Another pool newbie

[shabba007]

Hi all,

Not sure where to start. They are just about to finish building our new pool in Italy, but unfortunately I wasn't around to project manage the install, so not been able to get much information about pool maintenance what so ever.

First of all I know nothing about pool maintenance. What I do know is that our pool is salt water based and 12x5 metres with a depth of 1-1.5m and thats about it :lol:

I appreciate there is tons to learn, but I'm hoping someone might be able to give some pointers on looking after a saltwater pool, what to look out for, pitfalls etc.

I won't be at the property very often (mainly holidays), but plan to rent it out next year. No daubt I will need to look at some sort of maintenance contract.

cheers,

Andy.

 

[BoDarville]

Welcome to TFP!

The salt water pool (SWG) will cut back on the day-to-day maintenance, but it cannot be totally ignored. In a SWG pool, the CYA (stabilizer) level should be kept between 60 - 80 ppm.

Here are some articles you may want to read to give you an overview of pool water management: ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry, Basic Pool Care Schedule, Salt Water Chlorine Generators, Recommended Pool Chemicals, Chlorine CYA Chart. Another good resource is the Pool Calculator.

You will also need a good test kit, though I'm not sure what your choices are in Italy. Here's what we recommend, though: Recommended Test Kits. Hopefully, you can either get one of these kits or something similar.

A couple of things to help us help you...

• 1. Please add to your profile the state and nearest city in which you live. Don’t need specific town, nearest major city is fine. Your climate is important to the advice you receive. By doing this, it will appear in all your posts without you having to enter it each time.
  2. Suggest adding information about your pool and related equipment in your signature. By doing this, it will automatically appear in all your posts so you do not have to re-enter it each time. If you have a SWG, please include those letters in your signature so it stands out as the advice for SWG vs. non-SWG is often different.

Here's how to do both of the above: Adding location to your profile and pool info to your signature.

Finally, once you fill your pool, please post test results which will allow us to provide more specific advice for your pool.

 

[Charlie_R]

There are kits available in your country, others have found them.

I can't remember the thread that had this info in it, but I think you can search for an FAS-DPD test kit for availability where you are.

Bear in mind that it could be a bit pricey, but believe us, it will pay for itself in the first season of use.

 

[shabba007]

Thanks for the very quick responses. I live in the UK, but the pool is in Tuscany. I'll have a read through the reccomended posts before asking any more questions.