New Pool Owner!!!

[WaterLilly85]

Hello Trouble Free Pool peeps!

My name is Alexandra or Alex for short. My husband Eric and myself have twin 10 year old boys (Jake and Sam) and a golden retriever (Ajax). My husband decided 2 years ago that getting a pool was the best way to entertain our family in our backyard rather than driving to the nearest beach. I'm basically on here to get tips and tricks on how others keep their pool from turning green and to keep myself from pulling out my hair. So, I hope to get some good input from all of you and maybe pass on some of my findings as well.

Clear water wishes to everyone

 

[dattia]

Welcome... you've come to the right place! We all (most) use bleach to keep our pools sparkling. A good test kit is a must and frequent trips through the pages of Pool School will give you all you need to keep a clean, healthy pool for your family... and your dog. I have an above ground pool as well and I let my dog swim in it daily.

 

[woodyp]

Welcome aboard!

 

[pepsiholic]

A good test kit (TFTest kit)is a must have, and then just regular bleach is all I need to keep my pool clear and sparkily all year! Welcome!! Read Pool School and when you are done, re-read it...lol..lots of great info.

 

[ob1quixote]

The Pool Calculator www.poolcalculator.com is a great tool to help you keep things sparkling even as you learn about maintaining your pool water in Pool School.

Test daily at a regular time, you'll get the hang of it! Be aggressive now with reading testing and adjusting, sure beats fighting the green meanies!

 

[supertune]

Welcome WaterLilly85 to TFP!
I bought a 15'X48" Intex above ground pool in March last year for the grand kids ages 2, 3, and 10, went to the pool store to get stuff to put in to get going.
Started out fine until it got hot and presto green algae! Never recovered even with lots of $$ at the pool store, ended up draining and refilling to make it to the end of summer with being always cloudy and a bag of shock every week.
Started all over again this year!
I decided I would try and learn about water chemistry and figure out why I keep having problems.
I'm so lucky to have found this site and forum!
Started reading posts in Testing and Balancing Your Water, and in Algae-Prevention and Treatment.
After seeing the great results and help that others were getting here I said to myself, this is what I need. Ordered my TF-100 XL test kit from http://tftestkits.net/splash-page.html and has been the best tool in my toolbox to fix my pool water.
I followed the instructions on the lid and posted my results here, (make your post title as 'Test Results') I received an overwhelming amount of responses to help!
Followed the pool school directions and with more help here I have a Trouble Free Pool and suffer from Sparklepoolits!
Had a BIG 4th party (at one point 14 people in at the same time) and pool passed very easy! All my pool needed is a vacuum and some chlorine and ready to do it again!
Here a pic after doing it the TFP way...