As part of my work, I sometimes field questions from customer service people. Yesterday, one of them showed me a pool store test printout that a customer had scanned and emailed, asking for a 2nd opinion. It was one of those computerized things where it tells the customer they need to buy and add various brand-name products to "fix" their pool water issues.
In this case, it was telling them to add the "pH up" and "alkalinity up" products. The pH was 7.4 and the TA was 90, and initially I couldn't figure out why the person should buy and add anything. Eventually I plugged the numbers into my Saturation Index calculator and it showed that the pool was on the line between "good" and "corrosive" at -0.3 on the SI scale. I then noticed that the calcium hardness was only 125. So instead of doing the honest thing and recommending adding a little calcium, the program was trying to generate a bigger profit by hawking their products.
I don't know if word got back to that customer in time to save them the money, but I have long thought about mocking up a test strip label that gives the readings in dollars instead of ppm. I recommend to all newbies on here that for their own benefit, please start by learning the basics of water balance, and find yourself a good (non-manufacturer-sponsored) pool/spa calculator.
In this case, it was telling them to add the "pH up" and "alkalinity up" products. The pH was 7.4 and the TA was 90, and initially I couldn't figure out why the person should buy and add anything. Eventually I plugged the numbers into my Saturation Index calculator and it showed that the pool was on the line between "good" and "corrosive" at -0.3 on the SI scale. I then noticed that the calcium hardness was only 125. So instead of doing the honest thing and recommending adding a little calcium, the program was trying to generate a bigger profit by hawking their products.
I don't know if word got back to that customer in time to save them the money, but I have long thought about mocking up a test strip label that gives the readings in dollars instead of ppm. I recommend to all newbies on here that for their own benefit, please start by learning the basics of water balance, and find yourself a good (non-manufacturer-sponsored) pool/spa calculator.
We've got a handy, dandy PoolMath link at the top of each page and it calculates CSI too. The day a Leslie's pool sends someone to the hardware store for some driver to raise their CH will be the day when they show that they care more about customer's pools than they do about profit. Nothing wrong with profit but selling baking soda for 10x what the grocery store does is a little ridiculous. 