PS vs TF-100 for Grins and Giggles

[YippeeSkippy]

Had to go get a part for my Polaris today so thought I'd also avail myself of some free water testing. Went to two pool stores who are as different as night and day.

Pool Store A is the snootier, fancy place that caters to the high end pool installs. We went to them when looking to build but the designer turned us off with her snooty 'tude. I like how they've serviced my hot tub over the years and they can do it all with pool installs, service, etc. They test the water using a fancy computer which provides a nice print out. They entered our pool information (size, type, etc) into the computer. Did get a little concerned when the tech asked how my fiberglass pool stood up to the stains "they all get" and that "its cause the city water here has metals" and I said I have never had stains (which wouldn't be easy to see on my gorgeous deep blue shell anyway). When questioned further he said "haven't you noticed the green stuff on your faucets?" which I can't say I have ever? <shrug>
Store also has a sign reminding customers to "change sand in sand filters every 3-5 years and to use a filter cleaner product monthly during swim season" LOL

Pool Store B is a Mom & Pop hole in the wall that used a very old, worn looking chemistry drop test with what appeared to be manometers on the wall and lots of colorful liquid drops. They failed to ask me anything about my specific pool or how I sanitize, and the hand out report has entirely strange range values. They also didn't bother to test my calcium hardness for some reason? I do like buying parts with them though as they're very convenient and I like to support the Mom & Pop stores.

Test: Pool Store A / Pool Store B / My TF-100
Chlorine- 4.9 / 3 / 5
CC- 0 / not noted / 0
pH- 7.4 / 7.6 / 7.2
TA- 72 / 85 / 80
Calcium Hard- 188 / not tested / 260
CYA- 25 / 70 / 55

 

[woodyp]

The difference in those testing numbers on cya might as well be lottery ticket numbers. Are ya' feelin' lucky!

 

[Charlie_R]

Check with your local water company. I'd be willing to bet that they do remove quite a bit of the metals from the water before it gets into the municipal supply. What happens after that, is anyone's guess.

Here, they've been replacing the old cast iron water mains with sch 80 PVC, when they have large breaks. Not uncommon to see an entire block have a long trench dug just for a break in a small section. Call it relatively cheap insurance.

 

[BoDarville]

Another great example as to why pool store testing cannot be trusted. When I test using my TF-100, I always get results consistent with whatever adjustments I made to the pool. I have two years worth of logs (results entered weekly). During swim season, I tend to keep pH and TA on the lower end of the recommended ranges while keeping FC on the high end of the recommended range. As for CYA, I rarely adjust that aside from using pucks when pool is unattended for more than a couple of days. Two years worth of data and CYA always tests between 30-40 ppm, right where I'm targeting it.