Pool Maintenance Questions
We have an in-ground chlorine pool and maintenance is pretty easy, but it definitely needs to be attended to each week. I'm not familiar with the system that your pool uses, but you really need to be testing the water at least weekly and adjusting the levels as needed. You also need to monitor the pressure on your filter to make sure everything is cycling through without issue. We go to Leslie's Pool Supply store. They will test your water for free (no obligation to purchase). At this point, it's probably smart to find a pool store or maintenance company that you trust to help you get through the learning period. You're lucky that you haven't gotten any nasty algae blooms yet. With the loads of rain and the really hot temps upon us, that's probably what will happen next. Go to the pool store with a sample. Make sure that you know how many gallons your pool contains, as well as what type of filter you have (you can take a picture of your equipment if you don't know). Good luck.
BTW - the below is directly from the Baquacil website...
Important:
- On a weekly basis, it is recommended that you test and adjust your water balance readings to within ideal ranges (see page 8 in the BAQUACIL® CDX® Pool Care Guide).
- Be sure to use your BAQUACIL® 4-Way Test Strips that now test for the presence of oxidizer.
- Perform the housekeeping tasks discussed on page 14 of the BAQUACIL® CDX® Pool Care Guide.
- When water balance levels are within the recommended ranges, follow your BAQUACIL® CDX® System routine.
Yeah, I downloaded all the info from the Baquacil site, but it was so different from the written directions the previous homeowner left behind that I ended up hopelessly confused.
At this point, I think probably my best approach would be to take a pint of the water to the store along with the measurements of the pool and see what they recommend. We might end up following the instructions for "opening the pool," which would address water that's been standing in the pool over the winter.
So far, I have my doubts whether owning a pool is going to be worth it for us. It sounds like an awful lot of work and expense (for the chemicals). But it came with the house, so I'm trying it on for size, so to speak.
*sigh*
Owning a pool is definitely worth it - but have you considered hiring someone for the first year so that you can learn as you go? Also, I hadn't heard of Baquicil either but did find this http://www.riverpoolsandspas.com/blog/bid/26856/Baquacil-Cloudy-Water-Problems-and-Why-It-s-a-Rip-Off
I found that same article, Eliz, and several other pieces complaining about the cost of Baquacil and the fact that it works well for a couple of years and then the water becomes cloudy because the level of stabilizer becomes more and more difficult to maintain at the right levels, so you have to put in more product (I forget why). Some recommend you transition to chlorine every few years or so to get the stabilizer back in line, then go back to Baquacil. Unfortunately, I have also read that Baquacil is outlandishly expensive compared to chlorine. Doesn't seem like the best bet.
Sad to say, I'm pretty sure I would not do well with chlorine, since as a child I always wheezed when I went swimming in a chlorinated pool. As an adult, I have full-blown asthma I need to watch out for.
However, my research makes me think it would be worthwhile to look into switching to either a mineral (Pool Frog) or salt system. Both those are easier on the skin, hair, eyes, and lungs than chlorine, and easier and less costly to maintain than Baquacil, although the salt systems do create some deposits on the metal parts in the filter that need to be cleaned from time to time.
Fortunately, the first step in switching to another system involves NOT putting any of the Baquacil products in the water until the levels drop to almost zero, which I might have accomplished by now!
So I'm off to a pool store one day this week to have a heart to heart about which system is (a) best for me healthwise (b) easiest and least expensive to maintain and (c) least harmful to the filtration system.
Eliz, I love the idea of hiring someone for the first season with the pool and learning from them. Do those people work through pool stores, or how do you find them. (Good god, I'm going to have a pool boy? Shocking.)
I'm sure the pool store can help you out with some recommendations for a pool service or might be worth joining Angies List or similar. My sister put a pool in her Cape house last year and they put in a salt water system and I love it! I would 100% go in that direction.
From what I've read online, it would cost about $1,000 total to convert to the salt system, and it sounds worth it to me. But I will ask some questions at the local pool store, maybe more than one place, to see what they think of the different approaches. I know they are likely to recommend whatever they happen to sell, but hopefully I'll pick up some good information. And I'll keep reading online. There are chat rooms for literally everything these days!
Another house we looked at when we were searching over the winter had an in-ground pool with the salt system. Funny. I really wanted that house to be "the one"... it was so quirky and pleasant in so many ways, and I really loved the woman who owned it. But we just couldn't figure out how to make the layout work for us. *sigh*
So, does anyone else have a pool?
A medium-sized above-ground pool came with the house we recently bought, and I have no idea how to maintain it properly. The previous owners used Baquacil products, an alternative to chlorine, but the husband recently had heart surgery and I don't want to ask him to come over to show me the ropes. Apparently, changing over to a chlorine system would be very difficult, and I don't even want to try. Baquacil claims to be better for the skin and easier on the pool and environment. That's all good with me.
Does anyone have advice on what chemicals to use, how often, how much, and so on? The pool was opened in late April, but we have not treated it yet because I have no idea what to do. I know that's not good.
I will most likely go to the local pool store and ask for help in exchange for buying our supplies from them, but right now I'm kind of mystified.