "pool stored" mind.
 
One of my neighbors is amazed at my pool clarity. They have a virtually identical setup. A couple of years ago, she and her daughter came up to borrow my vacuum hose, and the daughter commented that my water "glitters". Theirs is usually just a hair cloudy. They are convinced that they need a new filter or that there is some magic clarifier that keeps my water clear.
 
I know the feeling. I've tried and tried to convince a good friend of the results and the $$ saved, but he just will not hear of it. I guess he thinks it's a multi-level, pyramid scheme or something? His loss - our gain! :party:
 
It's the lack of testing that's killing them. They need to get ahead of their water and quit reacting by having to shock every week and making expensive runs to the pool store. Wether they go BBB, use a swg, or use pucks, they are going to continue to be lost until they test and adjust on a regular basis.
 
SeanB said:
It's the lack of testing that's killing them. They need to get ahead of their water and quit reacting by having to shock every week and making expensive runs to the pool store. Wether they go BBB, use a swg, or use pucks, they are going to continue to be lost until they test and adjust on a regular basis.
Click to expand...

thats the biggest concern of mine, besides the rising CYA, they are throwing away money by shocking on a weekly basis because the pool store told them to. they do it as a natural cycle of things that have to be done...
 

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The testing process is my Virginia friend's biggest issue.

They started with a chlorine pool, pool store managed with an inline trichlor feeder and weekly shock. She felt overwhelmed by having to test TC and pH in the colour comparison tubes, saying at one point, "I'm a woman, not a chemist." GRRRRR!

Then they switched to Baqua. A year later I quit getting into her pool and refused to let my dog in it because the water was cloudy, foamed when the dog jumped in, and felt oily on my skin. Having Pax to play with in her pool had been one of her great joys.

She mentioned the other day they were switching back to chlorine. I gave her this URL and the one for the TF-100 and that's all of my involvement. I had talked to her about BBB but that fell on deaf ears and from the advice here on the forum earlier this season I backed off. Better to keep the friendship than have it bust up over pool care.

I don't know what progress they've made; we don't talk about it, but she will have to become a "chemist" for two minutes out of the day. How hard is that?????
 
Over the years, I have learned to keep my mouth shut and let people learn only if they tell me they want to.

Before that, I tried to push what I had learned and it fell on deaf ears 90% of the time.

Now, I simply mention that I maintain my pool with clorox but don't offer any explanation unless there is real interest.

Remember, No good deed goes unpunished!! :roll:
 
After hearing "Oh your one of THOSE people who put bleach in their pool"

And "I use Shock in my pool"...

one too many times....I feel out the person first and if they seem to have an open mind about it, I share my story. Whether they have an open mind or not I always mention that I found this pool forum that has so much helpful info, and then I tell them about TFP.

I thought I almost had my SIL but she stopped asking questions....
 
well, technically, his pool isn't green currently. He just complains about how long it takes to get ready for the weekend for when family comes over. He doesn't have a TV, he does everything on the computer (has a 52" monitor)...I'm tempted to just leave this site up one time that I'm over there, what do ya'll think?

my 2 younger brothers saw me put the bleach in the pool, and one said he wouldn't get into the pool because he didn't "want to bleach his hair". I explained the whole dilution thing, but he insisted that a gallon of bleach in the pool would bleach his hair. I also explained the whole sodium hypochloride thing (or the other way around?) and they still insisted that it was bleach... oh well, they don't own pools.
 
Oh well, if they won't get into the pool then that's 1 or 2 less people to worry about. I've learned years ago that "you can't change people, you can only change yourself". If you want to live a life of frustration keep trying to change others (wife, husband, kids, friend, etc). Work on the things you can work on and give the rest to God. Realize that some people "like" spending money on their pool. It gives them a sense of entitlement. My neighbor "has" to have a pool boy. It's a form of sex and control for her as she's a desperate housewife. The boy spends less than an hour a week over there and she pays him $200/month even though her pool is always full of leaves. I don't even think she use her pool but maybe 3 or 4 times a season.
 
I had a pool owner friend call a few nights ago asking "now, how much baking soda do you have to put in your pool everyday?" I just told him the best thing to do is to spend some time reading 'the stickies' if he is really interested in the system. Other than that, I know I'm just wasting time.
 
The biggest advantage to me is that you aren't dumping massive amounts of cyanuric acid into the pool every time you chlorinate (as with trichlor). If I didn't have a SWG, I'd absolutely use bleach, and I do when I shock or if my levels drop for some reason (SWG isn't good at getting levels up fast).

I went through a ton of bleach this year when I opened to a green algae bloom. Just bleach and filtration and a bit of brushing and vacuuming was plenty to get my pool crystal clear in less than a week (more like 4-5 days really).

Some people I know were initially freaked at the idea of getting into a pool after I put bleach in it. Then I showed them the chemistry (not sure if I convinced them, or just confused them), but after that they were ok with it.
 
I just give up trying to "help" people do this...

I'm a member at a online group...there are a few other BBB'ers their and others who seem interested...then today a guy helping this lady says "Use a chlorine designed for pools, not bleach." I questioned him as to why he thought this. His reply was "Liquid chlorine pool shock is formulated specifically for swimming pools. Clorox is much weaker and deigned for your laundry." I countered with the news that they are the same thing exactly (other than concentrations) but I'm sure it's falling on deaf ears.

sheesh
 

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