I still consider myself a newbie here. This is my second season with a pool, but the first time we've opened it by ourselves.
Before you read any further, rest assured NOBODY is swimming in the water described below. Too cold anyway. And I definitely won't let anyone in until the FC is down to acceptable levels.
In ground pool with SWG. Closing went off without a hitch last fall. Brought my chlorine level up and drained to about a foot below the return jets. Even got some non-metal algaecide in before installing the cover.
When I pulled the cover off this past weekend, I was a little shocked, but not too bad. There was a light coat of algae on one of the top steps where it had been sitting mainly in rain water. Also, there was a little algae in the skimmer basket.
Where I think I made the mistake is treating while filling, before running any tests. I based some of my treatment on the presence of that algae, and the fact that I was filling with new well water (about half the volume of the pool), and the fact that the starting water level was several inches higher than I remembered at closing (rain and snow over the winter).
As I was filling, I used 2 small 96 ounce jugs of bleach on the steps and the skimmer basket to kill the visible algae.
I also added 2 1-lb packages of trichlor (I figured I was OK with the extra CYA as I was adding a large volume of well water and will need to re-balance my CYA anyway).
The kicker, was using my SWG's "SuperChlor" cycle. This runs my pump with my SWG at 100% for 24 hours. When I got home from work last night, I knew I had some vacuuming to do, as our mesh cover allows some fine dirt through. So I had a good deal of clean up to do on the pool floor.
I'd completely forgotten how efficient my new SWG is. I took just a FC/CC reading prior to vacuuming. To my surprise, I was at:
FC - 33.5
CC - 0.5
The good news is my water was crystal clear except for the fine dirt I needed to pick up. Which is gone.
I ran my pump/SWG from noon to 4p today (hottest part of the day) with the SWG at 50% output, hoping the small runtime and reduced output would allow my FC to start dropping. Unfortunately, the reading I just took is:
FC - 34
CC - 0.5
I'm trying to figure the best way to get my FC down without just shutting everything down for a few days. I still want to run the pump at least 4 hrs a day to turn the water over and keep a handle on debris.
I just set it to continue to run 12-4 but with my SWG output at 25%. Or should I just turn the SWG down to 0-5% for a couple of days and just test daily until it gets in the range I want it, then start walking it back up a few % at a time until I am maintaining?
I am fine with the fact that I seemed to have started off the year with the algae under control. I just want to get my FC down before it harms any of my equipment.
Before you read any further, rest assured NOBODY is swimming in the water described below. Too cold anyway. And I definitely won't let anyone in until the FC is down to acceptable levels.
In ground pool with SWG. Closing went off without a hitch last fall. Brought my chlorine level up and drained to about a foot below the return jets. Even got some non-metal algaecide in before installing the cover.
When I pulled the cover off this past weekend, I was a little shocked, but not too bad. There was a light coat of algae on one of the top steps where it had been sitting mainly in rain water. Also, there was a little algae in the skimmer basket.
Where I think I made the mistake is treating while filling, before running any tests. I based some of my treatment on the presence of that algae, and the fact that I was filling with new well water (about half the volume of the pool), and the fact that the starting water level was several inches higher than I remembered at closing (rain and snow over the winter).
As I was filling, I used 2 small 96 ounce jugs of bleach on the steps and the skimmer basket to kill the visible algae.
I also added 2 1-lb packages of trichlor (I figured I was OK with the extra CYA as I was adding a large volume of well water and will need to re-balance my CYA anyway).
The kicker, was using my SWG's "SuperChlor" cycle. This runs my pump with my SWG at 100% for 24 hours. When I got home from work last night, I knew I had some vacuuming to do, as our mesh cover allows some fine dirt through. So I had a good deal of clean up to do on the pool floor.
I'd completely forgotten how efficient my new SWG is. I took just a FC/CC reading prior to vacuuming. To my surprise, I was at:
FC - 33.5
CC - 0.5
The good news is my water was crystal clear except for the fine dirt I needed to pick up. Which is gone.
I ran my pump/SWG from noon to 4p today (hottest part of the day) with the SWG at 50% output, hoping the small runtime and reduced output would allow my FC to start dropping. Unfortunately, the reading I just took is:
FC - 34
CC - 0.5
I'm trying to figure the best way to get my FC down without just shutting everything down for a few days. I still want to run the pump at least 4 hrs a day to turn the water over and keep a handle on debris.
I just set it to continue to run 12-4 but with my SWG output at 25%. Or should I just turn the SWG down to 0-5% for a couple of days and just test daily until it gets in the range I want it, then start walking it back up a few % at a time until I am maintaining?
I am fine with the fact that I seemed to have started off the year with the algae under control. I just want to get my FC down before it harms any of my equipment.
