Welcome to the TFP pool! :splash:
You will find that how we recommend a pool be cared for here is much different from what the average pool builder or pool store recommends. We base our pool care system on accurate testing and only adding what the pool needs, when it needs it. We find that a properly chlorinated pool does not need additions such as Phos-Free + Pool Perfect as they can tend to "mask" problems. The industry will say that phosphates are "algae food" and if you eliminate the food you eliminate getting algae. While that may be true to an extent, algae in a pool tells us something - it tells us that the sanitation has dropped too low. Think of it as the canary in the coal mine. If you use Phos-Free + Pool Perfect and the sanitation levels drop too low, you don't know it and you are possibly harboring some really bad stuff in the water. Clear water does not always equal safe water.
So, how do we maintain a pool? As I said, accurate testing so that we are assured that the levels of chlorine are always where they need to be to keep the water safe. To do that you need your own accurate test kit, one with a FAS/DPD chlorine test. Why this test? because it can both measure chlorine levels up to 50ppm and as low as 0.2 in 0.2 increments. The following kits contain that test while very few other kits do. The kits sold at the pool store generally won't won't cut it, but be careful pool store employees are known to say “it's the same thing”. Generally it's not!
I recommend the
TF100 test kit as it was designed for residential use and has more of what we do use and less or none of what we don't use often.
The only other real option for a test kit is a Taylor K-2006. Be careful comparing prices because the K-2006 comes in sizes, designated by a letter. The basic K-2006 has .75oz bottles. You need to get the K-2006-C to get the larger bottles that you want. Even then it is a little short on the reagent & powder for the FAS/DPD test.
I also have the
SpeedStir and
Sample Sizer. They speed testing and accuracy.
I guess I'll close by quoting Dave here at TFP:
Throughout TFP, you will read that we suggest certain levels that good science and practical experience has taught us fall within safe ranges.
Further reading of posts here will draw you to the inescapable conclusion that these guidelines work.......in thousands and thousands of pools worldwide.
You may or may not choose to use these methods and guidelines or you may use some and not others. Our goal is to teach you what has been proven time and time again and then let you use that information to your benefit.
