New Pool Owner!

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justinjla

justinjla

Active member
Nov 10, 2014
34
Sachse/Texas
I live in the North Dallas area and our pool was completed just in time for winter! :p Our builder was Riverbend Sandler and we had a great experience with them. Not a single complaint.

I've never had a pool before, but I'm determined to manage it myself. My builder offered pool school & chemistry school and I've taken both of those. I'm pretty confused, but I'll learn it.

I have an inline tablet chlorinator and I bought the Taylor K-2005 test kit. I've added 55lbs of Supreme Plus, which was recommended by my builder.

Here are a few pictures. I welcome any recommendations or "must do's" as this is my first pool.

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Welcome to the forum. :wave:

The chemistry we teach will vary from what your PB teaches. You will have to decide which to follow but don't try to choose segments of each.....you end up in the middle.

If you decide to follow TFP, I would suggest you read "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School.

I don't know what "Supreme plus" is.
 
Looks like the Supreme Plus is a borates product. Borates are a welcome but not essential addition to pools that can reduce chlorine usage by a small amount and make the water feel "silkier."

Like Dave said, the methods here are much different than most builder or pool store recommendations and the ABCs are a good place to start.

Welcome!
 
Thanks for the feedback. Generally speaking, what is the main benefit and/or advantages to TFP over the way my PB recommends? Is it easier, more cost effective, safer, less time consuming, better results, etc? Why would a PB suggest such a different way of managing a pool?
 
Generally speaking, what is the main benefit and/or advantages to TFP over the way my PB recommends?
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we teach you to understand why you are adding certain chemistry and teach you the expected outcome rather than blindly accepting the suggestion of Pool Store or PB.

The Borates is a good example......totally an optional item and, if used at all, should be done well after your essential parameters have been met.....which they apparently have not.

TFP is not easier because it requires that you learn why you are adjusting your pool water not just following the directions of others who may or may not have good advice........most PB's and Pool Stores do not.
 
Welcome to the forum Justinjla :wave:
That is really a nice looking layout.

With the builder and pool stores they will have you adding "stuff" and shocking your pool often in an attempt to maintain clear water. With the method used here we tend to use basic chemicals like bleach and we don't need to constantly "shock" our pools as we maintain a proper chlorine (FC) level that prevents algae from getting started. No need for algacide. Most products that the pool store will recommend for shocking will also add to your CYA level. Your inline chlorinator is an item that isn't very popular here as adding tablets will help keep the FC level up but FC gets used up daily and needs to be replenished while the CYA in the tables just keeps accumulating. At a certain point you get so much CYA in there that the chlorine can't do it's job. That's why we recommend and use bleach to adjust our FC levels and we do so in relation to the CYA level. It will make more sense as you read more.
http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl

You will also be served better with a different test kit. We recommend the K-2006 or the TF-100. When you need to SLAM (shock) you need a kit that can accruately measure 10ppm FC and above and the bargain kits just won't do it.
K-2006 http://www.amazon.com/TAYLOR-TECHNOLOGIES-INC-K-2006-CHLORINE/dp/B004BGF7TI
TF-100 http://tftestkits.net/TFTestkits-TF-100-p4.html
Recommended pool chemicals http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/139-recommended-pool-chemicals

I'm guessing for your pool the "Supreme Plus" treatment was close or a little more than $300 ?? The same treatment with Borax from Walmart and Muratic acid from Menards cost me about $120 total to treat almost twice the water.
http://www.poolzoom.com/20-supreme-...r6=pla&cr7=c&gclid=CNX8zZyO88ECFTKCMgodCEIAsQ
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/29544-Calculating-the-price-to-add-borates?hilit=boric
http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/4655-So-you-want-to-add-borates-to-your-pool-Why-and-How

It's just a way to show that the method here will save you money in the long run and with some reading you will know what and why you're adding something and what to expect from it. Sooooo much better than going to a pool store and telling them you have a problem and they hand you a twenty five dollar bottle of something and told "try this".

In the upper right of the page is "Pool School". It has all the articles and anything you don't understand we are here to help, welcome.
 
Thanks kiss4afrog!

I just looked at my receipt and it was $156 for 55lbs of Supreme Plus.

I wish I would have known about the test kit. The pool store told me to get the K-2005 test kit and I've already used it so I can't take it back. If I got the TF-100 or the K-2006, could I use some of the K-2005 I already have?
 
Well that's not so bad. I didn't know about it and the place I googled was $130 for 20 lbs and it looked from the instructions that you'd need 50 lbs ;)

Plus, you are paying for the convenience of not having a bunch of boxes to empty and gallons of acid to dump in. There is something to be said for that along with not filling up your recycling :crazy:

I can't speak to the K-2005 but if you pull up a K-2006 or TF-100 from the link it should give you the numbers of the testing chemicals and you'd know for sure. I'd guess they use the same.
 

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The pool looks great. This forum has been a great help for us on how to keep our pool well-maintained too. I think we saved a great deal because of the helpful suggestions here. I only used to read posts before and now, I decided to become a member here and post from time to time.
 
Justineja, welcome.
Re: proteam Supreme...no worries about having added it...it's what I used to dose my borates to 50 ppm because it was more convenient than the slightly less expensive way of adding. In theory, there's nothing TFP-contrary about this particular product, though any other products are not only useless bandaids, but can actually cause problems that start a viscous cycle of product-trying ;)

What is kind of contrary to TFP approach is using stabilized pucks in a chlorine feeder, because it constantly adds CYA to your water in a way that most people don't realize -- and constantly. When the cya gets too high, and if the chlorine level is not kept accordingly higher, that's where people start running into hassles because the sanitation is much less effective and then lager cycles start. So the preference is to learn enough to keep balance and target your levels and not unwittingly head down a path toward problems.

Its a good time to start now and find out your cya level as soon as you get your kit ;) Best wishes...and enjoy your beautiful pool!
 
Thanks Swampwoman! Unfortunately, I already purchased a 16 lb bucket of ProTeam 3" High Tech Tabs...see link below. The guy at the pool store specifically told me this will not over stabilize my pool. He said they have less CYA than most trichlor tabs and if I will only add what I am supposed to, I will not get too much CYA.

http://www.proteampoolcare.com/index.php/products/sanitizers/3-high-tech-tabs/
 
Sorry. The pool store guy flat out lied to you in order to make a sale ... Or he is brainwashed by the chemical salesman.

All Trichlor tabs add the same amount of FC and CYA ... and they will not miraculously stop adding CYA when you do not need it.
 
Welcome to the Forum.

It's a great place to learn how to do this on your own. Just so you know, the FAS/DPD from TF Testkits is a much better deal. It has more tests, and its the exact same Taylor reagents. Just sayin...
 
jblizzle said:
Sorry. The pool store guy flat out lied to you in order to make a sale ... Or he is brainwashed by the chemical salesman.

All Trichlor tabs add the same amount of FC and CYA ... and they will not miraculously stop adding CYA when you do not need it.
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I realize they will not stop adding CYA, but per their website they do contain less CYA..."Features and Benefits: Unique formula to produce higher chlorine efficiency; contains less cyanuric acid than traditional chlorine tabs, higher pH than traditional chlorine tabs, continued use will make water gentle on swimmer's eye and skin, does not cause cloudy water, contains anti-scaling agents, for use in a chlorine feeder, High Tech Tabs can treat just as effectively as a 2-3 ppm of traditional chlorine"

Maybe their site is wrong too though.
 
justinjla said:
Maybe their site is wrong too though.
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Maybe, maybe not. Could be it really is "New and Improved" and it will do what it says. Time will tell and having a good test kit you will have results (CYA level) you can trust and if you see the level rising you know to switch over to bleach and save the pucks for when you are away like vacation or when you have a need for additional CYA from adding water and diluting due to loss from backwashing, splash out, evaporation ...

After all it's only water and no matter what happens it can be fixed.
 

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