Are you in the pool business, or is your interest just based on the rental properties you have?

The reason I ask is, that it would be helpful if someone who is knowledgeable in the British (and French) markets, could tell us what *is* available. I spent several hours last summer (2012) trying to find testkits for a British pool owners, and came away rather unhappy. There were some tablet based Palintest & Lovibond kits, selling for the equivalent of $250+ US that appeared to have about 90% of the functionality of the $80 US Taylor K2006.

And, I was never able to work out whether the pool owner could buy bleach, borax, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), or washing soda (sodium carbonate) in supermarkets. Nor, could I determine which pool chemicals (dichlor, trichlor, polyquat 60, cal hypo, HEDP) that we often recommend, were available.