Hi all,
Just joined the forum. This is an incredible resource and I will certainly be a supporter soon. I'm essentially hoping to get "what's next" kind of help or discovering where I've already gone wrong.
We recently purchased a house and it included a nice pool. Conceptually, anyway, since it (like the house) had been neglected. It also came with a cat stuck in a tree, which we adopted, but I digress.
I've already purchased a K-2006 test kit and had a pool company come out and open it. Yes, opening a pool in NW Ohio at the end of June is a sad tale. The pool was quite green and I had no idea where to start hence the pool company. According to the bill they put about 8 gallons of some kind of shock/bleach, vacuumed it quite well, etc. It was left blue but very cloudy and I couldn't see the deep end. Wanted to try to take it from there.
After going through Pool School and reviewed Pool Math, I started measuring levels and have progressed as follows. Not guarantying all measurements were done correctly but I tried to be very careful.
Sunday:
Monday
Tuesday 6 AM
Tuesday 7 PM
Tuesday 11 PM
Filter is running 24/7. Will measure in the morning to see how much FC I've lost. Need to measure CYA and CH as well.
Now I'm wondering about next steps.
1) If FC is 3-4, do I just focus on raising pH a bit and verifying CYA and CH are acceptable? If not, I guess I plan on getting it back to shock level.
2) At what point am I putting something in the 940/Chrorinator?
3) The pressure gauge on the sand filter doesn't work; I assume this is fairly standard to replace.
4) I don't have a dedicated suction port so I'm thinking of a robot with a top-loading cartridge ASAP.
If you've made it through this whole post, I thank you. The forum rules said to be detailed so I obliged.
As an essential reference, attached is the cat.
Just joined the forum. This is an incredible resource and I will certainly be a supporter soon. I'm essentially hoping to get "what's next" kind of help or discovering where I've already gone wrong.
We recently purchased a house and it included a nice pool. Conceptually, anyway, since it (like the house) had been neglected. It also came with a cat stuck in a tree, which we adopted, but I digress.
I've already purchased a K-2006 test kit and had a pool company come out and open it. Yes, opening a pool in NW Ohio at the end of June is a sad tale. The pool was quite green and I had no idea where to start hence the pool company. According to the bill they put about 8 gallons of some kind of shock/bleach, vacuumed it quite well, etc. It was left blue but very cloudy and I couldn't see the deep end. Wanted to try to take it from there.
After going through Pool School and reviewed Pool Math, I started measuring levels and have progressed as follows. Not guarantying all measurements were done correctly but I tried to be very careful.
Sunday:
- FC 0
- pH 7.8
- TA 30
- CH 175
- CYA 0 (dot was easily visible even when filled to the top)
Monday
- Backwashed
- A visit to Menards for 12.5% @ $1.77, Sam's Club for Baking Soda and Walmart to address CH+CYA
- Added 3 bottles 12.5%; measured 2-3 hours later (around 11pm)
- FC 7
Tuesday 6 AM
- Water is super clear! I can see the bottom. Needs vacuumed.
- FC 6
- pH 7.9
- TA 50
- CH 200
- Added pH reducer (too much, it turns out)
Tuesday 7 PM
- FC 1
- pH 7.1
- TA 30
- CH 200
- Added 13 lbs baking soda (easing into it, learning from my earlier mistake)
- Added HTH stabilizer
- Added HTH calcium
- Added 1 bottle 12.5%
- Brushed the bottom to push dirt into the bottom drain and to ensure I couldn't see any baking soda or other additives just sitting around.
Tuesday 11 PM
- FC 4
- CC 0.5
- pH 7.2
- TA 100
Filter is running 24/7. Will measure in the morning to see how much FC I've lost. Need to measure CYA and CH as well.
Now I'm wondering about next steps.
1) If FC is 3-4, do I just focus on raising pH a bit and verifying CYA and CH are acceptable? If not, I guess I plan on getting it back to shock level.
2) At what point am I putting something in the 940/Chrorinator?
3) The pressure gauge on the sand filter doesn't work; I assume this is fairly standard to replace.
4) I don't have a dedicated suction port so I'm thinking of a robot with a top-loading cartridge ASAP.
Need to convince the wife she can handle loading/unloading/cleaning it since she's a teacher and off during the summer.
People seem happy with Dolphin but their product page is a maze. I've seen people praise the S300i. For a pool this size, it may not be overkill.
People seem happy with Dolphin but their product page is a maze. I've seen people praise the S300i. For a pool this size, it may not be overkill.
If you've made it through this whole post, I thank you. The forum rules said to be detailed so I obliged.
As an essential reference, attached is the cat.