Hi Angela;

I spend the last hour researching this question -- you will not have made my family happy: I *already* know far more about poop than they every would have cared to know, and I tend to talk about what I know!

I don't know if will make you feel better or worse, but this problem has been occasionally reported before. Unfortunately, the discussions that followed the question were pretty unhelpful and uninformed. So, I changed the title on the thread, so other people will be able to find it, when THEY encounter the problem.

However, almost everything I learned leads me only to more questions, rather than an immediate answer. So, I need to ask you a long list of specific questions. If you would, answer them by number, in your reply, so we don't loose track.

For the purpose of the questions below, the period of interest is from 2 weeks BEFORE you first noticed the odor, till now.
  1. When did you first notice the odor?
  2. Does everyone in your family describe the odor the same, way, or is it perceived differently by different family members?
  3. Please list EVERY, SINGLE chemical, pool additive, cleaner, etc used in your pool during from 2 weeks before you first noticed the odor, till now.
  4. Precisely how are you testing your pool water? (test kit make / model)
  5. How persistent is the odor on your dog? (How long does he stink, after he's in the pool)
  6. How persistent is the odor on people?
  7. What kind of filter do you have?
  8. Is the media in it STANDARD (sand, DE, polyester cartridge) or modified (zeolite, cellulose, treated cartridge)?
  9. Do you have a pool cover? Has it been on the pool during this period? When, and how long?
  10. Have you had algae during the period?
  11. Do you have any stagnant areas in your pool (unused spa, pool fill line, unused vacuum or cleaner line, or anything of the kind.)

Thanks. I'll try to respond as quickly as possible, once I have your information. I'm also going to contact Chem_Geek (he tracks pretty much every pool forum in existence) and see if he's seen this before.