new pool owner

[PoolDoc]

Do I need to add bleach every day?

Yes, until you've learned to test your pool, and manage your chlorine, pH, and CYA levels. Otherwise, your pool is NOT clean. I can provide you with figures on how much fecal material (poop) each swimmer adds to the pool.

[mrsmatthews]

Yes Please. I'm taking baby steps. Going to wally world this afternoon.

[PoolDoc]

I was kidding!

Do you REALLY want to know how many grams of poop washes off the average swimmer, when they use the pool?

Dr. Charles Gerba, of the University of Arizona at Tucson actually did measure this about 10 years ago! Pity the poor graduate assistants, who did the actual scrubbing and washing of the hindermost parts of the volunteer subjects: "Ok, ma'am, please drop your drawers, straddle the bucket, and then bend over while I use this baby tooth brush and a wash bottle to collect your sample."

PS. The average value was around 5 grams, which he described as being a pencil erasor's worth of fecal material. So, yes, DO continue to use the bleach nightly!

[Watermom]

Gee. Thanks for sharing.

[JuJuBee]

PoolDoc, you're too funny....I can't stop laughing. What a hilarious description! Thanks for the wonderful chuckle before bed!

[mrsmatthews]

Thank you pool Doc, for the BBB method. We finely got the chlorine levels up thought the night. its much better then the puck.
Ivy

[PoolDoc]

There's nothing wrong with pucks, but all of the methods of adding chlorine require some experience and knowledge to use effectively. Actually, on a AG pool like yours, a couple of floaters with pucks in them can be an effective method of 'trickle-feeding' chlorine and stabilizer in between bleach doses. If you've got small kids who might play with them, take them out and set them in a bucket when the pool's in use, and them put them back when you're done. Rinse the bucket in the pool, since the 'drippings' in the bucket will be like bleach.