Quote Originally Posted by tphaggerty
I voted for an SWG but follow the rest of the advice here as closely as possible. As has been said before, a SWG is not the cheapest way to go, but it excels in 2 areas:

1) Very convienent. Once you are dialed in for the season, there is very little to do except test and (normally) minor adjustments. A lot of folks wind up doing a weekly acid dose, I haven't had to yet.

2) "Other" benefits. There is no doubt that the water feels softer, warmer and you don't need to rinse when you get out. I think the water feels better because it is pretty much kept in constant balance, as opposed to the ups and downs of adding chemicals and then having them dissapate over time.

I used bleach when I opened (what I learned, don't start heating your pool until you have all of the chemistry balanced!!) to clear some cloudiness. I use borax to maintain the alk and will use muriatic acid to lower PH once I use up the dry acid I have. Ben's test kit is (hopefully) on the way.
Minor correction: Borax is for raising pH (making the water more basic, or alkaline) but it is NOT for maintaining alkalinity.

Alkalinity or Total Alkalinity, is kind of a misnomer. It's really a pH buffer to prevent pH see-sawing. Use Baking Soda to raise it.

Nothing wrong with dry acid--I actually use it because it's a bit easier and safer to handle than muriatic acid. But M/A is fine, too. I just don't like dry acid when it's called "Low'n'Slo" and has a price of $Boo-Coo!

I think many here would agree that BBB can also be SWG/BB and work just as well.
Absolutely!