I see lots of desperate, panicked posts on here that seem to be looking for a magic, cheap, fast bullet....there is none. If your pool is a swamp, be prepared to dump what seems like an alarming amount of bleach into your pool. Yes, you MUST purchase/find things such as a good test kit, pole, brush, vacuum, dip net, and leaf rake...I CANNOT stress enough the importance of getting and keeping all the debris off of the bottom of your pool. When you think that you have raked the bottom of your pool enough, rake 5 times longer than you have and then rake 3 times more than you did the second round. But you must keep at it. Yes, the people at WalMart might think you are a terrorist making chlorine bombs, but you HAVE TO KEEP THAT FREE CHLORINE UP. Yes, the pool store will tell you that you are gong to melt your kids with a shock level of 15ppm, but if you follow the TFP method you won't. (FYI, we have swum above shock level and nobody even noticed) Yes, you will run your pump and filter ALL THE TIME, and you will brush and vacuum ALL THE TIME until your pool is clear. Yes, if your pump and filter is "janked up" it HAS to be put back in working order. If you can't do that, wait until you can to open your pool. But I promise, if you read and follow POOL SCHOOL, your pool will get clear. Yes, it might take 2 weeks (or longer), but your pool will get clear. Yes, you might have perfect numbers when testing and still have cloudy water...still KEEP SLAMMING. I have had cloudy water for weeks after all test numbers looked OK. Still I kept SLAMMING until the water was clear, and it cleared up just like POOL SCHOOL said it would. I did nothing but keep the FC at shock level, vacuum, and run the pump and filter constantly. I didn't change the sand, add DE, or anything special. You might think that you are not doing it right, just keep at it...and read POOL SCHOOL again...and again...and your brush the walls of your pool.
I know I have very few posts on here (I don't need to because the methods work if followed), but I have been involved in caring for our pool for 25 years. Our pool has been a Bacqua pool in the late 80's, a traditional pool for most of the 90's-2010, and then a TFP pool for the last 5 years. While I have a seasonal pool, and traditional methods were fine, the amount of info found on this site on pool chemistry alone will allow you to find which method works best for you and will allow you to understand WHY it works for you. But...you have to keep at it. DON'T STRESS...just keep at it and the TFP methods and info WILL WORK for you!
(I think I got off track...In summary: You have to be willing to follow the advice on this forum and BUY the materials suggested in the literature here to have a trouble-free pool.)
I know I have very few posts on here (I don't need to because the methods work if followed), but I have been involved in caring for our pool for 25 years. Our pool has been a Bacqua pool in the late 80's, a traditional pool for most of the 90's-2010, and then a TFP pool for the last 5 years. While I have a seasonal pool, and traditional methods were fine, the amount of info found on this site on pool chemistry alone will allow you to find which method works best for you and will allow you to understand WHY it works for you. But...you have to keep at it. DON'T STRESS...just keep at it and the TFP methods and info WILL WORK for you!
(I think I got off track...In summary: You have to be willing to follow the advice on this forum and BUY the materials suggested in the literature here to have a trouble-free pool.)
