I received a slightly frantic call this morning from a friend and neighbor that his pool suddenly went green. Since he has admired my pool, he thought my “expertise” was needed. (I chuckled at that, with a big ol’ smile on my face.) I grabbed my TF100, jugs of chlorine and a bottle of water to hydrate myself and headed over.
Yup, it was green, with some nice big green splotches all around. So, first thing, water sample. I even tried to wager a steak dinner as to what the problem was that brought him to this point.
FC 0!
CC 0!
PH 8.2+!
ALK 90
CYA 90 (I expected worse)
Ok, added about a gallon of chlorine. Then, we discuss his pool service. Apparently, she comes every two weeks. $25 each trip PLUS whatever she’s adds to adjust the levels. That blew my mind. (He later found emails and gave me costs of his chems through her. Too much! 2.5 gallons of chlorine was $5.68. I quickly pointed out that we just paid $3.99 for the same thing. About $1.50 for alkalinity increaser. Hmmmm...Less than a dollar at the Mart-of-Wal.)
Ok, so he’s decided to start doing it himself. But, he has no pool cleaning hardware. So, we make a trip to the pool store where he buys his own 2.5 gallon jug (filled), hose, pole, brush and vacuum head. We brush, vac, clean the filter and test some more.
It is already starting to look better, so he gets on his iPad and orders a TF100 kit and speed stir. I’m feeling bad that I see him spending about $250, but I also can’t keep from smiling. He has been talking with me about doing this for at least a year.
I think he’s convinced....
Yup, it was green, with some nice big green splotches all around. So, first thing, water sample. I even tried to wager a steak dinner as to what the problem was that brought him to this point.
FC 0!
CC 0!
PH 8.2+!
ALK 90
CYA 90 (I expected worse)
Ok, added about a gallon of chlorine. Then, we discuss his pool service. Apparently, she comes every two weeks. $25 each trip PLUS whatever she’s adds to adjust the levels. That blew my mind. (He later found emails and gave me costs of his chems through her. Too much! 2.5 gallons of chlorine was $5.68. I quickly pointed out that we just paid $3.99 for the same thing. About $1.50 for alkalinity increaser. Hmmmm...Less than a dollar at the Mart-of-Wal.)
Ok, so he’s decided to start doing it himself. But, he has no pool cleaning hardware. So, we make a trip to the pool store where he buys his own 2.5 gallon jug (filled), hose, pole, brush and vacuum head. We brush, vac, clean the filter and test some more.
It is already starting to look better, so he gets on his iPad and orders a TF100 kit and speed stir. I’m feeling bad that I see him spending about $250, but I also can’t keep from smiling. He has been talking with me about doing this for at least a year.
I think he’s convinced....
YOU SO 
Here they come.............swooping down and saving the day :super:
