Opening our new to us pool for the first time! Unveil the swamp!

[MarianParoo]

I would open up that main drain so that the high FC water can kill gunk in those lines. Just my opinion.

About the CYA, have you been adding water? I don't think so, but just checking that first. There is a +/- 10% error on the CYA test.

 

[PrairieGirl]

Only water added is that which falls from the sky.
We have cleaned the filters a few times, so maybe that's it. Haven't cleaned the filters in 2 days though, but probably will need to before the weekend.

 

[bmoreswim]

Fantastic read here PG! You are going to have killer looking steel blue water with that finish. So close!

 

[MarianParoo]

I have never done the sock in a bucket... Was there any granules or powder in the bucket? Did you see any on the pool floor when you poured it in? If not, maybe try a 5ppm additional increase???

 

[PrairieGirl]

ckk81 - I somehow missed your link to your iron removal process. I laughed out loud when I saw your big blue filter at the poolside. We are thinking about installing a similar filter in our house for the well, and putting it inline before the exterior spigot that we think is used for the auto leveler.

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MarianParoo - there were some superfine granules in the water, but I never saw the settle to the floor. Same was true with massaging sock in front of returns - there would be some superfine particles in addition to a milky liquid, but they never seemed to settle out on the bottom.

 

[kimkats]

For the spa you only need to run the water through the lines once a day for about 10 mins. or so. This is to keep the water in the lines from getting stagnate and trying to grow anything. I would have the main drain line open as well for the same reason.

CYA-you might need to add a bit more.

Kim:cat:

 

[ckk81]

CYA can be a bit of a PITA as it takes a while to show up.

 

[Vyrolan]

Vyrolan - It was built by Barrington! I called the county to see if they had any info about the permits or plans, and all they could tell me was that it was built by Barrington in 2007. Barrington was helpful in getting me some basic information, but they don't want to give me too much info without coming out for a visit, which has a charge (understandably). While I don't mind paying for information and experience, Barrington is not inexpensive for their services!

Too true...their prices are pretty ridiculous. Most of the pool services around here seem to be overpriced and terribly-managed.

Info about spa jets and drain covers would be helpful. and the air blowers? Ours has smaller air blower inlets at the bottom of the spa, and I'm not sure what kind of insert goes in those. I have no idea what direction to go with that.

The spa jets you can buy online...they're just self-contained plastic pieces that screw in. Measure across the openings to get the size. I've replaced several of mine that weren't working too well or just to get different styles. Are all yours gone? I can pop a couple of ours out and give pics/dimensions as yours are probably the same.

Not too sure on the air blower to be honest...the spots where the air comes in on ours is just covered a little metal grate that breaks up the air flow into little bubbles. I don't even know for sure if it comes off...I'll have to investigate more closely...will try to get a pic.


I noticed on some of your pics that in-floor cleaning holes still have the plugs...have you ever removed them? If not, the pipes may still be full of anti-freeze or worse and you're better off getting those flushed out while you're in the SLAM.

 

[Vyrolan]

Suggestions on if we need to keep the spillover going 24/7? Right now we have the returns split between spa and pool, and we are not operating the spa drains at this time - replying totally on returns and spillover to circulate the spa water.

That is how mine works. We don't even have an option to turn off the spillover unless I went and turned the valve manually (wish I did...need to find out how to reprogram the JVAs/AquaLink for that). Our pool has an autocover so I actually dislike the spillover since it carries debris the uncovered spa into the pool...ugh. I've never had any other issues though...and I've never had problems with rampant PH gain from the spillover's aeration...it's very minimal on mine.

 

[MarianParoo]

Good catch on the in-floor. Any lines or hidey places need to get cleaned out. 10 minutes of run time per day is fine once they get cleaned out. If there's gross stuff in there, you will need to run them longer for a while.

 

[PrairieGirl]

Been on the run today!

8:30 am
FC 11
cc .5

12:30 pm

FC 11.5

when we checked the skimmers today, we found several dead frogs. Kids were pretty sad.

its cloudy, so not too mush sunlight to show off the water.

 

[MarianParoo]

How about a pic of the frogs, then? Ugh. Never mind. I try to clean out my skimmers when no one's watching... Also, after a rainstorm, I check for worms before anyone sees them.

 

[PrairieGirl]

Untitled by Carrie, on Flickr

Untitled by Carrie, on Flickr

Untitled by Carrie, on Flickr

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4:30 pm

FC 11.5

I was in luck today with chlorine! A local farm store is selling 10% for $7.99/4 gal. Best price I've found so far!

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Seeing the rainbows in the water is nice. The kids think that's pretty cool. Even when it's cloudy, we're seeing some when the water moves and we're looking at something white on the floor.

 

[MarianParoo]

It is looking beautiful! As long as all those hidey places/plumbing are clean, are you debating an OCLT soon?

 

[PrairieGirl]

Been thinking about it! Tonight might be a good time - I'd love to have us open for business this weekend

 

[kimkats]

Look at those seahorse SHINE! WOW! Who knew your pool would be that color!

I hope you do the OCLT and you pass! If you don't I have a couple of ideas but don't think they will be needed.

Kim:cat:

 

[PrairieGirl]

If we pass, do we need to wait for levels to come down and to adjust others numbers before we go swimming?

 

[MarianParoo]

Only thing that makes a difference for swimming (in your pool), would be your pH. You can adjust that within an hour or less. No problemo!

 

[kimkats]

Well the FC does need to be just under the SLAM level for your CYA as well as the PH being in line.

Kim:cat:

 

[MarianParoo]

Agreed, Kim! My bad. I am just so used to a swimmable level in her pool come morning.

(I have gone swimming in high FC water... Shhhh! Don't tell anyone!)

Surprise me tomorrow, PrairieGirl! Good luck!!!