Review: pHin Water Monitor
Is the pHin Water Monitor right for your pool? Here’s what we think!
When we lived in Los Angeles, we had an in-ground pool. It was an older pool, very deep, and super fun! We also had a pool service who came and did all of the maintenance, balancing, and cleaning. They came once per week and took care of everything.
However, with our stock tank pool, we decided that maintenance would be our own responsibility. And to help in that, we purchased a pHin Water Monitor. The pHin is marketed as a simple way to keep spas and pools balanced and clean. And it is.
Update: pHin is no longer available
We have replaced ours with the Sutro water monitor. Check out my updated review below:
My Sutro
I replaced my pHin with My Sutro. Here’s my review:
Once you download the pHin app to your phone, the app guides you through setting up your pHin. It comes with a set of test strips to test for water hardness and a few other water quality issues. These are the only tests you need to do. The pHin does the rest while floating in the water. The pHin floats in the pool, taking measurements and monitoring the water 24/7. After a recent rain storm, for example, it notified me to add some fast-acting chlorine as the rainwater had diluted the pool a bit. I take great pleasure in seeing “Perfectly Balanced” on the app — like getting an A+ in Pool Maintenance, I guess.
I get an A+ in pool maintenance!
I particularly appreciate pHin’s notification feature. Every few days I get a notification with complete instructions for how to adjust the chemicals in the pool. I don’t have to remember to use test strips each day to check in on the water. We certainly do daily maintenance, but testing isn’t part of that equation.
Another great feature of the pHin: the shopping list. I scanned the UPC code for each of the products we use to keep our pool clean and balanced. pHin keeps track of them and when it is time to reorder, I can send my order to a local store which will have it ready for pick up. Very handy now that browsing at any store is a terrible idea. pHin also offers a subscription service for pool chemicals. For our tiny pool, it doesn’t pencil, but if you have a full-sized pool, getting all of your supplies by mail may make a lot of sense. I wish they had a lower-priced spa option.
These graphs help track the water temperature and sanitizer levels amongst other pool measurements to track trends over time.
This is part of a series about building our own stock tank pool. Click the link:
Finally, I love the graphs that pHin produces charting statistics like temperature changes over time. Our stock tank pool fluctuates a lot over 24 hour periods because our nights are so much cooler than our days. Seeing this we may decide to insulate our pool at some point to help keep a more consistent temperature. But that’s a future project!
All in all, I am delighted that we purchased the pHin! It has made learning to care for our stock tank pool easier, and I feel much more confident that we are keeping it safe for our family.
Note: pHin did not sponsor this post.
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Keeping Your Stock Tank Pool Clean
Keeping a stock tank pool clean doesn’t have to be hard. Here’s what we do!
How do you keep a stock tank pool clean?
A stock tank pool is a little bit of work, but in the end it is absolutely worth it! We just do a few things regularly to keep it all sparkly and clean.
Daily:
Check chemical levels on the My Sutro app. Make suggested adjustments.
Skim the water surface
Cover when not in use
Twice per week:
Scrub the pool sides with a pool brush
Clean pool filter with hose
Once per week:
Add chlorine tablets
Soak pool filter overnight in Filter Clean
This post is part of a series about building and maintaining our stock tank pool. Read more here:
Our stock tank pool sits just off the patio — a perfect spot for a dip any time of the day.
What Chemicals & Equipment Do I Need?
We have opted for chlorine for our pool, but you can use salt water or bromide — all will work. If you are going to keep your pool full for more than a day or two, however, you will want to treat the water. I consulted our local spa store, and they put together a great kit of pool chemicals to get us started.
A stock tank pool is somewhere between a spa and a kiddie pool. It is a strange size — containing more water than an average spa. Ours has about 550 gallons of water. So getting the water just right takes some time. You will need to calculate the number of gallons in your tank, and you’ll need to learn about the basics of your water chemistry. This varies depending on where you get your water.
Every city is slightly different, and if you are on a well your water will vary even more. My local spa store was really helpful here, too. The woman I spoke with knew just what to expect from our city water, and she was quite helpful! I encourage you to consult a local expert to help you get the water chemistry right from the start — and to keep it safe and clean.
Here’s what’s in our water care kit:
Rendezvous Spa Specialties: pH Down
Rendezvous Spa Specialties: pH Up
Rendezvous Spa Specialties: Alkalinity Up
Leisure Time Filter Clean for Spas and Hot Tubs
Regal Pool Care System 1” Chlorinated Tablets
SpaPure Hardness Increaser
SpaPure Chlorinating Granules
Our flamingo friend helps keep the pool water clean!
We also got a float for the chlorine tablets. They come in fun and fancy versions, or cheaper plain versions. Either way gets the job done! And all of those chemicals are measured by the tablespoon and teaspoon for our pool, so I have a set of measuring spoons just for the pool chemicals. DO NOT use a measuring spoon for food once it has been used for pool chemicals. I have a dedicated set which I keep with the pool equipment.
We purchased a few other items to help keep the pool sparkling clean and comfortable.
Pool brush: to keep the pool clean, it should be scrubbed once or twice per week. A good pool brush will do the trick. No need to get a long handle. Just do the brushing while you are in the pool.
Pool Skimmer: skim your pool each day to keep larger debris out of the filter and out of the water. Again, we didn’t even get a handle — just use the skimmer and skim the water before you get in.
Hot Tub Blanket: so this is basically a big sheet of heavy-duty bubble wrap, but it serves three purposes. First, once it is cut to fit, it will help to keep out debris making keeping your pool clean even easier. But it also helps keep the water warmer — important here in Colorado where we have cool spells and colder nights — and it keeps the water from evaporating as quickly which helps the water chemistry stay consistent.
This video is very helpful!
HOW TO MONITOR THE WATER IN A STOCK TANK POOL
When we had a swimming pool in Los Angeles, we also had a pool service. They came each week to check the water quality, added the necessary chemicals, and came out if we had a water quality issue. With our stock tank pool, however, that seems unnecessary. You might decide that’s the way to go for you, and if so: great! I know your local pool guy will be glad for the business.
We opted instead to try a high-tech solution to monitoring: pHin. This floating monitor stays in the pool and checks the water quality constantly. I get a notification on my phone if there is an issue as well as instructions for how to fix the issue. It’s great! If you are intimidated by the pool regulation process in any way, I highly recommend pHin. It makes everything super easy! Read my full product review of the pHin here.
Update: pHin is no longer available.
I replaced our pHin with My Sutro. Read more about it here!
My Sutro Water Monitor
I replaced pHin with MySutro. Read all about it below.
If you don’t want a pHin or a service, you will need some pool and spa test strips and will need to monitor your water regularly per the instructions on the test strips. Either way, you need to check the water regularly for your family’s safety.
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How Much Does a Stock Tank Pool Cost
How much does it cost to install a stock tank pool? I walk you through our total money spent.
Our pool at sunset… the perfect place to end the day!
So the big question: how much does it cost to build a stock tank pool?
My answer: it depends on several things.
How permanent do you want your pool to be? If you are just plunking the pool in a fairly level part of your yard and treating it like a seasonal feature of the yard, then it will not be very expensive. If you are going to build decking or add a heating element or anything which makes the pool more permanent, there will be more costs associated with it.
How flat is the area where you will put your pool? The more work you need to do to level the ground, the more cost there will be.
Do you already have a fence in your yard? Do you need to do anything else to make your pool area safe and secure for children and pets?
How much work are you willing to do to monitor your pool’s water? If you aren’t ready to do the work yourself, you may need a weekly pool service. As an intermediate step, you could also get a pHin Water Monitor.
We may make the pool a more permanent feature later by building a deck, but for now it is a temporary, seasonal element. Previous owners of our house had installed a hot tub at some point, so we had a flat, level concrete pad perfect for our stock tank pool — so no costs there. We already have a fence, too.
So here are our total costs:
Stock tank: $325 + $25 delivery fee
Pump: $80 — we will eventually replace it with a longer-lasting pump, but this was the one we could get at the time.
Pool Chemicals: $90 total — our local spa store put together a kit of everything we needed to get started.
Brush, skimmer, and chlorine float: $50
So, all in our investment is $570.
We have since purchased a few other items including the pHin Water Monitor, but these are all very much optional.
This post is part of a series about building our own stock tank pool. Check out the whole series here:
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Online Summer Camps for Kids
Just because your kids are quarantined doesn’t mean they have to be bored. Check out these great summer camps online for kids up through high school!
Summer! Usually in our house summer means months of fun camps, outdoor adventures, and getting really, really dirty. But with the COVID-19 pandemic, that just isn’t possible this year. Because my husband and I still need to work, we need some fun options to keep Bambino occupied each day. I set out to find some online camps and classes that would be both fun and educational. There are some really great options!
One of our favorite places to do summer camp has always been at museums. And museums often rely on summer camp admissions to fund their education and outreach programs for the year. So I’m delighted to be able to support some of our favorite museums this summer!
And a bonus: you can do camps at museums all over the country! Just make sure the times work for your family. I almost registered Bambino for a camp on the East Coast before realizing that it would start at 6 am our time — that would never work for our family, but it might be perfect for yours!
This list isn’t comprehensive, but if you are looking for online camps for your kids, this is a great place to start. Check with the museums in your area (or farther away) to see what they may be offering as well as your favorite:
Universities and colleges
Private schools
Public schools
Arts organizations
Museum Camps Online
Charles M. Schulz Museum | California
Last week Bambino took one of the drawing classes at the Charles M. Schulz museum, and it was FABULOUS! He was enthralled and active for two full hours, giggling and producing super-fun artwork! His class was taught by cartoonist Joe Wos who was both entertaining and instructive. This is the only class we have done so far, but I was so impressed! The Charles M. Schulz Museum has several offerings online for the summer including collage and drawing classes. Just remember: they are in California, so adjust the times as necessary for your timezone!
Dallas Museum of Art | Texas
This is a bargain if you have multiple kids! The DMA is offering a bunch of programs online this summer. All are about 2 hrs long, and after paying for one registration, you can also pay $30 for a sibling kit, so multiple kids can participate. The camps will use the collection at the museum as inspiration for the art they make, and they will mail the art materials to you. They say the projects are designed to be independent, though younger children might need some help. But an older child could possibly be that help.
Met Opera Global Summer Camp | New York
So the Met Opera isn’t technically a museum… but they are offering a FREE camp all summer! Each week focuses on a different opera starting with Hansel and Gretel. There are discussion sessions, a craft session led online, and then opportunities to watch the opera. For the budding musician in your home, this is an amazing opportunity! There are two meeting times for different ages, and some of the Met’s stars are coming as guest artists, too.
I want to do this summer camp!!
Cummer Museum | Florida
I was about to sign Bambino up for several of the classes at the Cummer Museum. They sound amazing! But then I realized that the time zone differences would have meant that the classes started at 6 am for us! That doesn’t work for our family, but if you are closer to the East Coast or have early risers, that might be just perfect for you! Their week-long camps are affordable and last most of the day with work time and a lunch break in the middle as well as time to meet with the instructor. It might be worth getting up early!
Joslyn Art Museum | Nebraska
From their website: “Campers will meet daily - via Zoom - from the comfort of home, to explore themes inspired by works from Joslyn’s galleries. Museum studio staff will guide students through art-making challenges and projects ideas related to the weekly camp themes. These 75-minute studio classes will provide students with techniques, tools, and vocabulary that can be utilized for continued, independent learning all summer long. Students are encouraged to work independently while in camp, but adults are asked to remain available to provide art-making or technological assistance.”
Sounds fantastic! And they have some amazing offerings including Drawing What You See, Painting with Texture, Oil Pastels, Fun with Fiber, and more!
The Bass | Florida
These week-long camps sound FABULOUS! From their website: “Each day, our trained teachers guide 90-minute tutorials featuring painting, drawing and 3D design projects that explore the weekly theme with two art-filled, virtual camps: Little Ones Art Camp (ages 4-6) and Kids Art Camp (ages 7-12). At the end of each week, family and friends are invited to attend the virtual student exhibition. Each week features a carefully crafted art package containing all needed materials for that week’s virtual camp. Art materials can be picked-up from the museum, shipped or sent via courier service!”
And the cost: $60 per week.
Cranbrook Art Museum | Michigan
A team of Teaching Artists are helping Cranbrook offer some amazing camps this summer. Camp registration includes an Art Kit, and they say, “Our Art Kits come with NEW art making materials for each day of the camp. Unlike traditional camps, our Art Kits mean that campers have the supplies to make more art when class (and camp!) is over. Materials for each day are clearly labeled and ready for campers. Art Kits are different each week! Curbside pick-up in the Art Museum parking lot, Thursdays from 5-7 pm or Saturdays from 12-2 pm, prior to the start of camp each week. Zooming in from afar? We can ship Art Kits if necessary.”
Extra art supplies for summer? Yes, please!
San Jose Museum of Art | California
From their website: “For children ages 6–14 (camps are divided into age groups 6–9 and 10–14). Please note, each camper will receive individual artistic support, encouragement, and creative challenges unique to their learning style and skill level. With this in mind, parents/caregivers have the flexibility to register their child into the camp of their choosing including siblings of varied ages into the same camp.”
Thank you for recognizing the challenges of families with multiple kids at home! Every week has a different theme, and they have guest artists as well as a STEM consultant who provides an art + science lesson each week. Awesome!
The Bronx Zoo | New York
Seriously, people. This sounds amazing! From the website: “Our Wildlife Camp Online is full of fun and learning about the world of animals, nature, and science. During the week of camp, campers will engage in counselor-led engagement and self-directed activities including up-close animal encounters, virtual exhibit and behind the scenes visits from all of our WCS zoos and aquarium, chats with our staff, hands-on science projects, crafts, and songs. Some of the activities will be scheduled at specific times and others will allow your child to engage in them at the pace that works for your child.”
California Science Center | California
The California Science Center is a fabulous museum, and their online camps sound really fun. All classes are led by trained educators and include “Interactive virtual tours of exhibits, live demonstrations, and exclusive question and answer sessions with our on-site scientists and animal care staff!”
Sounds amazeballs!
The Library Foundation of Austin | Texas
Writing is such an important skill for kids, and summer is a fabulous time for some intensive creative writing work! The Library Foundation offers some incredible writing camps for kids all the way through high school. They are affordable, too! Offerings include a poetry and film workshop, Screenwriting 101, Mythology, Slam Poetry, and the famed Badgerdog Creative Writing Summer Camp.
If only parents could sign up…
Cleveland Museum of Natural History | Ohio
From their website: “Check out our brand-new virtual camps! These online experiences reflect the research of our Museum scientists, keeping campers connected with current discoveries, amazing collections, and all the awesome that is the Cleveland Museum of Natural History!”
Offerings include Backyard Biologists, Medical Camp, Science Explorers Camp, and Astronomy 101. Sounds amazing!
More Online Summer Camps
Avid 4 Adventure: we have done some of their in-person camps in past years, and they have been really fun!
Renaissance Adventures: another camp we have done in-person. Their online camps are gaming/role-playing camps.
Frankly, I hope that even when the pandemic is over, and we are settled into our new normal, some of these museums will continue to offer online camps in the summer. Being able to participate in programs across the country with campers from all parts of the country — or the world — may be an incredible experience!
This is by no means an exhaustive list. If your local school or museum or university is sponsoring programs that are amazing, leave a link in the comments! Let’s all help each other and help our kids have a wonderful summer — safe at home!
And share this link with anyone you know who has kids at home this summer!
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Family Game Night
Recommendations for Family Game Night including all of our favorite games
Happy quarantine! I hope you all are well and are staying healthy.
I have lost track of the days and the weeks. I just know we have a few weeks of school left and then we will be entering a summer unlike any we have ever encountered. Yowza! But we will get through it together.
One of our new favorite parts of quarantine is Family Game Night — even on school nights! After dinner we all play a game, and I’ve collected a list of our favorite games together to share with you! I hope they give you some ideas for family fun together!
It’s almost time for gardening here in Colorado. In fact, this weekend I’m getting my annual dividend of compost from our compost service — fresh compost delivered! Hooray! I’m so ready to dig in the dirt — but I have some weeding to do before that comes. Phew! That’s my project for the next few days. And then I’m going to put in veggies and flowers in our raised beds. We also need to freshen up the Dinosaur Garden! I’m excited to get that cleaned up so Bambino can play there again.
I hope you are wearing a mask. Remember: my mask protects you; your mask protects me. If you need to make a mask, here are my recommendations. I finally got a few rolls of shop towels, and I’m happy to report that they make easy filters in these masks.
Be well! Stay safe! And stay home!
XOXO
Angela
Having a Creative Quarantine?
Manage your cords or make a journal while you are staying home and staying safe!
I’ve been doing some free-form embroidery — no pattern, just circles of different stitches.
Friends,
I hope you are well. I hope you are taking deep breaths, maybe a good daily walk. And I hope you are safe. This is a trying and strange time for us all, and I’m reminded over and over again how precious our friends and family are — and how much we need to be connected. I hope you have some family and friend Zoom calls scheduled soon.
I have to tell you about the cutest part of our quarantine routine: Cousins Book Club. Bambino and two of his cousins meet on FaceTime every afternoon. They are reading to each other and then they spend time drawing in their sketch books. It is such a sweet connection for all of them, and they get great reading practice in every day! I highly recommend it — especially if you have young readers in your house.
As I said last week, we have been working on small, inexpensive projects around the house. One project which we tackled a few months ago: cord management. Just taming the cords and cables around our house made a big difference! I had some help from bluelounge who sent me a whole array of their products to try, and I absolutely love all of them. Read on to see what we did and what a big difference they made!
If you are looking for something cheap (nearly free) to do with your kids — or for yourself — what about making an art journal from recycled catalogues and magazines? I love using these for all kinds of art projects, particularly collage. And Bambino and I have been using these a lot during our quarantine.
This might also be a good time to start an altered book journal. Take an old book and turn it into an art journal. I love doing this, too — perhaps a good way to record this historic time in our lives?
And just in case you need to make some masks, here’s my tutorial with three different options for attaching them. Wear a mask! Remember, my mask protects you; your mask protects me!
Be well, friends! Stay home and stay safe. Thanks for being a loyal reader and friend. You all are in my thoughts. We are in this together!
XOXO
Angela
Staying Home and Staying Cozy
How are you spending your Coronavirus confinement? I have a few ideas in case you are starting to lose your mind.
My dear friends, it has been a minute! Actually, more than a few minutes. I took some time away from writing to work on other projects, and then COVID-19 happened. One month ago today, in fact, we started to shelter in place. Aside from daily social-distancing walks with the dog and the child, we really haven’t left the house. And like so many of you, I’m juggling school lessons with a spouse working from home and my own work projects, too.
It is a lot.
And let me tell you: if you aren’t ok, that is totally ok. This is a remarkable, historic time. It is scary and insane and strange and monumental all at once. And it is ok not to be ok.
But now that we are a month into this with no real end in sight, I have gathered a few ideas and resources which might help you make your own confinement a little easier.
DIY Face Masks
First, I have put together tutorials for making face masks in three different styles. I have made more than 30 masks, and I tried several different ways to make them. Finally I decided on three different masks that seemed to work best — and are easy to make. If you need to make masks for your family, I hope you’ll try these out. Let me know how it goes!
Hygge Makes Everything Better
Early on I chose a word for this period knowing that a focus would make everything a little easier. My word is: hygge. What’s hygge? It is the Danish concept of coziness, happiness, and goodness — all rolled up together.
Focusing on hygge has allowed us to jump into our confinement with joy and love. My husband travels a lot for work, so having him home for an entire month has been amazing! We are cooking a lot, snuggling on the couch, reading even more, and I’ve taken up needlepoint which is a wonderful distraction.
I have updated my What I’m Reading Now list — lots of good book suggestions!
I am also journaling — sometimes angrily, sometimes creatively, sometimes with great sadness. And we have become Zoom experts — along with the rest of the world — from class meetings to get-togethers with friends.
But I’m also doing a lot of sleeping — or at least reading in bed. And I have some tips for sleeping Scandinavian-style which is all about bringing the hygge into your bedroom. We love it!
Small Home Projects
We aren’t tackling anything big right now. The Spring One Room Challenge was supposed to start on April 1, but it has been postponed to May at the earliest. But we have been doing small projects around the house. Our kitchen, for example: we were supposed to remodel it this spring, but those plans have been put on hold. So we have taken on a few small projects — temporary fixes for a truly dysfunctional kitchen. Small projects like this can ease the daily stress of living in a house that doesn’t work well — even if they are temporary fixes.
Celebrating
I’ll be honest: I didn’t feel much like celebrating Easter. But as the day approached, I realized just how much we needed a celebration in the middle of it all. We have also celebrated two big birthdays for family — one with a Zoom-call party and another with a silly drive-by parade. Life goes on, and we can still celebrate milestones, even if we can’t do it in person as we would like.
And when I did hang the Easter eggs from our branch chandelier and put out the Easter decorations, the change was welcome, and we had a wonderful family celebration.
In the next few weeks I will share some of our favorite recipes and projects. It is almost time to get out into the garden again — despite the fresh snow today! And one day soon we will be back to something that approximates “normal” again.
But until then, stay safe! Wash your hands. Wear a mask. And stay home as much as is humanly possible.
XOXO
Angela
Happy Valentine's Day!
A round-up of simple and inexpensive Valentine’s crafts, ideas, and decorations!
Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us, and I have gathered a few projects to help you celebrate this holiday of love! Enjoy!
I have simple, homemade Valentines to make:
I have ideas for simple Valentine’s decor…
And some easy Valentine’s Day projects using a Cricut, too:
I wish you all the happiest of Valentine’s Days! Love and joy to you!
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a review of the new My Sutro pool monitor