New to site, with questions and looking for answers

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jborowicz

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Jun 5, 2016
5
Belvidere, IL
My husband and I have had our pool for the past couple of years. And honestly, my husband HATES it, and that is an understatement. He actually wishes the ground would open up and sink it South. But that is pretty much because we can't quite seem to get it to be very little maintenance and always open with problems, no matter how clean it is when we close it late in the season.

Right now, we seem to be at an impasse with algae. It is beating us down. We have put over 28 gal of liquid shock in, a bottle of Algae killer, and several packages of Super Shock and Superfloc once it went cloudy white...only to have the green come back (my husband swears a male and female were hiding somewhere waiting). We have had our water tested several times, and even the people testing are confused because we have a chemically PERFECT pool. The temp is perfect here, not too hot. So we are really confused. But I hold out hope that we are close to finally getting it under control. We are going to vacuum again today...and hopefully get the rest out.

But I think our pump is what causes us the most concern. We have a 2 speed pump by Hayward. We got it when the pool was installed in 2013. And since the day we got it, we have ran it on high. Now the Great Escape tells us that this pool is a 2hp/2.25hp pump, but I do not believe that at all. Because when we run it on low, it only gets about 5psi. And when it is on high (which is what they have told us to run it on 24/7) it gets about 20psi. Obviously, the low is NOT only .25 hp lower. So we are curious, since running it at 24/7 causes our electric bill to skyrocket (another reason my husband wishes it would float away) every month, should we run it on low, only a few hours a day, or both? I will say that we have NO IDEA what the GPM is for the pump, but the sand filter is 25.

I am really interested in what everyone has to say...I am holding out hope that the Algae problem is gone, so I would like to really address the pump first. Thank you and have a good season everyone!

Julie
 
Hi Julie and welcome to TFP! :wave: One thing's for sure .. your algae problem is caused by a chemical imbalance and not the pump. You should be able to run your pump on low for the majority of the day and only need to increase to high for vacuuming/sweeping, mixing chemicals, or when you have swimmers over if you want.

As for the chemicals, please, please, please stop buying pool store junk. They are sucking your checkbook dry and not working (which you already know). The key to clean water is the Chlorine/CYA Chart (link below). When that goes out of balance, the water changes. So how do you know if your FC and CYA are balanced? The proper test kit. Please go to the TF-100 link below in my sig. That's what you want. The TF-100 (XL Option) and speed stir. You will need that test kit to perform a "SLAM" (also below) and monitor those test levels. Its very easy to test your own water. While you may not like the idea of spending any more money right now, it will save you money in the long run.

So for now, don't add anything else to your water except regular liquid bleach. About 1/2 gallon per day it all. When you get your test kit, post those results for us and we'll help you change the water back to clear so you two can enjoy the poo the way it was designed. Nice to have you with us.
 
Hi, Julie,
Welcome to the forum. :wave:

We see a thousand post a year that could be carbon copies of yours. The problem is really pretty simple.....you are trusting pool store advice and that advice is bogus.

If you choose to do this,​ you can learn to manage your pool quite simply by following the education you will get here. Do you have to buy anything? Actually, yes. You cannot do what we ask with an ordinary test kit.....honest, without the kit, you will be spinning your wheels and probably end up running back to the pool store for more junk.

Please start by reading "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School. if that makes sense to you (and you want to learn) take the plunge and order the kit you need. We'll be here every step of the way and your frustration will quickly turn to understanding and then to knowledge and knowledge is power.

What we teach is rock solid science presented simply and clearly....you'll never go in the pool store again.

I am sorry for not addressing your questions about the pump. As TS posts, the pump is NOT the issue. It seems to be functioning fine based on the numbers you report. Your chemistry is the problem with your pool.
 
Best investment I ever made concerning my pool was supporting this site and buying a proper test kit. (TF100) When I was "pool storing" my numbers were always bad and that in turn cost me a bunch of money. More than the price of a good test kit. Since I've been TFP'er my water has only needed minor adjustments a couple times a season. The pool store advice had me chasing my tail constantly. Read and read again the great articles here, grab a good kit and you will be a believer, too.
 
Hello everyone! Thanks for responding so quickly. Today, we went to a different pool store (yes, I hear the groans...I heard them all the way there from my hubby too) and we picked up a taylor pool test kit, I don't know much but I do know that it isn't the sticks we were using. We did have our water tested again today, and again the tests came back that our water was perfectly balanced. PH was 7.5, chlorine 3.7, CYA 36, alkalinity 165.

So our pool is still a little cloudy, but we got in it today and vacuumed it out, and while it does still have a slight green tinge to it (according to my son who was all too willing to go under water with his goggles), we did shock it again and added some clarifier.

So does the test kit that we bought today, will that work? It does test for Chlorine (total & free), Ph, Alkalinity, & CYA.

I guess my question about the pump wasn't very clear. I know the pump isn't causing the problem, my problem with the pump is since I can not find ANY information on it whatsoever I do not know how many GPM it does and if we should be running it on high or low...we were told run it 24/7 on high. But, I am wondering could low work even if the psi is only 5? We are running it on low right now and it seems to be moving the water just beautifully, although a lot calmer!

I await your answers to my questions. I will definitely check out the above suggestions. Thank you!

Julie
 
Hi Pat,

My husband would like to know if we aren't ever going to need to go to the pool store again, where are we supposed to get our chemicals? I am liking the idea of not needing to shop often (I am the one that HATES shopping in the family) but does this mean we will be purchasing chemicals from online sources?

Also, before we saw your post we purchased a Taylor testing kit. I do not think it is the one you posted above, but will it work? I gave our readings in a post below.

Thanks again!

Julie
 
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