Howdy,
My wife and I are now the proud owners of a 15.5k gallon in-ground pool. We are in a suburb in NE Harris County (near Houston, TX). Although we're very happy with the end result, this water chemistry stuff can be a bit overwhelming! Our builder spent quite a bit of time explaining how the equipment works and how to use and read the test strips and what chemicals to use. He also said that most people simply take a water sample to the local pool store, and the pool store just tells you what to add.
That sounds quite convenient... but I really want to understand what the heck is happening in my pool. I just don't want to blindly follow the advice of someone who may or may not know enough -some of the guys at the local store look like high school kids- or may try just to sell me stuff I don't really need.
Today I found that my neighborhood Ace Hardware store does water testing and carries some chemicals -less than a pool store, but seems to have the basic chemicals- and at a cheaper price than the pool store. The guy that does the testing has been a pool owner for a long time, seems to know what he is talking about and is very friendly -as opposed to the high school kids at the other place. I may be giving Ace a shot.
Does anyone have experience with HTH products? What should I be looking for in the labels that describe the contents? (i.e. active ingredients, etc.)
I look forward to reading the wealth of knowledge in this forum.
My wife and I are now the proud owners of a 15.5k gallon in-ground pool. We are in a suburb in NE Harris County (near Houston, TX). Although we're very happy with the end result, this water chemistry stuff can be a bit overwhelming! Our builder spent quite a bit of time explaining how the equipment works and how to use and read the test strips and what chemicals to use. He also said that most people simply take a water sample to the local pool store, and the pool store just tells you what to add.
That sounds quite convenient... but I really want to understand what the heck is happening in my pool. I just don't want to blindly follow the advice of someone who may or may not know enough -some of the guys at the local store look like high school kids- or may try just to sell me stuff I don't really need.
Today I found that my neighborhood Ace Hardware store does water testing and carries some chemicals -less than a pool store, but seems to have the basic chemicals- and at a cheaper price than the pool store. The guy that does the testing has been a pool owner for a long time, seems to know what he is talking about and is very friendly -as opposed to the high school kids at the other place. I may be giving Ace a shot.
Does anyone have experience with HTH products? What should I be looking for in the labels that describe the contents? (i.e. active ingredients, etc.)
I look forward to reading the wealth of knowledge in this forum.