My neighbors do not believe me on Chlorine

[gerri]

I have 2 friends that also had a hard time believing me about putting bleach in my pool and not buying pucks this year. I've converted one of them and he's happy. Now the other girl has a cloudy pool andis beginning to listen.

[gerri]

Also show you neighbors this:
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...6809#post26809

It will aid in his "investigation"

[smallpooldad]

Thank you one and all.

I am going to print this out and give it to them.

As I tell my wife please do not ask me a question unless you are prepared for the answer.

[hulla]

Just let them use the pucks. Who cares?

[bradjo]

Well actually yes they did ask for help. Turning their pool from the brown/yellow metal stained 20,000 gallon sink hole to what now, after the ascorbic acid and algae control treatments over a period of three weeks of twice daily treatments by me, looks like a brand new 16 year old gunite pool.

Now they interviewed one pool person and because this is not my trade just my hobby they are convinced he has all the answers. To quote, "Who should know more you or he that does this every day for a living?"

WHOA!!!!!! Wait just a minute, you are a glutton for punishment aren't you. You do all this for them for I assume FREE! (the labor hopefully NOT the chemicals) and after you PROVE to them your skill they act this disrespectfully!! And now you think that hearing from some nameless nobodies on a pool forum you think it will bolster your reputation. Ummmm RUN DO NOT WALK away from these ungrateful _______!

After what you did if they said that to me I'd have replied, "You know you are absolutely right. I am sure he knows more and I'll even buy you your first bucket of pucks."

Then when their pool was a stinking mess and they came to me howling I'd refer them back to pool boy !!!

Sheesh!
Jo
PS PLEASE SHOW them my post I BEG YOU!

[gonefishin]

I've run into this same situation with several of my hobbies. Most times people would rather have things happen for them, rather than actually understand why something is working for them.

I don't know what the answer is...but I've learned many times people would rather believe what they know is true, rather than admit their ignorance (or someone else's experience/knowledge on the subject).

Before my pool was installed I decided I wanted to educate myself on pool maintenance and pool water management. That's when I found this site. Within that time I have read nearly every thread here, some threads I had to revisit a multiple of times before I had a good understanding of the information. I also investigated the information at other sites as well...some of which also helped me...and some that were far too biased for me to trust anything that they had said or claim.

In the end...there have been very few people that I have recommended read this forum. Most of the people I know are perfectly happy thinking that their pool store chemicals are something special. When confronted with the possibility that chemicals may in fact simply be chemicals many get defensive. I just smile and start talking about how much fun it is splashing around in the pool.

The men seem to be the most stubborn. When people have come over to swim...my water is always so crystal clear. When they ask "how do I keep my water so clear", I usually ask them if they really want to know. Once I mention that bleach is liquid chlorine they explain that they use softswim, pucks, test strips, etc. So I start talking about something else.

I don't know what the answer is? I really wish everyone that I know who has a pool would become active members of this site. But of the few I've told...I'm certain none have looked here.

PoolSolutions Table of Contents

g'day,
dan

[DavidD]

....and because this is not my trade just my hobby they are convinced he has all the answers. To quote, "Who should know more you or he that does this every day for a living?"

My experience has been those hobbyist/enthusiast are usually as if not more knowledgeable than those who do something because they have to eat. They are also much less likely to make recommendations based on their own financial return. And by the way, You also "do it " every day don't you? And one last point, you have obviously proven yourself to them and all he has proven is.........

Dave

[prh129]

You shouldn't have to prove anything - ask your neighbor why is it that the chlorine from bleach doesn't move around but the chlorine from pucks does. Does the chlorine from pucks have legs? Is it "smarter" chlorine? If (when) they cannot answer the question then it should be on them to find the answer from their pool guy. Your pool is proof enough to show that you know what you're doing. If they don't want to follow your advice, then it's their loss.

Peter

[chem geek]

I just put some "Party Blue" that I had into the pool to see how fast the diffusion would be. This is a dye that makes the water blue and it breaks down in a couple of days. I put it into the pool over the jet at the deep end and within a couple of minutes the deep end was pretty much filled in with blue. Then, the blue reached the bottom two drains as well as the skimmer and the blue dye started to come out of the shallow end jets. After five minutes, there was blue everywhere, though it was much darker in the deep end (even accounting for the greater depth).

After 15 minutes, it looked like the entire pool was filled with the dye and it has not changed in color since (after an hour), so the diffusion (at least of dye) seems pretty darn fast. Perhaps have your neighbors get some of this stuff to put into their pool -- the visual effect is pretty convincing!

Richard

[hulla]

Why go on a crusade educating your neighbors. Just smile and wave boys, smile and wave.