Brand Newbie, with Newbie Questions and Comments

[got oatz]

Hello All,
Been kicking around this forum for a little while now, and have found a ton of interesting stuff already. Reason for searching it out is, we bought our current house last October, and it is our first pool home. As such, we just continued on with the pool service that was taking care of the pool for the last home owners. Therein lies the reasons for my questions....

Obviously at first, I was totally lost on the pool care issue. But since then, I have purchased all the necessary cleaning tools, constructed a shed around the pool equipment, and feel fine with the cleaning regimen. So, in my mind, it appears I am paying 85 bucks a month, for weekly water chemistry. I gotta believe I can do this, and do it much cheaper. And, with the exception of one time right after we moved in, I have never seen them use a test kit, just dump a bottle of what I assume is chlorine in every week when they are there....So....

I know I need to order a good test kit, which I will be doing probably later today. I also will get an estimated gallonage of the pool, and get that, along with the pool equipment listed in my sig. But I have a couple of questions for you all.....

1. After I get the test kit, test the current water condition, how would you suggest going about transitioning from the current water care, to the "BBB" method of care?

2. How much does actual chlorine cost at a pool supply? I was in the market yesterday, and was kinda surprised to see bleach was like 3 bucks a gallon....Is this really cheaper than chlorine runs?

3. Before I place my on line order for the Taylor test kit, are there other dry chems that I must have available, even when enlisting the "BBB" method? If yes, what are they and in what quantity?

Sorry for the long winded first post, but I am sure I will have a ton more questions.....here is a quick pic of the pool. We live in Southern California, so it is a year round pool......

Thanks in advance for all the help!!
Mike

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP

There is no transition necessary. Just start following our philosophy.

Bleach at Walmart is $2.54 for the 182oz jugs in most areas.

It's hard to compare chlorine cost, but Chem Geek did it a while back and bleach came out as one of the cheaper ones in his area, slightly more expensive than trichlor pucks. Some people live in areas with very good 10% or 12% chlorine prices, and these may be a better value IF the vendor keeps the stock fresh and protected from the heat and sun.

With a year round pool, a salt water chlorine generator would be hard to beat.

But if you use trichlor exclusively, you will almost certainly have to drain water to maintain a reasonable CYA level, so the small cost advantage is negated unless you can add chemically good water at very low cost.

You don't really need any chemicals available before knowing your water test results. I only use bleach and muriatic acid in my pool, and never use baking soda, borax or washing soda.

 

[Bama Rambler]

1. After I get the test kit, test the current water condition, how would you suggest going about transitioning from the current water care, to the "BBB" method of care?

Since it appears that they are using liquid chlorine there is no transitioning. Just start using the chems indicated by your testing.

2. How much does actual chlorine cost at a pool supply? I was in the market yesterday, and was kinda surprised to see bleach was like 3 bucks a gallon....Is this really cheaper than chlorine runs?

It all depends. First off that jug you see at teh market most likely isn't a gallon. Around here it's either 96 or 182oz. If the pool store chlorine is 12% and costs twice as much as 6% it's really the same price because you should use half as much 12% as you would 6%. Oh, and it's $2.54 for 182oz here.

3. Before I place my on line order for the Taylor test kit, are there other dry chems that I must have available, even when enlisting the "BBB" method? If yes, what are they and in what quantity?

One note about the taylor test kit. Make sure you get the K-2006. While I believe the TF-100 is a better buy, the K-2006 is a good kit. Just don't get the K-2005 which is very close but no cigar!

About what other chems you need. You can't really tell what you need until you run the tests. You may or may not need baking soda, you may or may not need Borax, you may or may not need CYA, You may or may not need muratic acid. There's no hard & fast rule about what "your" pool is going to need until you get familiar with it.

EDIT: JohnT and I were typing at the same time but because of my long windedness he beat me posting! :blah: I'm posting it anyway!