Recent content by DWSPool

"EDIT: OOPS. I made a boo-boo. A BTU raises one pound of water one degree, not a gallon! Multiply the cost by 7.5" Richard, did you mean to convert from gallons to pounds? If so, the conversion is 8.25 lbs/gallon - you may have been thinking conversion of cubic feet to gallons, multiplying...

Regarding Aldi bleach: I used it quite a bit last year and had no problems - as long as the chlorine level in your pool goes up roughly according to the pool calculator, it should be fine. All bleach has a shelf life, but the bottom line, are you getting your free chlorine level to the point...

We had an outbreak of mustard algae after I let the chlorine level get too low (< 2, I believe); got it up to mustard shock level for 24 hrs - then when the chlorine came down to normal levels, another outbreak - I did not pull the pool light out and clean the cavity the first time shocking -...

Thanks for such quick responses! - good suggestions all - I will look into the channeling possibility first, but the gasket/o-ring on the main valve is aso a real possibility since this is an old filter and valve. The DE option is also a good suggestion - turns out, we have some of that lying...

I haven't posted here for a while because the information on this site is so thorough and accurate that I rarely have needed to ask questions. But, now I'm up against a lee shore. We are having a wedding at our house this coming weekend for my daughter, with 100+ folks coming from all over...

Rebecca - I would agree that simplest is best (and generally less expensive). Our pool's skimmer must not be as efficient as yours - we only have 1 skimmer and a deep end drain for a 25 K gallon pool. Lots of leaves get caught in the skimmer, but more eventually fall to the bottom and...

It seems there are two times of the year when we fight algae the most: in the spring and early summer when there is lots of pollen and "stuff" getting into the pool - and in early fall, when leaves fall in - I have to keep the chlorine especially high during these times. We used a leaf net last...

mustard algae = devil turds with a CYA of 70, chlorine to kill mustard algae will be very high; check the chorine/CYA chart.

Steve B: I don't think the Amur is the same carp that is taking over the Great Lakes. However, to emphasize, they are supposed to be sterile, so you need to buy from a licensed seller, if you decide to use the Amur fish. They have grown to be 4 feet long after a very long time in our pond...

Has your pond guy suggested grass carp? We have a spring-fed pond. My parents bought sterile grass carp (also called Amur fish) many years ago - they eat primarily algae. They have been effective for nearly 20 years - several are almost 4 feet in length now! Sometimes the algae will build...

A couple of years ago we were experiencing significant leakage through our aging vinyl liner, mainly at the corner where the vertical steel wall meets the vermiculite-bottomed slope in the deep end. It was difficult to see the leak because of the speckled liner pattern. Turns out it was slightly...

After our mesh loop-lock cover rotted away, I was looking for an economical (read, "cheap" ) way to keep leaves, branches, etc. out of our pool. Use a leaf net - it worked to some extent, but enough "stuff" worked its way down into the pool, that I had a week's worth of work to clear the greeen...

I've had a similar scenario as you this spring - a number of very warm days in early spring turned our pool into the emerald green swamp. I hooked up plumbing, got the circulation going, started shocking, etc. last Saturday. The water first turned light green, then deep cloudy blue, lighter...

oops! :oops: ... never mind..... Well, if I haven't totally lost my credibility, here is my two cents on partial drain: if you have obvious algae and dirt on the bottom, I think it would be best to vacuum as much of that to waste as possible, but replenish the water at the same time to keep...

Don't know if this is relevant or not, but this week I have been going through pool opening, shocking, etc., and during the FC test, the color change after adding the powder takes much longer to appear than in the summer - presumably due to cold water (about 58 F); then, immediately after...