First House - First Pool

[The Nose]

Hi all -

First time posting and looking for advice as I am a beginner.

Had the house now for about a year (Mission Valley area in SO Cal). The house was built in 59, the inspector estimates the pool is from the early 80s.

They repainted the concrete and re-tiled the edge. I painted the surrounding edge to make it look presentable. All the rest was replaced (filter, pipes etc) except for the pump, I think it is refurbished.

I used to have two pepper trees over the pool that really had me cleaning the pool about 45 minutes every day. I had those removed and have already had to replace the filters (Triclops 300)

Not sure about the gallons. Although the pool is 36 ft long and at the widest 15 ft. 8.25 ft in the deep end.

Couple questions.

If the pool has a slightly salty taste and is a tad bit cloudy, what could it be that's off. PH?


Also, since the pool is a bit old, what should I be looking for in the future?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Casey]

Hi Mike. We can't really say what's going on in your pool without you posting test results. We can guess and speculate all day long. It won't help me or you.

Do you have a test kit? How bout a TF-100 or K2006? One of these kits is what you need.

As for the saltiness... do you have a SWG? That could be why it taste salty. Your cloudiness is gonna be dependant on test results. Sorry.

 

[The Nose]

Hi Mike. We can't really say what's going on in your pool without you posting test results. We can guess and speculate all day long. It won't help me or you.

Do you have a test kit? How bout a TF-100 or K2006? One of these kits is what you need.

As for the saltiness... do you have a SWG? That could be why it taste salty. Your cloudiness is gonna be dependant on test results. Sorry.

No worries Casey. I will post results in a few days. I have a traditional pool. Will post Thursday or Friday and we can go from there.

Thanks!

 

[PridgNYC]

Hi Mike. We can't really say what's going on in your pool without you posting test results. We can guess and speculate all day long. It won't help me or you.

Do you have a test kit? How bout a TF-100 or K2006? One of these kits is what you need.

As for the saltiness... do you have a SWG? That could be why it taste salty. Your cloudiness is gonna be dependant on test results. Sorry.

No worries Casey. I will post results in a few days. I have a traditional pool. Will post Thursday or Friday and we can go from there.

Thanks!

Which test kit did you order? I got the K2006, but that was before I discovered this forum, the TF-100 is probably a better value since it includes more of the reagents (same ones that the K2006 uses). Did you get the speed stir, I think that is the most valuable addition the the kit that you can possibly add. (no more swirling just count the drops) The sample sizer measuring tool also works well with the cylinder that comes with the speed stir and makes measuring your test sample volumes incredibly easy.

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

It will all be speculation at this point. Get a test kit. I use a TF100.

But I will tell you up front, your CH will be nowhere near the recommended level. So you might as well study the extended-test-kit-directions-t25081.html and read how to do the CH test with a 10 ml sample.

 

[The Nose]

Thanks guys, will get the TF 100

 

[The Nose]

So it looks like my PH and TA are WAY high. I am guessing I need to add some acid. Might be a strain on my equipment too as well. My free chlorine is low, but that's an easy fix i think. Anything I should know when adding acid?

FC .5
TC 3
pH 8.5
TA 230
CH 390
CYA 75

 

[Richard320]

So it looks like my PH and TA are WAY high. I am guessing I need to add some acid. Might be a strain on my equipment too as well. My free chlorine is low, but that's an easy fix i think. Anything I should know when adding acid?

FC .5
TC 3
pH 8.5
TA 230
CH 390
CYA 75

Pour the acid into the water, never the other way around.

Try to stay upwind of the jug.

Dribble it in front of the return stream so it disperses quickly.

I have a ring etched into my deck where I set a damp acid jug down once. Now I always dunk the jug in the pool before I set it on the deck in case there was any spillage in the box.

 

[The Nose]

I have a ring etched into my deck where I set a damp acid jug down once. Now I always dunk the jug in the pool before I set it on the deck in case there was any spillage in the box.

Sounds like something I would do. Thanks Richard.

I am guessing the CH level will probably drop when I lower the PH and TA?

 

[duraleigh]

I am guessing the CH level will probably drop when I lower the PH and TA?

It will not. They are unrelated.

 

[The Nose]

After reading through the website I have to say thanks to everyone for their patience for my post and others. If I would have just read through a little to begin with I probably wouldn't have needed to post anything. Judging from what I see in this section the same might go for most.

Anyhow, my pool is crystal clear and in harmony with itself. No salty taste anymore and feels better on my skin too.

Now I just have to figure out how many gallons this pool holds. It is in the shape of a sock so I will have to measure in sections and it will not be very accurate.

If anyone has any suggestions let me know.

Thanks again-

Mike

 

[Richard320]

After reading through the website I have to say thanks to everyone for their patience for my post and others. If I would have just read through a little to begin with I probably wouldn't have needed to post anything. Judging from what I see in this section the same might go for most.

Anyhow, my pool is crystal clear and in harmony with itself. No salty taste anymore and feels better on my skin too.

Now I just have to figure out how many gallons this pool holds. It is in the shape of a sock so I will have to measure in sections and it will not be very accurate.

If anyone has any suggestions let me know.

Thanks again-

Mike

Sketch it out and break out a tape measure. Use that number in http://www.poolcalculator.com/ when you figure out dosing. If you come up short, your pool is larger than you calculated. If you went too far, it's smaller. Adjust the number you use up or down until you get it narrowed down. I doubt it will take more than a couple weeks to know within 100 gallons how big the pool is. I find TA to be the best for this. Look at Effects of Adding Chemicals down near the bottom of http://www.poolcalculator.com/ and see what change you should get to TA when you adjust pH. You could even fudge a little and shoot for some odd number like 7.45 if it will give you an even 10 ppm TA drop.