New TFP follower from New Zealand

Hello fellow TFP'ers.

I'm from New Zealand with an above ground vinyl pool that was originally built way back in 1986 according to our council records. I've been looking after the pool for 10 years through free testing and advice from the local pool store. Now I'm looking to manage everything myself after stumbling across TFP.

I've already read a lot here at TFP and got some very helpful advice from a couple of forum posts.

The pool has had a bit of repair work over the years and completely new plumbing about 3-4 years ago.

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The pump is controlled using a Belkin Wemo Switch, which I highly recommend, plugged into an RCD in the garage.

Once I get the pool all balanced and have the BBB process down pat I'll be looking to refill our standalone Sundance spa and start following the recommendations here for keeping that in great shape as well.

If only there was an easier way to get the test kits in New Zealand. Still waiting for mine to be delivered after sending to a freight forwarding address in the US.
 
I painted the skimmer box and most of the PVC piping black with a water based self-priming acrylic called Resene Lumbersider available here in New Zealand. Many of the other components were already black so I just needed to paint everything else to match in with that.

I've also painted the outside of the fibreglass wound sand filter to help prevent strands of fibreglass coming off. I brushed my hand across it one day previously and got some small shards of fibreglass in my hand, ouch.