I have some questions relating to our new "to us" pool...

[MISHSMOM]

Hi, I am new here, and I just thank whoever came up with site...it is absolutely great!

I have a few questions

1. We are renting a house with a pool and it comes with pool services. They come once a week and put in these white tablets, and clean the pool out really nice. The question is...is this enough. We have been using the pool for the past two weeks now, and both our son and daughter have had ear infections. Could this be related to the pool? I have talked with the pool man and he didn't seem to know. If this could be a possibility, what can we do about this ourselves.

2. How can we get rid of pool spiders...they even come after us...they are brown and when we clean the filter basket, they are actually swimming underwater and some even have hold of other insects that were in our pool....also frogs...we find dead frogs in our pool, atleast once a week...yuck. ..this was really bad about two months ago.

3. After reading some material in this forum, I know I have to get some testing supplies, even though we have the pool guys coming over...just can't leave it to them, especially for my children's sake...what testing supplies do I need, and how often should I check my pool. I read one man saying he checks it everyday..he even said something about his neighbor having a pool person and he would love to test thier pool the day before he comes....that really worried me...he seemed to know alot, and I would like to make sure we are protected.

4. Shock...and other treatments for the pool, can I use them even if we have pool service? Or do I need to talk to the pool people. We pay them for this, but I sure don't want to mess up anything they are doing, plus I don't want to be left unprotected from somethings they might miss or be ignorant of...

I appreciate any help I could get...I am new at this, and started looking up the spiders in my pool this morning on the internet and it lead me here, and then to see how much more effort is needed to care for our pool has made me feel very uncomfortable allowing my children to swim. They were swimming atleast every other day for the last two weeks, but when both of them had to go to the doctors with ear infections, and the pool guy not being able to answer the "could it be the pool" question, I am beginning to think I need to take the care of the pool into my own hands...

Again, thank you all for any info you can give me...
Kellye :-D

 

[Butterfly]

Hi Kellye and Welcome

Along with you, we all thank SeanB for this site :-D

Absolutely! Take control of that pool.

If I were you, the first thing I would do is order the TF Test kit from duraleigh. See the link in my sig.

Now, the gurus will be here shortly to help you. All will be well. You have come to the right place to have all your questions answered.

 

[SeanB]

1. Use a product called "Swimmer's Ear" to prevent ear infections. It dries the ear out after swimming and bathing - should be available at your local pharmacy.

2. You may want to treat the perimeter of your house and yard with boric acid, which will help keep spiders out of the house and yard.

3 & 4. Keep reading and asking questions - start with The Stickies (see link at top of page). I think you will find that pool care is a fairly simple process once you understand the basic chemistry. The main thing you'll need to do is spend just a few minutes a day cleaning and testing your pool. Fire your pool guy and take the money you save over the course of a swim season and throw a big pool party!

(As far as adding chemicals, just be sure you always test first so that you only ad what you need, and in the right quantities. Your pool guy should not be adding to the pool without testing either.)


Oh, and glad you like the site. Welcome to TFP!

Hi, I am new here, and I just thank whoever came up with site...it is absolutely great!

I have a few questions

1. We are renting a house with a pool and it comes with pool services. They come once a week and put in these white tablets, and clean the pool out really nice. The question is...is this enough. We have been using the pool for the past two weeks now, and both our son and daughter have had ear infections. Could this be related to the pool? I have talked with the pool man and he didn't seem to know. If this could be a possibility, what can we do about this ourselves.

2. How can we get rid of pool spiders...they even come after us...they are brown and when we clean the filter basket, they are actually swimming underwater and some even have hold of other insects that were in our pool....also frogs...we find dead frogs in our pool, atleast once a week...yuck. ..this was really bad about two months ago.

3. After reading some material in this forum, I know I have to get some testing supplies, even though we have the pool guys coming over...just can't leave it to them, especially for my children's sake...what testing supplies do I need, and how often should I check my pool. I read one man saying he checks it everyday..he even said something about his neighbor having a pool person and he would love to test thier pool the day before he comes....that really worried me...he seemed to know alot, and I would like to make sure we are protected.

4. Shock...and other treatments for the pool, can I use them even if we have pool service? Or do I need to talk to the pool people. We pay them for this, but I sure don't want to mess up anything they are doing, plus I don't want to be left unprotected from somethings they might miss or be ignorant of...

I appreciate any help I could get...I am new at this, and started looking up the spiders in my pool this morning on the internet and it lead me here, and then to see how much more effort is needed to care for our pool has made me feel very uncomfortable allowing my children to swim. They were swimming atleast every other day for the last two weeks, but when both of them had to go to the doctors with ear infections, and the pool guy not being able to answer the "could it be the pool" question, I am beginning to think I need to take the care of the pool into my own hands...

Again, thank you all for any info you can give me...
Kellye :-D

 

[MISHSMOM]

Joyce, as soon as my husband gets home, I will ask him if he could order it tonight. I went to the site and it seems very reasonable, I think he will agree with me, especially once he reads this sites postings. Thank you so much.

Sean, I will get the swimmer's ear med. I make my own, with vinegar and alcohol, but it just didnt' work with either of them..it use too, so I got really worried. It even worked with them out in lakes and river, etc... But will try the meds at the pharmacy. Again thank you

I also have an exterminator come to my house and spray, will make sure he sprays the yard next time too...we can't use certian things around my son, he has asthma so we worry about what to use and what not to, but will ask the exterminator when he comes.
And as far as firing the pool guy..I would love too, but it is part of our rent..I think I will ask my landlord but she was really wierd about making sure we had a lawn man (my 10 year old could do a better job) and a pool man...the people before us really wrecked this place so they are really paranoid this time around...but will ask her, especially once we test and see what is wrong....I think my husband will think the same as you..why should we pay money for what we are doing anyway...

I thank you all for all the information...I will continue reading the stickies at the top..I just noticed they have a sticky on abbreviations...boy have I been lost untilt then...but still dont' understand what BBB is....could some one explain that one...

Again thank you all for all of your support.

 

[IkeRay]

My first question is, is the pool services included in the monthly rent of the property? If not, is it something you hired yourself. On top of that, you might want to talk to your landlord about the pool and he might make you sign an agreement saying that you will not let it get neglected (which I assume is why the pool guy was there to begin with).

Secondly, when you get your water tested, you can do it for free at most pool stores but you need to get at least 2-3 different stores to test so you have a good variety. different stores use different testing kits, and some of them are just in the testing to make money, they will tell you that so and so is out of whack and sell you something you didn't need. I'm not saying that the chemicals that are in the pool store aren't needed ever, just that they suggest them for when they aren't really needed. I'm sure they sell quite a bit of algaecide during the season, and its only really needed at closing (as far as I know).

Finally, my brother also has the problem with the ears, his dog as well coincidentally. He uses ear plugs when he swims most of the time, they are like $2.50 a pair at Home Depot and can be used over and over. If he has females over, he doesn't want to look "dorky" and he will typically do the swimmer's ear drops, which he says works quite well.

 

[duraleigh]

Secondly, when you get your water tested, you can do it for free at most pool stores but you need to get at least 2-3 different stores to test so you have a good variety. different stores use different testing kits, and some of them are just in the testing to make money, they will tell you that so and so is out of whack and sell you something you didn't need. I'm not saying that the chemicals that are in the pool store aren't needed ever, just that they suggest them for when they aren't really needed. I'm sure they sell quite a bit of algaecide during the season, and its only really needed at closing (as far as I know).

Ike,

The economics and practicality of doing as you suggest don't work.

1. If you get 2-3 different results from 2-3 different poolstores.....which one do you believe?

2. If you are a newbie, how do you know if they are selling you something you don't need......especially from often meaningless results.

3. With gas on it's way to 4+ dollars per gal, driving to three different pool stores will not be free.

Obviously, It is easy to disregard my remarks because I sell a test kit. I've been on these forums for 7 years and pool water testing at pool stores is consistently inconsistent. Having your own kit is consistently eye-opening and simply the SINGLE MOST ACCURATE WAY to balance your pool water.

Whether you do it with mine or the Taylor K-2006C or another high-end kit, testing yourself is the primary step in understanding your pool water and then keeping it crystal clear all summer. (Oh yeah, you'll save some money, too :lol: :lol: )

 

[lorngraves]

As a former pediatric nurse who now stays at home I have to ask....do your children have "swimmers ear" which is an inflamation/infection in the ear canal or an actual inner ear infection. If it is an inner ear infection it is probably not caused by the pool as it is behind the eardrum and water should not be able to get back there unless they had a perforation of the ear drum. If it is in the ear canal, then it is more than likely water related and the alcohol should do the trick.

 

[MisterMister]

I will throw my vote of confidence to duraleigh. He, and others here, have taught me SO MUCH, to the point to where I almost feel self reliant. You can buy what you want, as duraleigh said, but I am very pleased with the TF kit he sells. Actually, I just ordered some refills for that kit less than an hour ago.

Plus, as a bonus, duraleigh is here. And is always offering sound advice. That is definately work a lot. He has greatly supported me, I WILL support him. I have no idea how much the Taylor kit even costs. I don't really care. I suspect it to be similar.

Mister Mister

 

[IkeRay]

Ike,

The economics and practicality of doing as you suggest don't work.

1. If you get 2-3 different results from 2-3 different poolstores.....which one do you believe?

2. If you are a newbie, how do you know if they are selling you something you don't need......especially from often meaningless results.

3. With gas on it's way to 4+ dollars per gal, driving to three different pool stores will not be free.

Obviously, It is easy to disregard my remarks because I sell a test kit. I've been on these forums for 7 years and pool water testing at pool stores is consistently inconsistent. Having your own kit is consistently eye-opening and simply the SINGLE MOST ACCURATE WAY to balance your pool water.

Whether you do it with mine or the Taylor K-2006C or another high-end kit, testing yourself is the primary step in understanding your pool water and then keeping it crystal clear all summer. (Oh yeah, you'll save some money, too :lol: :lol: )

I completely and totally agree with you that the only way to know your true results are to get an excellent kit, like the one you sell, and test it yourself. But, she is much like I was right after I got my pool, and I completely relied on Warehouse Pool Store for what they said. In about 3 months time, I probably spent well over $300 at their store buying things like clarifier, algaecide, parts that didn't need to be replaced. I also used them as a source of a pool service that came out and "cleaned" my DE filter...in which all they did was pull out the grids, spray them down, replace any broken ones, and charge me $80 service fee + the cost of the replaced grids...

getting the 3 results, and refusing to purchase anything they suggest, come back and post your numbers. you can take a good average of the numbers and get an idea of where everything is, but you won't know for sure.

OP, if you are going to keep the service, at least for another week, I would "ween" yourself into the testing and everything by purchasing an OTO drop kit (runs like $15) or purchase the TF kit which comes with a good chlorine test. you can do that test daily, and a lot of people do. I highly recommend the latter (the TF kit) simply because you said the pool guy comes and throws some pucks in, meaning your stabilizer (CYA) is creeping up, and I have never been told a good reading on CYA.

infact, when my CYA was at 25 ppm one time, the pool store told me it was 200ppm and told me to drain 80% of my water. thankfully, I had just purchased a taylor kit and knew that my CYA was alright, I only had them test it since I needed something from there to begin with, really just for kicks and giggles.

 

[JasonLion]

Pool services are rather variable. Some of them skim and vacuum and fill up the tablet feeder and leave without even testing the water. Others are very through and take care of absolutely everything. You can probably chat with them, if you are home when they come, and ask them what they take care of and what they are expecting you to take care of.

One thing to keep in mind is that no one who only comes once a week can take care of everything. There are various fairly rare events that require immediate attention. For example, if there is a huge storm you may need to fish branches out of the pool or drain some water. If you are having a pool party you will want to add some extra chlorine. And various other possibilities.