First Time Pool Owner in Lake Worth, Florida

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Jennifire

Jennifire

0
Aug 30, 2017
4
Lake Worth, FL
My husband and I just recently constructed our pool. We have no idea how to use it or maintain it. Our builder suggested for the first three months to use their service for maintainance. While we are happy with the service, I think we might want to try taking care of the pool on our own to save a little bit of money.

We have a local pool store nearby that we can bring the water to be tested and to buy any salt/chemicals that we might need. We have purchased a pole, brush and skimmer net. What else would we need in order to try to take over this ourselves? A robot vacuum/creepy crawly?

Or is the $80/month we pay a great deal and we should continue to use their service?

Thanks in advance!

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Hi, welcome to TFP! I would suggest that if you really want to take control of your pool that you use 1 week's worth of pool service money and buy a high quality FAS/DPD test kit such as a TF 100 or Taylor K2006 so you can test the water yourself and stay away from the pool store! Either of these test kits will give you consistent, reliable results you can use to accurately balance the water. Pool stores use the "free" tests to sell product the majority of the time. Maybe you need it, maybe you don't. Most of the time you don't. Most chemicals you need for your pool can be found in hardware stores, grocery stores, and big warehouse stores.

A critical test for most pools is the CYA test. It cannot be performed accurately indoors. Testing errors and inconsistencies are a big reason why we recommend pool owners invest in a high quality test kit.

A good pool robot can help with keeping the pool debris free. If your SWG has been started then you will only need to replenish salt after draining significant amounts of water, or extended heavy rains that dilute the salt content.

You can read about Pool School - What is TFPC? and Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry for a little more information about Trouble Free Pool Care.

What type of filter do you have? I don't see it listed in your signature.
 
zea3 said:
What type of filter do you have? I don't see it listed in your signature.
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Thank you for your reply. We have a Hayward C17502 cartridge filter. Unfortunately, our builder gave us very little information about operating the pool ourselves in an effort to keep us reliant on them for servicing. Any other guides or youtube videos would be helpful as well.
 
:wave: to TFP Jennifire

Everything you need to know is here it's just a matter of finding it ;) I'd start reading stuff in Pool School and throw out any questions you have as you come across them. A good test kit will be needed and I too recommend the TF100.
You might want to start to record your filter pressure. If it increases 20% from where it is now it's time to clean. Once the cartridge is cleaned then you want to record that as your "clean pressure".
 
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