I am getting my pool going this year and have a few questions.
By the way Trouble Free Pool helped me keep my pool clean and sparkling all last summer!
The pool has been up for a week or so and I didn't do much outside of adding some chlorine because I had stashed my test kit away so good I couldn't find it. I have been adding bleach (about a 1/2 gallon) but missed the last few days as I was away and there was no one to maintain my pool.
So I tested my water today and came up with the following:
FC .5
CC 1 to 1.5
pH 6.8
TA 30
CYA 0
(Didn't test CH yet, but it is usually low 50 to 60ppm.)
I have added 1/2 gallon of bleach, 23 oz. by weight of Borax and put a sock with stabilizer of 28 oz. by weight in next to my skimmer basket.
I spent a couple hours with a friend who is going to be maintaining the pool while I am gone the next week (I leave in a day and a half). I want to be able to give her clear instructions on how to proceed over the next week.
My understanding is I need to check pH tomorrow to see if it has come up and I should wait a week to check CYA.
Now the questions:
Should I just keep putting in a 1/2 gallon of bleach until the pool has stabilized (pH and CYA are in right range), or should I go by my FC & CC test readings to determine how much bleach to add?
I understand I don't address the TA until the pH and CYA are stabilized, correct?
I also seem to not have much suction in my filter, does that mean my cartridge filter needs to be replaced? The water pressure is about the same as it was last year.
Last question! A friend's child was throwing sand in the pool and now I have a bunch of it in one place (say 3 or 4 cups of sand spread out on the bottom). I don't think I really want to vacuum it up into my filter, especially if the filter needs replacing. Any suggestions on how to get the sand out?
Thanks. I love Trouble Free Pool. It has taken what was a summer hassle with lots of guessing and uncertainty to a fairly easy process.
By the way Trouble Free Pool helped me keep my pool clean and sparkling all last summer!
The pool has been up for a week or so and I didn't do much outside of adding some chlorine because I had stashed my test kit away so good I couldn't find it. I have been adding bleach (about a 1/2 gallon) but missed the last few days as I was away and there was no one to maintain my pool.
So I tested my water today and came up with the following:
FC .5
CC 1 to 1.5
pH 6.8
TA 30
CYA 0
(Didn't test CH yet, but it is usually low 50 to 60ppm.)
I have added 1/2 gallon of bleach, 23 oz. by weight of Borax and put a sock with stabilizer of 28 oz. by weight in next to my skimmer basket.
I spent a couple hours with a friend who is going to be maintaining the pool while I am gone the next week (I leave in a day and a half). I want to be able to give her clear instructions on how to proceed over the next week.
My understanding is I need to check pH tomorrow to see if it has come up and I should wait a week to check CYA.
Now the questions:
Should I just keep putting in a 1/2 gallon of bleach until the pool has stabilized (pH and CYA are in right range), or should I go by my FC & CC test readings to determine how much bleach to add?
I understand I don't address the TA until the pH and CYA are stabilized, correct?
I also seem to not have much suction in my filter, does that mean my cartridge filter needs to be replaced? The water pressure is about the same as it was last year.
Last question! A friend's child was throwing sand in the pool and now I have a bunch of it in one place (say 3 or 4 cups of sand spread out on the bottom). I don't think I really want to vacuum it up into my filter, especially if the filter needs replacing. Any suggestions on how to get the sand out?
Thanks. I love Trouble Free Pool. It has taken what was a summer hassle with lots of guessing and uncertainty to a fairly easy process.