New China Shop Topic: How Accurate is the Pool Calculator?

[waterbear]

The pool calculator is a useful tool but ANY method of calculation of chems DEPENDS on ACCURAATELY KNOWING THE AMOUNT OF WATER IN THE POOL AT THE TIME OF CALCULATION!
The Pool Calculator and BleachCalc (remember BleachCalc?) both produce very similar results (certainly close enough for pool maintenance...it's not rocket science after all--its a swimming pool!) except for the borate calculation where it is known that BleachCalc has a major error in the algorithm used to determine borate concentration.
If you want more precision and accuracy then Chem Geek's "monster" spread sheet is around (but I find it intimidating and a bit scary and I am VERY computer literate!) However, unless you are doing theoretical workd on the effects of chemical additions in a pool you once again do not need this kind of precision.
Personally I like to use the Simplified Formulas for Chemical Additions from OnBalance for calcualting chems since all I need is a printout of their Formula Numbers and a calculator, which is much easier to carry to the pool than a computer or even a phone!
They even have a method to chemically determine the volume of a pool that I have used several times and it certainly gets you pretty much in the ballpark, even for oddly shaped pools!

For a Newbie, I think BleachCalc is the easiest to use but the Pool Calculator that Jason from TFP put together has a bit more info for more advanced users.
BUT, if you don't accurately know how much water in the pool then NONE of these tools are going to be very useful at all.