Being CLUELESS about how to care for a pool, I was delighted to find this site! I have been reading Pool School and various topics on the site over several days... I am a little intimidated with how difficult it will be to keep the pool water balanced, but I'm sure it will get easier as we gain experience.
The pool is still being installed, but the kids are already wondering WHEN they can swim?!
We hope the pool will be ready to fill either this weekend or next week which gives me time to order the test kit!!! (Any idea how long the shipping takes?)
The pool came with a cartridge filter and pump but we also have a pump and sand filter that a friend of ours gave us from his ag pool when he moved. I think these are better than what came with our pool but I'll have to check and do a little more research on that.
While my husband will enjoy swimming in the pool, he works long days so I have a feeling that most of the maintenance will be left to me. I want to purchase a SWG as I've heard/read that they are less "work" and that the salt is cheaper than all the chemicals. I've been looking at the Aquatrol but I'm not sure if I'd need the RJ or the HP model. (any links to discounted prices would be great!) My husband would install the SWG. Although, I also really like the BBB method - I LOVE to save $$$! But like I said above, I'm a little intimidated by the "science" of it all! Maybe with the help of this site and the pool calculator, I could pull it off.
So here are my basic questions (so far):
After filling the pool from our well, do I just start running the SWG or do I need to shock it first?
Or do I test the water to see what it needs before starting the SWG?
I know ultimately I need to test the water to know exactly what it will need and that it may take time to get the water perfectly balanced... I guess I need a basic start-up guide! What I want to know is: what do I need to do to the water to get the kids swimming right away?! I don't want to end up spending days or weeks getting the water balanced before letting them swim!
Thanks in advance!
The pool is still being installed, but the kids are already wondering WHEN they can swim?!
We hope the pool will be ready to fill either this weekend or next week which gives me time to order the test kit!!! (Any idea how long the shipping takes?)
The pool came with a cartridge filter and pump but we also have a pump and sand filter that a friend of ours gave us from his ag pool when he moved. I think these are better than what came with our pool but I'll have to check and do a little more research on that.
While my husband will enjoy swimming in the pool, he works long days so I have a feeling that most of the maintenance will be left to me. I want to purchase a SWG as I've heard/read that they are less "work" and that the salt is cheaper than all the chemicals. I've been looking at the Aquatrol but I'm not sure if I'd need the RJ or the HP model. (any links to discounted prices would be great!) My husband would install the SWG. Although, I also really like the BBB method - I LOVE to save $$$! But like I said above, I'm a little intimidated by the "science" of it all! Maybe with the help of this site and the pool calculator, I could pull it off.
So here are my basic questions (so far):
After filling the pool from our well, do I just start running the SWG or do I need to shock it first?
Or do I test the water to see what it needs before starting the SWG?
I know ultimately I need to test the water to know exactly what it will need and that it may take time to get the water perfectly balanced... I guess I need a basic start-up guide! What I want to know is: what do I need to do to the water to get the kids swimming right away?! I don't want to end up spending days or weeks getting the water balanced before letting them swim!
Thanks in advance!