What do I need for pool maintenance?

Question

I'm moving into a home that comes with one of those pools connected to a hot tub and I haven't any idea what I need to buy chemical wise.

How do you maintain a pool?

Should I buy a cover for seasons it isn't in use?

Answer 1

Take a sample of your pool water in to your local pool store so they can see where the chemical levels are in your pool. The most important ones are: Chlorine, PH, Alkalinity and CYA. If you are starting with fresh water put 1 pound of Conditioner(CYA) per 3,000 gallons of water(only need to do this once). Keep a floater in the pool at all times for chlorine and test the water regularly with test strips. If you notice the chlorine throw in some granular chlorine or liquid(always have some on hand). The most important thing is to shock the pool weekly(Use a non calcium shock for maintenance and a cal-hypo shock for algae) Keep acid and soda ash on hand for PH but dont add any unless you are sure the PH is either to high or to low. Most pool stores could tell you exactly how many gallons of acid to add or pounds of soda ash.

Answer 2

your best bet is just to hire a pool cleaner. there is a lot involved in maintaining a pool. just go to your local pool house and they will set you up. good luck

Answer 3

if you are looking to make your pool maintenance easier I would suggest a chlorine generator: http://www.swimming-pool-information.com...

Answer 4

Definitely the easiest thing is hiring a cleaner and a lot of times it ends up being cheaper, especially the way chlorine prices have been climbing. But if you're intent on doing yourself you will need:

-Chlorine (tablets are the easiest way to do it)

-Floater for the chlorine

-Test strips to measure chemical levels

-Stabilizer (for stabilizing chlorine)

-Muriatic acid and soda ash to adjust pH

Those are the very basics, but you might need other things like a shock of some kind (there are several different kinds depending on types of algae being treated), algaecides, phosphate removers, etc.

I always found that a good self cleaner (Hayward Pool Vac was my favorite) was a lot more useful than a cover. What normally happens with a cover is that it sits on the pool for an extended period of time and gets covered in leaves and dirt and things and as soon as you want to use the pool you remove the cover and dump all of that in. Then you have to spend a good deal of time fishing it all out and waiting for it to be filtered. Also, this would almost require an immediate filter cleaning on a cartridge filter, depending on the amount of dirt and dust on the cover.