On Sun, 24 Jun 2007 20:14:11 -0700, markm75 wrote:
-SNIP-
I'm having trouble figuring out the proper chemicals i should be
buying.. and what that cost probably is per season.
Ther variables on how much you'll use per season are-
how much water
how hot it is
how humid it is
how much use the pool gets.

No way to tell until the end of the season.

At this point i've bought the shock granuals that come in a bag for $3
and should be applied weekly.

Again- all those variables come into play. Get a $6 test kit- little
red and yellow bottles and some sort of 'test tube' with the color
scales on them. Test your pool twice a day until you figure out how
much chlorine to add. Then once a day.

-snip-
Also.. the bag mentions following the 4 step guide..

water balancing, chlorinating (or bromine), shock treatments, and then
algae treatments..

Balance first- [best scenario is take a jar of water to a pool
place. They test for free- and they can tell you exactly what you
need.] then chlorine and an algae preventer.


Other than this shock treatment.. are the other 3 done only in the
beginning of the year.. and what does this imply? Do I simply go
stock up on ph balancer (or akalinity), bromine or chlorine, and algae
chemicals, then apply these once, followed by weekly shock treatments?

Test- test- test. A decent pool place will be happy to help
you. [if they aren't helpful, they aren't a "decent pool place"]
They know that by taking care of you with your first pool you're more
likely to buy a pool from them later.

At any rate.. so far I've only used the shock treatments.. i had gone
like 3 weeks without doing one.. and algae (slimy on the bottom/sides,
slightly green) was appearing.. so I used the underwater sucker device
and strainer to remove all that i could in general.. then applied the
shock.. but even after 20 minutes the water feels very slimy..

The chlorine has kind of a slimy feel- But with a pool that size,
it might be more efficient to dump and start over. The bigger the
pool the easier it is to keep in balance and algae free.

i'm
worried i may have a mess that cant be fixed... or perhaps i just need
the other 3 chemicals..

You need them- but don't just start dumping willy-nilly. You really
have to test it. You bought a giant science project. It isn't
really hard- but you need to make it a religious daily habit. You
need to do it every day- and not be able to get to sleep at night if
you forget.


(I guess if i did bromine i could avoid chlorine.. is chlorine linked
to any conditions that should be avoided these days.. seems like you
dont see it much, though the shock treatment says it has 45% chlorine
in it i think.. i thought the shock was all 4 steps but i'm a bit
confused now)..

I've never used bromine. Too much chlorine is bad. I don't think
the right amount will harm anything. The only way to tell how much
is right. . . is by testing.

Good luck- Get it in shape now- because August will make the
balancing act twice as hard. [at least in my part of the world-
upstate NY]

Jim