m,
Yes, your water does not have to be green to have algae..
TFP is all about maintaining your pool without having to deal with pool service companies... In a nut shell, it is a pool care process where the pool owner tests their own pool water and then uses the info on this site to decide what needs to be added (or not added) to a pool to keep it clear, clean, and sanitized...
The OCLT test that I talked about is just one of those methods... If interested you should check out our Pool School...
Pool School - Pool School
Here is a quick overview...
TFPC for Beginners
TFPC stands for Trouble Free Pool Care. The TFPC method of taking care of your pool focuses on using simple techniques that don't cost too much and work reliably in nearly all situations. Using TFPC, you avoid putting anything in your water that you don't need and which may cause problems. This allows you to save money and spend your time swimming, instead of driving to the pool store to buy yet another expensive solution to a problem you didn't need to have in the first place.
The keys to a beautiful pool are consistency, testing, and chlorine. You need to be consistent. Spending just a couple of minutes every single day can save you hours and hours of work later on. You need to test the water so you know what is going on and can figure out what to do to keep everything in balance. And you need to use chlorine.
None of the alternatives to chlorine works reliably and consistently in outdoor pools. Almost every problem people have with chlorine comes from pools that are not properly maintained. If you keep a chlorine pool the right way, people will ask you what you are using instead of chlorine. Almost all of the problems people associate with chlorine are actually problems that come from bad pool maintenance.
The best investment you can make in your pool is a top quality water test kit. Accurate water test results will save you time and money again and again. The TF Test Kits TF100, Taylor K-2006, and Leslie's Chlorine FAS-DPD Service Test Kit are the current stand-out choices on the market. All three include the FAS-DPD chlorine test, and are based on Taylor chemistry.
Thanks,
Jim R.