I still remember the first time I hit this forum.
I had purchased a short sale, and when I opened the pool in the Spring I had a huge mess on my hands. Never having owned a pool, let alone a large in ground pool before, I did what most of us do. I went to the pool store.
The biggest memory I have of that debacle was heading to our local recycle center because I had so many empty bottles of pool store chemicals (don't even want to think about the cost per bottle) that I couldn't dispose of them conscientiously any other way, and they sure as halibut weren't gonna fit in my recycle container. I literally filled up half a pallet box. I couldn't believe it. I still shake my head when I think about all the money I wasted.
When I started using BBB, many people told me I was crazy. Thankfully, I was that guy in undergrad who actually enjoyed Organic Chemistry so I knew the methodology was sound. It almost got derailed when my wife told me after talking to other pool owners "Nobody else does this, we need to call a pool service." I was out of town at the time and had left her to commandeer. I held my ground, we slayed the dark green beast, and haven't looked back.
BTW, two of the BBB naysayers still use ridiculous methodology and their pools are always cloudy and repeat the same algae cycles over and over again .
This year, I opened a little dirtier than I thought I would, but we had a brutal winter here in MN and I have a mesh cover. The good news is I knew exactly what to do.
Folks, I was clear in 3 days and only used 3 bottles of 12% shock. For real. I'll repeat that. Clear in 3 days and only used 3 bottles of shock.
The other thing I want to comment on is running your pump. I was told by the pool store to run it 24/7 all season. This didn't make much sense, so I did more research on this forum. I now run my pump about 6-8 hours a day at the most. I could probably get away with less but I have a peak load monitor on the pump so my KW rate is so low, I don't care.
This stuff works and this forum is the best source a person can have. It can be hard to stay the course when things are really screwed up, but once you get this figured out it is so easy to maintain. Now, my teenagers help with the chemistry.
So, Thank You TFP!
Also, a quick shout out to TF Test Kits. I stored my kit indoors and everything worked like it should this Spring. It was great to open up and have all my chemistry figured out in like 10 minutes. Their customer service is awesome, shipping lightning fast, and just great people.
Thanks, again.
I had purchased a short sale, and when I opened the pool in the Spring I had a huge mess on my hands. Never having owned a pool, let alone a large in ground pool before, I did what most of us do. I went to the pool store.
The biggest memory I have of that debacle was heading to our local recycle center because I had so many empty bottles of pool store chemicals (don't even want to think about the cost per bottle) that I couldn't dispose of them conscientiously any other way, and they sure as halibut weren't gonna fit in my recycle container. I literally filled up half a pallet box. I couldn't believe it. I still shake my head when I think about all the money I wasted.
When I started using BBB, many people told me I was crazy. Thankfully, I was that guy in undergrad who actually enjoyed Organic Chemistry so I knew the methodology was sound. It almost got derailed when my wife told me after talking to other pool owners "Nobody else does this, we need to call a pool service." I was out of town at the time and had left her to commandeer. I held my ground, we slayed the dark green beast, and haven't looked back.
BTW, two of the BBB naysayers still use ridiculous methodology and their pools are always cloudy and repeat the same algae cycles over and over again .
This year, I opened a little dirtier than I thought I would, but we had a brutal winter here in MN and I have a mesh cover. The good news is I knew exactly what to do.
Folks, I was clear in 3 days and only used 3 bottles of 12% shock. For real. I'll repeat that. Clear in 3 days and only used 3 bottles of shock.
The other thing I want to comment on is running your pump. I was told by the pool store to run it 24/7 all season. This didn't make much sense, so I did more research on this forum. I now run my pump about 6-8 hours a day at the most. I could probably get away with less but I have a peak load monitor on the pump so my KW rate is so low, I don't care.
This stuff works and this forum is the best source a person can have. It can be hard to stay the course when things are really screwed up, but once you get this figured out it is so easy to maintain. Now, my teenagers help with the chemistry.
So, Thank You TFP!
Also, a quick shout out to TF Test Kits. I stored my kit indoors and everything worked like it should this Spring. It was great to open up and have all my chemistry figured out in like 10 minutes. Their customer service is awesome, shipping lightning fast, and just great people.
Thanks, again.