Completely clueless but still excited!!

I am totally clueless to the pool owning world, but yet I will be going to dismantle and pick up a 24' pool this coming Tuesday as we were given a free pool! How could I turn it down!! I don't really have all of the information on it as of yet, really what I am looking for is some advice...I am a bit nervous to be honest as this is a HUGE decision, I know owning a pool can be quite a challenge. If anyone of you have some tips for me I would love to hear them. One question, can I fill my pool with my well water? I have heard that if I do that I could run my well dry...but if I do it slowly would I be okay? Having water hauled in is quite expensive...any thoughts??

You may find that the free pool wil cost more than you might have thought. If the liner is more than a couple years old, it probably won't stretch back into the pool so be prepared to replace it if you haven't already bought a new one. Another potential issue is the structural components of the pool; if there's any damage (rust, mis-handling, etc.) it will be unlikely to find replacement parts.

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but - eyes open.

Well water can be a problem in a pool. Do you know much about your well water: metals, pH, alkalinity, etc. Do you have a water softener for the house? Untreated well water can turn all kinds of colors and stain the pool once chlorine is added. Perform a bucket test (http://pool9.net/bucket-metal/) before you fill so you know what you're up against.

When you do get the pool up and start filling, the Super Simple Recipie (http://pool9.net/ssr/) is a good guide to starting up the chemistry.

The best tips I can give a new pool owner:
1) Order a Taylor K-2006 test kit. Not available in stores. Buy it through this page: http://pool9.net/tk/ and Pool Forum gets some coin to keep the lights on.
2) Read all you can here especially the stickied threads in the testing and chlorinating forums also read the guides at poolsolutions.com. Pay special attention to the Best Guess Chlorine Chart page as it describes the basis for the safe, efficient, and effective method of pool care taught here.
3) Don't panic, take your time.

Note: as a trial user you'll have to log out to see the other parts of the forum so copy the URLs, log out, then paste 'em in your browser.

Good luck and welcome!
Let us know how it's going.

I too am on a well... decided not to do that... to many stories of burned up pumps and collapsed wells... not to mention if you have metals in your well water, you'll never get them out of the pool... I advise against it IMHO.

I thank you both for the information, we have actually decided against getting the pool actually, because of many of the reasons in which were mentioned. We feel that as first time pool owners we should start with something a bit smaller, not to mention all of the problems that this free pool may have; of which we are not ready to deal with. So, with that being said, we have decided to get one of those inexpensive Intex pools, a basic 15'x48" should be just right for us just starting out. I am still a bit confused about all of the things one needs to do in order to perform upkeep on a pool...back to researching :-)

Many of us started with soft side pools, I did. Our first pool was 12' x 30" and cost $70. I had no idea what to do then I found this site. The suggestions I made above apply to a soft side pool as well.

One additional note, when you install the pool, the site needs to be level - measured level, not looks level (I had to drain that 12' pool the first day I set it up). A water level with a couple marked stakes will help. Dig to level undisturbed soil - it's difficult to fill and compact enough to hold up all that water.

Good luck and let us know how it's going.

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