OK, I've been doing BBB sincen late June and have decided to ask a question that I should probably already know the answer by now!

When I add bleach or muriatic acid, I've been dribbling straight bleach, and dribbling MA mixed in bucket with pool water, along the sides and promptly brushing the pool down, sides and all, just to make sure it doesn't settle on the bottom or on the sides. Obviously, the addition of bleach each evening would necessitate having to brush the pool every evening, in my way of thinking!

So on the bleach, do I need to be brushing it, or can I just mix it with a big bucket of pool water and pour THAT along the sides and not have to brush it down? I have no patience to stand there at the return jet and slllooowwwly pour it in, plus it still looks like it's nosediving to the bottom!

With the MA, which I'm only now having to add for the first time, I've been mixing it with pool water and pouring it along the sides and promptly brushing entire pool to make sure it doesn't sink and set. The instructions say to dillute it (for lowering pH only) and pour it slowly into the deep end at the return. But our circulation is not the greatest and I don't think it would be mixed well by just pouring it into the deep end at the jet. So that's why I walk around the pool with it.

Thanks for any help.

I add all chems, except muriatic acid, slowly into the skimmer......pump running.

I carefull pour the muriatic in front of a return jet and it disperses almost instantly.

This a a fallicy that has been firmly entrenched in the industry. Muriatic acid will have the SAME effect on pH and TA whether you dilute it first or add it full strength (slug method). I just pour it slowly into the return stream so the force of water carries it along and mixes it. If I have to add a lot i add it a quart at a time diluted in a 5 gal bucket of pool water and just pour it in...once it's been dilted a bit is does not have as much a tendency to sink.

This thread is advanced but contains some interesting info. (check out the link in the first post)
viewtopic.php?f=67&t=1089

I either pour my bleach in front of the return (slowly) or into the skimmer (slowly). The pump runs on low 24/7 so it circulates fine...I don't bother to brush at this time. I usually only brush if I happen to be in the pool (which hasn't happened very often lately. Today we have the remnants of Gustav. )

With 3 returns in my pool and my pump at a lower speed (when the solar is off) of 26 GPM, that means that the flow rate from one return is 9 GPM. Even at that slow flow rate, pouring bleach or acid into the return flow at the deep end definitely disperses the chemical (at high speed with the solar on at 48 GPM this is 16 GPM per return so it is dispersed even more quickly). It should not be necessary to add it around your pool. If you add it into one return flow with the pump running, then you'd only have to brush in one place. Between the acid and the chlorine, it's the acid that should be dribbled and can be done so without dilution but should have light brushing to ensure mixing. With the chlorine, you can pour slowly and can see that it gets dispersed in the return flow. Brushing is for extra safety in vinyl pools; especially pools without a floor drain.

Richard

Thanks for the responses. So a couple of you add your chems (except MA) through your skimmer, which is what I was doing originally in May after our install. But I read in a few places (apparently not HERE) that you should never add any chems through your skimmer. So I stopped doing that and instead, started putting them in a bucket of pool water to add them.

Of course, the only thing I add now is the bleach each evening. So it would simplify life a lot if it's ok to add bleach through the skimmer, although I'd probably still feel safer about pouring it in a bucket of pool water first, then adding to the skimmer. But I wouldn't feel compelled to sweep the pool down with every addition.

My only concern in all of this is that, after listening to Leslie's for the first 5-6 weeks, our nice liner is now noticeably bleached. So that's why I've been "stirring the cauldren" every time I add something!

I think I have a little better grasp on this now.

Poolmom, can you send some of Gustav down here, please? We need it in Wylie, Texas!!

Thanks again to all.

Wish I could....

We got almost 4 inches of rain, my pool almost overflowed..... going out to shock it this a.m.

I don't pour anything in the skimmer, just in front of the return. Seems to "get caught" in the stream of water from the return immediately.

[/quote]

Wish I could....

We got almost 4 inches of rain, my pool almost overflowed..... going out to shock it this a.m.[/quote]

Speaking of overflowing, does anyone have any good ideas on how to prevent overflowing... short of donning the wetsuit and standing out in the rain sending your water to waste?

For those of you lucky to be getting Gustav, we have 2"-wide cracks in our yard -- please send rain!!

The only thing I can think of is if you know there's a storm coming your way, let some water out of the pool prior to when the storm hits, to make room for the rain! I had to do that once!

Yep, I did that about two weeks or so ago and even watched the radar closely before letting the water out! And then....the clouds hit the two lakes we live smack dab between and went completely around us! Had to go spend money to put water back in the pool.

There must be some very simple way to do this for AGPs and partially-buried AGPs!!

You could strap a small sump pump with float valve to the side of the pool or put it on the ladder/steps. Set it so that it comes on just before overflow and shuts off at the normal water level of the pool.

HTH,
Adam

Hi launboy! I knew you'd find your way over here...eventually!

That sounds doable. Does the sump pump come on automatically? We just rented one from Home Depot, but had to manually turn it on/off. If there's one that comes on automatically, then we have extra plug-ins at our pool equipment and could set it there.

Thanks for the help.

Yeap, I found my way. Learned a lot here and switched to bleach with a CYA of 60 from using Tri-chlor all summer.

Now I'm in the process of building and installing my own IG spa. Check out the thread in the Build/Repair section.

The way I see it, there is two easy ways to automatically drain the pool. One is to get one of these (they can be found cheaper):http://store.waterpumpsupply.com/120vvermecac.html and attach it to the side of the ladder. This switch can be used with any pump you already have.

The other way is to get this type of pump. http://petesdepot.com/401693.html The type of switch on this type of pump is important. You need one with a float that slides up and down a rod. The other type has a float that hangs from a wire attached to the pump. This type takes a bigger difference to turn on and off. The type with the rod can be adjusted to turn on when the water only rises an inch or two.

HTH,
Adam