Thanks for having this forum :)

[Debster]

As I stated in another post, I purchased a small pool to get my feet wet (no pun intended) on taking care of a pool. I actually enjoyed going to the pool store until I realized this was a money bucket, AND....I only had a small kiddie type pool!! I was starting to think, NO way am I going to get my 18' now.

Then I found this site and came up with this:
1" tablets 19.99
SHock stabilizer 16.99
Lo and slo PH 17.99
polysheen blue 19.99

Finding out about BBB and being able to enjoy the pool with my kids: Priceless

Thanks
and I am now thinking again of getting that 18' pool

[Backglass]

As I said in your other thread, you will find that a larger, "real" pool with "real" filter" and "real" vacuum will be a piece of cake to take care of compared to one of those pop-up jobs. It's like trying to use a kids screwdriver or cook with your daughters play cookware. It can be done, but once you try the real thing, you say "WOW...what was I thinkin"!

I have had a 500 gallon spa, a 8000 gallon AG round pool, a 12,500 gallon AG oval pool and now a 21,000 gallon in-ground pool. Guess which one made me pull my hair out? Yup! 500 gallons. I must have drained that thing a dozen times out of frustration. My current 21,000 gallon pool is a BREEZE compared to either of the others.

I don't know if this is true, but I believe larger bodies of water tend to WANT to be in balance. Chemgeek?

[chem geek]

It's all about relativity and inertia. One person in 500 gallons would be equivalent to 20 people in 10,000 gallons so you can see how a small pool or spa has a very high bather load so the chemistry can get out of whack quickly. Lots and lots of organics to oxidize. Also, adding chemicals gets tricky when dealing with teaspoon quantities -- it's very easy to over/under dose.

On the other hand, one can dump and refill 500 gallons much more easily than 10,000 gallons so "dilution" is far easier and less expensive in a smaller body of water.