Manchester, CT

[DThompson55]

Hi - First day here. A close personal friend recommended this place. There are few things I enjoy less than our pool. It makes me crazy in a way that's hard to explain; In a way that nothing else does. I view it mainly as a disparagingly wet annoyance that sucks up my time and money and demands more of the same without end. So I'm hoping I'll learn something here and come to more peaceful terms with this thing that lives in my backyard.

 

[JVTrain]

Welcome aboard!

Hopefully with a little time here your pool can be more enjoyable. They are a bit of maintenance, sort of like brushing your teeth, but no more annoying than that once you get the hang of it.

 

[BoDarville]

Welcome to the forum!

Begin with this article: ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry. This boils everything you need to know about managing pool water chemistry down to one page. You'll find that pool maintenance can be relatively easy and it doesn't have to break the bank.

 

[RyanMcC]

Welcome. Our first year with a pool our water looked like your avatar, only blue. That was with buying whatever the pool store told us to. Eventually we bought a test kit and now our chemicals come from the grocery store and are a lot cheaper. You won't recognize your pool pretty soon!

 

[Husky25]

Greetings from down Route 2!! I used to live in Manchester. Though I didn't have a pool back then.

The one thing I can tell you as a Baquacil alum and convert is that test strips are inaccurate at best. If you want to clear up your pool, you'll get a proper kit and test it on your own (See the TF-100 link in my signature. If your water looks like your avatar, look into the XL option as well.). Don't get discouraged by the price. It's well worth it and once you get everything under control, it will last you a couple seasons or more.

The second thing I can tell you is that, when you get the hang of this process, you'll drive right by Namco and Leslie's on your way through Buckland Hills Mall without paying either any mind. I Don't even go there anymore for gaskets.

Third, You'll make fast friends with the checkout girls/guys at the Ocean State on Spencer Street. Liquid Chlorine is $2.96/gallon and the product is fresh.

Finally, if you listen to the experts' advice here (I do not include myself in that group, though I like to help where I can), your pool will cease to be the disparaging money and time sucking wet annoyance it had become and will literally transform into the jewel of your back yard. For an example as far as money and time saved following TFPC, Unless I am vacuuming, I spend an average of less than 5 min./day and less than $12/week on pool maintenance.

 

[laprjns]

Greetings from up Route 83. I agree with everything Husky says except I go to the Enfield OSJL

 

[DThompson55]

I'm taking everyone's advice on buying an actual test kit. TF-100 is on order.
And I've stocked up on cheap chlorine from Ocean State.
I guess I should wait until the test kit shows up before starting battle with the algae.

 

[Husky25]

At 15,000 gallons and assuming your pool is the color of your avatar, it wouldn't be a horrible idea to add a jug of chlorine per night until your kit arrives.

 

[DThompson55]

I got my test kit. Just getting the hang of it. Here are my first readings.

I'm still adding a gallon of bleach every night. My wife thinks we should start adding algaecide, but from what I've been reading here you guys are saying it's a waste of money and maybe worse than that. So I've asked her to hold off for a few more days.

FC 9.5
CC 1
TC 10.5
pH 7.2
TA 80
CH 375
CYA 30

 

[laprjns]

I haven't uses algaecide, phosphate removers, or shocked my pool in the three plus years since I changed over from traditional pool maintenance to the TFP method. I also backwash my filter less with maybe once per season as compared to three time prior to changing.

 

[Husky25]

Algaecide is a misnomer. It doesn't kill algae. Chlorine does. Brush the pool walls to loosen it up, SLAM the water to kill the algae, and vacuum the dead cells. Backwash, repeat.