First of all, I wanted to say this is an amazing forum. I am so glad I stumbled on this site. I have been a silent reader (visitor) for a couple of days. I always thought that pool needs lot of work, but reading here, it seems it is not that bad. Experts are willing to help newbies like me.
We bought our first home, and it came with pool (tried hard not to buy a house with pool ). Anyhow, currently we have a pool guy coming once every week. I want to learn about pool care, and at the same time want to save money, so I am trying to learn from this fantastic site.
Reading the forums, I ordered Taylor K-2006 (FAS-DPD kit). Today, for the first time, I tested my water using my brand new kit (though I screwed up a bit, took sample from 2" below surface than 18" as recommended (didn't see that till now).
Here are my test results:
pH - 7.6
Total Alkalinity - 110 ppm as Calcium carbonate
Free chlorine - 5.2 ppm
Combined chlorine - Absent
Cyanuric Acid - 130 ppm (kind of guess as this reading is below the markings on the kit, but should be pretty close).
Calcium hardness - 200 ppm as Calcium carbonate (kit says that initial color will change to red, in our case it was light pink. Final color was light purple while kit says it will be blue)
Saturation Index - 0.8 (using Taylor kit's Watergram Water Balance Calculator)
Where do we go from here so that pool stays in excellent condition? What do I need to do before I can get rid of pool service.
There are some rocks on the side of the pool where some algae is growing. I have scrubbed it once and it went in pool, and then pump cleared it. What should I do to get rid of this algae on the rocks..spray it with some algaecide?
I don't know if our pool is vinyl, plaster/pebble, or fiberglass. I can upload photo of the pool so that you can tell me what type I have, or teach me how to find that, and I will do my best.
We dont have any chemicals yet. I need to buy everything, and I will do that based on the advice here. So, please let me know what route I should take...BBB method or regular chemicals.
I am in Sacramento suburb (California), so if there is anyone from this area, we can meet up and help each other. Let me know.
I have costco membership and also access to Sams Club (if it helps where to get any chemicals or supplies).
Looks like this site is going to be one of my favorite site now
Thanks in advance.
We bought our first home, and it came with pool (tried hard not to buy a house with pool ). Anyhow, currently we have a pool guy coming once every week. I want to learn about pool care, and at the same time want to save money, so I am trying to learn from this fantastic site.
Reading the forums, I ordered Taylor K-2006 (FAS-DPD kit). Today, for the first time, I tested my water using my brand new kit (though I screwed up a bit, took sample from 2" below surface than 18" as recommended (didn't see that till now).
Here are my test results:
pH - 7.6
Total Alkalinity - 110 ppm as Calcium carbonate
Free chlorine - 5.2 ppm
Combined chlorine - Absent
Cyanuric Acid - 130 ppm (kind of guess as this reading is below the markings on the kit, but should be pretty close).
Calcium hardness - 200 ppm as Calcium carbonate (kit says that initial color will change to red, in our case it was light pink. Final color was light purple while kit says it will be blue)
Saturation Index - 0.8 (using Taylor kit's Watergram Water Balance Calculator)
Where do we go from here so that pool stays in excellent condition? What do I need to do before I can get rid of pool service.
There are some rocks on the side of the pool where some algae is growing. I have scrubbed it once and it went in pool, and then pump cleared it. What should I do to get rid of this algae on the rocks..spray it with some algaecide?
I don't know if our pool is vinyl, plaster/pebble, or fiberglass. I can upload photo of the pool so that you can tell me what type I have, or teach me how to find that, and I will do my best.
We dont have any chemicals yet. I need to buy everything, and I will do that based on the advice here. So, please let me know what route I should take...BBB method or regular chemicals.
I am in Sacramento suburb (California), so if there is anyone from this area, we can meet up and help each other. Let me know.
I have costco membership and also access to Sams Club (if it helps where to get any chemicals or supplies).
Looks like this site is going to be one of my favorite site now
Thanks in advance.