Welcome Trina! A couple of housekeeping things to get you well on your journey:
Go to Settings, then Signature and list out basic things about your pool: In or above ground, gallons, type of surface [vinyl, plaster, etc], make and models of your equipment, special features [spa, waterfall, etc], test kit you use for testing.
Helps us to not have to repeatedly ask "Whatcha got?"
If you run into chemistry/water quality/testing concerns, we'll always ask you to report all the current readings. If you opt to, you can pay the $8 yearly fee for PoolMath, which allows you to log a history of testing and chem additions. And you can link it to your login here - then we can see your complete history. Saves a lot of typing and gives a better view of what has been going on (if, of course, you log things in the app). But your choice to pay the fee, and log, or not.
Other items to stress:
1. Stay FAR away from Pool Store testing. It has been proven over and over to be wrong or very wrong. Get your own full kit for your own testing.
2. Test strips are almost as bad as Pool Stores. Not to nag, but get your own good kit.
3. NEVER buy "magic" fixes and potions. They either don't work, or can make matters far worse. Avoid anything that promises combined solutions (Adds chlorine and clarifies, adds chlorine and stabilizes, kills algae and clarifies, etc.)
4. In general, you'll find the list of what we advise using is pretty short, and can be found comparatively inexpensively at a variety of places, and not just at pool stores.
5. Ask about anything! Some of what is advised here is pretty different than what you see in other places. We strive to inform you as to "why?" based on proven scientific reasoning, and not just because that is what was always advised by others. So if something gives you pause - ask!
(Me? Almost 30 yr pool owner who spent decades pouring money and huge amounts of time into my pool, and was somewhat skeptical about things on this site. But I've fully embraced it the last few years, and am among the converted. So much past wasted dollars and hours.....)
. I have a salt water pool and it's a work in progress where water chemical balance is concerned. Help!!
