Howdy!
First out of the gate say I swore I'd never have a pool after the one my parents had and I was responsible for trying to maintain. It was the pool from Hades (if anyone cares, I'll do a follow up post about that devil of a pool), but I have come around and bought a house with a pool in Texas. The previous owner appears to have bought high end stuff, but I'm trying to figure out how to maintain a pool properly. For the first month we had a "free" pool service as a hold over from the previous owners. They are both expensive and annoyed me by not following the directions I gave them after reading through this sites pool school.
Here were my starting stats on the first day, 5/27:
FC = 8
TC = 8
CYA = 120
pH = 7.2
Calcium Hardness = 500
TotAlk = 90
I asked the pool guy to cut out whatever he was using to stabilize the pool, told him I wanted CYA around 50. He told me that is unacceptable unless "you have a saltwater pool". So he finished his last free week last week and I didn't continue his services.
Cut to last monday and we had a massive downpour that overwhelmed our drains and washed a lot of dirt into my pool. I added alum and vac'd to waste the next day and had it back to looking like nothing happened in 48 hours. That dumping to waste also helped me fix my CYA and CH levels. Today's stats:
FC = 2
TC = 2
CYA = 45
pH = 7.5
Calcium Hardness = 250
I know I need to get the FC up, is the best way to use strong bleach? I have some round tablets, but read that will make my CYA issue bad again. Right now the pool is clear. I have fought with what the pool guy called "stains" but that I could brush off with a wire brush. It doesn't feel like algae but could be, it has a slight greenish color to it. It's been showing up on shallow steps since I bought the house.
Lastly are the massive calcium deposits on the tile by the spa (that is my pool as my avy). I haven't tested to see if it is carbonate or silicate, guess I need to get some muriatic acid. The pool guy offered to "dump some acid on those" to clear em up "but that might destroy your tile". Seriously, that company needs to stop using that pool guy. I plan on taking a pumice stone to them. I'll snap some pictures next time I'm outside in the sun. They are pretty thick and look like my pool is growing stalactites.
Anyways, wanted to say hello and put down my stats and see if anything looks or sounds out of the ordinary. Added what I think are the relevant stats to my sig, let me know if I should add anything else. Thanks!
First out of the gate say I swore I'd never have a pool after the one my parents had and I was responsible for trying to maintain. It was the pool from Hades (if anyone cares, I'll do a follow up post about that devil of a pool), but I have come around and bought a house with a pool in Texas. The previous owner appears to have bought high end stuff, but I'm trying to figure out how to maintain a pool properly. For the first month we had a "free" pool service as a hold over from the previous owners. They are both expensive and annoyed me by not following the directions I gave them after reading through this sites pool school.
Here were my starting stats on the first day, 5/27:
FC = 8
TC = 8
CYA = 120
pH = 7.2
Calcium Hardness = 500
TotAlk = 90
I asked the pool guy to cut out whatever he was using to stabilize the pool, told him I wanted CYA around 50. He told me that is unacceptable unless "you have a saltwater pool". So he finished his last free week last week and I didn't continue his services.
Cut to last monday and we had a massive downpour that overwhelmed our drains and washed a lot of dirt into my pool. I added alum and vac'd to waste the next day and had it back to looking like nothing happened in 48 hours. That dumping to waste also helped me fix my CYA and CH levels. Today's stats:
FC = 2
TC = 2
CYA = 45
pH = 7.5
Calcium Hardness = 250
I know I need to get the FC up, is the best way to use strong bleach? I have some round tablets, but read that will make my CYA issue bad again. Right now the pool is clear. I have fought with what the pool guy called "stains" but that I could brush off with a wire brush. It doesn't feel like algae but could be, it has a slight greenish color to it. It's been showing up on shallow steps since I bought the house.
Lastly are the massive calcium deposits on the tile by the spa (that is my pool as my avy). I haven't tested to see if it is carbonate or silicate, guess I need to get some muriatic acid. The pool guy offered to "dump some acid on those" to clear em up "but that might destroy your tile". Seriously, that company needs to stop using that pool guy. I plan on taking a pumice stone to them. I'll snap some pictures next time I'm outside in the sun. They are pretty thick and look like my pool is growing stalactites.
Anyways, wanted to say hello and put down my stats and see if anything looks or sounds out of the ordinary. Added what I think are the relevant stats to my sig, let me know if I should add anything else. Thanks!
