Swimming pool maintaince and tips wanted

[greenpigs]

   Well, the wife got an 18 foot Dia. blow up pool and neither of us have any experience with keeping one up. I am trying my best to avoid the water from turning the kids skin purple or stinking like dead fish. Seems shocking the water happens a lot for us to avoid the above stench, is it a PH thing?

Any and all tips are appreciated.

[chargerboy69]

We keep a floating chlorine tablet dispenser in our at all times. Every once and a great while we will have to shock it, but the chlorine dispenser works prefect.  We bought ours at Walmart for about $10.00.  We get the chlorine tablets there too. If for some reason the pool water gets out of hand you can take a sample of your pool water into your local pool store and they should be able to tell you how to fix it.

[Back N Black]

I just installed a pool and used the salt water system, its the way to go. Its almost maintenance free, throw in the required salt and the the system converts the salt into chlorine, no faded clothes or burning you eyes when swimming.

[bakerhillpins]

We had an 18ft round above ground pool when I was in high school so its been a few years. IIRC the biggest issue is to keep the PH level proper. Then everything else falls into line and you don't have the burning eyes problem. An alternative to Chlorine is Bromine but its more expensive.

General tips on pool chemicals:
These chemicals are very dangerous. Keep out of reach of children!
Make sure when using granular chlorine, you pre-dissolve it in a bucket of water before adding it to the pool.
Add chlorine to water and not water to chlorine as it may cause an explosion.
Muratic Acid is the best choice for lowering pH levels, but creates dangerous fumes and should be used with extreme care. Sodium bisulfate, granular pH minus or pH decreaser, is a "safer", more homeowner friendly alternative.

Running a pool requires ongoing maintenance whether you are using bromine or chlorine. No matter how you sanitize, you still need to vacuum the pool to get dirt out, keep the skimmer and filter clean, shock the pool on a regular basis and keep your water in balance.

Since both bromine and chlorine are equally effective as sanitizers, the choice of which one to use essentially comes down to choosing between less smell and higher cost (bromine) versus slightly more smell and lower cost (chlorine).

In general google is your friend here...

Good luck, They are nice to have but the maintenance can get long in the tooth, which is why ours eventually was taken down an given away.

[chargergirl]

Pick a day to do your maintenance...seriously. I used to do Sunday mornings. Have a cup of coffee with the dogs. Shut everything down...clean the filters...upload all the new tablets...turn the entire system on...then add the algeacide and let the entire thing begin the week fresh. Don't add liquid chlorine in the day..wait till the evening. From a great authority I was told it loses half it's effectiveness when poured in the day. (Biology majors...they would know). I love a pool...they are work but they are worth it...you can even get one of those little "sucky guys" to pull the crud from the bottom...costs a bit but truly worth it!

[greenpigs]

We got the suction baggie and the floater that holds the tablets, but the kids keep getting sand in it. I will hold off until dusk to add the chemicals as she has some stuff that is supposed to limit the amount of chlorine lost to direct sunlight. I'm bright red today.....dunno if I like that or not.

[chargergirl]

Ok here's the weird advice...put a knee high panty hose into the filter to grab the sand and icky things that it grabs up. That way it NEVER makes it into the main pump...at least keeps most of it out. Keeps one from grabbing the dead things ewww.

[maxwellwedge]

I converted to salt a couple of years ago and it is great....but dont be fooled - you need to stay on it almost as much as before. Use the same test strips as a normal chlorine pool to make sure it doesn't get away from you.

I just installed a pool and used the salt water system, its the way to go. Its almost maintenance free, throw in the required salt and the the system converts the salt into chlorine, no faded clothes or burning you eyes when swimming.

[Old Moparz]

A blow up pool? Knife the side & be done with it, no maintenance for the rest of the season. You can thank me in September when you don't have to take it all apart & store it. 

[4cruzin]

All good advise above.  I have a 20x40 inground and it certainly does require attention but once you get used to it, really not to bad.  Biggest issue I have is when the neighbor decided to fertilize the lawn and the wind is blowing my way.  Something about the fertilizer messes with the pool and the next thing you know, I need about 120.00 worth of special stuff to fix it.       Other than that, I enjoy the pool alot.  Here is a shot of it I took the other day.

[chargergirl]

VERY NICE what a great spot to relax! Hydro therapy at it's best!

[jb666]

I've had a pool for several years... The key to it all is filter maintenance and the proper use of chemicals.  We've used Chlorine for as many years as we've had the pool and have never had a problem.. Plus, IMO, it's the best smell to come home to (to me it just screams SUMMER'S HERE!).

Anyways, in the Fall I COMPLETELY disassemble my filter and clean every square inch of it. It runs like a top all summer long and my water is ALWAYS crystal clear.

Good luck, and enjoy it!!

[69rtse4spd]

Find a pool company that has 18-25 year old bikini clad women to come & take care of it for you.   . Price might be a little high but you wont mind, now if I could just talk the wife into that setup. Was going to have a guy put a deck up around the pool, but he decided he did not have time, after we waited three weeks, I had to call him to find out. . Well looks like I have another project to do, I wounder if there is a bikini clad crew out there. . We have the cartridge filter type system, works good, but like they say, got to stay on top of things.   

[maxwellwedge]

My wife has wanted a pool boy for years. Here is the worst - she wanted one before we ever had a pool! 

[chargergirl]

My wife has wanted a pool boy for years. Here is the worst - she wanted one before we ever had a pool! 

She's just keeping you on your toes!

[69_500]

My wife has wanted a pool boy for years. Here is the worst - she wanted one before we ever had a pool! 

Jim, what good does a pool do up there in Canada. Don't you need a hot tub for the other 10 months out of the year?

[4cruzin]

I used to fix pool heaters for a living and certainly ran into my share of bikini's!     I was just working on my fibre optic lighting system . . cool setup!

[dkn1997]

All good advise above.  I have a 20x40 inground and it certainly does require attention but once you get used to it, really not to bad.  Biggest issue I have is when the neighbor decided to fertilize the lawn and the wind is blowing my way.  Something about the fertilizer messes with the pool and the next thing you know, I need about 120.00 worth of special stuff to fix it.       Other than that, I enjoy the pool alot.  Here is a shot of it I took the other day.

phosphates in that fertilizer is what got you!  It eats up the chlorine... very treatable though.  pool perfect makes an enzyme called phosfree... a few doses and you are back in business.  What's really disturbing is that some municipalities are putting phosphates in the water because it supposedly doesn't corrode the lead solder joints in the plumbing as much. 
I've been doing pools for over 20 years.  Never saw as many problems with phosphates as this year.  and it might not be your neighbor.  It can come from some oher Yahoo 3 blocks away. 

Salt system is really very good.  converts the salt right into Hypochlorous acid which is what kills the bacteria.  Regular chlorine turns into this too but it has all other goodies in it so that it's safe to store, transport, etc...  The only down sides to salt are 1. weight.  initial dose for the season can be a few hundred pounds, not easy on the back..but cheap  2.  It drives the pH up so you may have to add acid periodically. 
Watch out though, there are new things coming.  We are beta testing a system called oxymatic.  It's used in Europe.  Wheras a salt system breaks down the salt in your water to make sanitizer, the oxymatic breaks down the Hydrogen in your water to make the sanitizer (called a radical hydroxil.  it's at least twice as effective as hypochlorous acid)  So fat so good with a few tweaks.  With just another feature or two added to the controller, it will be a really good automated system.  They already have it running on a commercial pool in FL.  that pool still has a chlorine system to pass the board of health, but they almost never turn it on. 

[jeryst]

We had a blow up pool for a couple of years, then when it started to deteriorate, we got one of those metal frame jobs (next step up I guess-lol).

At first, I would take a water sample to the pool store, and always come out with $200 of chemicals that I had to use.

When I got the metal frame pool, I got sick of the cost, so as soon as I filled it up with water, I stuck two large chlorine tablets in the skimmer basket.
Every couple days. depending on how much I run the filter, the tablets are gone, so I put in two more, and I have not had one problem with the water.
This is now the third summer that I have been doing that. Have never had to shock the pool, not even one time. The pool sits out in the bright sunlight for most of the day.
The water is crystal clear, no odor, burning, itching, dangerous chemicals, whatever. Many of my friends dont believe me, but that's all I do. Another benefit is that
my pool filters last a whole lot longer.

Nothing will live in chlorinated water, and it doesnt take much chlorine. I believe the trick is to just keep some chlorine in the water at all times. You just have to remember that
chlorine only lasts for a day or two, so you just have to make sure it doesnt all disappear. For example, if you need water for an aquarium, all you need to do is fill the aquarium
with tap water, turn on the pumps and filters, and wait a week (safety margin), before you add any fish. All of the chlorine will be gone by then.

[tan top]

trying to think back now !! might of been on the old site  or this  , think his screen name was  telvis    sold pools & built & or done maintance on them  , might be getting mixed up though

[greenpigs]

trying to think back now !! might of been on the old site  or this  , think his screen name was  telvis    sold pools & built & or done maintance on them  , might be getting mixed up though

Your not loosing it, I think your right but wanted a topic on it as a fair amount of people have pools.

[maxwellwedge]

My wife has wanted a pool boy for years. Here is the worst - she wanted one before we ever had a pool! 

She's just keeping you on your toes!

And she calls me Enrique now!   

[maxwellwedge]

My wife has wanted a pool boy for years. Here is the worst - she wanted one before we ever had a pool! 

Jim, what good does a pool do up there in Canada. Don't you need a hot tub for the other 10 months out of the year?

Danny - Hot tub runs all year round. Like I have said in the past - We have 7 months of winter and 5 months of bad skiing!

[derailed]

A blow up pool? Knife the side & be done with it, no maintenance for the rest of the season. You can thank me in September when you don't have to take it all apart & store it. 

A 12 pack of beer and the riding mower was more fun though.