Hello… I’m a new pool owner and thanks to troublefreepool.com I am close to having everything under control, I think… However, I still have some questions. Here they are:
Sorry for the lengthy post! I greatly appreciate any inputs!
- CYA was through the roof 100+, I think the pool was on tablets for the longest time, and I started to see some algae growth. I drained the pool almost entirely in order to lower CYA and CH, which also was ridiculously high at ~800. After this I have been monitoring CC and have performed the overnight chlorine drop test a couple of times. I always seem to have a CC of 0.5 and the overnight chlorine drop was roughly 1, but I suspect it could be more (see second question). I’m questioning if I should slam the pool?
- I performed the Chlorine DPD Test three consecutive times and got slightly different results. First got 5.5, then 4.5 and then 5 (so I took 5 as the measurement for my overnight chlorine drop test for which I got 4 the next morning, hence my doubts if the drop was 1 or more). So my question is related to the amount of powder that needs to be added for the test. The instructions refer to a “heaping scoop”, how big of a heap I need? Does it really matter?
- Bees… Seems like I have a bee problem. In the Arizona desert they like my pool as a water source (specially the little water than drops from the spa into the pool when the pump is not running). At first I didn’t want to kill them but sometimes I think there may be 30 or more, which started to worry me, mainly because I have small children. Many of them also end up dead in the pool which add more unwanted organic matter. Any recommendations?
- Air bubbles… One (and seems like only one) return continuously throws several small air bubbles. I have been looking at the plumbing and there are – very – small water leaks by the pump inlet and what I believe it is a water temperature sensor, doubt this would be causing the air bubbles but I’m mentioning it just in case. I believe the problem could be the pool vac hoses; I have a very worn down Hayward Navigator. I got a Hayward leaf canister (model W350) for the vac and it keeps filling up with air; the bubble are there with or without the canister though. I have also noticed portions of the hose are always floating and have removed air from some of the joints. I have also purged air from the filter repeatedly (I took the filter apart, cleaned and converted to cellulose, I have the impression I didn't see as many bubbles before cleaning the filter but I may be wrong and the filter seems to be working fine, no leaks... although pressure seems rather low at 8 PSI). My questions are: What’s the most likely cause? Could the air damage the system or pump? Should I consider this as urgent? (I am looking to fix the water leaks soon and may be getting a new variable speed pump)
- Any recommendations for an automatic chlorine dispenser? Don’t want to use tablets due to CYA increase. Looked at the Hasa Liquidator but not sure if it is worth it.
Sorry for the lengthy post! I greatly appreciate any inputs!
