Purchased house w/ inground pool. Have some questions!

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andy00018

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Mar 25, 2010
19
Long Island, NY
Hello everyone,
I have been all over the forum researching and learing what to do and what not to do. (I never realized owning a pool was so much work)

A little background-
Recently purchased house with an inground pool. Its a lazy-l shape about 18X40.
When we purchased it the pool had a makeshift cover which was falling in with tons of leaves on and in the pool. The leaves on the bottom are filled with algae and smell like sewage. The water is hard to see more than 2 ft or so down. I started cleanig it last year but decided to wait till this year since it was the end of the season.

I think the best thing to do is scoop out as much of the stuff on the bottom as possible. Then run the pump I guess 23 on a day. (any suggestions)

My pump is a Hayward SP1600 1HP and works fine, I just put new gaskets in it. It had a Nautilus 36 SF DE filter that is beyond repair. I definetly need a new one and think I will replace it with a Pentair FNS plus 36. Is this a sound choice? I have 1.5" plumming all around.

At the same time I am going to get a new multiport valve and 3-way valve for the 2 skimmers.

Also I have been doing research on SWG systems. Seems as though some people love them and some people hate them. I think that I will invest in one mainly due to the fact they seem to have a little less maintence associated with the chlorine level. I was looking at the autopilot DIG 220. Seems to have the best features and cell reliability for the price.

Also I would like to relocate (redo) the timer and all all electrical wiring. My problem is that there is really no structures near the filter
(fence, building, wall). Currently it is located on a piece of 4X4 sticking out about 3 ft from the ground. If i install the SWG system I will need even more space as well. Does anyone have or have seen a logical sound solution to this. I want a nice clean install!

Thank you,
Andrew
 
Welcome to TFP. :wave:

First thing is don't get discouraged. It looks like a lot of work reading it but once you're just maintaining it's hardly any work at all.

Andy00018 said:
I think the best thing to do is scoop out as much of the stuff on the bottom as possible. Then run the pump I guess 23 on a day. (any suggestions)
Click to expand...
Scooping as much as poosible is a good idea. It'll save your pump and filter some work and you some headaches with cleaning them. During the initial cleanup after you've scooped all you can out it's probably a good idea to run it 24/7. After that you can "play" with the run time.
Andy00018 said:
My pump is a Hayward SP1600 1HP and works fine, I just put new gaskets in it. It had a Nautilus 36 SF DE filter that is beyond repair. I definetly need a new one and think I will replace it with a Pentair FNS plus 36. Is this a sound choice? I have 1.5" plumming all around.
Click to expand...
That sounds like a good sized pump. The filter is most likely ok but if you could afford to go bigger I would suggest it. You can never have too much filter.
Andy00018 said:
At the same time I am going to get a new multiport valve and 3-way valve for the 2 skimmers.
Click to expand...
It's your money so I say go for it. :)
Andy00018 said:
Also I have been doing research on SWG systems. Seems as though some people love them and some people hate them. I think that I will invest in one mainly due to the fact they seem to have a little less maintence associated with the chlorine level. I was looking at the autopilot DIG 220. Seems to have the best features and cell reliability for the price.
Click to expand...
I'll let the SWG experts chime in here. As you see in my sig I have a liquidator and it works great after the 3/8" upgrade.
Andy00018 said:
Also I would like to relocate (redo) the timer and all all electrical wiring. My problem is that there is really no structures near the filter (fence, building, wall). Currently it is located on a piece of 4X4 sticking out about 3 ft from the ground. If i install the SWG system I will need even more space as well. Does anyone have or have seen a logical sound solution to this. I want a nice clean install!
Click to expand...
I've seen and installed several electrical walls. One of the best I've seen have been a short section of solid vinyl fence placed in fornt of the equpment with the electrical equipment mounted on it. If you could post a picture of your pad I'm sure some of the folks here can give you some good ideas.
 
Using a good sturdy, professional quality, leaf net/scoop, and a sturdy pole getting the gunk out of the bottom will go much faster than you think. I've had to do it several times over the years (and I live in the woods so lots of leaves mixed with blown in sand/silt) and I'm always surprised that it never takes me as long as I thought it would. Don't tell DH though. He thinks I do magic and rewards me with an extra special dinner when I finish. :lol:

gg=alice
 
Thank you everyone for replying. Im grateful for the patient and encouraging responses.

A few more questions.

After I scoop out all of the leaves and junk on the bottom and start to run my pump, im guessing i should immediately be adding chlorine? I read through the "turning your green swamp back" and seems like the chlorine level must be stabilized at higher than normal levels when shocking it. Also before I start would testing all of my levels be of any use or just the FC and CYA or would they all be useless considering the pool hasn't been essentially touched in 3 years?

I absolutely have a ton of algae; when i touch my liner walls it feels like what I would imagine a wet reptile feels like. Would it be better to brush the walls even before I started running the pump?

Another question I have is when the pump turns off (when using my old leaky pump and filter last year) should water be filled to capacity inside the pump and filter or will and should some or all of it it drain back into the pool? It makes sense that it would drain back considering it would level itself off and the filter is at its highest point, but would that cause air in the lines the next time it started?

I will try to take a picture of the pad and post it and after I uncover the pool this weekend a picture of that as well.


Thank you!!
 
The first thing to do is test the PH and TA. It's safe to assume there is no chlorine or CYA, so don't test for it. You want to get the PH into range before shocking. For accurate testing, the water should be circulating for several hours first. You'll need to get CYA right away so that the sun doesn't destroy the chlorine before it can work to kill the algae. So just follow the "green swamp-oasis" instructions to the tee, and post back for confirmation anytime.

I'm not familiar with inground pumps so I'll leave that question to someone else.
 
Without being an expert on pumps and filters, I'd say that the water shouldn't drain back into the pool. Your pump pulls water from the skimmer and main drain and it pushes it back out through the returns. If the water drains back into the pool and you see air bubbles in the pump view bubble, then you have an air leak. A local pool store should have a silicone based grease that you should put on your o-ring between the pump basket and pump view bubble and on the o-rings on your filter.
 
There could be CYA, certainly there is enough of a chance that it is worth doing the test.

When everything is working correctly, the pump and filter should remain full of water. If they drain down it means there is a leak. You can operate the system with a small leak. You might not even notice it because it only takes a small water leak to let in a lot of air. Eventually you need to track down the leak and fix it. The filter won't really work right if it starts each cycle full of air.
 
Ok great. The pump and filter were emptying quickly last year then probably because of huge leaks in filter, plumbing and old gaskets on pump. I put all new gaskets on the pump and i am buying a new filter which i mentioned in the mess written up top on this post.
 

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Not everyone loses CYA over the winter. Even if the odds of losing CYA go up the longer the pool is left idle (which isn't clear) there is still a plausible chance that there is some CYA in the water. Besides, the CYA test is fairly simple, while the mistake of assuming no CYA when there is CYA could cause lots of trouble. So it is worth doing the test even if the odds are low.
 
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