Originally Posted by steveyp

Quite right, Safety first is the message.
There is a small risk of amoebic meningitis in water above 28C. The last recorded case in WA was 1985 as I understand it.
The word menigitis does tend to panic hence my reply.
The health authority trigger public information messages when there are successive hot days.
The amoeba cannot survive in chlorinated water, other forms of menigitis do no live outside of the body.
Chlorine levels need to be maintained between 2 and 4 ppm and the pH between 7.2 - 7.6, pH levels are very important as chlorine's oxidising potential (it's ability to burn off nasties) is greatly reduced when the pH is out of whack. Maintaing a good total alkalinity is important for having a stable pH and therefore chlorine efficency.
If you maintain your pool yourself you should get the water professionally tested by a shop regularly, sadly a lot of peoples views are that pool shops rip off the public and sell chemicals they don't need (I am sure some do) but basic water balancing is fundemental to personal safety and longevity of your pool equipment. Unfortunately I know many people who will happily throw their kids in a pool that is unbalanced just because the water is clear, but hey they save a few dollars...

Originally Posted by lele.juggins

Those who think that pool maintenance is easy are usually those who end up with large repair bills. I have been working with a pool maintenance guy for a few weeks and have seen some real problems. Yes, if you have some nounce you can maintain it reasonably well, but if your chlorintor goes, or the number of burnt out pumps I have seen because people do not clear their baskets!! Had to replace a sand filter yesterday, because the sand had not been changed for some time (years) and the one of the laterals had snapped, drawing sand into the pool via the pump - yes that also meant a pump repair - total cost - over $1000. Pool maintenance contract may well of just meant a sand change - cost a few bags of sand and a bit of labour costs.
I suspect its like most things, if you prepared to take the time to do the maintenance and learn how to do it well, you will probably be OK, but after a while you may think the time and effort is best spent elsewhere. At the very least I would suggest if you do not go for the $50 + required cemical costs every 5or6 weeks via maintenance contract - then learn what to do and do it reglarly and get it checked properly every few months.
Hope that helps.