Beginner Questions

[dojiboy]

I have a 15,000 gallon in-ground concrete pool. The surface of the pool has pretty much worn off (rough on the feet). Every time I try and brush the pool, I kick up clouds of something, not sure if it's organic or more of the pool surface. Then it takes a couple days for the cloudiness to go away. I seem to always be battling slight cloudiness anyway, and a visible layer of greenish silt tends to build up on the bottom of the pool 3-4 days after vacuuming.

Should I still be brushing given the eroded surface of the pool?

Thanks,
Doji

 

[crookm11]

Welcome to TFP!

I would suggest you post a set of pool numbers. I think there may be something going on in your water.

FC
CC
TC
PH
TA
CH
CYA
Salt (If you have any)

 

[JasonLion]

You should be vacuuming up asa much of that dust/dirt as you possibly can. If too much dust accumulates on the bottom it becomes a breeding ground for algae.

 

[dojiboy]

At 9pm last night (Thurs)

FC 13
CC .5
TC 13.5
PH 7.5
TA 70
CH 260
CYA 60


At 8am this morning (Fri)

FC 12
CC .5
TC 12.5
PH 7.4ish
TA
CH
CYA

I have a sand filter that I think is about 5yrs old. I've been in this house for a year so not sure how old or what condition the sand is in. I have been using the weekly "trichlor/shock/PinchaPenny" way with less than satisfactory results. As I said above, the water is always slightly cloudy/green.

Thanks again.

 

[dojiboy]

Since the last test results.......

We've gotten about 2 inches of rain,
7 kids swimming instead of the usual 2 and
Vacuumed to waste and refilled with hose water.

New test results (Thurs 3pm)

FC 7.5
CC .5
TC 8.0
PH 7.5

 

[RobbieH]

You need to know your CH or TH, and your TA. That would help a lot. It is possible you have low or high CH and this could be causing you issues.

Also, you might want to do a sock test in front of a return to make sure you aren't getting sand back from the filter. Turn off the filter for several hours, have someone hold a sock over a return while another person turns on the pump. Keep that there for a few seconds, then check the sock for sand.

 

[dojiboy]

You need to know your CH or TH, and your TA. That would help a lot. It is possible you have low or high CH and this could be causing you issues.

Also, you might want to do a sock test in front of a return to make sure you aren't getting sand back from the filter. Turn off the filter for several hours, have someone hold a sock over a return while another person turns on the pump. Keep that there for a few seconds, then check the sock for sand.

Would CH and TA have changed since the Thurs 9pm results?

 

[RobbieH]

Sorry about that, overlooked those figures. I don't see a problem there.

 

[Butterfly]

Welcome to the forum

With a greenish silt on the bottom and the water always a slightly cloudy/green, I suggest you go ahead and shock the pool.
Direction on How To Shock Your Pool are in Pool School.

Even tho your FC/CC #'s look good, that does not mean that something is not growing in there and you could be just barely keeping it from overwhelming. It could be cloudy from the pool surface deteriorating, but it should not be green!

You need to stop with the weekly shocks and shock only when needed. Also, the trichlor already has your CYA at 60, which is above our 30 to 50 range recommended. You can probably do fine/okay with the 60 CYA in Florida, but it will require a higher shock level and will cost more $$ in bleach/liquid chlorine.

Can you post some pics of your plaster issues?

 

[dojiboy]

Thanks for the replies. Hope these pics are clear enough.

 

[RobbieH]

Looks like mine. My steps look like that, too. I don't think mine has been replastered since somewhere around '89 to '91 based on the receipts I found. Do you know how old your plaster is?

You might need a suction side cleaner to help you get the silt out of the pool. "The Pool Cleaner" gets good reviews, is not too expensive, and will work fine in a pool the size of yours.

Here's a pic of my surface.

 

[dojiboy]

Not sure how old the plaster is. It was like that when we bought the house a year ago.

Should I be able to vacuum silt through the filter? I usually vacuum to waste. Seems like the few times I did it through the filter I couldn't see the bottom by the time I was done. Not sure how to check the filter sand.

Thanks again.

 

[RobbieH]

Use the sock test I described above to test for sand.

I can't filter to waste, and my pool is too large for a suction side cleaner, so I got a robot. I will say the first few months it really got caked inside the filter bag with white powder, which I assume to be the plaster in the pool. I got left with quite a mess!

My understanding is plaster only has around a 5 to 10 year life expectancy. I can't say I heard that from an expert, though.

 

[JasonLion]

Plaster should last about 10 years, longer if you are extra careful about keeping your levels balanced. I've heard of plaster over 20 years that still looked fine, but that is unusual. And of course the plaster can be ruined very quickly at any age if your levels are too far out of balance.