Review: My Sutro Smart Pool Monitor

Aug 31

My Sutro Pool Water Monitor

We have had our stock tank pool for three summers now. And for the first two years, I used a pHin water monitor to keep the pool balanced and in good shape. However, pHin was aquired by another company which discontinued the service, so I had to recycle my pHin and look for an alternative. Of course, I could have turned to manual pool testing kits. But I love the convenience of an automatic monitor and an app that tells me what to do. Enter: My Sutro. My Sutro is a pool water monitor that uses a different technology, but it is a great alternative to the pHin — and has some advantages, too.

Disclosure: My Sutro sent me their product, but all ideas and opinions are my own.
This post contains affiliate links. AKN

My Sutro claims to be: “The world's leading water testing device. The easiest way to actually measure your pool chemistry and keep your pool and spa crystal clear.” And that is an interesting difference. Each Sutro monitor utilizes a cartridge to conduct testing. This cartridge of reagents is housed in the monitor and must be changed out about once per month. My Sutro is actually testing the water using the reagents inside the cartridge.

And I have seen the difference!

How does My Sutro work?

In the past, I used far more chlorine and other chemicals. With My Sutro, my stock tank pool is cleaner, clearer, and more comfortable with far less intervention. According to My Sutro, this is because their device is taking actual measurements rather than using a method of extrapolation called ORP (the tech used by pHin and other monitors). This testing means, however, that the device is somewhat larger and requires monthly maintenance. That’s not terrible, and frankly, the improved functionality makes such things feel trivial.

Each day I open the app and check the report on our water quality. The app also tells me what, when, and how much to add to adjust the water. It also tells me the water temperature and provides weekly and monthly reports so I can see trends as they develop. The app is easy to set up, it stores the exact products that I use, and you can adjust the notifications and their frequency. It makes maintaining my pool very simple and straightforward, frankly. And I don’t have to worry about it.

My Sutro at work in our stock tank pool

My Sutro works with chlorine, salt water, mineral sanitizers, and bromide pools. I may switch from chlorine next summer, and that’s not a problem with My Sutro either.

But here’s the best part: you only have to pay for the months that you’ll be using My Sutro. Once you purchase the device, there is a monthly fee. But if you live in a place where you can’t swim year-round like I do, you only pay when your pool is open. That means I won’t be paying for the 7-8 months of the year when we have our pool shut down. That saves a lot of money over time!

Having used My Sutro for several months now, I am truly pleased with how it works and with the resulting clean water and sparkling pool. It’s an investment for a stock tank pool, but I think it is a worthy one. And I look forward to years of clean water to come!