Over the past weekend hundreds, if not thousands of pool owners paid tribute to fallen

heroes, feasted on grilled meats and veggies, attended parades, celebrated graduates,

and opened their pools! 

                 

The Customer Experience Team here at APi fielded several pool questions from consumers.  We were SHOCKED (pun intended) at the number of pool owners who have no idea what is going on in their water.  And we're not talking about rowdy cousin Jeff doing cannonballs and splashing grandma...we're talking chemistry issues! 

A quick trip to your social media timelines show dozens of posts containing verbiage such as "HELP!  My pool has (insert problem here-anything from algae, to purple water, to cloudy water, etc.) what should I do?!" The post is usually inundated with well-meaning friends and family offering suggestions on how to solve the problem.  Sometimes, the post is a picture of a swimming pool turned swamp, captioned, "Current Situation" or "I woke up like this"...no other information is given by the poster.  Again, well-meaning social media enthusiasts flood the comments with quick fix solutions and home remedies they found on TikTok.  Once in a while, someone will ask the million dollar question..."what are your chemical readings?" The poster will often respond with, "Oh, they're all good!  Everything is where it should be."  We probably don't have to tell you that if everything is "all good" the pool wouldn't look like the home of a terrifying swamp creature.  

We will never fault anyone for offering to help.  But treating pool problems without accurate information is like going to the hardware store and telling them, "something in my bathroom is broken.  Can you help me fix it?" That's not much to go on, and you are probably going to make several trips back to the hardware store before the issue is resolved.  The same thing is going to happen if you are troubleshooting your pool with insufficient information.  Several trips to and from the pool store for products you may or may not need, not to mention the aggravation of a prolonged process.  

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Enter the pool test strips, test kits, and testing labs.

These are all tools used to determine what your water chemistry is at the time of testing.  Some folks have strong feelings about the best type of test to use.  The simple fact remains, testing your pool water with ANYTHING is better that not testing and just using your best judgement, especially when troubleshooting.  When pool pros ask you what your chemical readings are, they are using that information to help get your pool back in usable shape.  They aren't trying to trick you or make you feel bad.  An accurate picture of what is going on in the water is what is needed to fix the issue.  When you have those results from the test ready to go, you make the process of getting from where you are to where you want to be faster and less of a headache.  

Test your water frequently and you can prevent problems.  If you are troubleshooting water quality issues, the first thing you reach for should NOT be pool products!  It should be your testing supplies.  Get the full picture first, then make your moves troubleshooting.  You will save time, money, AND aggravation!  

Enjoy your water! 

Questions?  

Call or Text Us!

(877) 274-7261