We have a 27ft round AGP

[imjay]

We have a 27ft round AGP so we are in a similar situation to yours but we have had our pool for over 20 years. I am not a "pro" by any means but feel that over 20 years of success with maintaining our pool ourselves gives me a bit of credibility to answer questions.

When our pool was installed the contractor had the pump running to full circulation of the water and dumped in two 2 1/2 gallon jugs of chlorine - this was to accomplish a thorough shock of the tap water used to fill the pool.

There is a lot said on pool forums about NOT using stabilized tri-chlor tablets but we have used them all the years and found them easy for maintaining stable levels of chlorine in our pool since chlorine is our sanitizer of choice.

Our contractor installed a in-line automatic chlorinator into the output pvc line from our filter. It works very well and makes adding chlorine pretty easy. Going against some of the grain here our personal experience is that using tabs with a stabilizing agent is great and convenient. Non-stabilized chlorine (bleach or liquid from the hardware store) is wiped out pretty quickly by bright sunshine - we didn't want to be trying to be chemists daily re chlorine - ain't a thing wrong with using tri-chlor tabs and with an in-line chlorinator they are almost carefree.

Yeah, sometimes too much stabilizer will cause chlorine to become "bound" reducing free chlorine in your water - a thorough shock is the easy solution to that problem - in our exprience and opinion.

Our contractor gave us great pool instructions for newbies - he described our pool as a big stomach. Use your test kit to test your "stomach" - a sour stomach is a pool with low PH or Alkalinity - the cure is either sodium bicarbonate (low Alkalinity) or soda ash (low PH). A too sweet stomach means PH or Alkalinity too high requiring adding a cup or two of liquid muriatic acid until test kit shows levels are in proper range. His final instructions were to be patient and adjust PH or Alkalinity in small steps until all levels including sanitizer become in range and stable and once that is done maintaining those levels is easy with regular monitoring.

In the over 20 years since we began following that advice we have to agree.

The really good news is pool chem maintenance really isn't rocket science - there is no need to pay some "expert" to take care of your pool.

The true "correct answers" re how to maintain pool water vary - some will recommend you worry with it at some chemistry bit level - do that if you care to - using bleach instead of stabilizing tabs works just fine but we like the ease and convenience of using three inch tabs in our in-line chlorinator - but if you keep your "stomach" from becoming too sweet or too sour and have a stabilized level of sanitizer (our choice is chlorine) you can just spend minutes on water maintenance and hours and hours of swimming pleasure. It is really no harder than that.

Final - don't forget to use a good angaecide. We found that a brand that promises at least two weeks of algae blockage works best for us.

Sorry to rattle on so long - hope you don't mind - I just read the half page instructions that came with our 4-way test kit from our neighborhood hardware store - follow those instructions and you will do just fine!!!

 

[reebok]

Re: Brand new pool owners seeking advice!!

do you drain your pool every year imjay?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Re: Brand new pool owners seeking advice!!

Imjay's perspective is one that many pool owners have, and they have operated pools this way for years.

Imjay, I think you are misundertanding some of the principals of BBB. You should understand that we advocate unstabilized bleach/chlorine combined with the seperate addition of CYA granular product, to maintain a CYA level of 30-50ppm to protect the chlorine from uv destruction. Bleach alone is not enough.

Using trichlor tablets or pucks can work, and many do use them successfully, provided one understand WHAT the tablets do to your pool water:

Tirchlor lowers PH
Trichlor raises CYA.

These levels need to be accurately tested and kept in check. FC needs to be monitored and kept at the recommended levels according to the CYA level. What frequently happens at the start up of a pool is tablets don't provide enough FC or stabilizer to prevent problems. Supplemental chlorine or shock products are often suggested.

PH decrease can be buffered by running with a higher TA level. Borax or Soda Ash (pool store "PH Up") can help keep PH at the recommended levels.

CYA can only be lowered by water replacement.

So when you have the initial expense of the tablets, plus PH increasers, plus water replacement, plus supplemental algaecide, if any, trichlor ends up costing more than just using liquid chlorine and stabilizer (ala carte if you will).

Unfortunately many pool owners don't understand the CYA chlorine relationship and assume "chlorine lock" or "bound" or any other term that really masks the problem is solved by shocking. Not necessarily true. When you have pools that have CYA in excess of 200 which is not uncommon at all, from excessive trichlor tablet use and Dichlor granular "shock" product - shocking won't help. And often Pool Stores recommend a Dichlor shock product which only exacerbates the problem. Water must be drained to reduce the CYA level to successfully fight algae in these situations.

If your pool is open for 3-4 months a year and then partially drained for the winter, AND you have a sand filter that gets routine backwashing or some source of fresh water replacement - you can successfully use trichlor pucks provided you monitor your PH, CYA and FC levels. Routine maintenance dosing of some algaecide products is not uncommon, but its uncessary and expensive for routine use. Why pay for something you don't need?

To prevent algae, FC MUST BE maintained according to the CYA Chart. To kill algae, your pool must be brought to your shock level according to your CYA level. If you have CYA over 100, this will be difficult if not impossible.

Algaecide is not necessary in a properly chlorinated pool. I have not added algaecide to my pool in over 2 years and those same two years I've only shocked my pool 5 times... twice for closing/winterizing and 3 times for vacation. I have never had an algae bloom since I joined TFP.

 

[JasonLion]

Re: Brand new pool owners seeking advice!!

but we like the ease and convenience of using three inch tabs in our in-line chlorinator

Final - don't forget to use a good angaecide. We found that a brand that promises at least two weeks of algae blockage works best for us.

Trichlor tabs are amazingly convenient, until they stop working and you have no idea why. Some people are luck enough to have a large amount of water replacement, and never get to that point. But most people will, and will then need to do massive water replacements.

For most people most of the time algaecide is simply a waste of money.

If you take a moment to test your water and fine out what is really going on, you can have a pool that stays trouble free, even if you aren't replacing most of your water every year.

 

[Guest]

Re: Brand new pool owners seeking advice!!

The really good news is pool chem maintenance really isn't rocket science - there is no need to pay some "expert" to take care of your pool.
On this you are right but you do need to learn a few things first.

Final - don't forget to use a good angaecide. We found that a brand that promises at least two weeks of algae blockage works best for us.

Hopefully you are not using the 3 month algaecide from Ace. It's just copper sulfate and copper is what stains pools and turns hair green.
Get the algaecide 60 if you are going to buy the Ace house brand! (and stay away from the HTH stuff. It's junk! They are all linear quats!)

 

[chem geek]

Re: Brand new pool owners seeking advice!!

As I noted in this post, I believe that this user does use a copper-based algaecide and since it's a vinyl pool with lots of dilution from rain overflow and lower pH from Trichlor tabs, staining is avoided. However, since there isn't an inexpensive copper test, one can't easily control such levels so it's not appropriate for most pools since the copper can get too high, or the pH high, and cause staining, especially in plaster pools.