Thanks for welcoming me into the forum. I have been reading some of the already posted stuff but I want to start off on the right foot. The pool was built in early October of 2020 and basically closed after completion. The pool builder opened us up on Saturday. I am getting the feeling that what my pool builder has told me to do with my pool water (add these chemicals every week) and what TFP recommends are quite different. He just handed me the stuff and said just do this, this and this. So being inqusitive I starrted looking for my own answers and here we are.. I am ordering the TF-100 today. I have read the information in Pool School. I guess I just need a little reassurance from you guys that I'm on the right track. The pool builder never mentioned anything about CYA or FC vs CC or TA or Calcium etc.. Just handed me the chlorine and pH test kit and off he goes. Now, don't get me wrong these guys build a nice pool and have been a family owned and operated business for over 50 years in our area. So after getting the invoice for them opening the pool for me this first time.....I think i need to follow the TFP method I am just a little unsure about totally ignoring what the pool builder says. Any and all advice is welcome. Thanks in advance.
I look at it this way. When your pool builder built your pool, he told you he was going to build you a plaster pool and he likely talked to you about what kind of finish you want on the plaster. He did not talk to you about gunite vs shotcrete, he did not talk to you about rebar spacing, or what number bar he was going to use. He did not tell you what sort of equipment he was going to use for excavation. He just built your pool, telling you only what you needed in order to have a satisfactory build.
He is doing the same thing with water care. A pool builder does not have the time or patience to sit down with a customer and go into the details of water care. Quite frankly many customers do not want to do it either. They want the "Dump this in once a week" instructions.
I have been using the TFP methods in my pool for almost 10 years now - people still comment how clear my water is, and how nice my pool is to swim in. I got a hot tub just last week. The guy gave me a @Ease Frog system, a bottle of Non-Chlorine Oxidizer, and a bottle of Di-Chlor with the instructions of "Change these when they run out, dump a 1/2 cap of this in once and week, and a 1/2 cap of that in after each time you use it"
The MPS is going wherever MPS gets disposed of. I'll use the @Ease until it runs out, and then it is just Di-Chlor and bleach going forward.
You are not ignoring what the pool builder told you. You are actually doing what he said, but with much greater understanding and precision. Instead of "dump in a cap of chemicals A, B, and C all mixed together once a week" what you will be doing is "Measure the amount of A, B, and C in your pool and then add the appropriate amount of A, B, and C as needed."
