Hi from Spain

[Sunspot]

Hello all, thought I'd post a quick introduction as I am completely new to the world of pool ownership and maintenance.
We just brought a house with an 8x4.5 pool which I am trying to recover without resorting to hiring a pool guy but I am having to learn everything from scratch so I figured this was a good looking forum to gain some advice.

Anyway, I'm going to have a look around and just popped in to say hi!

 

[kimkats]

Hi sunspot! I bet you almost need a pool in Spain!

The first thing you will need to find is a good test kit. Look at my siggy for the ones we use and love. I am not sure if they can be shipped to your part of the world. Try Amazon to see if they can/will get one to you.

Have fun looking around. You will find we can/will help you recover your pool!

Kim

 

[BoDarville]

Welcome to TFP!

Here are some resources to give you an overview of managing your pool using our methods:
1. ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry
2. Chlorine CYA Chart
3. Recommended Pool Chemicals
4. Recommended Levels
5. Pool Math

 

[Texas Splash]

As Kim said, the proper test kit should be your first priority. With that kit, you CAN maintain a pool on your own. We all started the same way. Many good links in our signatures as well. Enjoy the site and let us know if you have any questions.

 

[Sunspot]

Thank you all for the welcome and the links to read over, a bit to take in.

Cheers Kim for the test kit link, all I have is a PH and Chlorine test kit so I will be looking to upgrade as quick as possible I think. Everyone one has a pool around here so next time I'm out I shouldn't have much trouble finding a more comprehensive kit albeit in Spanish which I'm not great at yet.

 

[chem geek]

If you can't get a test kit shipped to you from the U.S., see if you can get a Palintest SP 315C and their FAS-DPD kit from the U.K. as described in this thread. The Taylor kit is preferable, but the Palintest SP 315C is not bad, especially if you can additionally get their FAS-DPD chlorine test.

 

[Sunspot]

Thanks for that, I'm having a look around online to see what I can find now and will have a look locally for something while I wait on delivery.
The waiting is hard but it kind of suits me as I can't get to the house daily and when we are there are a million things going on before we move so maybe it's best to slow down a little until I am in more of a position to give more time to it.

I guess in the meantime I can figure out how the vacuum works and give it a good scrub each time I go around.

 

[kimkats]

You can also be looking around to find your best source for chlorine/bleach. They are the same thing but different %.

Shoot us a pic of this pool. It sounds neat.

Can you also put the kind of filter (sand, DE, cartridge) in your pool info? THANKS

Kim

 

[Sunspot]

I know that there are loads of places that have chlorine around I see it at the hardware store, supermarket, etc so I guess they would have bleach too but I will double check on that and see what they have.

I have a pic of the pool when we eventually got the keys, it's level was low and a bit dirty but not all that bad.
The pool is now full again but has gone green in the last couple of days. I can post of pic of it is now when I get back later tonight. I put the filter on this morning and left it running, I hope I did at least.

I have no idea what type of filter I have which is why I left it out but I do have a couple of phone pics of it or at least of the dial area, I can take a better picture of the whole unit tonight.

 

[kimkats]

WOW! I am guessing you bought the pool and area and it just happened to come with a house! That is awesome looking!

Chlorine or bleach=same thing. Check your prices making sure you take in account the % of each one so you get your best bang for the buck.

If your pump is working you can go ahead and add some bleach/chlorine in each day to try to keep ahead of the algae. Just make sure to let the pump run at least 30 mins. to mix it in good.

Let us know what you find out on the test kits you can get there.

Kim