New to pool maintenance, have a few questions

I live here in Florida with my brother. His idea of cleaning the pool,is taking the cap off the chlorine container and dumping it in! I am new to all of this and just have a few questions. Today I was looking at his filter, he has an automatic chlorine / bromine feeder,its model 320 made by Rainbow Lifeguard. His filter is a Pentair,do not know the model off the top of my head. I can almost guarantee that he has never even used the automatic feeder. I just wanted to know how to use this? He has been using chlorine since I have been here. Wanted to see what people like better,chlorine or bromine? He does not have any chlorine in tablet form right now,only liquid. I will need to go and get some. Are there any advantages to using the automatic feeder? To me,it woud be a no brainer. New to all of this. Right now the pool is pretty clean,except for both sets of stairs,they are covered in algae. I just want to get this thing looking good,and have it ready to go in. New to all of this. Thanks for all the help. John

Stick with chlorine for the pool, not bromine. As far as whether or not to use the chlorine feeder, that depends on a couple of your water chemistry readings. We recommend having the Taylor K-2006 kit which you can get through the Amazon link in my signature. If you can, order one of the kits and then post a current set of water testing results and let someone here advise you further.

By the way, welcome to the Pool Forum!

I agree with everything Watermom said...just wanted to add that since you already have some algae blooming, don't wait for the kit to come in before shocking the pool. You can take a water sample to a local pool store to get a set of baseline numbers. Make sure they use drop-based testing, not strips!! When they hand you a list of stuff they insist you need for the pool, just thank them and tell them you have it at home--don't buy any of it!! Have them give you a printout of your values, especially for Cl, CYA, pH, TA, CH, and come back and post them here, along with the volume of the pool, and we can help you go from there to at least get it cleaned up and maintained, until your own kit arrives (you'll definitely need to do your own water testing--it will save you tons of money from the pool store, and is much more accurate to boot!).

It's not hard at all to maintain your own pool and have it clean and clear all of the time--but getting your own test kit is the first step. Also, read through as much of the forum as you can, including our sister site, Poolsolutions.com, and we'll be here to answer any questions that you have.

Janet

Thanks for the info! I live right by a Pinch A Penny Store, and they do offer a free water testing. I'll grab a sample tomorrow and run it up there. I will also order the test kit.

Make sure they're not using strips....for your purposes, strip testing is about as reliable as me giving you chem levels from here without seeing the pool. Don't get me wrong--strips can be used in a "there either is, or is not chlorine in the pool" situation, but not for exact measurements like you're going to need for now.

Janet

Ok, just looked on Amazon for the test kit,which one is it? There is a FAS-DPD Pool Water test kit, then there is a Complete Pool Water Test kit,which is K-2006C? Which one should I buy?

Amazon switches things around some, but if you follow the links on the PoolSolutions page you *should* end up at the right place. What you are looking for is EITHER the K2006 (3/4 oz bottles) or the K2006C (2 oz bottles).


I just checked, and the links on the PoolSolutions page both seem to be working; I'd use those.

PoolDoc, I just checked the links, they do not take you to order from Amazon, they take you to the Taylor page to order. Maybe I am missing something here. Thanks for the help.

I just tried the link that's in PoolDoc's sig, and they take you to the Amazon site--and Amato Industries is the current seller, which is good--they don't try to substitute the K-2005 like some of the other sellers do.

Janet

Ok, I just ordered the kit will be here in a few days. Should I just post my results here in this section? thanks for the help. John