Bought a 27" ag round tonight

We bought a 27' ag round 54 " high pool and know nothing...except what the sales person told us. I have been on this site since Monday reading, reading, and reading some more....WHAT have I gotten myself into.....the FC must equal the TC what?????? I know nothing and my husband know less than I do....and that "will fill a library" I like all of your comments and suggestions but where do I start. HELP HELP HELP anything will HELP so please HELP US or we will have a green dull thing and not a blue sparkly thing.

OK, the BEST and fastest way to get up to speed is to go to the sister site, PoolSolutions.com and start reading. Click on "Site Map" and go to the section marked "Info From Pool Solutions" and read everything there. No joke. It's very interesting and informative and will give you a wonderful foundation.

You will need a level, solid base for the pool. Don't assume the pool dealer will do it for you unless it's in your contract. If there is to be an unexepected cost, this will be the biggest. Except I've told you about it so it's no longer unexpected. You will probably also need to apply for building and electrical permits for you town. Finally, securing the pool is a MAJOR inspection item.

All the chemicals and shorthand gets confusing. The idea is to keep your pool sanitary by killing all the algae, germs and viruses in it, and to keep its chemical level not too acid and not too alkaline.

These 2 things, Chlorine(sanitation) and pH are the keys to pool care. Everything else is to keep them correct.

pH is from high school chemistry--1 is super-acid (think pure hydrochloric or sulfuric acid). 14 is super-alkalkine (think pure lye). 7 is neutral. We want just slightly higher than neutral--7.3-7.8

We lower pH if it's too high with acid--Muriatic Acid (Hydrochloric Acid) or Dry Acid (a powder). You can get Muriatic Acid at most hardware stores.

We raise pH if it's too low with ordinary 20 Mule Team Borax. You can use Soda Ash as well (called Washing Soda).

Chlorine is our sanitizer. It kills algae, bugs, germs, viruses and is the ONLY sanitizer you should use for fecal matter. It also gets rid of excess suntan lotion, and other stuff. Our BEST way to add chlorine is with good, old LAUNDRY BLEACH! Yup, plain, unscented bleach is the best.

We measure chlorine in our test kits. Sometimes they test "chlorine". This is actually Total Chlorine--the TC you asked about. Our better test kits test for Free Chlorine (FC) which is the stuff that does all those good things. The better tests also test for Combined Chlorine or Combined Chloramines--CC. This is the used-up chlorine that smells like disinfectant and irritates eyes. Its presence means you are metaboliziing something.

TC = FC + CC. This is always. If you know 2 of the 3, you know the third. Test strips measure TC and FC, but not CC. Sometimes the TC is lower than the FC--that means the strip is no good. Generally, a good FC is 3ppm (parts per million). A good CC is 0, and a good TC is also 3ppm. But there are situations where more is needed.

Other tests are Total Alkalinity (TA or T/A), Stabilizer (CYA or Cyanuric Acid or Conditioner), and Calcium Hardness--Ca or CH.

There are lots of other tests--TDS, SI, Acid Demand, Base Demand and they all sound important. They aren't and, unless something REALLY strange happens, you never, EVER have to think about them.

Of the three TA, CYA, and Ca, these are important.
TA, Total Alkalinity, is a measure of how well your water can keep from changing its pH. We like to see this be between 80 and 125 ppm. HOWEVER, in a vinyl pool it doesn't matter if it goes to 180...only past 200ppm does it become a problem. We raise TA with Baking Soda--good old Arm&Hammer. Lowering it is a pain in the patoot.

CYA is stabilizer. You need this to keep your chlorine from breaking down too fast and leaving you with none. You have to buy this at the pool store. Aim for 30-50ppm Add less than you think you need because the ONLY way to lower it is dilute it by draining off water.

Calcium Hardness is virtually irrelevant for a vinyl pool. But pool store guys will swear on their saintly mother's life that you need it for your vinyl pool. It's simply not true and is a waste of money. Calcium in the water prevents the water from sucking calcium out of concrete, plaster, or tile walls. It is not an issue in vinyl pool. It only matters to you if gets EXTREMELY high--500ppm.

That's about it: Chlorine, pH, Total Alkalinity, and CYA are what you need to control. We use bleach, Borax, baking soda (the 3 Bs), muriatic acid and CYA/Stabilizer. You only need to buy CYA at the pool store--the rest can be purchased anywhere.

I hope this helps!

Just a thought on getting a permit for your pool. I thought I would do everything right and check and see if I needed a permit for an above ground pool. I was told yes.

I applied for a permit and was turned down and told to resubmit my drawings. The city said the city had an easement 35 from the street. My fence is 10 feet from the street and is on my properly line. I wanted to put the pool 10 feet from my side of the fence in the back yard , which would make it 20 feet from the street. They said No, just in case they wanted to widen the street someday. I live in an old neighborhood and they will never widen the street. I told them if they ever wanted to widen the street I would take down my pool because it was an above ground pool and would not be that hard.

I was told no permit, plus I had to put it 12 feet from by back fence because they had an easement back there too. They said that you cant put any pool or storage building or any thing on the easement. I told them almost everyone in my neighborhood seemed to have a small storage building or storage shed in their back yard next to the fence. They said, well, they didn't apply for a permit.

I said, "You mean if I didn't come down here and tried to follow the law and be a good citizen and ask for a permit, I could put my above ground pool up and no one would care and I could be like almost everyone else in my neighbor hood and have a pool or small storage building near my own fence and every thing would be hunky dory. The inspector said, "Well I'm not suggesting that, but yes, I guess it would be."

What I got from the conversation was go ahead and put up you above ground pool where you want in your own back yard and don't worry about it. The city has to follow the exact letter of the ordnances and can't give you a permit if encroach on the city's easements. Not that the city will ever use their easement, but they can't give you a piece of paper signed by them thats says its OK to put something on the easement. Even though they will never plan on using the easement and its on your property behind your fence on the other side of a that huge tree that would have to removed before you pool ever would.

Bottom Line.... I'm putting up my pool in my yard where I want it, without a permit. But you should do what you think is best. Just my thoughts.

Aranon

Thank you for all of your insight...I guess I am reading some more....and the permit, since I am having the pool installed I do need that permit or they will NOT install. My backyard is 120 x 220 and I just had a tree removed out of the only two (2) that I had since both were 40 ft from the house. Now all that is my way is the one (1) tree and the shed in my back yard. The install contract said that within one (1) year they will re-install the pool if it is more than 1" out of level. :)

What you have to do is apply for a "Variance". Every town is different but ask how you can do that. No building inspector will EVER volunteer that you can go that route, but the clerk at town hall or the building office may be able to help you.

We can't run pools lengthwise in our town, only cross-wise, but the people behind me are doing it--they got the variance. (they just can't get the contractor to plaster the darn thing!)

With an AG pool it shouldn't be a problem. The reason you WANT to get it approved is that in the event something bad happens, your home-ownders insurance company can stiff you and refuse to pay saying "it wasn't an approved structure".