Recent content by Smokeyhill

Follansbee water is drawn from a series of deep wells. We clean and/or replace shower heads and faucet aerators almost every year. It wreaks havoc on washing machines, dishwashers and ice makers too. Out of the tap our water is higher than the Taylor test can measure.

Sorry, I haven't logged test results in a long time. We have extraordinarily hard water. It's off the scale out of the tap so I can only say it's over 1000. To counter the scale and cloudiness I tend to keep the pH on the lower side, around 7.2, which is not hard as our water is naturally...

Hey folks, Is there a Taylor test kit similar to the 2006-c but doesn't include the calcium/hardness test? We have a vinyl pool and our CA measures off the chart right out of the tap. I don't need the chemicals so thought I might save some money if there was a kit that didn't include them. Thanks.

Done @Leebo. This place is awesome. FOUR DAYS from cover off to clear and balanced!

I'm not one for the latest apps on my phone, but I love the pool math app. I don't have to jot the test results down and go the PC and figure out what to do now. I can just plug it into the app and bingo, done deal. Thanks to all who had a hand in that little gem! Now if I could figure out how...

The pool is clear! Tint is completely gone. Final vacuum complete, FC is down to 12, CC is 0.0. Spring opening from cover off to SLAM complete in just FOUR days thanks to TFP!!!!!! Last year was my first year ever trying the TFP way. I've never had the pool clear in 4 days after opening. You...

Yesterday I tested the water early in the morning. FC holding at 16, CC at 0.5. I overshot pH which was at 7.0 (maybe a little lower) and is now 7.6-7.8. That's not a big issue though as our fill and rain water are acidic. My CA is off the charts high, as usual. My fill water tests off the...

Today I taught youngest daughter about balancing the water, which we did together. We vacuumed the pool, brushed everything down then started the spring SLAM. I should probably mention that youngest daughter is finishing her freshman year at college majoring in Veterinary Medicine. Talk about...

FINALLY!! My youngest daughter and I pulled the winter cover off, after scooping out gallons and gallons of nasty, stinky pond water and leaves. The pump and plumbing are installed and connected and the hose is in. There are some leaves in the pool from when the cover fell in over the winter...

You have electric under there. Put a heat trace on it. Or, put isolation valves in and disconnect the offending pipes for the winter so they cannot fill with water.

But...I don't have an Intex.

I was just reading a thread where a second return on an AGP was mentioned. I'm all for that! Where exactly would be the ideal place? Do you isolate the two for any reason? Is there a maximum depth? I would love to get better bottom circulation. Can I just add it a foot or so below the existing...

It's not as hard as you might think. I have leveled both of my pools (18' and the new 24') by hand using a roto-tiller and a shovel. It's a lot of work, but the process is simple: 1. Remove all of the sod. ALL OF IT. 2. Find the lowest spot in the pool area. To mark out the pool rough...