We are new pool owners 13x26 above ground SplashPool. Filled it in May and all went well until mid-June. Then the cotton fell which was quite a learning experience but next year we will be more prepared! Then we got our first algae bloom which, I’m sure was from our filter being full of cotton. My husband was ready to throw in chemicals. I followed everything I could read on here for shocking to a T (except that my CYA was too high bc even though I’d read on that I didn’t fully understand the relationship and the issue with too high CYA and when it was first turning green I was like add more and we didn’t do a partial drain we just added lots of chlorine 
). Anyway, lots of chlorine and cleaning the filter and nothing else for 5 days, it was nearly clear and we had a planned vacation. I didn’t know how much chlorine to add while we were gone since I was just past the shock phase so I just gave the neighbor instructions based on what I thought would keep our chlorine level high enough until we could get home. Got out my test kit this morning and we are exactly where we should be and the pool is as clear as can be! My husband said “I can’t believe you did it!” Not that he doesn’t trust me, it’s just that everyone else was going on about adding chemicals and what we needed to do and I insisted we not do anything but follow your plan and he is thoroughly impressed. As am I! Luckily for us our neighbor 2 doors up told us about this site. So post one by me is simply a thank you to everyone who gave great advice on previous posts and told us to stay the course. I am such a novice but having this resource gives me lots of reassurance! And it was so helpful to have the actual test kit. I bought some strips just to use in between my kit readings but they are far from reliable. I know Can use them to know if I’m off base but I would have been in a world of hurt had I only followed those things! Thanks! Casey
). Anyway, lots of chlorine and cleaning the filter and nothing else for 5 days, it was nearly clear and we had a planned vacation. I didn’t know how much chlorine to add while we were gone since I was just past the shock phase so I just gave the neighbor instructions based on what I thought would keep our chlorine level high enough until we could get home. Got out my test kit this morning and we are exactly where we should be and the pool is as clear as can be! My husband said “I can’t believe you did it!” Not that he doesn’t trust me, it’s just that everyone else was going on about adding chemicals and what we needed to do and I insisted we not do anything but follow your plan and he is thoroughly impressed. As am I! Luckily for us our neighbor 2 doors up told us about this site. So post one by me is simply a thank you to everyone who gave great advice on previous posts and told us to stay the course. I am such a novice but having this resource gives me lots of reassurance! And it was so helpful to have the actual test kit. I bought some strips just to use in between my kit readings but they are far from reliable. I know Can use them to know if I’m off base but I would have been in a world of hurt had I only followed those things! Thanks! Casey
