Hello everybody, this is my first post. I've been lurking for a few days, absorbing a lot of information, and decided to become a Lifetime Supporter.
We recently purchased a house near to where we live now. This house has a 18,000 gal. gunite pool with waterfall and spa which I believe is about 5-6 yrs. old. There are a total of four pumps, a cartridge filter, a puck chlorinator, a sanitizer, a heater and an AquaLink controller. Here are some pictures:
[attachment=2:1ad1ka2h]IMG_0141.jpg[/attachment:1ad1ka2h]
[attachment=1:1ad1ka2h]IMG_0142.jpg[/attachment:1ad1ka2h]
[attachment=0:1ad1ka2h]IMG_0146.jpg[/attachment:1ad1ka2h]
I haven't spent much time taking care of the pool because we haven't moved yet, and I've been traveling some. I did have a friend come over with a Taylor kit once, and later I purchased the TF-100 test kit and used it once to run the gamut of tests, and a couple of times to measure the pH and chlorine. Here are some results:
Aug. 5 (Taylor kit): pH= 7.2-7.5, Cl= 5+ ppm, Alk.= 80 ppm.
Aug. 9 (TF-100 kit):
pH= 7.5
Cl= 5+ ppm
FC= 8 ppm (FAS/DPD)
CC= 1 ppm (maybe 1.5 ppm)
TC= 9 ppm (maybe 9.5 ppm)
Alk.= 90 ppm
CH= 400 ppm
CYA= 90 ppm (or 70 ppm, depending on "how well" I can see the dot)
NaCl= 800 ppm
Aug. 14: pH= 7.5, Cl= 3-6 ppm
Aug. 17: pH= 7.5, Cl= 0.5 ppm
So it seems to me that I need to add some chlorine. I ordered some 3" tablets from National Pool Wholesalers (are all tablets the same?), but tomorrow I intend to add some bleach to increase the Cl until the tablets get here. I guess I'll use the pool calculator to estimate how much bleach I need to add.
My ultimate goal may be to use BBB (or not, as I do travel a few days a month so I may rely on the tablets) and eliminate dependence on pool service companies. The previous owner was pretty ill and I think the pool service company was taking advantage of his condition to perform substandard work: I found several used jugs of muriatic acid and pails of soda ash in the yard, and I don't think the filter has been cleaned for a long time. On the other hand, it's only now when I find the need to add any chemicals, so maybe they weren't so bad...
The pool has what appears to be several connectors for a hose, but I'm not really sure of what they are and there are no hoses (they might have been discarded before closing on the house). I'm told that there would be a connection for a robot or automatic cleaner if one was intended, but I can't find a place where it would connect. Odd, because I think the previous owners spent some money on that pool, and my guess is that they would have wanted to be able to use the latest.
I'd welcome any suggestions y'all may have for me, regarding my plans to add bleach tomorrow and anything else. I understand that the Nature2 system may be useless and I may get rid of it later, but right now I want to concentrate on learning how to properly maintain the pool. For example, I do not intend to use the heater, do I still need to exercise it from time to time?
Thanks in advance.
We recently purchased a house near to where we live now. This house has a 18,000 gal. gunite pool with waterfall and spa which I believe is about 5-6 yrs. old. There are a total of four pumps, a cartridge filter, a puck chlorinator, a sanitizer, a heater and an AquaLink controller. Here are some pictures:
[attachment=2:1ad1ka2h]IMG_0141.jpg[/attachment:1ad1ka2h]
[attachment=1:1ad1ka2h]IMG_0142.jpg[/attachment:1ad1ka2h]
[attachment=0:1ad1ka2h]IMG_0146.jpg[/attachment:1ad1ka2h]
I haven't spent much time taking care of the pool because we haven't moved yet, and I've been traveling some. I did have a friend come over with a Taylor kit once, and later I purchased the TF-100 test kit and used it once to run the gamut of tests, and a couple of times to measure the pH and chlorine. Here are some results:
Aug. 5 (Taylor kit): pH= 7.2-7.5, Cl= 5+ ppm, Alk.= 80 ppm.
Aug. 9 (TF-100 kit):
pH= 7.5
Cl= 5+ ppm
FC= 8 ppm (FAS/DPD)
CC= 1 ppm (maybe 1.5 ppm)
TC= 9 ppm (maybe 9.5 ppm)
Alk.= 90 ppm
CH= 400 ppm
CYA= 90 ppm (or 70 ppm, depending on "how well" I can see the dot)
NaCl= 800 ppm
Aug. 14: pH= 7.5, Cl= 3-6 ppm
Aug. 17: pH= 7.5, Cl= 0.5 ppm
So it seems to me that I need to add some chlorine. I ordered some 3" tablets from National Pool Wholesalers (are all tablets the same?), but tomorrow I intend to add some bleach to increase the Cl until the tablets get here. I guess I'll use the pool calculator to estimate how much bleach I need to add.
My ultimate goal may be to use BBB (or not, as I do travel a few days a month so I may rely on the tablets) and eliminate dependence on pool service companies. The previous owner was pretty ill and I think the pool service company was taking advantage of his condition to perform substandard work: I found several used jugs of muriatic acid and pails of soda ash in the yard, and I don't think the filter has been cleaned for a long time. On the other hand, it's only now when I find the need to add any chemicals, so maybe they weren't so bad...
The pool has what appears to be several connectors for a hose, but I'm not really sure of what they are and there are no hoses (they might have been discarded before closing on the house). I'm told that there would be a connection for a robot or automatic cleaner if one was intended, but I can't find a place where it would connect. Odd, because I think the previous owners spent some money on that pool, and my guess is that they would have wanted to be able to use the latest.
I'd welcome any suggestions y'all may have for me, regarding my plans to add bleach tomorrow and anything else. I understand that the Nature2 system may be useless and I may get rid of it later, but right now I want to concentrate on learning how to properly maintain the pool. For example, I do not intend to use the heater, do I still need to exercise it from time to time?
Thanks in advance.