Anyone With a Swimming Pool?
 

If you have a swimming pool...where do you buy your chemicals?

We are using Baquacil (chlorine free) and it is sooo expensive thu our pool dealer, but I found some places online that is a LOT cheaper...... like a case (4 bottles) for $80.00 (which one bottle at our dealer is $32.99).

If you buy off line, could you please post the links and your reviews on the places.

THANKS!

We just use regular liquid chlorine from the local pool place. I think it is about $3 a bottle.

And since this is a pool thread, I thought I'd post my pics. (I just took these the other day)

See Chloe in the 3rd picture? She just walked on out there and laid down (4th pic). I made her come back in. It was like 100 degrees. LOL

Great pictures....I will have to post some more of ours later.

I went with the Baquacil because it is suppose to be gentle on your skin, eyes, hair, etc. So far, we like it....but we may switch to chlorine next year?? I don't know yet. This stuff is EXPENSIVE!

Misty, WOW, how nice is your pool!!!!!! Did you have it put in or was it already put in when you bought your house? Do you let Chole have a swim in it?

Wish we had nice enough weather to have a pool!

I have a pool and use the baquicil also. I got that because I need something that was safe for Babybear to do his water therapy in it. So he is always swimming on hot days or mild days. He wears his life jacket. But i do like the baquicil not as much upkeep as the chlorine. My water is so crystal clear. We have not chlorine in our water any ways we are on a well.

brothers 3 pools, they're expensive but the stuff is really good my pool hasn't even been green once since we started using their chemicals.

We use Baquacil here too. I think the initial purchase is expensive like you were saying Jenn....here it's $29.99 for the sanitizer and $9.99 for the shock.

But when we were using the chlorine tabs, the tabs themselves weren't that expensive but then you had the shock, ph+, ph-, alkaline ?, etc. So I kind of think it evens out a bit.

Forgot to mention, we have a heater on our pool and with the chlorine we always had algae blooms...not with the Baquacil.

Not to mention, I cannot stand the smell of chlorine. I hate the way it dries my hair out, not to mention the dogs, bleaches all our suits and our eyes looked like tomatoes!

Jenn,

Really, in your own swimming pool, the amount of chlorine you use is nothing like in public pools. They have to keep a certain level because of the number of people using (and peeing in) their pools. And our pool builder told us that what we're often thinking of when we think of chlorine is public pools, and you never have to use that quantity in your own pool. We NEVER have problems with the chlorine and our eyes or skin or hair. And remember how your lungs would hurt after swimming all day at a public pool? That doesn't happen at home. Plus, the chlorine is so much easier to maintain. I asked a pool chemical salesman about the baquacil, and he said when the levels get out of whack, it's not as easy to correct. With chlorine, pretty much any problem an extra gallon of chlorine will fix. We use the kind at the pool supply company. It is a stronger chlorine and costs less in the long run. It is 12%, while the stuff in the grocery store, kmart, target, etc. is only 10%.

Yes, post pics of your pool; I love to see how others have theirs done.

Gypsy,
We bought this house new and put the pool in (not us ourselves, we hired the pool company), picked out the design, tile, brick. Chloe has gone in a couple of times, and she is a natural swimmer--as dogs are. She doesn't really like it yet. I'm still waiting for a life preserver vest from Tinkerbells Closet. I'll put her in more when I feel better about it. I'm kind of afraid to take my hands off her when she's swimming.

I've never heard of that stuff. We just use regular chlorine tabs and I never smell chlorine. I take Brutus in the pool sometimes and he swims great but I don't think he likes it all that much. When it's hot though he can't hang out with us unless he goes for a dip. :p

Our pool was the BEST investment. My kids love it! Here's a picture of my daughter and one of my son and her on their boat. Now I have to buy oars for them. Not sure where they're boating to in a pool though. :confused:

We had an above ground pool and had used both kinds of chemicals...chlorine and baquacil. We live in the country and the winds would bring all kinds of things into the pool from the fields and it was terrible trying to keep up with it. Bacquacil was so much easier, but also more expensive. My friend always used chlorine, but quit and started using just regular bleach..it was cheaper. She still uses it.

We didn't use our pool for the last too years so had it removed. Now we are fencing in the area for the doggies.

Carolyn,

Your pool is really pretty. I like that rock waterfall. And what a cutie your daughter is!! :)

im so jealous......but i have the ocean

Thanks everyone.....we live in the middle of nowhere but we have a pretty open backyard. The only problem that we have had with our pool so far, is the bugs (the flying bugs getting in there and not making it out) and the rain (which has really overfilled the pool).

The Baquacil is very easy to use. It wasn't "right" after all the rain, but we just had to put in a few bottles of stuff and it made all the PH and everything right again....so you can't get much easier than that.

I just hate that it costs sooo much more!!! I am currently looking online (again) and I think I will go ahead and order some. We will see how this season works and how much it ends up costing with Baquacil before we decide what we will do next year.

When I was looking, I found some chlorine-free stuff called Splashes. It looks much like Baquacil, but cheaper....anyone heard of that?

We have a friend that just buys the stuff at Wal-Mart for their big pool (I forgot the size, but it is a a huge padded inground with all the fancy stuff) and they have never had a problem with their pool and I can't say that I remember having any problems swimming in theirs. So, I just don't know.

Love it....I wanted lots of rock work, but we have so many snakes around here. I was kind of afraid of snakes hiding someplace they shouldn't....okay, I am paranoid!!! But your pool is fabulous!!!!:thumbup:

I like the ocean too.....only if it was private....for me only!! hee,hee!!:p