a HUGE thank you...

to Ben and all the very knowledgeable people here (I don't want to risk leaving anyone off a list!)

In case you have not noticed or gathered by my posts, we have no pool... yet! Each year since DD9 was 6 months old, we have had a pool of some sort, until last summer (when we were preparing to move cross-country). It started with the turtle sandbox :D moved up through a couple sizes of Snap-set pools that we rigged with a small sand filter, and then finally a couple Intex donut incarnations, each time getting larger. And each time turning swampy by mid-July, or maybe early August if we were lucky that year. We are now in the beginning stages of planning our AG 21' round pool, hopefully to be installed early next season.

Because I am an internet junkie and was scouring the web for info on SWCG for a friend, I stumbled upon this sight, and have read, and read, and read! BOY I wish I had known even a tiny bit of this stuff when dealing with our small pools. I mean, the kit tests for pH and Chlorine, what else could you need to know?? :rolleyes: Oh, looky here, these little strips make it so much easier to test! Did I know they were inaccurate? :rolleyes: Why did I not scour the Internet for information on my little pools? I guess because I thought I was not dealing with a "real" pool...

Now, thanks to this forum and the combined knowledge of the owner, mods, and regular posters, I know how I will maintain our real pool! I know how not to get 'pool-stored'. I can take what the 'pool-selling dude' tells me with a grain of salt (or 3200ppm! ;) )... I can believe him when he says that Doughboy is a good AG brand. (He nearly sucked me into the Baqua Vortex of Doom,:eek: but now I know that BBB is the tops, and will firmly state that I plan to use chlorine.) I will know if the filter, pump, and pool size are properly matched. I know there is chemistry beyond pH and Cl. I can now read posts and think "here is what this person needs to do" and lo and behold, the 'official' answer most times is just about the same as what I was thinking!! (I don't presume to have enough knowledge to post answers beyond 'here is where to find the info/post/link you need')

I am sure I will have questions when we actually get our pool up, but none of them will ever be about which chemicals to use on a regular basis!

TWIA (Thanks WAAAY in advance!)

Grace

Avid reader of this forum
but alas, no pool... yet!