Newb here!
Last weekend I picked up an intex bathtub on an impulse buy. (I really should learn to control my impulses...)
Anyway, after about 45 minutes I started filling it with water. So much for the "Ready to fill in 10 minutes!" deal.
My little one was so excited I let him jump in. I made him get out 1 minute later, cause the water is nice 53 degrees out of the ground year round. I turned the pump on, and went to bed. The next morning, the water looked a little yellowish greenish brownish orangeish (How's that for a description!) When I got home from work on Monday, it looked the same. Took off to Wally World and got some hth shock stuff, did some math and shocked it according to instruction. Tuesday after work, the water looked the same. I removed the filter to find it clogged with rust. Which reminded me that we actually have really rusty water, but I had forgotten about it as I constantly feed the salt monster for the house water so there's no rust stains on our sinks.
I've been cleaning filters since, and the water is now clear. Not exactly crystal clear, but that white thing intex likes to call a pump is tryin' it's best! I stir up the bottom with a brush a few times a day.
Tuesday night, I found this place and have been going through pool school, and reading and searching these messages. So I have my wish list for Christmas this year. An SWG, new pump, and a taylor 2006 kit! I've also learned a lot of stuff that I'm doing, and probably shouldn't be doing... like tabs. But I have three, so I'm gonna use 'em! The one thing I didn't do is add stabilizer...
I'm not going to go too crazy with water testing this year as there's only maybe 2 or 2 1/2 months left until I drain the bathtub. I bought the HTH 6-way test... yup, I fell for it. But I didn't get any strips as I knew from high school chemistry class that those things are not all that accurate. Here's what I've gotten so far.
Monday before shock: PH 7.6
Tuesday eve: PH 7.6 Total Chlorine was 1ppm (Is that the same as FC? or am I way off...)
also added clarifier. Type is unknown as it's out there, and I'm in here.
Wed eve: PH 7.6 Chlorine was 1ppm
Thurs eve: same as wed
Friday 6pm: PH 7.8 Chlorine holding at 1ppm. I added some HTH "PH Minus" and I'm about to go check it shortly.
I haven't done a cya test, as there's only 2 tests in this silly kit I purchased. I'm happy with the water right now, so the water chemistry is not my issue. (I just digress often...)
I'm wondering about next year when I fill the bathtub again. I want to filter the water from the garden hose before it goes in. Since I'll have a new pump, could I use the little pump I have now with the cartridge? It only took 4 hours to fill the pool from the garden hose, so that's 425 gallons an hour from the hose... Little slower than the pump, might be an issue unless I can restrict the flow without blowing up the pump. Which in and of itself is no great loss and would probably make a good youtube video if I could get it to actually blow up.
I saw a filter that attached to the end of a hose somewhere, can't find it now to save my life... But it seemed aweful little and looked like it might clog up often with that amount of water.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks! Oh, and thanks to whoever put together the pool school! That thing is awesome! (I've yet to figure out who everyone is around here...)
The best part of having this bathtub is that I can turn off the A/C in the house, and about an hour later, our 3 hermits, who we sometimes call our children, are all in the big blue tub outside... Amazing how that works!
Last weekend I picked up an intex bathtub on an impulse buy. (I really should learn to control my impulses...)
Anyway, after about 45 minutes I started filling it with water. So much for the "Ready to fill in 10 minutes!" deal.
My little one was so excited I let him jump in. I made him get out 1 minute later, cause the water is nice 53 degrees out of the ground year round. I turned the pump on, and went to bed. The next morning, the water looked a little yellowish greenish brownish orangeish (How's that for a description!) When I got home from work on Monday, it looked the same. Took off to Wally World and got some hth shock stuff, did some math and shocked it according to instruction. Tuesday after work, the water looked the same. I removed the filter to find it clogged with rust. Which reminded me that we actually have really rusty water, but I had forgotten about it as I constantly feed the salt monster for the house water so there's no rust stains on our sinks.
I've been cleaning filters since, and the water is now clear. Not exactly crystal clear, but that white thing intex likes to call a pump is tryin' it's best! I stir up the bottom with a brush a few times a day.
Tuesday night, I found this place and have been going through pool school, and reading and searching these messages. So I have my wish list for Christmas this year. An SWG, new pump, and a taylor 2006 kit! I've also learned a lot of stuff that I'm doing, and probably shouldn't be doing... like tabs. But I have three, so I'm gonna use 'em! The one thing I didn't do is add stabilizer...
I'm not going to go too crazy with water testing this year as there's only maybe 2 or 2 1/2 months left until I drain the bathtub. I bought the HTH 6-way test... yup, I fell for it. But I didn't get any strips as I knew from high school chemistry class that those things are not all that accurate. Here's what I've gotten so far.
Monday before shock: PH 7.6
Tuesday eve: PH 7.6 Total Chlorine was 1ppm (Is that the same as FC? or am I way off...)
also added clarifier. Type is unknown as it's out there, and I'm in here.
Wed eve: PH 7.6 Chlorine was 1ppm
Thurs eve: same as wed
Friday 6pm: PH 7.8 Chlorine holding at 1ppm. I added some HTH "PH Minus" and I'm about to go check it shortly.
I haven't done a cya test, as there's only 2 tests in this silly kit I purchased. I'm happy with the water right now, so the water chemistry is not my issue. (I just digress often...)
I'm wondering about next year when I fill the bathtub again. I want to filter the water from the garden hose before it goes in. Since I'll have a new pump, could I use the little pump I have now with the cartridge? It only took 4 hours to fill the pool from the garden hose, so that's 425 gallons an hour from the hose... Little slower than the pump, might be an issue unless I can restrict the flow without blowing up the pump. Which in and of itself is no great loss and would probably make a good youtube video if I could get it to actually blow up.
I saw a filter that attached to the end of a hose somewhere, can't find it now to save my life... But it seemed aweful little and looked like it might clog up often with that amount of water.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks! Oh, and thanks to whoever put together the pool school! That thing is awesome! (I've yet to figure out who everyone is around here...)
The best part of having this bathtub is that I can turn off the A/C in the house, and about an hour later, our 3 hermits, who we sometimes call our children, are all in the big blue tub outside... Amazing how that works!