preopen algae mesh cover

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C

cnatsu1

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Apr 3, 2013
7
First post. OK, so just starting our 3rd year of pool ownership, inground vinyl pool in the northwest. 1st year pool was literally a swamp - dead birds, frogs, toads, ducks, swamp gas. We finally got it cleaned up. Last spring we had some work to do. Last fall, I closed the pool and kept it very clean until it iced over. Now with the warm weather it's getting nasty, probably won't open till next month.

I found the floater I put in at closing and put some leftover chlorinating tabs in it and put it back under the cover. I've also put some chlorinating tabs in a 5 gal bucket and fill with water daily, leave it in the sun, and then dump the water only in the pool daily over the mesh cover and then use my net and pole to circulate the water. Watch out for the fumes when you open the bucket. I've knocked my algae down considerably.

Any problems with doing this???
 
The biggest problems are that you're pouring chlorine in an uncirculating pool so it can settle and might possibly cause problems. Stirring it's a good thing though. Also, pouring it on the cover probably isn't doing it any favors. Second by using tablets you're also raising your CYA a lot.
 
Is it better to just let it turn into a green swamp in the spring until opening? If not then what does everyone else do? The fc level is still non-existent, I'll have to check the cya. My wife takes care of the chemicals in the summer. My pool doesn't have a heater. I use a solar cover, but we won't be able to swim til about the end of May and even then it'll be brisk. Stupid solar cover is another issue I need to deal with. Kidney shaped pool and a standard reel doesn't work well with diving board on one end and stairs/rail on the other.
 
Forgive my ignorance, but even at shock level, if I closed my pool 6 months ago how can there be any chance that there is any free chlorine in my pool now??

My pool was crystal clear last fall when I closed it. Bought the winterizing kit and closed pool with the mesh cover.
 
Sorry, didn't realize you had a mesh cover. I use a solid cover, and the cold water plus lack of sunlight slows organic growth down to nothing, so the FC loss is so slow, there's still plenty in the spring when the pool is opened.

Best guess is that even though the water was clear at closing, there was still something in it. We can help if we had a little more information, though. Tell us how you tested and maintained the pool last year.
 
Good mesh covers are supposed to keep the sunlight, out but by allowing precipitation through all winter it'll use up all the FC and you'll possibly have algae when you open. Since I also use a solid cover, I can't help with the mesh cover issues.
 
My wife takes care of the chemicals during the summer. We used an opening kit last spring; chlorinating tabs, baking soda, borax, and ph up during the year, some clarifier in the spring. My wife said she measures chlorine, calcium, alkaline, and ph.

My algae was all down on top of my cover today, so I didn't dump in another bucket of my home-made chlorine solution. Can't remember if it's been 4 or 5 days now. I was going to go buy some of the heavy duty liquid chlorine from one of the big box stores, but thought about making my own and did that. Did use my net to circulate the water on top and pick up whatever little pieces I could. My mesh cover goes from having just barely any water on top to a couple of feet of water on top in other places.

Hope to be able to afford a safety cover next go round.
 

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just put some leftover chlorinating tabs from last year in a 5 gal bucket and let it sit for a day and then dumped the liquid portion only into the pool. The first couple of times I dumped it into another container before dumping into the pool, but then I just started dumping it into the pool out of the five gallon bucket as I walked around the pool. I made sure to stir things up afterward with my pool net. WATCH OUT FOR THE FUMES WHEN YOU OPEN THE BUCKET.
 
I only dumped like 5 buckets (5 days) in until the algae died. I'm obviously not a pool expert, hence my original post. However, I have also not received any alternative 'expert' advice as to any other solutions and probably would have spent a fair amount of money on liquid chlorine that I made for free with what I had on-hand.
 
Until you can test your CYA, you should stop using the tabs. They will increase CYA, which will in turn increase the level of CL needed to kill off the algae. I don't know if it was mentioned yet or not, but to clear the pool up, you will need a good test kit. You should get either the TF-100 or K-2006, which can be found at tftestkits.net. As to not receiving "expert" advice on what to do, may I suggest reading up in pool school a few times, and also reading a few clearing algae threads. Most of the info you need can be found there.
 
your chlorine becomes less effective as the CYA raises, thus needed more chlorine to get rid of the algae


I have the same problem, dumped in about 12 bottles of liquid chlorine in 2 bottle doses testing every hour till I got shock level and fc. now just white and milky, used my electric robot to stir the water up.


you would have better off using bleach/liquid chlorine, next year to remedy the situation, I'm going to buy a solid cover to put under the mesh cover.
 
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