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  Clint Combs January 16, 2010 at 4:49pm

  A number of years ago I managed a retail pool store. While our biggest competitor was promoting "computerized water analysis," I advertised "personal water analysis." I built my own lab using titration tubes, magnetic stirrer, a variety of reagents, and eventually we added a colorimeter. We had wall charts showing how much product to add to balance the water. I trained my new summer help to preform the tests. When we were busy and I had a new crew, my new people would do the test and I would consult with the customer once I had the test results. In many cases, water problems will not show up in the test. It is important to ask about other factors: Is the water cloudy? Is there algae How long do you run your filter Have there been any unusual usage? What has recently been added?
  
  Funny story: Once when a customer was out of town, his daughter and her friends came into the store and told me that they added dish soap to the spa. I told them to drain it and refill. The next week, the customer came in and explained that he had a lot of suds in the spa and had no clue as to where they came from. The water test showed nothing unusual, but I remembered that his daughter had been in a week before and told me about the dish soap. Apparently, the teen did not tell her parents. This just goes to show that it helps to listen and it helps to know your customers.
  
  Consultation is a key part of water testing. In my opinion, it is probably more important than your lab. Having said that, your lab should be impressive. It shouldn't look like something the customer could have or use. An impressive looking lab combined with personalized recommendations worked for me and we had a profitable retail business in a competitive market. During the first couple of weeks of the summer we had lines 2-3 deep with two test stations running.
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  Rebecca Rummel January 14, 2010 at 8:40am

  We've had a lot of success with the Lamotte WaterLink Express system for nearly 8 years now. It is highly accurate, professional, and easy to train a new person on. The results print out with the dosage and recommendations based on your customers pool, equipment, and chemical information. We have a separate counter area for testing water which gives the customer a personal space for conversation about their pool and our personalized sales pitch.
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  Don Parish January 5, 2010 at 7:20am

  Check out this company. http://www.h2o-testing.com/ I will be bringing on this system in my store for 2010 to replace my UDV lab. They can provide you a list of people who use there system to get your own feel for the system. When I called I would say that 8 out of 10 people liked how the system worked. Plus the cost of usage on the system is pennies compared to the UDV systems.

  

  Water testing, pool spa water testing, test strip scanner,qu

  LaMotte,Waterlink,quickbooks,point of sale, Waterlink Spin Lab,test strip scanner, AquaChek, Wave, water testing software, pool spa water analysis, h…
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  Kris Peterson December 30, 2009 at 4:32pm

  We use Lamotte systems in our stores. The system is not the cheapest but is user friendly. The system reads the color of the vials and feeds the info into the computer which will print out everything the customer needs to do. You can customize the information. You can manually enter your own test results w/o the colorimiter, too. There is free online training thru Lamotte (if you're a customer) and AquaChek. I think I remember Taylor having something, too.
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  ALLEN HUNZEKER December 22, 2009 at 10:15am

  I had a very good experience with Proteam Pool Care. I helped start a retail store that had no trained staff. Almost anyone could test samples ;get a printout and sell the proper chemicals with detailed instructions Very good customer support.