This is our 2nd summer with a pool, and there is a lot that I could learn to keep my pool crystal clear all summer long.
We bought a house last year with an in-ground salt-water pool. About 31,000 gallons and usually not a problem.
Running the pump with chlorinate at 55% for 4 hours a day, usually keeps it clean.
However, last summer and this summer we went out on vacation for about two weeks. Fearing that the heat would evaporate too much water I turned off the schedule on the pool and came back to a bit of green.
Not bad, but not crystal clear either.
After noticing that the pool store "fixes" weren't working as well as I thought, I found this site and decided to give it a try.
I'll be looking at the Pool School posts to learn more, but my first question is regarding the test kits.
Which one should be best for my salt water pool? It seems from reading some posts that FC and CYA are the most important things to measure, but the kits listed usually have very few of those... Are people buying those separate, or just refilling on those particular tests often?
On the SLAM posts it says to test as often as possible, and no less than twice a day, but that means you would be using all of the test for CYA and FC quite soon, is that right or am I missing something?
I hope to learn a lot and enjoy my trouble free pool for years to come!
We bought a house last year with an in-ground salt-water pool. About 31,000 gallons and usually not a problem.
Running the pump with chlorinate at 55% for 4 hours a day, usually keeps it clean.
However, last summer and this summer we went out on vacation for about two weeks. Fearing that the heat would evaporate too much water I turned off the schedule on the pool and came back to a bit of green.
Not bad, but not crystal clear either.
After noticing that the pool store "fixes" weren't working as well as I thought, I found this site and decided to give it a try.
I'll be looking at the Pool School posts to learn more, but my first question is regarding the test kits.
Which one should be best for my salt water pool? It seems from reading some posts that FC and CYA are the most important things to measure, but the kits listed usually have very few of those... Are people buying those separate, or just refilling on those particular tests often?
On the SLAM posts it says to test as often as possible, and no less than twice a day, but that means you would be using all of the test for CYA and FC quite soon, is that right or am I missing something?
I hope to learn a lot and enjoy my trouble free pool for years to come!
Both the TF-100 and Taylor K-2006C work well for all the required tests (FC, CC, CYA, pH, TA, and CH), but I recommend the TF-100 (XL Option with Speed Stir). You'll have plenty of reagents for a SLAM and the entire season if not more. It's a quality product and the speed stir is fantastic.
