Recent content by dobber

I come home this morning, turn on the filter, and see water waves coming out of my north skimmer. I know it has to be a critter, as I have had squirrels, rabbits, toads, frogs, and field mice. I pop the lid off of my skimmer and see a black and white tail: SKUNK! It was still alive, and tried to...

Dumb question of the day: when doing the OCLT, is it necessary to run the pump?

If my pool is completely in the shade, no direct sunlight, but the sun hasn't completely set yet, can I still take my sample for the OCLT? I don't have to wait for it to get dark do I? And if I take the morning sample 7 hours later, is that long enough? I work 3rd shift and was going to take...

Just got done testing: FC = 5 CC = 0 PH = 6.8 still aerating CYA = should be approaching 60, still dissolving stabilizer TA = 80 CH = 80 Water is crystal clear, I just hadn't encountered any granular film on the sides before this spring. I mainly added muriatic acid to get TA down, not so...

Pool is 10 years old and I cannot recall having an invisible fine grit like substance on the walls of my pool this spring upon opening. I got in it yesterday with a cleaning mitt and wiped the walls, steps, seats clean. Brushing it wouldn't take it off, but cleaning mitt and "elbow grease" did...

using the water balance for SWG pools, I lowered the TA to 80-90, but my ph is currently 6.8-7.0 I have the SWG running and a sump pump sitting on the steps shooting water up and breaking the surface. I have been doing this for a couple of days, should I just wait for my ph to creep up? FC =...

A big Texas thank you to Texas Splash for all your advice. My water is now crystal clear thanks to my first deep clean of a sand filter and a little DE cocktail added to the filter. We are off and running to another pool season. Thanks to all who make this site the best. My question now is...

Our pool was installed in the fall of 2006, what is a "deep clean" of a sand filter? Please educate me, oh "wise one"...

Thank you for the quick response Splash. I did a regular SLAM with low CYA (0-20) FC in the teens but still cloudy water after a week or so. The PH reading was when I started the SLAM. Here are today's current readings compliments of my wonderful TF100 test kit: FC 31 CC .5 PH 7.8 TA 100...

I am currently slamming my pool due to suspected mustard algae (again). A couple of years ago I had mustard algae which brought me to this wonderful site. Now I suspect it again and am using knowledge acquired from this site and learned from that last time what to do. Question 1: I started the...

I get my 12.5% liquid chlorine from Menards, $3.99 a gallon and they have plenty!

I have discovered 2-3 small pinholes in the liner above the water line in one corner of my pool. The liner is 7 years old. Is there a vinyl liner tape (clear or colored) that I can purchase to cover this area and make the liner last another year or 2? Thank you TFP community, dobber

I did scrub and brush everything daily and soaked every pool tool for an hour at mustard shock level. With the TF-100 and the chart, I can now maintain the FC where it should be instead of the "test strip guess" in regards to levels. At age 56, this old dog sure learned some new tricks during...

A big thank you is in order for all the help with my shock process and the eradication of mustard algae. My pool passed the OCLT on Sunday morning. Increased to mustard algae shock for 24 hours and with your help, won the battle. Thank you especially to jblizzle and chem geek for the advice. I...

I took the water level down 8 inches. Adding CYA and salt is easier than getting rid of them. I'll gladly take on that challenge if I could ever kill this algae and pass the OCLT! That is my first and only goal, to eradicate the algae and then take what I've learned in this whole process to...