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Here's a writeup I did a few years back for my friends. Apologies for formating and if any links are broken: Welcome to the money and labor pit known as "the pool". I still love it though and the smiles from the kids in the summer make it all worthwhile! I've been using http://www.troublefreepool.com as my main reference guide. Pool School is the first place to stop: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/1-pool-school It lists out all the basics. I'll cliff note the info I've consumed: Chemicals http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/123-abc-of-pool-water-chemistry These are the levels I monitor in my pool, what I aim for, and how often to test, I go into more detail down below: FC - Free Chlorine - I aim for 5 ppm - Test until you get to know your pool. Now that I know my pool I don't really test this except for when I open the pool. The SWCG (salt water chlorine generator) just does its work and maintains this level. PH - Acidity/Alkalinity - I aim for 7.7 - Test until you get to know your pool. PH is always drifting up so I test once a week. TA - Total Alkalinity - I aim for 70 ppm - Test every 2 weeks or as needed. I test at probably once a month. CH - Calcium Hardness - I aim for 450 ppm - Test every 2 weeks or as needed. I test probably every other month CYA - Cyanuric Acid - I aim for 75 ppm - Test every 2 weeks or as needed. I test probably once a month. Borate - I aim for 50 ppm - Test every 2 weeks or as needed. I test probably once a month. Salt - I aim for 3200 ppm - I test maybe every other month. The levels above are just general guidelines, you can adjust as needed for your level and your type of pool, TroubleFreePool has more recommendations. Here's the how/why of each level and what I use to raise/lower the level: FC - this is what kills all the baddies in your water, mainly algae. Algae and Sunlight consume FC which is why we have to keep adding chlorine, either thru a Salt Water Generator, Tabs, or Bleach. For shocking / supplementing you can get Walmart Bleach 10% for around $4.63 for 1 gallon. 1 gallon of bleach will raise my 15k gallon pool up ~5ppm. You can also get cheapish bleach @ Atwoods. Pretty much every other chemical below helps aid FC, your pool liner, or the water clarity/comfort: CC - Combined Chlorine - I ignore monitoring this. It is slightly useful when shocking your pool though. PH - I like to keep mine @ 7.7 PPM. The PH of a human eyeball is ~7.4. If you aim for 7.7 you shouldn't have irritated skin/eyes. My PH is always going up, so I have to add Muriatic acid. 2x1 gallon bottles in a cardboard box can be had at Home Depot for $17.98 or a 1-gallon jug @ Atwoods for $5.49. I go thru ~6-8 jugs a season. TA - This is a buffer to PH so PH isn't swinging like a drunken bar fly. Mine always goes up, never down. To lower, I lower the PH with acid and just give it time to drift down. CH - This is to maintain your plaster as the water will leach out the CH from the walls. If you keep extra CH in the water this won't happen. I use Calcium Chloride which I buy in the winter from Wal-Mart in the form of..... ICE MELT! :) You can also buy Calcium Chloride labeled as a CH raiser, but of course it costs more since they simply added the word "Pool" to the bottle. This level doesn't really change much for me, just slowly drifts down after a bunch of back-washes/splash outs after I add fresh water. You can also snag some calcium off eBay for cheap. CYA - This helps your FC by combating the consumption thru sunlight. I buy 25 lb bags of it off eBay. Put it in a sock and let it slowly dissolve into you pool. I go thru ~15lbs a season. Borate - This stuff is amazing, it helps the clarity of your pool and I might just be mental but it makes the water feel better. It's totally optional but I highly recommend it. I buy 55 lb bags of it off https://www.bulkapothecary.com/ Testing: FC/PH basic test kit: https://www.amazon.com/Taylor-K-1000-Basic-Residential-Pool/dp/B002NSRD5C Detailed test kit: https://tftestkits.net/TF-100-Test-Kit-p4.html Salt test kit: https://tftestkits.net/TF-100-Salt-Test-Kit-p132.html SpeedStir to help with testing: https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Stirrer-Speedstir-Start-Up-Batteries/dp/B004BGPC5W The basic kit it what you test for frequently, the next two kits you can test monthly. That SpeedStir is the bomb, just get it, it mixes up your water while you test. Once you have all your sample PPM levels from your pool you now need to figure out how much stuff you need to add. This is where the Pool Math Calculator comes into play. Just head on over to http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html and plug in the size of your pool and your current levels and your target levels. You can then mouse over the fields and figure out how much bleach, acid, CH, CYA, Borate, and Salt you need to add to get everything back in line. Easy peasy. Equipment Just bit the bullet and get a robot. Yes they are expensive but OMFG do they friggen CLEAN! The amount of silt and junk my S200 clone has removed is just mind boggling. The fact that it can clean walls and tile lines is just nucking futs. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, just buy it. You'll thank me later. Head on over to https://marinapoolspaandpatio.com/product-category/robotic-pool-cleaners-maytronics-residential/ and get a S200 clone, ie like the E30 I got. Lots of obfuscation to weed whack thru there. Just call her up and she can walk you thru everything if you don't feel like devoting a couple days to internet research. SWCG: A salt water chlorine generator simply runs electricity thru metal plates stored within the cell. The process creates chlorine. The chlorine goes into your pool, is consumed by organic matter and turns back into salt. The process repeats itself. I have a AQR15 system which consists of the cell unit, the brain control box, and a flow sensor. Yeah, it's ~$1,000 which is a lot of money and will probably never be significantly cheaper than manual chlorine / tabs. But you're also buying convenience and peace of mind.