New to this forum

Hey..

I am a member and mod on a few other forums that are specific to my interest.
My name is Bryan I am barely married. And have two kids. My boy is 12 in july and all boy. My daughter just turned 10 and is autistic. I work as a freight road conductor back and forth from Iowa to Chicago. So If I dont respond right away I am probably AWFH away from home.

I have had four pools of varying types in the last 10 yrs. last was soft side metal rail 24' intex. All have been used prior to my owning them.

I just bought a Above ground Mirage 24'x52" (03 model) and have given up trying to level myself. I having the area landscaped proff.

The pool for me is really more of a need than a want or luxury. My daughter being Autistic wont tolerate places like the public pool the Y or even a country club type of place. And my ego discourages me from taking her these places as meltdowns are likely and embarrassing in public. She will need some exercise over the summer rather than just sitting in the AC.

My kids are my hobby. I really cant think of anything I would rather do than mess around with them. When we have a pool up: were are there: In the morning: at night: afternoon: even in the rain.

In the past I have been constantly chasing balance with the pool water. My wife is probably more than half worthless. And Since I travel a couple of days at a time constantly. I need a system is not going to have me chasing my tail all the time. Also since we spend so much time And Chloe does not close her eyes in the water and has been known to drink some. I need to make it as harmless as possible.

My budget is modest at best (hence the used pools) But I am also not broke or an idiot. I have spent a ton of money over the years trying to "fix" the water. I will ask more specific questions when I have posting privileges.

Thanks for reading

Bryan

Hey, Bryan - welcome to The Forum!

You sound like a good guy and a great father! :)

You might want to look into a SWCG (salt water chlorine generator), they aren't cheap but would allow you to be away for a few days and not have to worry about the pool's sanitation. (* you would need to readjust the water chemistry for a SWCG). Another option is installing a Liquidator, or similar peristaltic liquid chlorine feeder.

You WILL need a good test kit!!!! (the Taylor 2006 is the one we usually recommend and you'll want a Taylor 1000 link . Your son can use the 1000 to do chlorine tests while you're away and your daughter can help match the colors, they can call you and have mom help if something's amiss.

You can get the Taylor kits that Waste mentioned by clicking on the testkit links in my signature below. Welcome to the Pool Forum!

Thanks.

I have been researching the crap out of stuff. I find myself doing that a lot anymore. Half the time I talk myself right out of doing stuff. But I have been seeing a lot of stuff on this "low Chlorine" thingy's that have minerals in them and piggy back some chlorine container. They look (at least I thought) like a in between from a regular Chlorine system and Salt. Not talking about that system invented by nasa scientist or whatever. But looks like it is borrowing some of that type of tech. I think Perma smart is what I was looking at. Anyway. I have yet to see any of that mentioned here. And it doesnt appear to be new tech. So I am kinda under the impression its not held in high regard here. But I am just getting started reading old post. I very well may have just not come across it yet. I am trying to get through the BBB's right now. The pool I bought I will have to switch to Chlorine but with putting in a new liner and sand. I figure to just set it up like a new pool.

Anyway I will be checking back.

Thanks again
Bryan

Hi Bryan;

Just say "no" on the low chlorine products. I'm sure there is an exception somewhere, but I can't think of one right now, and the general rule is, those products are bogus. By the way, "minerals" = "copper" and sometimes "copper + silver + zinc".

If you really want to dig in, we can point you to some LONG discussions of all the chemistry involved, but I'm not going to do it tonight. We've been HAMMERED today. We're close to our all-time peak traffic, and it's still May!

But, a little later (like: after July 4, when traffic begins to slack off) I can point you to enough reading material to last till October. But if you are in a hurry, use the search link in my sig to look for "chlorine free" and "mineral" and "ionizers" and "Nature 2".