Hi folks,
For a bit of an intro, we've owned our pool for one year after moving out to rural Ontario. First year was a total disaster. Lost the pool to a green invasion for a month or so in prime swimming season, and struggled to get/keep it clear ever after. Pool shop was no help. At all. I took a sample in and they ran it through what can only be described as an 'extortion machine'.
The printout was 2 pages, with about 8 different chemicals and processes to follow. $200+ later, I dutifully put that cocktail in the pool over a few days per instructions and struggled after that to maintain any clarity. Discovered the filter required attention as well.. the filter paper was basically a blue colour, and as I now know, 25+ psi across the filter is too high!
The pool shop had never seen anything like it. My best guess at this point is that the filters had been clogged with paint. When I brushed the bottom of the pool it would kind of chalk up as a blue cloud of very fine dust suspension. Don't know if that was related to the chemical abuse last year. Anyway, we replaced the filter cartridges, and this year it's been better, much less blue cloud when brushing, though still some blue-toe on bathers (kind of embarassing).
So this year, I stumbled upon this forum, which I can already see is a huge resource.. so thanks in advance, simply for your existence!
I've purchased a Taylor K-2006 due to the forum advice, and I've used it twice so far. Most recently I ran it with the following results yesterday evening:
FC: 1.6 (8 drops @ 0.2ppm/drop)
CC: 0.2 (1 drop @ 0.2ppm/drop)
pH: 7.4 to 7.5
TA: 80 (8 drops = 80 ppm)
CH: 625! (25 drops @ small volume ratio)
CYA: 35-40ppm (dot was maybe slightly visible at 40)
I'm finding algae begins after only a short couple of days of inaction on my part. When that happens I typically have been shocking with a powdered shock (I can post the exact product if it's of interest). I've been vacuuming the algae 'colonies' with the brush vacuum and hosing the filters down manually afterward when the pressure drop gets to around 20-25psi (what a pain!). It doesn't take long to get up there from baseline of about 10psi after cleaning. People here have said they barely ever have to clean the cartridges, so my having to do it once a week feels high. The filters are a hint blue, indicating to me that the pool paint has been chalking off at least a little bit. Water will look great for a couple days, but soon they'll be back covering the concrete in green spots.
So all of that to ask a couple questions:
1) what should I do next with the water to best enjoy the rest of the season?
2) And what should I do for re-surfacing the pool so it's not coming off into the water.
We're looking at doing the resurfacing job after the end of this season, or potentially before next season (I'm a bit afraid of floating the pool when empty). Putting it off because we're on well-water for topping it off and couldn't support a complete re-fill from the well. Will take ~$900 for a water truck to deliver our 17,000 gal.
In any case, I've already learned so much, from reading the forum, so many thanks to all of you!
Cheers,
Justin
PS: I'll post a photo of the pool in current state soon for people to gawk at.
For a bit of an intro, we've owned our pool for one year after moving out to rural Ontario. First year was a total disaster. Lost the pool to a green invasion for a month or so in prime swimming season, and struggled to get/keep it clear ever after. Pool shop was no help. At all. I took a sample in and they ran it through what can only be described as an 'extortion machine'.
The printout was 2 pages, with about 8 different chemicals and processes to follow. $200+ later, I dutifully put that cocktail in the pool over a few days per instructions and struggled after that to maintain any clarity. Discovered the filter required attention as well.. the filter paper was basically a blue colour, and as I now know, 25+ psi across the filter is too high!
The pool shop had never seen anything like it. My best guess at this point is that the filters had been clogged with paint. When I brushed the bottom of the pool it would kind of chalk up as a blue cloud of very fine dust suspension. Don't know if that was related to the chemical abuse last year. Anyway, we replaced the filter cartridges, and this year it's been better, much less blue cloud when brushing, though still some blue-toe on bathers (kind of embarassing).So this year, I stumbled upon this forum, which I can already see is a huge resource.. so thanks in advance, simply for your existence!
I've purchased a Taylor K-2006 due to the forum advice, and I've used it twice so far. Most recently I ran it with the following results yesterday evening:
FC: 1.6 (8 drops @ 0.2ppm/drop)
CC: 0.2 (1 drop @ 0.2ppm/drop)
pH: 7.4 to 7.5
TA: 80 (8 drops = 80 ppm)
CH: 625! (25 drops @ small volume ratio)
CYA: 35-40ppm (dot was maybe slightly visible at 40)
I'm finding algae begins after only a short couple of days of inaction on my part. When that happens I typically have been shocking with a powdered shock (I can post the exact product if it's of interest). I've been vacuuming the algae 'colonies' with the brush vacuum and hosing the filters down manually afterward when the pressure drop gets to around 20-25psi (what a pain!). It doesn't take long to get up there from baseline of about 10psi after cleaning. People here have said they barely ever have to clean the cartridges, so my having to do it once a week feels high. The filters are a hint blue, indicating to me that the pool paint has been chalking off at least a little bit. Water will look great for a couple days, but soon they'll be back covering the concrete in green spots.
So all of that to ask a couple questions:
1) what should I do next with the water to best enjoy the rest of the season?
2) And what should I do for re-surfacing the pool so it's not coming off into the water.
We're looking at doing the resurfacing job after the end of this season, or potentially before next season (I'm a bit afraid of floating the pool when empty). Putting it off because we're on well-water for topping it off and couldn't support a complete re-fill from the well. Will take ~$900 for a water truck to deliver our 17,000 gal.
In any case, I've already learned so much, from reading the forum, so many thanks to all of you!
Cheers,
Justin
PS: I'll post a photo of the pool in current state soon for people to gawk at.
