Here's my White Flag, I'm ready to surrender. (w/test #'s)

graffster · Aug 14, 2011

Hi TFP friends,
You all have helped me tremendously over the past couple pool seasons. I am ready to raise my white flag in surrender right now, though. I am having a terrible time keeping up with the pool for numerous reasons, so I'm coming to you all for guidance, one more time.

My biggest problem is financial. While I understand that once a pool is balanced, it takes very little $$ to keep up with it, I'm having trouble getting TO that point. Our family budget has gotten to where there is NO wiggle room. (I'm actually thinking that we can't afford this house and the pool anyway, but in the mean time, I need to keep it under control so that if we DO sell, the pool is a selling POINT not a drawback~!) So every time I have to buy extra bottles of bleach, I can only think "wow, this really isn't in the budget. What's gonna have to go by the wayside this month? OR "payday is Thursday. guess it will have to stay green a day or two more."

It's an inground, unscreened pool with a SWG. I think part of my problem is I don't even know if the SWG works! I never seem to have enough chlorine in the pool when I test, so I end up dumping bottles of liquid chlorine in, which is costly. I know that I need to filter, filter, filter, which I do, but then I worry about the electric bill going up!!!! We've had a tremendous amount of rain, so my salt level is constantly getting low, too. so add more salt!

I'm going to run up to the store for some more bleach right now, and I will test when I get home. I guess here's what I'm asking:

What do you do when you can't "afford" your pool??
Since I seem to treat this as a non-SWG pool anyway, should I just go that way?

Sorry, this sounds pretty whiney. It's a beautiful pool when it's clean. We have 3 little ones and I hate telling them, 'sorry, no swimming because the pool looks like a swamp'.

I'm overwhelmed at this point and dont' know what to do next.

Any advice is welcome. (I will test and post numbers in a bit.)

**************TEST NUMBERS 8/14 @ 8 pm*****************
FC 1
CC 0
TC 1
pH 8.2
TA 50
CH 70
CYA <20
Salt 1400
Temp. 90-95

Kathy

Bama Rambler · Aug 14, 2011

Re: Here's my White Flag, I'm ready to surrender.

Not knowing if the swg is working or not is a big issue. If you don't have money to fix it if it's bad, then I'd do a few tests and if it's not working just stick with bleach. You should need about Â½ gallon of bleach a day.

However if you have a problem then it's going to cost a good bit in bleach to get it to where Â½ gallon will maintain it. If you do have algae, and you can't afford 30 to 40 gallons of bleach, then you may be better off putting the cover on it and just let it go till next year.

If you do want to get it under control then post the test results and we'll be more than happy to help get you through this.

linen · Aug 14, 2011

Re: Here's my White Flag, I'm ready to surrender.

I do not know that specific swg, but I do know a quick check I have done on mine. Take a sample of the pool water and measure the fc. Then take a sample from the return (i shoved a hose in my return and ran some water into a bucket) and see if it is higher. Don't know what yours will read, but if my memory serves me right, mine read 6 ppm at the return, when the pool read 2 ppm. Something to try at least, since having a functioning swg (if yours is functioning) is probably your cheapest route.

zea3 · Aug 14, 2011

Re: Here's my White Flag, I'm ready to surrender. (w/test #'

Hi, since you have edited to add test results, the problem is your CYA is too low and your pH is too high. Manually chlorinated pools need 30-50 ppm of CYA to prevent the chlorine from burning off too quickly. Pools with an SWG need 70-80 ppm of CYA. What you need to do first is lower the pH to 7.2 with muriatic acid, next raise the CYA to 30 ppm then take the pool through the shock process to kill the algae. After the algae is dead raise the CYA to 70 ppm and turn the SWG back on. Supplement the SWG with liquid bleach for a day or two until the SWG is able to maintain the chlorine level on its own.

Also the salt is probably too low for the SWG to operate at this time. The CH is also way too low, if these test results are accurate. What did you use to test the water?

graffster · Aug 14, 2011

Re: Here's my White Flag, I'm ready to surrender. (w/test #'

Thanks for the responses.
Zea3, I have the TF-100 test kit. I have had it for over a year...how long are the chemicals good?

OK, so I should turn the SWG OFF? And then lower the pH before raising the CYA? (I've NEVER been able to get my CYA up high enough, it seems!) THEN I begin the shocking process?

I know my salt is low. I usually keep it around 2800-3000, but the amount of rain we've had, it's been difficult! Should that be the last thing I raise? (I 'm gathering that I won't be using the SWG..only manually adding chlorine until shock process is done?)

You all have already helped me. I'll keep you posted...

Kathy

frogabog · Aug 15, 2011

Re: Here's my White Flag, I'm ready to surrender. (w/test #'

graffster said:
Thanks for the responses.
Zea3, I have the TF-100 test kit. I have had it for over a year...how long are the chemicals good?

OK, so I should turn the SWG OFF? And then lower the pH before raising the CYA? (I've NEVER been able to get my CYA up high enough, it seems!) THEN I begin the shocking process?

I know my salt is low. I usually keep it around 2800-3000, but the amount of rain we've had, it's been difficult! Should that be the last thing I raise? (I 'm gathering that I won't be using the SWG..only manually adding chlorine until shock process is done?)

You all have already helped me. I'll keep you posted...

Kathy

Kathy,

I think you've got it, yes to all your questions about what to do.

The reagents should be fine. Add the CYA to 30ppm manually, and yes no SWG till you're done shocking. Follow the process, test and use liquid chlorine.

It's gonna be an expense, but once you get some CYA in the pool the SWG will work much better. Why do you have a hard time getting the CYA up? Do you add it manually or use pucks?

nathanwitte · Aug 15, 2011

Re: Here's my White Flag, I'm ready to surrender. (w/test #'

Kathy,

After reading your post, I suspect your yard is such that ground surface water is running into your pool. A search revealed that you've had issues in the past with mud running into the pool.

This would mean that you're treating disproportionately large amounts of "new" water after every storm and your salt and cya are being washed away as the water is being replaced, making their levels difficult to maintain.

Is your pool at the lowest part of the yard? If so, correcting the issue could be difficult- requiring a drain, drywell, or retainage area.

If the pool is not the lowest point, can water be diverted around so that it doesn't flow into the pool?

I had a similar issue during very heavy rains. I wend out during one very heavy storm and found that by using a few bricks I was able to divert enough of the water running around the house so that most of it runs through a planter adjacent to the pool deck rather than onto the concrete and into the pool. I certainly did get very wet though.

Best of luck.
Nathan

graffster · Aug 16, 2011

Re: Here's my White Flag, I'm ready to surrender. (w/test #'

Nathan, you must have driven down my street!!! While the pool isn't at the lowest part of the lawn, it has some bad drainage areas around it. (Have some problems with pavers...but that's a whole different post!)

What you're describing is exactly what Im dealing with! Our first "mud bath" was a result of HUGE amounts of rain falling straight off the roof (no gutters then) and onto unlandscaped flower beds. took care of those issues right away. We have gutters and plants now, but there are still some areas that don't drain welll and start running intot the pool. I'll have to send hubby out during the next rain and see what he can do!!

Going to try to conquer this this weekend.....

Kathy