thanks for the info Ben. currently it's extremely rare than anyone swim in the pool besides me(!), however, I get the cons of the ionizer. and the thing HAS worked for us for 14 years - 3 kids and all their friends. a beautifully clear pool with maintenance little more than throwing in a gallon of bleach every 2-3 weeks (no reason why I did it on a 2-3 week basis beyond wanting to make sure there was some chlorine in there).

so for now my focus is to just get rid of the staining. I'll shut the ionizer off (or turn it way down?) and try chlorine tablets for awhile. see what happens.

thanks again and have fun swimming in all those non-pool places. the ocean is definitely where it's at for me!

cindy