to cover or not to cover

[avemaria]

first off i'm glad to find a forum like this filled with people of great exerience.. I know i'll get a lot out of using this website trying to make the most of our new pool..

I was wondering, we live in Florida where we have daily rainshowers in the summer months.. also we're in a fairly wooded neighborhood so I have 'slight' debris every day, more when it storms..

but my question is.. would you recommend covering the pool (18' x 52" round) with a totally sealed cover and pool pillow beneath.. or use one of the covers designed with holes in it to allow rain to go through..

ideally i didn't want rain to go into the pool but i'm afraid of the water damage from the water flowing over the sides until we can build up more.. also i don't think the sealed version will drain all the water off before it pools into a weighted nightmare that will go into the pool trying to undo the cover anyhow..

another thing was to cut down on mosquitoes overnight and whatnot..

if anyone lives in florida, or anywhere really, and has a pool outside without being screened in.. what do you do to cover it.. or not cover it? the only reason i specified Florida is we have a specific climate here.. it's not like the desert or northern areas.. summer rains and mosquitoes are big here :x and unfortunately leaves and spanish moss...

 

[linen]

Welcome to tfp, avemaria

I would not use a solid cover with the amount of rain you get in the summer. A porous (mesh) cover can help but will not catch the small stuff.

 

[avemaria]

Welcome to tfp, avemaria

I would not use a solid cover with the amount of rain you get in the summer. A porous (mesh) cover can help but will not catch the small stuff.

that's what i figured to do.. another thing i was wondering.. i don't yet have a sand filter and am using the paper filter they included with the pump.. but a lot of 'debris' such as small pieces of moss and other material from the surrounding trees are getting past my bucket (the thing that is supposed to catch debris before it gets to the filter).. so the bucket doesn't appear to be fine enough.. would it be possible to install a piece of screen over the water intake or just keep allowing whatever gets through to get through.. i've washed the filter off twice in the past two days.. i can see why people don't like them now.. but it makes me wonder if the sand filter has a better 'catch' than this included bucket i have now.. because i can't imagine all this stuff winding up inside the sand filter.

 

[linen]

The intex sand filters are much much better filters than the intex cartridge filters, so yes they will catch the same stuff and more. But cleaning is easy since you just set the filter to backwash. The only reason the sand filter may not be a good idea is if you have water restrictions or sub-par fill water.

 

[avemaria]

The intex sand filters are much much better filters than the intex cartridge filters, so yes they will catch the same stuff and more. But cleaning is easy since you just set the filter to backwash. The only reason the sand filter may not be a good idea is if you have water restrictions or sub-par fill water.

how does a water restriction affect the filter? but our area does have water that is on the hard side, but it is city water and not well water.. so i think i'm pretty much out of luck no matter what i do.. but a lot of people here have pools so there has to be an option... i don't mind doing maintenance cleaning of equipment.. just looking for a better way than the current paper filters.. also looking to add a swg add on as well..

* i just saw some other posts about pool stores having chemicals to reduce hardness.. also the Zeolite sand in the sand filter will 'suck up the hardness'.. and that adding salt can displace the calcium which can be backwashed out.

so i still have a lot to learn i guess.. i'll probably search around before i ask more questions for now :-D

 

[linen]

I do not believe zeolite in a sand filter removes calcium in practice. The salt levels needed to remove calcium from the zeo would need to be at 5% (50000 ppm), which is much higher than swg salt levels (typically 3000 ppm or 0.3%).

The only tried and true way to remove calcium is a partial drain/refill.

What is your fill water CH level? Likely it is not a problem with properly balanced pool chemistry.