Ok so my pool is just finished filling.... I'm at work today but will get the pump (1hp pentair) wired to a GFCI tomorrow and get it running.... I have an engagement party at my house in 3 days and is like the pool to be clear... It's fairly clear now (enough to see the bottom)... But I haven't added anything yet...

So my question is should I just take a water sample to the local pool store and follow their directions?? Im just doing the old school chlorine for now... Looking into a SWG later... I'm just a little weary of "professionals".... Or should I just get them to give me the sample readings and follow the pool calculator and advice here on pool school??? I don't know what would be cheaper/economical or easier!

Any info is appreciated...
My pool is about 38,000 gallons...

Wow, First you need to know what you have, so you need to test the water. If you don't already have a good test kit, (such as the TF-100 or the Taylor k2006) you'll need to trust the pool store's results until you get one. Post the results here and we can help you from there.

The pool school gives info for recommended levels http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/recommended_levels. Actually the pool school link (top right of this page) has lots of info to get started.

Get your own test kit from tftestkits.net

For now you can take your water to the pool store, but:
1. their tests can be inaccurate
2. DO NOT FOLLOW THEIR DIRECTIONS!

There's no telling what they will tell you to do.

For now I'd think you need to get your pH right (if it's off), get your CYA additions started, and keep chlorine (bleach) in it. You could use tablets and floaters for now if you know you don't have any CYA. Tap water has no CYA.

Definitely get a good test kit on order and read through the Pool School.

You can have the pool store test for you, but I would also advise that you pick up an inexpensive test kit to use in the interim. The kits at Wal-mart will be good enough to get you started.

As RobbieH said get your pH in range, etc.

Ok thanks!! Do pool stores sell test kits as well? Better than Wal mart test kits?

Also... When I first turn on my filter.... Should I backwash first??

If it brand new or brand new sand, you should. If I recall, most manufacturers recommend this to remove any dust or other small particles from the newly added sand. Look in your manual, it should give you new sand or new filter procedures.

On the test kits. Honestly, I order a TF-100 and never looked back. They are responsive and the prices are reasonable. http://tftestkits.net/splash-page.html

However, you can get the taylor K-2006 kit as well, it has pretty much all the same stuff. There is a good pool school article on the differences http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison. Also, some pool stores do carry it.

Just make sure you get the kit with the FAS-DPD which is the K-2006, its a very accurate chlorine test.

Yes, if it is new sand in the filter you need to backwash until the water is running clear through the backwash.

As for test kits. Order a high quality kit like the TF-100 or k-2006. However, you want to have the pool ready for people in 3 days, so any test kit is better than none. You can buy a kit at the pool store, but they are fairly expensive as an interim measure. I would recommend something inexpensive to get you through until your ordered kit arrives.

We're still hoping for pics.

Haha.... They are coming!!!

The anti pool store talk on here is a crack up. The only way to get "pool stored" is if you blindly follow someone's instructions.

Take your water to the pool store and tell them what you have and how you're looking to take care of it. When they give you the test results ask them specifically what everything does (they should explain to a new pool owner anyways) and if they stutter or give you a bunch of bs nonsense, walk away. If they give you what seems like good answers and they jive with what you've read in pool school on here, buy the stuff, add it, and have it retested in a few days. Get yourself a Taylor kit and compare your results with what you're getting from them.

If all else fails, you can tell all us Internet strangers your results and we can guide you.

That is certainly true. However, please understand that a lot of new pool owners have absolutely NO experience so the normal, logical thought process would be to go to a pool store to get the "expert" advice so you don't "blindly follow".

As you read more and learn more from posters on this forum, it turns out that pool stores are very often not the experts they would proclaim and often end up selling the newbie products he has no need for nor that help him gain the knowledge he needs to properly manage his pool.

You shouldn't be "cracked up" by that sad fact because it is the truth. Keep reading the posts here from (mostly) newbies who do get "pool stored" on a continual and ongoing basis. I hope you can understand their distrust and often anger when they find out they have been misled......usually unintentionally but misled nevertheless.

Certainly, it is the responsibility of the new pool owner to practice due diligence and learn on his own but where would you expect him/her to start that learning process if not the pool store?

In the first two months of visiting this site, I learned more about basic pool chemistry and the chemical processes that occur in a swimming pool than I did in the first 2 years of owning a pool and going to the pool store. In the next three months of visiting this site, I learned more about pool care that I will EVER be able to learn at a pool store.

What makes the above even more amazing, is that I have so much farther to go.....

Duraleigh,

I don't think it's funny that people have been duped in the past. It's sad that some pool stores have that reputation. What I do think is funny is that the second reply to the original poster (who seems to have done nothing with his pool at this point, from what I'm getting) is telling him to go, but that they aren't always accurate and don't buy anything. Are we to think that someone who has never used a test kit before is going to provide accurate results to this forum to help diagnose issues? After some practice, yes. After he's turned the hose off and dragged it out of the pool, no.

My first trip to a pool store consisted of them showing me some magical product that guaranteed a clear pool "forever". I just had to buy their products, fill in a form, and if the pool ever got algae or had any problems, they would come fix the problems for free. My experience in my local pool stores has not been good.

I've also seen several people come to this forum completely freaked out because of the high phosphates in their pool, based on the findings of the pool store testing their water. Pool store is recommending a pile of products to take care of the issue.

I've not only heard of but actually witnessed pool folks saying the Liquidator is bad for your pool. I have also seen and read many people told by pool store employees that putting bleach into your pool is a very bad thing.

I haven't met a pool store employee, manager, or service provider yet that owns their own pool. I realize this isn't always the case, but it seems to me there may be a low percentage of pool store employees that have day-to-day experience taking care of a pool.

Now you wonder why I'm such a cynic? Maybe I was a bit harsh, but it is extremely easy for a new, ignorant (in the real sense of the word) pool owner to be duped out of hundreds of dollars to purchase products they probably don't need.

Yes. If you have a tf-100 or equivalent you will get accurate results on the first test. Never had the pool store test anything, water's been perfect since last may when it was filled.

Sir, With all due respect, i realize you have only been a member to this site for a few days. Welcome to the forum, by the way. It is entirely possible for someone who has never had any experience with a pool or test kit for that matter to get high quality accurate test results. See this link regarding testing extended-test-kit-directions-t25081.html. There are numerous success stories regarding people who have never had anything to do with pools or their chemistry on this site. All of which is because of the knowledge and information provided by the members and contributors.

I concur. Drop testing is pretty straightforward. The ability to read, follow directions, count, and tell colors is pretty basic stuff. 3rd or 4th grade level. Not that I'd trust a child that age to measure out acid, but they could probably do the testing accurately, even if they had no clue what alkalinity was...

And Poolman, my experience with pool stores pretty much matches everyone else's experiences. I used to go to the closest pool store. Part of a large chain, so I figured they'd be up-and-up. They tested my water with test strips. Told me to use the "slug method" to lower TA. Sold me a 3-way test kit, because "you don't really need that other stuff." I did discover, after purchasing a better kit, that CH was 600ish and CYA was 220ish. Went to buy some liquid chlorine and was given a pitch about how much easier the pucks were, and when told my CYA was already way too high, that I can use the powdered shock. Like I needed more Calcium...

So one day I stopped at another branch of the same chain to buy something. No hard sell to me, but I couldn't help but overhear their tests of some girl's sample. She couldn't even begin to guess the size of her pool, yet they were telling her to add so much of this and so much of that. How'd they know? Second visit to that store, I could see how helpful they were. They got a hand truck and were wheeling out another woman's purchases for her.

I've even read here that a pool store has sold someone pH increaser and pH decreaser and told them to add both. Now we know that the names aren't exactly accurate, but I'd smell BS if someone tried to sell me two contradictory products.

Pool Chemistry is made out to be complicated and mysterious, when it's actually pretty simple. A couple weeks' worth of test and dose paying attention to the results will yield major understanding. It's very much "hands-on." But pool water testing is easy.

This is all very interesting.

Not sure it is helping WhoDat? much...

Maybe we should start a new topic: Pool Stores -- the Good, the Bad and the Ugly!