Hello all. We have a 15 x 24' above-ground pool in NY. I am not the greatest when it comes to balancing my water chemicals. I use a floating chlorinator with the chlorine tab in it. I occasionally use baking soda powder when needed by pouring the powder into a bucket adding water mixing then spilling that bucket into the pool around the perimeter while the filter is on. That is really all I do besides adding in some clarifier every now and then. The pool looks crystal clear BUT the particulars like hardness and whatever else there is MAY NOT be GREAT. I backwash and brush and all the cleaning is done by me. I am pretty OCD BUT I am not the best at chemistry. I was looking on a site and they said they sell an item called pH Free and Clear that you add to the chlorinator and that is all you need to keep the pool crystal clear. An alternative product is Arm and Hammer Clear Balance which is less costly. Some sites said that BOTH of these products are ONLY baking soda. If that is the case what I am purchasing from Costo in the form of powder is better economically and does the same trick. is this TRUE? Please advise me on this. With all the chemicals that are available- pH bounce or increase to pH decrease to soda ash to calcium hardness etc- one can go broke with all this. One site said that the only chemicals needed for a pool are Chlorine, baking Soda and Chlorine Stabilizer(CYA)- BUT what product is CYA(chlorine stabilizer and when would you need it? As it is I almost rarely use Regular shock- I use a shock called GREENOUT. I use that and baking soda and the clarifier every now and then- is this OK??
I also vacuum the pool with my old robot - does OK. and also do it manually myself with the pole and the vacuum head at the end.
as mentioned I use a floating chlorinator with 2 tablets of chlorine in it.-as you can see by my attachments- I use BOTH- stabilized AND NON stabilized chlorine tablets AND the GREENOUT--which says
is a shock treatment and super chlorinator. is this combo OK- and if it is a super chlorinator- should I use "Fewer chlorine tablets floating weekly- to lower that chlorine level? I am trying to figure this out I want to prevent using or having to add CYA at all- and not have to have the problem of draining the pool etc if I add too much. What do you guys recommend? There can be a few scenarios I guess
1) Use the chlorine tablets WITH CYA stabilizer already in them and use REGULAR shock(NOT the GREENOUT version shock-which is super chlorinated)
2) use the GREENOUT ONLY with much FEWER chlorine tablets-(BUT which type- the combo tabs or the NON stabilized chlorine tablets.
Over the last few years- my pool has been CRYSTAL clear- by using JUST GREENOUT and chlorine tablets so if that is the case why should I change? I very rarely have had to use a clarifier to make the pool clear except when I open the pool at the beginning of the season. If I use the GREENOUT shock- what version of chlorine tablets would you suggest I use?
And can I save money by using Clorox bleach as my shock instead of the commercial bag shocks- since this has NO algicide in it like GREENOUT or POWER SHOCK(and how much would be needed for a 15 ' x 24' oval above ground pool)- which one site said I should not use regularly(only at closing of pool?) So many questions?
I guess that is all I have at this point- I will attach some pics so you can see my pol (before and after opening to see how it looks. Thank you
I tried to attach more pics BUT it said the attachment was too large-(how do I fix that?) So this pic is of the NON stabilized chlorine tabs in my floating chlorinator and the other no pic is called SLOW Tbas- which one should I use REGULARLY?
Thanks to all
I also vacuum the pool with my old robot - does OK. and also do it manually myself with the pole and the vacuum head at the end.
as mentioned I use a floating chlorinator with 2 tablets of chlorine in it.-as you can see by my attachments- I use BOTH- stabilized AND NON stabilized chlorine tablets AND the GREENOUT--which says
is a shock treatment and super chlorinator. is this combo OK- and if it is a super chlorinator- should I use "Fewer chlorine tablets floating weekly- to lower that chlorine level? I am trying to figure this out I want to prevent using or having to add CYA at all- and not have to have the problem of draining the pool etc if I add too much. What do you guys recommend? There can be a few scenarios I guess
1) Use the chlorine tablets WITH CYA stabilizer already in them and use REGULAR shock(NOT the GREENOUT version shock-which is super chlorinated)
2) use the GREENOUT ONLY with much FEWER chlorine tablets-(BUT which type- the combo tabs or the NON stabilized chlorine tablets.
Over the last few years- my pool has been CRYSTAL clear- by using JUST GREENOUT and chlorine tablets so if that is the case why should I change? I very rarely have had to use a clarifier to make the pool clear except when I open the pool at the beginning of the season. If I use the GREENOUT shock- what version of chlorine tablets would you suggest I use?
And can I save money by using Clorox bleach as my shock instead of the commercial bag shocks- since this has NO algicide in it like GREENOUT or POWER SHOCK(and how much would be needed for a 15 ' x 24' oval above ground pool)- which one site said I should not use regularly(only at closing of pool?) So many questions?
I guess that is all I have at this point- I will attach some pics so you can see my pol (before and after opening to see how it looks. Thank you
I tried to attach more pics BUT it said the attachment was too large-(how do I fix that?) So this pic is of the NON stabilized chlorine tabs in my floating chlorinator and the other no pic is called SLOW Tbas- which one should I use REGULARLY?
Thanks to all