Ok, first off I want to say HELLO to you all. I am glad I came across this site while doing research for the pool I bought my 9 month old daughter! I have signed her up for swimming lessons (as I am honestly, the worlds worst swimmer) and I wanted to make sure she practices what she learns. So far, she loves the water and her pool. Now here comes my dilemma.

My local pool supply store, is very....unfriendly to newbies stupid questions. Perhaps, they want me to have them come over and clean my little 12' pool? But, do they really want to? The gas...the size of the pool...the 20 minutes??? So, here are my questions.

I want to keep the water nice and clean. My neighbor had an Intex until a friends Pit Bull got a hold of it (it really was quite funny...honest). So, they gave me the test kit (for alk, cl, ph...etc.). So far, I'm ok on the chlorine and ph but, I wanted to know...do I add chlorine everyday?

In the city I live in, the water is so hard that when I get out of the pool with my daughter, about 20 minutes later, my skin looks "ashy". Is there any way to prevent this? I can only imagine what it is doing to my hair and the lining of the pool. Do they make a "multi-formula-capsule-time release-for the pod" thing that you put in the skimmer?

Is there a way to slow down the deterioration/evaporation of chlorine?

I bought a skimmer for the pool and am waiting for a part that did not come with my kit and I also bought an upgraded pump for the pool in hopes that this will aid in the cleanliness of the pool. Will these two items help or am I wasting my money? I know, my questions are all over the place but, I am really confused about all the "measurements" seeing as they only refer to pools over 10,000 gallons of water! OY!

My pool only hold 1353 gallons of water. The pump I have only pumps 500 gal/hr. I've upgraded to the 1000 gal/hr pump and am waiting for it.

Please advise....