WaterGuru - Another Test

[Zgadson]

Moved from here.
I'm 3 months into owning my Water Guru (and less than a year into pool ownership) but I'm less than impressed.

a) The thing is not rechargeable and uses 4 C-sized batteries. My Ring Doorbell battery has lasted nearly 8 months on a single charge and is used often, which really makes the Water Guru feel outdated the minute you open the box and realize it needs actual batteries.
b) Likely due to the battery issue, the WiFi is never in a constantly connected state. I don't need chemicals constantly updating, but this means I'll never have current water temperatures.
c) The app doesn't update manually triggered measurements to the "Last measurement" data on the main app screen, and my iPhone constantly shows there app has a notification that won't go away.
d) For as much as this thing costs, it doesn't replace manual testing. You'll get water temp, Free Chlorine, and pH, but no TA, CH, or CYA. All of which are elements that Pool Math deems highly important.

But most importantly, I'm disappointed that I haven't received a reply from Water Guru's customer service regarding my API question. I'm big into home automation and bought this thing with the intention of integrating it into my Home Assistant Dashboard, and so far I've seen no way to do that - especially with WG's lack of response to my requests.

Seriously considering returning this even though it's price tag isn't a deal breaker for me unless someone convinces me to keep it or can help with any - literally ANY - guidance with how to get access to the API.

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
As some of our Experts have called it, a Glorified Thermometer.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[jseyfert3]

My Ring Doorbell battery has lasted nearly 8 months on a single charge and is used often, which really makes the Water Guru feel outdated the minute you open the box and realize it needs actual batteries.

Are you sure your Ring isn't getting power from your house? Obviously if you installed it and there was no doorbell then it wouldn't, but if there was a previous doorbell was powered such as for a light the Ring may be getting power.

But most importantly, I'm disappointed that I haven't received a reply from Water Guru's customer service regarding my API question. I'm big into home automation and bought this thing with the intention of integrating it into my Home Assistant Dashboard, and so far I've seen no way to do that - especially with WG's lack of response to my requests.

I don't have Home Assistant, but I accidentally stumbled across something that may or may not be of interest to you. Someone has wrote some code that ties PoolMath into Home Assistant, so you can view the values. Not quite the same, since it's not automatic, but you can see what the last test values were and how long ago without looking at the app. Requires a subscription to the premium version of the app. rsnodgrass/hass-poolmath

 

[Steve_in_C]

Moved from here.
I'm 3 months into owning my Water Guru (and less than a year into pool ownership) but I'm less than impressed.

a) The thing is not rechargeable and uses 4 C-sized batteries. My Ring Doorbell battery has lasted nearly 8 months on a single charge and is used often, which really makes the Water Guru feel outdated the minute you open the box and realize it needs actual batteries.
b) Likely due to the battery issue, the WiFi is never in a constantly connected state. I don't need chemicals constantly updating, but this means I'll never have current water temperatures.
c) The app doesn't update manually triggered measurements to the "Last measurement" data on the main app screen, and my iPhone constantly shows there app has a notification that won't go away.
d) For as much as this thing costs, it doesn't replace manual testing. You'll get water temp, Free Chlorine, and pH, but no TA, CH, or CYA. All of which are elements that Pool Math deems highly important.

But most importantly, I'm disappointed that I haven't received a reply from Water Guru's customer service regarding my API question. I'm big into home automation and bought this thing with the intention of integrating it into my Home Assistant Dashboard, and so far I've seen no way to do that - especially with WG's lack of response to my requests.

Seriously considering returning this even though it's price tag isn't a deal breaker for me unless someone convinces me to keep it or can help with any - literally ANY - guidance with how to get access to the API.

a) if you wll use Energizer batteries, they will last quite a while
b) WiFi is not constantly connected. That's how they make the battery last so long. Do you need continuous water temperature measurements? That's not really the purpose of the Waterguru.
d) The device takes care of the daily measurements that you need. If you insist on doing TA, CH, or CYA daily, then by all means do it manually. But most of us don't need this.

 

[Zgadson]

Are you sure your Ring isn't getting power from your house? Obviously if you installed it and there was no doorbell then it wouldn't, but if there was a previous doorbell was powered such as for a light the Ring may be getting power.


I don't have Home Assistant, but I accidentally stumbled across something that may or may not be of interest to you. Someone has wrote some code that ties PoolMath into Home Assistant, so you can view the values. Not quite the same, since it's not automatic, but you can see what the last test values were and how long ago without looking at the app. Requires a subscription to the premium version of the app. rsnodgrass/hass-poolmath

Thank you! That's definitely a step in the right direction!