I purchased my first AGP (see sig) to see if I'm even a pool guy at all. Spent an afternoon leveling the site and setting up the pool and have to say, it's been an good investment. I don't know why I haven't tried this before. It's so nice coming home after work and taking a dip. I've even made a swim harness so I can swim in it for extended periods of time for exercise. Very nice.
Of course, I did the usual newbie track; took my well water to the local pool dealer and had it tested and purchased about $140 worth of chemicals to get the water balanced. Turns out that my well water had no minerals in it and was fairly soft. So I had to raise everything, pH, alkalinity, hardness, chlorine, etc. Lots of stuff went into the pool but it's been sparkling clean and clear since I filled it up. Since I knew nothing about the water chemistry, my goggling lead me to this forum and I have read most of the pool school articles and many, many posts that related to my situation. Kudos to all of you that have contributed so much information to this forum. It has been a great source of info and I thank you all.
I also ordered the TF 100 test kit since the test strips leave me wondering what is going on so I'll be asking some more questions once I get it and learn how to use it.
So, on to my questions.
1. Is there an TF-100 instruction document that I can download and read on how to perform the tests? I'd like to read it and digest some of it before I get my kit.
2. My Intex AGP has holes where the liner does not go all the way to the top rail which in effect allows water to "overflow" out them. The only thing I don't like about it is that the water flushes out of these holes/gaps when I'm swimming and I loose a lot of water. Intex tells me I can fill the pool to 4" below the top rail but by the time I've had an evenings worth of swimming, it's down a couple of more inches. My question here is that I'm wondering if there is anything I can slip over the top (like a huge molding) that would keep most of the wave water in the pool? Kind of like a splash guard. This would allow me to keep the pool as full as possible.
3. Lastly, I "think" I want a solar cover to keep the heat in over night but I can't find a good source for a "good" 16' cover. Can I just use a 15' solar cover or would it be better to buy an 18' round cover and trim it to size?
I appreciate any feedback you all can give.
Thanks,
Bill
Of course, I did the usual newbie track; took my well water to the local pool dealer and had it tested and purchased about $140 worth of chemicals to get the water balanced. Turns out that my well water had no minerals in it and was fairly soft. So I had to raise everything, pH, alkalinity, hardness, chlorine, etc. Lots of stuff went into the pool but it's been sparkling clean and clear since I filled it up. Since I knew nothing about the water chemistry, my goggling lead me to this forum and I have read most of the pool school articles and many, many posts that related to my situation. Kudos to all of you that have contributed so much information to this forum. It has been a great source of info and I thank you all.
I also ordered the TF 100 test kit since the test strips leave me wondering what is going on so I'll be asking some more questions once I get it and learn how to use it.
So, on to my questions.
1. Is there an TF-100 instruction document that I can download and read on how to perform the tests? I'd like to read it and digest some of it before I get my kit.
2. My Intex AGP has holes where the liner does not go all the way to the top rail which in effect allows water to "overflow" out them. The only thing I don't like about it is that the water flushes out of these holes/gaps when I'm swimming and I loose a lot of water. Intex tells me I can fill the pool to 4" below the top rail but by the time I've had an evenings worth of swimming, it's down a couple of more inches. My question here is that I'm wondering if there is anything I can slip over the top (like a huge molding) that would keep most of the wave water in the pool? Kind of like a splash guard. This would allow me to keep the pool as full as possible.
3. Lastly, I "think" I want a solar cover to keep the heat in over night but I can't find a good source for a "good" 16' cover. Can I just use a 15' solar cover or would it be better to buy an 18' round cover and trim it to size?
I appreciate any feedback you all can give.
Thanks,
Bill