Hope this intro does not put you to sleep. I hope it may help someone in my situation.
I installed my 23,000 gal 28' round above ground with deep end pool and concrete deck in 2001. solar pipes in the concrete . Had a 1-1/2HP HAYWARD PUMP, 21" SAND FILTER. This all worked great till I started to developed a real bad algae problem.
We here in the Pacific nw get a small window to use our pools. couple of years I didn't even bother to open it up. Last two years I tried to kill the algae and clean it up. Last year I tried the bbb method. Could not get the milky white out before the end of the season. My big mistake was not raising up the chlorine level high enough. I kept hitting it with too little bleach. Kept chasing my tail. So this year I learned a whole lot more on this forum, and poolplaza.com.
I learned about over powered pumps. I discovered that a 1-1/2 hp pump is just too big. I was just pushing the dead algae thru the sand and re entering the pool turning it milky white. I also discovered I had a small air leak in my pump. The one important thing I learned is that 1-1/2 inch pipe can only push around 44gpm thru the pipe, so a 1-1/2hp pump was a waste of electricity.
Its funny I called around to some local pool stores to price pumps and get info they all said that a 1-1/2hp pump was just fine. I made the choice to buy my pump from poolplaza after their help. I bought a 1hp 2 speed pump. I use the high speed to run the solar water heater and to backwash. I filter on low speed. After installing the new pump and running it 24 hours it clean up in two days.
I also used robar super blue. now my water is perfect. The chemistry is also spot on. I give credit to this web site for my success. :-D I really enjoy taking care of my pool now. I get a great satisfaction in really understanding water chemistry and knowing I can solve the problems on my own and not having to drive 30 minutes to the pool store to fix my problems.
I buy 8% bleach for 3 bucks a gallon at winco. I use borax and baking soda just like I learned here. I have to give credit to my pool store , care free in portland ore. In the past they would test water the old fashion way and never push me to buy anything. I buy my sunblock from them and other things.
At first all this water chemistry stuff baffled me , the first year I just didn't get it. This year it just clicked and now I get it. I think for me it was the sunblock level and not understanding it that got me into trouble.
So anyone that's new at this like me two years ago , UNDERSTAND the cyanuric acid level issues before any thing else . And balancing and understanding the PH/alkalinity. This forum has every thing you need to know. Now I am having solar cover issues. Anyone have good advice on a quality solar cover? Thanks TT
I installed my 23,000 gal 28' round above ground with deep end pool and concrete deck in 2001. solar pipes in the concrete . Had a 1-1/2HP HAYWARD PUMP, 21" SAND FILTER. This all worked great till I started to developed a real bad algae problem.
We here in the Pacific nw get a small window to use our pools. couple of years I didn't even bother to open it up. Last two years I tried to kill the algae and clean it up. Last year I tried the bbb method. Could not get the milky white out before the end of the season. My big mistake was not raising up the chlorine level high enough. I kept hitting it with too little bleach. Kept chasing my tail. So this year I learned a whole lot more on this forum, and poolplaza.com.
I learned about over powered pumps. I discovered that a 1-1/2 hp pump is just too big. I was just pushing the dead algae thru the sand and re entering the pool turning it milky white. I also discovered I had a small air leak in my pump. The one important thing I learned is that 1-1/2 inch pipe can only push around 44gpm thru the pipe, so a 1-1/2hp pump was a waste of electricity.
Its funny I called around to some local pool stores to price pumps and get info they all said that a 1-1/2hp pump was just fine. I made the choice to buy my pump from poolplaza after their help. I bought a 1hp 2 speed pump. I use the high speed to run the solar water heater and to backwash. I filter on low speed. After installing the new pump and running it 24 hours it clean up in two days.
I also used robar super blue. now my water is perfect. The chemistry is also spot on. I give credit to this web site for my success. :-D I really enjoy taking care of my pool now. I get a great satisfaction in really understanding water chemistry and knowing I can solve the problems on my own and not having to drive 30 minutes to the pool store to fix my problems.
I buy 8% bleach for 3 bucks a gallon at winco. I use borax and baking soda just like I learned here. I have to give credit to my pool store , care free in portland ore. In the past they would test water the old fashion way and never push me to buy anything. I buy my sunblock from them and other things.
At first all this water chemistry stuff baffled me , the first year I just didn't get it. This year it just clicked and now I get it. I think for me it was the sunblock level and not understanding it that got me into trouble.
So anyone that's new at this like me two years ago , UNDERSTAND the cyanuric acid level issues before any thing else . And balancing and understanding the PH/alkalinity. This forum has every thing you need to know. Now I am having solar cover issues. Anyone have good advice on a quality solar cover? Thanks TT
The way you are running it sound like a good plan. You've noticed what many others have...you tend to get better filtration running on low speed vs. high speed.
This is what BBB is really all about.
