New Pool Owner - Pinellas County, Florida

[rickyusf54]

Just moved into a new home with a 7k gallon fiberglass pool that is about 10 years old. It has a newer Sta-Rite SuperMax pump and Pentair Cartridge filter. It currently has a tablet/stick chlorinator. The previous owner did a fantastic job from what I can see keeping the pool clear, but im a rookie when it comes to a pool and the inner workings. I attached a couple pics.

A couple quick questions:
1) For the chlorinator, what kind of tablets/sticks should I use and how many should be out in the canister at one time (more during summer than winter??).

2)What do the valves do on my current setup and what is the optimal setting I should keep it on versus the setting needed for the pool vac (Hayward).

I welcome any suggestions you guys can add in addition to my questions. You guys are the experts!

Thanks!

 

[pwrstrk]

Welcome to TFP !!
You've come to the right place to learn everything about maintaing your pool. First thing I'm going to recommend is take some time and do some reading in Pool School. Here are a couple of good articles to start you out with.
ABC'S Of Pool Water Chemistry
How To Chlorinate Your Pool
The next thing your going to need to maintain your pool is one of these Test Kits. It's a must have for accurate test results. Very small investment and a must have to maintain your pool on your own. When you need advice on your water chemistry the results from one of these kits will be the ones we trust to give you accurate advice from. As you do some reading on the forum you'll see we don't trust pool store testing very much. Their methods of pool care and ours are totally different.
After you do some reading you'll see you won't need to use that in line chlorinator except for maybe when your away from home. We don't recommend using pucks for everyday use. They cause more problems down the road that you don't need.
About your valves, I'm not quite sure which ones to what. Somebody else will be able to steer you in the right direction there.
After you've done some reading ask questions you have. Lots of people hear to help you out.
Hope you enjoy the forum ! ?

 

[kimkats]

Welcome to the best pool web site for taking care of your own pool!

You are off to a great start! Posting pictures. Finding TFP and asking questions! Good job!

Now read the above links and order one of the GOOD test kits.

I know you want to say "But the pool store will test it for free for me." Is it REALLY free? Nope! They need to sell you something. They will sell you things you do not need. MOST pool stores test results are WRONG. Ask me how I know. I was so "pool stored" with my first pool that was ruined to the point of no return!

Once I found TFP my new pool has been great and CHEAP to maintain! (No one ever says cheap and pool together LOL)

Your pipes and such I cannot help you with. Is there any way you can ask the former owners?

Kim

 

[mikech]

Welcome to TFP neighbor! I own a business in Pinellas Park (nothing to do with pools) and live in Seminole. I bought a house in July with a green pool, read everything on TFP, got one of the recommended test kits, followed the methods outlined on here, and have had a sparkling pool since. You'll get to know your pool and keep it clean in no time if you follow the advice on here!

Mike

 

[jeffbrig]

Okay, I'll try to help with the valves. I'm not a pool expert or anything, but I'm an engineer, so I like to say I solve problems for a living. I'm a relatively new pool owner too, but I've sorted out my own pool's plumbing, so I'll give you an idea how I look at it.

First suggestion, look for any markings on the pipes coming out of the ground. If you're lucky, someone marked them with a Sharpie when they were installed.

You have two pipes coming out of the ground through a 3-way valve to the pump inlet (side of the pump). The 3 way valve lets you block 1 of the incoming pipes to concentrate the pump suction on the other. You might want to do that if you were, say, vacuuming the pool with a manual vac. In its current position, both incoming pipes are open. Look closely at the valve, and the side across from the handle is the "OFF" side. If you put it on either intake, that one is blocked. Your two inlets are likely a skimmer and a main drain, or a skimmer and a vac port. You can easily sort out which by blocking one, checking the pool, then the other. Label them.

From the pump, the outlet (top of the pump) runs through the filter, then there's a valve that splits off to waste (the blue hose). Obviously, this remains closed unless you're dumping to waste, perhaps if the pool was overfilled. With a cartridge filter, you won't be backwashing, so this is just a dump valve.

Then the output runs over to a tablet chlorinator. Do not get in the habit of using this. While it will dissolve 3" chlorine tabs, it'll also put too much CYA in your water over time, and you'll curse yourself later. Leave it empty. The tiny valve just before the chlorinator tower controls the flow thru the chlorinator (i.e. how fast it dissolves chlorine).

After the chlorinator, you have another 3-way valve that lets you pick between two returns (or both). In the valve's current position, both are in use. To figure out which is which, turn the valve to shut off one return, and see which one is still blowing. I can't think of any reason why you would use a single return if you have two, so just leave this in the position it is now.

-Jeff