I am not from Florida. I grew up in upstate NY where you might use your AC three weeks out of the whole year. When we moved to FL in 2005 one of the first things we noticed was that we needed a pool. Now, in 2020 I have noticed with Coronavirus and all that goes with that, lots of people who never wanted or needed a pool now do. I read an article in The NY Times from a woman who was opining about how expensive and difficult it was to maintain the newly bought pool she got. I will give you my best tips, and no they don't have to be expensive. Obviously, you will have to spend some money, but it doesn't have to be a money guzzler.
First off the writer purchased one of the large blow-up pools. You know the ones with the top is filled with air. We owned one of these for many years, and it was extremely hard to keep clean and the water clear. Why? 1- the pump sucks, literally. It is small and not very powerful. It is only meant to run a few hours a day, and most pools need at least 8 hours of filtering per day in the hottest weather. The filters for these little pumps are often out of stock and they are not cheap either. It is recommended that you replace them every time they are dirty, consider that money slug. So, what can you do if you purchase one of these pools and that is what you can afford? We actually finally invested in a larger more powerful sand filter pump. This ended up paying for itself after only a few years. We didn't need the cartridge filters anymore and it could run for more than just a couple of hours per day. If you absolutely can not purchase a larger pump, don't worry I have more tips. Make sure you skim it every day with a large net. At least once a week, vacuum the pool and at the very least after each time you put shock or algae control in it, more about that in the next paragraph. At least once a week, more if it needs it, wipe the sides of the inside walls with an old cloth. Before you set up your pool put the side with the pump to the least amount of sun. If your pool is already set up when you read this, only run your pump at night, it will save you on your electric bill too. I run my pump only at night unless it has a lot of junk on the surface when I get in, then I run it for an hour when I get in and then turn it off. Also if you absolutely must use the cartridges in the smaller pump, rinse them or spray with bleach. I cleaned and reused mine all the time. I hardly ever bought those stupid cartridge filters.
Those tips all apply to any above ground pool, not just the blow-up ones. But, chemicals are also extremely important. I have owned a pool now for 15 years. It took me 14 of those years to finally figure out how to keep the pool clear. It would be clean, and free of algae but it always had this cloudy appearance. Oh, there are tons of chemicals you can put in the pool that are supposed to help, but most of them are useless. So, now I will give you tips on what I have learned about pool chemicals. Do not buy your pool chemicals at Walmart or even Amazon. These chemicals are simply not strong enough or fresh enough to do the job. Just trust me! I am sure you have seen the brands sold in these stores, so I will not name them here. You need to find an actual pool supply store to get what you need. When I started actually going to the pool supply store to get my chemicals is when my pool became crystal clear and easy to maintain. I do not really pay any more, and probably less, because I am not wasting useless chemicals. I do have to travel about 20 miles farther but it is so worth it. Some pool supply stores may have online ordering, this one does not, but still, I am willing to go. Ask the pool experts to be sure you purchase the correct product. I will share the images of the two products I buy every time now. These are the only two products I buy besides chlorine tablets. Speaking of which I have two floaters with one tablet in each. This seems to help maintain the proper balance. I also throw a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser in my skimmer. If you don't have a skimmer it can just float around your pool. You would be amazed by the invisible algae it catches. I shock my pool and use the powder algaecide once a week. If it rains, which will wash out your chemicals I do it twice a week. Don't put your chemicals in the pool in the day time. Do it in the evening close to sunset. The sun deteriorates your chemicals.
If I forgot anything, or you have any questions, please leave them in the comments, and I will answer them the best I can.
