The test counter, Zebulon
Free water testing for all swimming pools
Bring a sample from any swimming pool and get it tested free at the counter.
A cloudy or green pool starts with a reading, not a guess
Green water, cloudy water, a sharp chlorine smell and stinging eyes all get blamed on not enough chlorine. Sometimes that's true. Just as often the real trouble is pH drifting out of range, alkalinity sliding, or stabilizer that's too low or too high, and dumping in more of the wrong thing makes the pool worse.
That's why the free test comes first at Elite Pool Store. A reading turns a guess into a short list, and the short list tells you which shelf to walk to. The store tests water from all swimming pools, so it doesn't matter what you swim in.
The counter is at 6337 US-19 in Zebulon, open Monday to Friday 9 to 6 and Saturday 10 to 4. Hours may vary in winter, so call (470) 945-4340 before you drive out.
Reagent tubes in a clear comparator block beside a cup of pool water
Taking a sample that tells the truth
Start with a clean cup or bottle, rinsed with pool water, never one that held soap or another chemical. Turn it upside down, push it about elbow deep, and turn it right side up to fill. Stay away from the skimmer and the return jets: water right at a return reads differently from the body of the pool.
Cap it and bring it the same day. Water changes sitting in a hot car or on a kitchen counter, and a stale sample can tell a different story than the pool did.
Tell the counter what you've added lately and when, and what the pool is doing: green, cloudy, slick walls, a smell, a salt system or none. That context turns a set of numbers into an answer.
What the reading points to on the shelf
Pool water is judged by a handful of numbers: sanitizer, pH, alkalinity, stabilizer and, on a saltwater pool, salt. Low sanitizer points to chlorine or a shock. A pH that's high or low points to an adjuster. Low alkalinity is why pH keeps bouncing back after you correct it. Low stabilizer means the sun is burning chlorine off faster than you can add it.
The shelf at the Zebulon store carries salt, chlorine, shock, clarifier and algaecides, so most readings end at the same counter that ran the test. If the answer is a worn part rather than a chemical, the store also carries pumps, motors and seal kits.
Test again after you treat
Treating water is a change, and a change needs a second reading. After you add something and the pump has circulated it, test again before you add anything more. Stacking chemicals on a hunch is how a small problem turns into a big one.
Bring a fresh sample back to 6337 US-19 and compare it with the first. The test is free, so there's no reason to guess. Questions about what to buy: (470) 945-4340.
Elite Pool Store, 6337 US-19, Zebulon. Call (470) 945-4340.