I thought I'd follow-up after over a year with nothing more than TFP method (and a couple tricks) for our first pool.The pool has been inhabitable by humans (tested everyday) for over an entire year. Nothing more added than what is recommended here, bleach (12.5% ~1/2G day when the pool is open, ~1/2G every 3-7 days with the automatic cover closed), Muratic Acid...my pH still creeps up after a year and some baking soda (due to Muratic Acid) to bring Alk back up to ~110-120. Running the deck jets causes some of the pH increase and that intensified during the summer as I used them to keep the temp down.
I did Boric Acid my pool to 50ppm via 50lbs of granules, no taste at all (whew) and guests have commented asking if I use soft water in my pool.
I did have one interesting thing happen earlier in the year (Feb-Mar). As spring approached we got the itch to start hitting the pool so I ran the heater fairly often, with the cover closed and chlorine fairly low. In any event, my CYA went from 45ish to 0 over a two week period. I thought my CYA standard (50) was bad and that I was wrong, so I had the pool company come by and test...0. Fixed via Trichlor back to 42 CYA (4 tabs = 7 CYA and 4 tabs per week for 6 weeks). In doing some research I found that this isn't common, but not ultra-rare either when running low chlorine and heat/high-temps. No worries, but thought I'd let people know that I've seen it too.
Thoughts: The auto-pool cover is freaking awesome. We got it for safety and it was expensive, but it has turned out to be so much more. I can dump a 1/2-1 gallon of chlorine in, close it and come back in a week and everything is fine with only pH creeping up. It's about 100x easier blowing the leaves off the cover with the cordless blower than getting them off the bottom. We also have pecan trees and squirrels...cover saves the day again. If you are pondering one, you will not be disappointed after you get over the sticker shock. Oh, and in winter it holds heat in so if you do decide to have a pool day you can start the heater at daybreak and be ready to swim after lunch. The downside is that in summer when you go on vacation and have the cover closed you watch in pain through your app as pool temp goes over 100 :-(
Anyways, thumbs up to TFP method and people with an education based method of keeping your pool water safe for the family and friends.
PS. I'm the only one that maintains the pool, so I get to put my suit on and jump in with the excuse "I need to check the propensinator valve", beats doing actual yard work.