So first I say that I'm having good success with Baq, except for a couple of bumps with water mold.

Then I admit that my water - sparkling clean and beautiful as can possibly be - irritates our eyes and noses

So I go to my normal pool store - they test the water, it is perfect. No answers, no help, no interest. I go to the OTHER pool store - Central Iowa Pool and Spa in Des Moines, they test the water, it is perfect. But they try harder - they call the manufacturer, but still no ideas. But they have three people working on this problem and they aren't going to rest until they figure this one out. I ask if others are going through shock (hydrogen peroxide) this season. She nods, and asks if I am. I tell her no, I haven't put any in this season, because I put a lot in in the fall and when the store tested the water when I opened, I didn't need to add any. As of now, I am still very good, according to ALL of the tests (two pool stores, plus two separate test kits that I own).

Her face lights up; she tells me to add the shock anyway. I go home and add two gallons of shock. This AM, the bad taste is mostly gone and no one gets irritated eyes. Tonight, the taste is all gone - the water tastes just like my tap water, and we have only very slight irritation, which could be due to the fact that my pH is slightly to the high side.

Lesson? If bad taste and irritated eyes, add shock immediately and IGNORE the test results. But if this is the case, then what is the value of the tests anyway???

Which also causes me to wonder - if the tests show that there is enough but the tests are wrong - then is that possibly the reason that so many folks have problems with Baquacil? Typically, I have always keep my shock much higher than the tests call for - and typically, I don't have the problems that others report.

I'm not a chemistry guy, but I thought I remember that when H2O2 decomposes, it breaks down essentially into water. I'm not sure what the test kits are measuring, but it appears that they are measuring some element of the shock that is essentially ineffective as an oxidizer. But is H202 still H202 if it isn't effective anymore?