Should I add Borax?

[harleysilo]

Got pictures of your rain water diversion? Do you have some sort of filter rigged up to catch debris, like the grit on the shingles?

It would be interesting to know, how much rain you get, and how much that translates into as inches of water in your pool, such that you can get an idea of HOW much rain you'll need to see to replace x% of your water.

 

[langerking]

I haven't put a filter on it yet. I want to see how much debris comes in and then deal with it. I don't think it will be too bad actually.

Question: Since I drained down to near the skimmer I switched the return water to drain only while I wait for rain. How long before this becomes a problem (not skimming)?

 

[langerking]

My rainwater today is about 7.3 - 7.4 which is pleasing. I had to change the set-up a bit, the water wasn't flowing, I will post a new picture but I basically removed the elbow at the bottom of the downspout and attached the adapter higher up. The rain is not to heavy, a downpour but not really intense and I am getting a pretty good fill rate, a lot more than I get out of my garden hose. The radar is showing a good potential for raining at a higher rate. We'll see what happens, maybe I'll have to start draining again before it's over?

I am getting a bit of debris from the roof, but I think it's worth doing this way. Maybe I'll look into a filter or slime bag if it gets to be too much.

 

[langerking]

Here is the final Rain Diversion. Worked very well, filled my pool about 3.5 inches in slightly over an hour of medium hard rain, roughly about 800-900 gallons. I know that with the rain intensity that is possible here in central Florida, I can get fill rates far greater. Hoping to see some of that during the coming week so I can get my CYA diluted down. The parts are:
1 X 4" Downspout adapter LG @$9.51
1 X 8' flex drain pipe @$5.48
1 X 12' flex drain pipe @$10.15

 

[langerking]

Test kit came in last night, measured this morning and here are the results:

FC - 9.0
CC - 0.5
pH - 7.4
TA - 90
CH - 130
CYA - ~200!! It is so high it is way off the scale. I only filled the tube to 0.6 inches and the 100 mark is at 1.2 inches

I am going to have to completely drain my pool to fix this.

No, not all the way. But close.

1) The scale markings on that CYA tester are not equidistant. It's probably closer to 300. The way to know for sure is to dilute the pool water sample with an equal amount of tap water, then use that blend as the sample you test and double the reading. And if that's over 100, dilute it again.

2) With a vinyl liner you don't want to empty it 100%, or the liner my shift and wrinkle. You should leave a foot or so in the shallow end.

3) You might have to drain a bunch, refill, some, and drain again to get CYA down to a reasonable number.

4) With that test kit, the pool calculator, and this website, this should be the last time such dramatic measures are ever needed.

I did this today (CYA test sample diluted in half) and measured exactly 100. So it looks like, after replacing about 4 inches of water in my pool, I am at 200.