A Canadian Please and Thank you!!

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nidamer

0
Bronze Supporter
May 30, 2016
68
Toronto/Ontario/Canada
Hey folks,


I am so thrilled to have found TFP. I took a brief look at some of the posts and I already can see how much help is being offered. We moved to our house last August and closed the pool a month later because it quickly turned green and it soon became obvious we were getting nowhere fixing the problem following the pool store advice. Now we have to reopen it again and as you can guess I am in full panic about it. My two daughters were so disappointed that they had no chance to try the pool before we closed it last year so no pressure now.


Further to the info I added in my signature, here are a few things that I think might help you get an idea of our situation:


- Location wise,we are around Toronto, Ontario an hour drive from Niagara Falls
- We are bringing a pool company to open the pool after a few days on Thursday. The cover is still on the pool but I already know it will be very green.
- I will send test results on Friday after the opening.


In the meantime, I hope you can help me with these few questions:
- Can you please point me to a list of basic pool maintenance essentials that I have to make sure I have as a minimum? I am not sure I have everything I need and I do not know what I am missing.
- The filters are very dirty. We ran them all through September without cleaning while trying to clear the green pool several times. What is the best way to clean them? Just hosing them seems to be doing little.
- Are there any materials I should buy or any steps I should be doing the next few days in preperation for the pool opening?
- Also once opened, should I go ahead and immediately top it up with fresh water and then test the water or should I do any steps before adding the new water?
- Sidewalk is also dirty. Should I try to clean it with the pressure washer before the opening or should I wait till after?
- As I mentioned, we have several trees above the pool and nowadays in the springtime seem to have way too many droppings (similar to fall time). Is there a way to reduce the impact to the pool from these droppings?


Any other advice that you think I should be seeking is also very appreciated.


Sorry for the long post -- in summary -- I REALLY NEED YOUR HELP!! THANK YOU!


Cheers!
 
Hello and welcome to TFP! :wave: Let's get right to your questions shall we?
Can you please point me to a list of basic pool maintenance essentials that I have to make sure I have as a minimum? I am not sure I have everything I need and I do not know what I am missing.
Click to expand...
You need a test kit that can test FC, CC, CYA, pH, TA and CH. The TF-100 (link below) is one I recommend. If you can't get that one shipped to your area, try to obtain the Taylor K-2006C (make sure to get the C model) from one of the following:
For Canadians Who Need Taylor Products Try:
A place that sells Taylor test kits and reagents in Canada is “Water & Ice North America Inc” in Cambridge ON.
Commercial Swimming Pool Supply. They also have a branch in Nova Scotia. (902) 883-9120
Also try: Aquatech Logistics at Aquatech Logistics Inc. 1-888-624-0919
Click to expand...
The filters are very dirty. We ran them all through September without cleaning while trying to clear the green pool several times. What is the best way to clean them? Just hosing them seems to be doing little.
Click to expand...
Cartridge filers are normally just sprayed wit a high-pressure nozzle and garden hose. Very dirty filters can be cleaned with some TSP from the hardware store. But don't bother yet until you "SLAM" the pool (link below) to remove algae. A green pool will clog filters fast anyways.
Are there any materials I should buy or any steps I should be doing the next few days in preparation for the pool opening?
Click to expand...
You need that test kit - the TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C. That's #1. You will need lots of regular bleach (chlorine) to resolve the algae issue, but you don't have to buy it now.
Also once opened, should I go ahead and immediately top it up with fresh water and then test the water or should I do any steps before adding the new water?
Click to expand...
Yes, top off the water level, let it mix for about 30 minutes or so, then test the water and start adjusting levels. Focus on FC, CYA, and pH first.
Sidewalk is also dirty. Should I try to clean it with the pressure washer before the opening or should I wait till after?
Click to expand...
Do it now if possible
As I mentioned, we have several trees above the pool and nowadays in the springtime seem to have way too many droppings (similar to fall time). Is there a way to reduce the impact to the pool from these droppings?
Click to expand...
Use a "Skimmer sock". A small disposal netting material we place in the poolside skimmer(s) to catch fine debris before it gets to the main filter.
 
Welcome to TFP. You've got a bit of work ahead of you, and if you follow the advice here, the amount of maintenance will go down to a minimum later and your pool will be safe and sparkling.

If I were you, I would order some extra testing supplies right away for your K2006 test kit. (unless you bought the K2006C which has more)
R-0870 DPD Powder (10 grams)
R-0871 FAS Titrating Reagent 60 ml (2 oz)
R-0013 Cyanuric Acid 60 ml (2 oz)
Otherwise you could easily run out in the middle of cleaning up your pool, and you'll need these in the long run anyway.

Good luck with the cleanup. :)
 
Hello again!

Thank you very much for the quick replies and the welcome. I appreciate the advice.

I believe what I ordered was the regular K2006 test kit. Though I could be wrong as it says Complete so not sure if the C is just short for Complete. It states

  • Includes .75 oz reagent bottles.
  • Uses FAS-DPD Comparator.
  • Chlorine kit.
So I might be in luck. What do you think? Otherwise, I will go ahead and buy the extra supplies mentioned above. Looks like the TF-100 is not available in Canada unfortunately.

As for cleaning the filters. Won't cleaning them now before opening, accelerate the SLAM because the filters will have higher capacity to clean? I have no experience with this so I'm not sure if what I said even makes any sense. I read at the following link that I can use TPS and then afterwards with muriatic acid:
Unicel - Clearly the Best - Unicel is the nation's leading manufacturer of swimming pool filter replacement cartridges. Finding the exact filter cartridge you need is easy.

Any thoughts on this? Even if not for now, how about using this method for later.

Thank again folks. As mentioned before, I will post test results this Friday.
 
Excellent, SLAM starts after opening. Going with TFPC is a wise decision, so don't let the pool opening people talk you into putting anything in the water. If they're offering free chemicals included in the opening price, grab them and post pics in case any are suitable, but if need be, make up an excuse why they can't put them in. "Gotta run now, but thanks. I want to read the bags first" or something like that.
 
Excellent, SLAM starts after opening. Going with TFPC is a wise decision, so don't let the pool opening people talk you into putting anything in the water. If they're offering free chemicals included in the opening price, grab them and post pics in case any are suitable, but if need be, make up an excuse why they can't put them in. "Gotta run now, but thanks. I want to read the bags first" or something like that.

You can start shopping for chlorinating liquid, I'm guessing you already have.

Generic bleach or branded, NOT scented or splashless. Try for 10% but not less than 8% sodium hypochlorite. Down here, chlorine from the pool store is just as cheap, so possibly in Canada too? You should be able to get 12.5% (sometimes written as 125 g/L). The higher the % the less you have to lug around. You're paying for chlorine only, so a slightly higher price on 12.5% is same cost as the lower %s sometimes.
 

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Hi again,

Here is the update so far. Opened the pool today. I thought the pool guys were very good. The pool water actually did not look nearly as bad as I had expected. It is very dirty in the bottom but the water is more of foggy and murky than green. I saw green water before we closed the pool last year and this is nothing like it. So I hope that is good news.

I am still topping the water and it will not reach level till late night so I will not make the tests till tomorrow. I did however figure out the pool size. I did it a couple different ways and both came out at about 21,000 gallons. I also did a quick test with some test strips I found around left by the old owner. Not sure how reliable but here they are anyway:
pH:8.4
Free Chlorine: 0
Total Alkalinity: 120
Stabilizer: Low

Note however that the pool company did manage to put in 2.5 gallons of liquid chlorine. That was my mistake. Also some chlorine pucks were added to the inline chlorinator.

Couple of questions:
1. Should I turn on the filter over night even before testing and SLAMing?
2. Should I do anything now until I test and post the results? Maybe try to lower pH?
3. I am told the heater is not working and I should call for gas service. Are there any basic checks to make before calling for help?
4. I saw in the local store some powered pool vacumes (please see link). Are these worth it? Manually vacuuming was not working very well for me and I am not yet ready to invest in a proper pool cleaning robot. Pool Blaster Max Battery Powered Pool Vacuum | Canadian Tire

Thanks a bunch!
 
Couple of questions:
Click to expand...
You asked more than a couple questions. Bwwhaaahaaa! :)
1. Should I turn on the filter over night even before testing and SLAMing?
Click to expand...
If you can keep the water moving and circulating even a little bleach for now that would be great..... IF you are sure the filter won't clog or pressure get too high.
2. Should I do anything now until I test and post the results? Maybe try to lower pH?
Click to expand...
Circulate bleach if possible, and yes .. at least test pH with your kit. 5 drops of reagent is all - quick and easy. Add muriatic acid if necessary. You need the pH down to about 7.2.
3. I am told the heater is not working and I should call for gas service. Are there any basic checks to make before calling for help?
Click to expand...
Sorry, I don't have a heater. Maybe the others will have a suggestion.
4. I saw in the local store some powered pool vacuums (please see link). Are these worth it? Manually vacuuming was not working very well for me and I am not yet ready to invest in a proper pool cleaning robot. Pool Blaster Max Battery Powered Pool Vacuum | Canadian Tire
Click to expand...
Here are some discussions:
Pool blaster vac.
The Pool Blaster Catfish review??
Poolblaster
 
Hey Splash, you caught me. I noticed that too after I posted. I think my original intent was a couple but then kept going. I know you guys will pass it for me.

Thanks for the quick answers! Much appreciated! When you say circulate bleach, you mean keep the pump going with the 2.5 gallons of chlorine that were added, right? Please let me know if otherwise.
 
I need some help with the testing please. FC is 1 PPM. However CC seems very high so far at 26PPM and the sample still has not turned to colorless from pink. Should I keep going with adding the R-0003 drops or should I stop? Is it possible I am doing something wrong? Water is cloudy but definitely not green. Thanks
 
Ok here are the results so far FC 1PPM, CC >30PPM, pH 7.0, Base Demand Test required 3 drops and CYA test never made the dot in the bottom disappear, the mix is not cloudy at all (very clear even after mixing for 30 seconds).

Where do we go from here? Should I test the remaining tests?
 

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