Have you ever wanted to get rid of your pool guy and not have to pay that maintenance fee of $70.00 to $100.00 every single Month. Well I did, I no longer have to pay someone to come in and do the things that I can do myself. I have been able to save a lot of money taking care of my pool myself. Now, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist in order to do these things yourself. All you need is a little test kit which you can purchase just about anywhere, here are a few places if your local pool supply store does not carry them, Home depot, or Walmart carry these items. But, for the purchase of any chemicals you may need, I would buy them from a trust worthy pool supply. So let’s get started, when you use your test kit it comes with some directions in order to use it properly. First you need to determine how much chlorine is needed to get your pool in to shape, when adding chlorine I would first use liquid chlorine in order to shock it. This will not remove any algae built up on the walls of the pool, you’ll have to scrub the walls with a good pool brush to remove the algae. Once you have determined your chlorine level, you will need to do an acid demand test. When adding the muriatic acid you want to be sure and find out exactly how many gallons of water your pool holds, including any spa’s that you may have. Here is a formula to help you find out how much water your pool holds, you take the length X width X depth X 7.5 = number of gallons, make sure to measure in three different locations and take the average for each of these length, width, and depth, and if you have a spa, add on another 500 gallons. So, if you follow the directions in your test kit it will tell you how much muriatic acid to add after you have figured out how much water your pool holds. Do not allow anyone to swim in the pool for at least 24 hours after adding acid! Once you have finally got things under control and believe me you won’t get it the first time start using the slow dissolve chlorine tablets. The chlorine liquid is OK to start with to gain control but, the tablets will keep the chlorine levels more accurately. Liquid chlorine will not last nearly as long as the tablets. You’ll find out it’s all about keeping your PH levels correct. One other thing I use is a G3 Barracuda bottom skimmer this thing works great, and the best part about it there are not a lot of moving parts that can break. The G3 is easily rebuilt if need be, the only thing that will usually wear out is a diaphragm inside which can be replaced very easily. Well I hope this helps you when it comes to caring for your pool.