My skimmer basket floats out of the skimmer basket opening when the pump stops.
I currently use two tie-wraps sticking out of the sides in a loop to catch under the skimmer ledge. Is there a weight I should be placing in the basket to keep it down?. What would the weight be made of? The dealer (Leslie's) said they all float. If the basket does not seat itself the weir door can not move down when the pump starts. Seems like a bad design to not have some sort of latch.

The back story:
In May 2016 we bought a Bestway 16'x42" above ground pool. We live in the central valley of California and our soil is called Sandylome. It just means we have a lot of sand in the soil. This can be a good thing and bad. But I digress. We put the pool up after leveling the ground. We had a slope of 1 foot to dig out. Using a line level staked down on the high side we measured the low side and that gave us how deep we were going to have to dig the high side down. Luckily it was only 1 foot at the deepest end. We set the pavers using the 2x4, stake, and level method. Our pool was level to 1/4 of an inch. I got all the information from this awesome site on how to do this by the way.
Now fast forward to June and the pool was up and we were swimming. The only regret I had was not digging the sod back 2 feet around the pool because our bionic Nut and Bermuda grass grew sideways and under the pool then up through the gorilla pad, tarp, trap and then the liner. I was patching grass holes in the liner the next summer. Not a big deal just more work removing the grass 2ft back after the pool was already up. The next hurdle came the second season. There are pocket gophers in this area and for some reason they love my yard. The first year they never dig by the pool well that changed in year 2. They dug under the pool. You could feel thier runs on the pool floor. The weight of the pool did collapse the tunnels but they dug under 2 of the legs which caused the pool to start leaning. Then they decided to move to the side that had less pressure due to the leaning pool and went to town on the liner seam. You can probably guess what happened next...yep they split the seam and now the pool was toast. Seems like a book for only 2 seasons of swimming but you loyal readers deserve the whole story.
This brings us to the current situation today. Wife wants something like the picture below. So I have embarked an this insane trek to give it to her lol. Wish me luck as I will continue to post my journey.

Recently I fixed my pool's auto-fill so I no longer have any iron being added to the pool (How to test for Iron without sending out water to testing lab or pool store! (pics included)) , but I was curious if I still had some iron in the pool water from the last 3 months that was still lingering around. I've drained a bit of pool water lately (maybe 6,000 of my 36,000 gallons?) to get rid of some of the sequestered iron and some CH as well.

Normally I keep FC around 4-6 or so, and decided to try to make my pool turn nuclear green with some added chlorine. I like to call it nuclear green because the water is still super clear and it just reminds me of some kind of weird nuclear waste water.

Now on to the fun stuff...

I can go from super-clear blue to super-clear green by bumping up my FC from 4-6 to 14. It only takes a couple of hours (maybe 4, IIRC?) for the water to change that drastically. Keep in mind, I'm not doing this with 1 pump, I had 3 separate pumps running (1 at 2750rpm, 1 at 1050rpm, and 1 at 1550rpm) to keep water circulating really well during this test.


IMPORTANT NOTE: The main pool and the overflow basin are 2 different shades/colors in each picture because I started my experiment/testing the overflow basin about an HOUR ahead of the main pool. (I wasn't going to proceed with the main pool if I didn't see the results I -expected- with the smaller overflow basin). So every pic you see here, the overflow basin will have a "head start", hence the difference in colors between the two bodies of water.

In short, I just used a very small amount of AA to neutralize -some- of the FC and ran 3 pumps to circulate and move the water.

This is the the water color in the beginning, once FC hit about 14.5.



1 Hour Later after adding in a bit of AA...



1 Hour Later with circulation (no more AA being added)...


1 Hour Later with circulation (no more AA being added)...


1 Hour 30 Minutes Later with circulation (no more AA being added)...


2.5 Hours later with circulation (no more AA being added)...


Basically about 7 hours total of water circulation, and an FC drop from 14 down to about 5. So this shows that I still have some iron in my pool.

In a span of about 12 hours, I went from clear-blue, to clear-green, to clear-blue again. Anyways, just thought it might be fun to share with others.! (iron sucks, heh)

Hi all,
Thanks to the fervent support of the TFP community, we have met our $10,000 goal! We appreciate all the users in this thread hyping the campaign and sharing warm and fuzzy TFP anecdotes. Completion of this campaign reminds us that TFP is a resource that people can trust with their pool and with their donations. We do not take your generosity for granted. We will continue to improve TFP and hope that you continue to share your time with us.

For the second year in a row, this campaign has exceeded expectations by raising our goal in 15 days!! While our donation links are always available, going forward we would like to focus primarily on this recurring summer campaign to fund TFP each calendar year. The campaign will be the only time we ask for your donations.

TFP is the best pool owner's resource on the net thanks to the many members willing to help each other, share their knowledge, and continue to learn. Thank you for being a part of it!

-------

Pool owners helping pool owners.

This simple idea is what created Trouble Free Pool and what keeps it running more than 15 years later. If you have ever contributed your time to helping a fellow TFP user, or if you have contributed money to keep TFP online - THANK YOU for your generosity!

Last year we asked for donations from our community to secure our plans for 2023. The overwhelming response to the campaign reminded us how incredible the TFP community is! This year, our goal is to raise $10,000 by August 31st, 2023. These donations allow us to keep the website online through 2024, perform needed maintenance, and improve our resources for pool owners everywhere. This campaign is, and will always be, our only fundraising effort each year.

Click here to donate to Trouble Free Pool

TFP is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and donations from our users keep our forums and content free of advertisements. If TFP or our community has helped you through a swimming pool issue that could have been complicated and costly, please consider putting some of the money saved towards our 2024 Campaign so that we may continue helping other pool owners.

As a TFP supporter, you will receive discounts to online retailers, free TFP merchandise, and a recognition badge on our forums. As a new perk this year, pool cleaner manufacturer Aiper has offered us an exclusive discount code for all TFP supporters, old and new. This code is only active until the end of the 2024 Campaign on August 31st. Anyone who donates during this campaign will receive a 2024 Campaign Trophy to display proudly on their forums profile as well.

On behalf of the administration, we would like to again thank all of you who have donated to TFP.

Sarah and Nate Griesedieck
[email protected]

Long story short, I wanted cartridge filter clarity without a cartridge filter. I came up with an idea, tested it, and now I want to share it with others. I performed a forum search before making this post and learned of the "Slimebag". Low and behold, the "Slimebag" is equivalent to my idea but much more expensive. I will post pictures within a few days but for now here are the details.

I have a 28,000 gal inground pool, 220 lb sand filter and 1 1/2hp pump rated at 70 gpm (probably only pushing about 50). I purchased 2 of part number 9830K21 from http://www.McMaster.com, this is a Slip-on Filter Bag Polyester Felt, 33" Height X 7" Diameter, 5 Micron @ $5.74 each. I purchase a 1 1/2" MIP to slip with a couple other pvc fittings and using a SS hose clamp, the returns feed through each bag.

These bags are glazed and are NOT intended for reuse. Regardless, when they are dirty, I put them in the washing machine with other shop towels and then put them back in place. Before the first machine washing, they worked awesome, I am now on the third machine washing and they are still working very good.

Our pool load consist of 2 adults, 1 6YO, and one 50lbs hairy dog and we swim almost everyday.

And yes, I see the same issue mentioned in some of the "Slimebag" post where if you hit the bag or when you remove it a cloud of very fine dust leaves the outer surface of the bag. Very small in comparison to the amount of particulate that the bag has captured.

Shares of spa and pool supplies retailer Leslie’s Inc. dropped more than 18% in the extended session Thursday after the company’s preliminary quarterly results were below Wall Street expectations and led to a lowered outlook for the year. Leslie’s also announced that its chief financial officer is stepping down.

Click to expand...

I have a love/hate relationship with Leslie's. I hate their prices and their potions, but I love that they are very close to me and carry a lot of stuff I don't have to wait to have delivered.

MSN article.

Hello -

We live in Tulsa, OK and our summer days have been heating up to 100+ with high humidity and high heat indexes. Our inground saltwater pool is 25,000 gallon with a medium lagoon colored bottom with in-floor cleaners. Our pool is exposed to the sun most of the day.

Our pool water was heating up to 95 degrees and it was awful - you would get in and you would just be "wet" - it was not refreshing and not enjoyable.

We started doing research on a pool chiller and found Glacier Pool Chillers. There are 2 models and we went with the larger residential unit to maximize efficiency.

After installation - we had to tweak the pressure and intake valves to accomodate our in-floor cleaning system - but within 4 days (chiller was on entire time) our pool went from 95 degrees to 83 degrees. It is almost too cold!

It is awesome! We highly recommend this product for anyone that is suffering from hot bathwater in their pool. The units are a bit pricey - but isn't having a pool all about quality of life?

Living in Houston where my pool in August usually was 93-94F, I had tried all the aerating ideas from this pool cooling page and none yielded more than maybe 1F reduction.
Cooling A Pool - Further Reading

This year, because we wanted to reduce sun exposure for our baby in the pool, I bought 3 offset umbrellas (each square 10x10ft) for $200 each from Amazon which cover about 2/3 of the pool surface. (to weigh the umbrellas down I bought a bunch of 16x16 pavers from Home Depot)

Amazing side effect: The pool temperature has been 86-87F this entire summer! The pool finally feels refreshing in August!

Could one of the Admins add "Shading" to this page?

Will it pass through into the filter bucket or am I calling a pool guy to get it out?

Of our 8 or so peach trees, only 1, the protected one, produced any peaches in quantity. And boy did it produce. I think there are 300 peaches on the tree. So what do I do with 300 peaches?

I just picked about 50 in 10 minutes and gave my neighbor 10 or so. Gonna harvest them today and tomorrow so the bugs and squirrels don't get them.

We've been silently lurking and watching all you've built here at TFP. We here at Pool Magazine consider this website to be an incredibly valuable resource for pool owners and industry pros alike. We're happy to join the platform and contribute to this incredible community in any way we can. Pleased to be a supporter and look forward to being part of the conversation!

I always understood the main issue was CYA build up over time and the only way to reduce CYA was to drain water and replace it.

For the last 10 years or so our pool has had a CYA of about 40 - 60 (best guess as the test is not really easy to read). We did liquid chlorine in the summer (swim season) and water was perfect and no algae blooms. In the winter we use tabs as solar is off and pool temp low. Always a little surprised each spring that the CYA wasn't higher after using tabs - but everything good.

This year we have had very high liquid chlorine usage (which is getting very expensive with the current cost of chlorine) and testing CYA it seems maybe 10 - 20 (again the I find the test very hard to read to get an accurate result).

Could we really have lost CYA like this? Pool is never drained (on a well and it would be prohibitive to try to refill) just topped up during the summer to replace evaporative loss (but the CYA should stay in pool - correct?)

Are there any more accurate CYA tests than the black dot test? A little reluctant to add CYA until I know it is really low as it will really be hard to lower it if it gets high.

Pool still looks great - but if CYA is low I guess even low levels of chlorine would be working....

Background: Recently, I installed a Pentair Serial COM Port Expansion Board (Port Multiplexer), in my IntelliCenter Load Center. I thought I might share some information regarding this expansion board and its installation.
The Pentair Serial COM port expansion board can be used with any Pentair IntelliCenter, IntelliTouch and EasyTouch Automation Control System. A total of two (2) Serial COM Port Expansion Boards can be installed.
There are two reasons that a Pentair Automation user may wish to install this board.

The part number for the Serial COM Port Expansion Kit is: 520818. The cost is approximately $60.00. I paid $57.90 on Amazon (no shipping or taxes).
The following items are included in the kit:
NOTE: One COM port terminal block is used to connect to the control system main board.

The three COM Ports share a common bus. Thus, the following type equipment/accessories can connect to any of these ports. This list is just an example and not all inclusive.

The two pin screw terminal blocks can be used for RS-485 or RS-232 communications for equipment such as:
Pentair IntelliFlo Pumps
Pentair UltraTemp and Hybrid Heat Pumps

INSTALLATION -
Note: The following is a detailed explanation of the installation (and any tips/tricks that I can think of) of the Serial COM Port Expansion Board in the Pentair IntelliCenter Load Center. Installing the expansion board in any other automation system may or may not be similar.

WARNING: ALWAYS remove power from the Load Center/Power Center and from any items that you are connecting before proceeding. De-energizing ALL applicable circuit breakers is the approved method of removing power from these items. Failure to do so may result in electrical shock and/or damage to equipment.

CAUTION: ALWAYS use approved anti-static precautions when handling circuit boards. Failure to do so may result in damage to equipment.

1. Remove the four adhesive backed supports using a 1/4" socket. (these are for use in older type load centers, that do not have the two applicable mounting screws for the expansion board).
2. Unlatch the front door spring latch to open the load center door.
3. Loosen the two access screws securing the IntelliCenter Control Panel using a 1/4" socket and fold it down.
4. Using a 1/4" socket, remove the two screws from the back of the load center upper low voltage compartment as illustrated below.
5. Install the two Expansion Board brackets and secure with the same two screws as illustrated below.
6. Mount the Expansion Board onto the bracket and secure with the four screws that are provided in the kit using a 1/4" socket as illustrated below. Then tighten the two screws that mount the brackets.

7. The Serial COM Port Expansion Board is shipped with the cable connectors plugged in to J2 and J3 of the expansion board. Remove the terminal connector J2 on the Expansion Board and connect it to a COM port on the IntelliCenter Control System Personality Board as depicted in the above illustrations.

8. If you have existing equipment and/or accessories (IntelliChlor, IntelliChem, IntelliFlo Pump, UltraTemp and Hybrid Heat Pumps, Remote Control Panels etc., connected to the IntelliCenter Automation System Mother Card remove the connector with attached wires and connect the connector to an available terminal on the Expansion board COM port (as shown above).

9. After the Expansion Board has been mounted and all equipment/accessories connected, close the control panel into its original position and secure it with the two access screws. Apply power to the system by energizing the applicable circuit breakers and close the load center front door. Fasten the spring latch.

Hope this helps with anyone installing the Pentair Serial COM Port Expansion Board in an IntelliCenter Load Center.
Please feel free to ping me if you have any questions...
r.

There is a lot of different threads on chemical storage so I compiled the "preferred" methods and seek clarification on some. Please comment on your storage and best practice.

Muriatic Acid (MA) - everyone agrees it is corrosive and should be stored separately and preferably outside in a plastic storage box - it has a relatively long shelf life regardless of temperature. Keep away from metal and store by itself.

Borax or Baking Soda - keep dry, moisture free environment - mainly inside such as utility or laundry room on a shelf or in basement - good shelf life

Dry Chlorine (i.e. pucks or granular) also known as Dichlor, Trichlor or Calcium hypochlorite (cal hypo) - Keep in its storage container from store - store in dry area - can be stored in garage or basement but best if outside as some chlorine vapor can be corrosive - good shelf life due to the CYA included (in dichlor and trichlor only)

Liquid Chlorine (in gallon plastic bottles) - known as Sodium Hypochlorite (or bleach) - comes in varying percentage of sodium hypochlorite denoted on the bottle. - Keep in cool place - many store in utility or laundry room if not in high quantities (due to space). Can also be stored outside in garage or in separate container or storage shed. Liquid Chlorine (% sodium hypochlorite) will deteriorate over time due to heat and does not have long shelf life. Liquid Chlorine should NOT be stored with MA (in same storage shed) .

Questions
1) Can Dry Chlorine and Liquid Chlorine be stored in the same outside storage container or shed? If not, what is the concern since both would give off Chlorine gas?
2) Can MA be stored with dry chlorine in the same outside storage container or shed? Maybe on separate shelfs or 2-3 apart from each other. I read some do this but not sure that is ideal.

Feel free to post other questions for experts to clarify.

I'm trying to figure out how much calcium my pool will add daily due to evaporation and re-fill. Here are the variables:

Tap water 80ppm
I estimate I'm losing 167 gallons per day
My pool is 20,000 gallons

How many ppms will my calcium increase per day?

Do you take 167/20,000 = .00835 and multiply that times 80ppm? Or am I way off?

Hi. I am a new pool/spa owner and new to TPT. We have a new pool/spa just built and I want to add a spa blower motor to get more bubbles and better venturi jet action. I am thinking about getting the 2HP Silencer blower. I have room in my electrical panel for either 120v or 240v but have few questions.
1. Does the blower require a dedicate circuit in my Pentair EasyTouch4 panel?
2. Is there any reason to go with 120v or 240v for the blower?

Thanks,
DavidU

Hello,

I started trying to rectify a swamp of a pool with heavy iron staining at the beginning of May. I'm at my wits end and thinking about getting quotes to fill in the pool with dirt and never have to deal with it again lol...

Long story as short as I can get it:

- Pool had very deep and dark iron stains for 7+ years
- Pool had old deteriorating heater attached. Removed the pool heater from plumbing, thinking it could be the source of metals.
- Pool was neglected and was a green swamp at the beginning of May
- Shocked and SLAM pool for ~2 weeks, water now crystal clear, but pool surface looks terrible with the stains.
- Attempted ascorbic acid treatment to remove iron stains (reacted to vitamin C tablets so I knew it was iron).
- Ended up using about 6.5 lbs ascorbic acid in addition to a bottle of polyquat 60
- Put a CuLator Ultra 4.0 in the pump basket to try to capture the iron
- Pool looks a lot better, best the pool has ever looked since buying the house (faint staining still visible, but light enough I can live with it, plus I already spent a ton of money).
- Added Jack's Purple Stuff sequesterant (32 oz.) and more polyquat 60 around May 18 or 19.
- Pool became very cloudy, ran pump/filter 24 hours a day until water cleared up (have been running the pump 24/7 since starting initial SLAM at beginning of May really). Took about 5-7 days for the water to clear up after adding Jack's Purple Stuff.
- Now that water is clear, see that algae growing in the pool. Black or very dark green spots appear all over the pool. Slightly lightens when brushed with stainless steel bristle brush.
- Need to get rid of algae, but also not supposed to shock/SLAM because of iron in the water with come out of solution?
- Shocked/SLAMed anyway because I needed to get rid of algae...
- SLAMing pool was very difficult because of the amount of ascorbic acid in the pool
- Ended up using many gallons of chlorine for the FC level to start holding. I'm talking like 25+ gallons of 10% liquid chlorine.
- FC eventually holds, but still have algae problem. So I need to SLAM, right?
- Water now has a slight tint to it after adding chlroine to shock level last night, I suspect from the iron being oxidized and staining is going to start happening again.
- Still have algae all over, I don't know if I should continue with SLAM or what.
- I'm already at nearly $1,000 spent and I'd hate to have to buy even more liquid chlorine.

Other details:
- Pool heater removed from plumbing completely.
- Water source is municipal/city, not a well or anything.
- Not entirely sure if iron or copper stains, I suspect iron because it reacted to the ascorbic acid, but maybe it's copper from the pool heater? Do pool heaters even use iron pipes?
- Running the pump nearly 24/7 for a month takes a toll on your electricity bill, who knew?

What should my next steps be? Thanks for any help!

Attached some pictures showing the difference in the pool.

May 16 picture is from before the AA treatment showing the iron stains.
Jun 1 picture shows how much nicer the color was a couple days ago.
Jun 3 (today) pictures show the color of the water returning to a nasty tinted color and some of the algae spots that exist. Color change likely from shocking the pool last night.

Hello everyone! I've been reading this forum for a while now and have learned a lot of great information, though I'm having a problem that I cannot seem to find an exact answer to.

TL;DR: History

I have a rectangular in-ground pool about 3 years old, approximately 18,000 gallons. This was installed by the previous owner and this is the second season for me. It is chlorine, has a sand filter, retractable cover, chlorinator and UV filter. We keep the pool covered nearly all of the time, opening it when we swim and closing it afterwards. Last year the pool was maintained bi-weekly by the company that installed it, and they opened and closed it for the seasons each time. I had been doing the general chemical maintenance and checking last in between their visits and didn't really have any issues. This year they informed me that they just don't have the resources to do pool maintenance visits and to find someone else. Given my experience last year I figured I could handle it in the meantime while I found someone else.

This year when they opened the pool at the beginning of May after being covered since end of September it was pretty murky and teal colored. They added an algicide and a lot of shock and said to give it a few days and should be fine. It seemed to clear up after a few days though given the cooler spring the water just wasn't warm enough to swim so it got very little use in May. I did periodically test it with my test strips from the previous season but was getting somewhat erratic results so just figured they were no longer good and needed new ones.

During a particularly rainy week we were out of town for about 5 days and when I came back the pool was back to being murky and teal again. The PSI on the filter was 23 (should be max 20) and when I backwashed it, it had a noticeable smell. Afterwards the PSI was back down to normal. Over the course of a few steps, I added the recommended amount of HTC algicide, shock and clarifier and waited. After a several days it began to slowly clear up, however that's when the problem really started...

The problem (finally)...

In short, the pool does not and will not hold chlorine. Over the course of the past three weeks I have probably added 20+ gallons of liquid (10%) and 2 maybe 3 containers of granulated. Consistently after about 4-6 hours the free chlorine was down to below 1, sometimes looking like 0. The CC seems to remain proportional to the FC where when one is high the other is high and when low they both are.

I continued to pour 4 to 5 gallons per day seeing the same results. We brought in a new pool company and they reported on the first visit that the pH was also very low (below their lowest measurement on their strips). I had seen this as well but was very inconsistent across the different types/brands of test strips I had used.

Intestingly, the water is crystal clear. Like... glass clear. You can see the bottom of the deep end almost as though there's no water in it. The pool company left in their notes that the water looks "awesome" and "extremely clear".

Recently I started to keep much more detailed notes, but assume unless otherwise I added at least 10ppm's worth of chlorine a day. Here's what I have in writing:

6/23: Pool company
Reported: pH < 6.2, FC < 0.5, Alkalinity ~ 80, CYA 0 (This would have been after I had added 1 or 2 gallons of liquid chlorine earlier that day).
Added: 2 gal shock, 1 lb pH plus

6/29: Pool company
Reported: ph < 6.2, FC < 0.5, Alkalinity ~ 80, CYA 0 (same exactly as last time)
Added: 2lbs "yellow out", 1 lb ph plus, 2 gal shock, 1lb CYA.

6/30: Added 4 lbs ph plus. After several hours the pH was still below scale on test strips.

(Finally purchased a Taylor K-2006 kit so started using it)

7/1: 1:30pm
pH < 6.8 (bottom of scale) took 17 drops of R0006 to get to pH 7.4. According to book that means ~10 lbs of pH up should be added.
FAS-DPD: 2 drops to colorless (0.4ppm FC), +5 drops to pink again, 5-6 drops to colorless again (1.0-1.2ppm CC).
CYA: approx 90 (not 100% sure what it means by "black dot 'just barely' disappears" though).
+ 2 gal 10% liquid chlorine

7/1 7:30pm
Test strip: pH ~6.4, CC ~3, FC ~3-5.
TA: 13 drops = 130 ?
Added: 4 lbs pH up

7/2 9:00am
pH: ~7.2
FAS-DPD: 2 drops to colorless (0.4ppm FC), 2 drops to pink again (0.8ppm CC)
Added: 4 lbs pH up

7/2 11:00am
Added: 1 gal 10%
pH: ~7.5

7/2 1:30pm
pH: ~7.4
FAS-DPD: 7.5 ppm FC, 1.0 ppm CC (at this point I felt like some progress because it was the longest I'd ever seen it hold chlorine).

7/2 3pm: small pool party, 3 swimmers for about an hour.

7/3 9:30am
ph: ~7.4
Test strip: FC/TC off scale low.
TA: 80-120
Added: 1 gal 10% liquid
Noted water level was at 1/3 skimmer height so added about 45 mins from hose and now up to just over 1/2 skimmer height.

Summary

While the pH seems to be holding steady still seeing chlorine fall. We have had relatively little swimming this season and this chlorine will fall regardless of whether or not anyone goes in so I don't think it's swimmer contamination. Also, the pool is covered nearly 24/7 so it isn't contaminated by rain, nor does it receive UV light. Chlorine also drops down over night. Being that I didn't feel confident in the results from the test strips I was reluctant to add additional stabilizer in case lock was a problem. Recent tests with the Taylor show it to be in the 70-90 range now. I wouldn't also say we've seen "excessive heat" yet this summer - hottest day might have been 89 degrees and there have been quite a few cool days too. Finally, since the water seems so perhaps not an algae issue... unless there are 100% perfectly clear algae? The only thing I haven't formally done is a "SLAM", though I have been adding 3-4 gallons (or granule equivalent) per day.

Help!

Anyway... extremely long story short. What could this be, and what else should I do? I mean, the pool is very clear and comfortable to swim in, it's just that it seems that I have to continue to add a gallon of chlorine every 4-6 hours to keep it above 0.5.

Thanks (and sorry for the super long message).

FK

Hello everyone,

New here, but not new to pools. I worked at a Leslies some time ago for a couple years and had a manager who actually understood water, so I had a good teacher. I purchased my first home here in Arizona last year, and it has a large pool with a diving board. Specs are down below. All equipment, including a pool resurface and new water, was installed in 2021 by the previous owners. At least that's what they told me (date on the filter is 2021).

I was confident I could handle it myself and spend the 30 minutes/week it required, especially since there's a Leslies Pro 1/2 mile away. Last summer was great, water got cloudy once or twice but nothing I couldn't handle. I was only adding a couple bags of shock and some acid every week (following weekly testing), and it saw maybe once a week use with a few parties over the course of the season. Summer came to a close and I backed off on the chems as it cooled down. I started a new job at the end of last year and admittedly got too busy to even think about the pool. So, when this summer came around, my lack of winter attention came back to haunt me via an extreme algae problem. Like, I've never seen an algae issue that bad.

With a relatively large pool at 30k gallons, it was quite a lengthy and expensive war to fight. Upwards of 30 pounds of cal hypo, a couple bottles of copper algaecide, vigorous brushing and vacuuming, needed some conditioner as well. Eventually the water turned back to blue, but was extremely cloudy. As in, maybe 1 foot visibility cloudy. I assumed it was remains of calcium due to all the shock I added and would clear up after some time running the pump at 2800rpm 24/7. Well, it didn't. I decided that it would be better to just hire a highly rated (on yelp) pool service to clear it up for me and maintain from there as I clearly don't have the attention to give it. After a month of them coming by, zero change in the clarity. I asked them about it and we decided to do a flocc treatment. I added the bottle and pump sat off for 4 days. I could very nearly see the bottom drain, as well as the caked on Crud at the bottom. Then after the pool guy came and vac'd it up, I went to about 2-3 feet visibility. Assuming during the vac process a lot of it got pushed back up into the water.

I've also noticed a lack of chlorine retention. They added 4 gal of liquid chlorine and 4lbs of trichlor yesterday morning, and this morning I'm only at 1ppm TAC. No green that I can tell. My most recent Leslies test (6/4) has my CYA at 71ppm, TDS at 2100ppm, and hardness at 344ppm. TDS maybe a bit high but nothing outrageous in my opinion. Pump currently runs for 4 hours at 2800rpm, 6 hours at 2200rpm, and 6 hours at 1300rpm.

After getting a little angry with the pool service because I told them mid last week that I have a party this weekend and it needed to be cleared up, they had the GM come out (the one who came yesterday) and added some stuff. Still no change this morning, so I emailed with some pics. They told me that my filter is "extremely undersized" and that switching to a cartridge filter would solve my problems. I think I need another flocc treatment since the first one helped a good amount, but they said that is not the right course of action.

My reason for posting here is, what do you guys think? Is my filter undersized? Do I need to swap out some water? Should I just do another flocc treatment (or two) and all will be well? This thing has been stressing me out for months, and its getting hot here in the desert, so I just want to use my pool without having to spend another $500+ on fixes or $1000+ on a new filter. I think I've provided all relevant information, but if I've forgotten something please let me know.

Thanks in advance and happy 4th weekend!

My CYA went low due to tons of rain causing my overflow to kick in. So I added stabilizer to raise it to 70 as measured by my Taylor kit. But now when I test my FC, it’s nearly unreadable. Maybe .5? The test result has next to no color.

After adding CYA, I didn’t change my SWG from 20% (where my FC has always held steady at 3) so increased it to 40% yesterday with no change.

Should I bump up my SWG even more? Reduce the CYA? I’m in central FL but the pool is on the north side of my house so it gets a good amount of shade.

At one time, our house had an in-ground pool which has since been filled in. I've always been curious about the pool and lately I've gotten a bit of pool envy so it seems like a good time to start exploring!



I don't have many details, but I believe that it was installed somewhere around 1978. The 1 picture I have (above) is from that year and it's same year the garage bathroom/changing room was built. I believe that it was filled in around 2000, but I'm not 100% sure. I was told that the previous owner was getting older and just didn't want to take care of it. The area where the pool is gets muddy in the Spring, but seems to dry up quickly so I'm hoping that the sides are intact and I'm just looking at a couple of holes punched in the deep end.

I’ve done some digging and exposed a corner of the pool, a section of intact concrete walkway, and the top stair step. The pool appears to have concrete walls, I’m not sure if it’s plaster or had a liner yet. It looks like the plumbing is PVC. The pump house is still there, along with the pump, filter, and subpanel but I realize that all of that plumbing/equipment would need to be replaced if I ever get that far.



So, I think my next step is to continue digging by hand to find all of the edges/coping and see if that’s all still intact. I'll be digging by hand, so I expect to chip away at this part slowly but I'll try to post my progress here. As I'm exposing the edges, I'm curious what you would all look for- specifically anything that would be a show stopper.

Long story short - we were away for 2.5 weeks and my pool sitter missed a day or so, which happened to be when we lost power so the SWG wasn’t running. Even running hot wasn’t a match for no power + big storms washing junk into pool. Ended up with slightly cloudy water, so I had her start a SLAM before I got back. Chlorine demand is coming down, but didn’t quite pass OCLT last night. But it’s close, so I think I’m at the tail end of that. (And yeah - I pulled the light and the ladder and scrubbed everything. )

Since I know I have iron issues, I took the opportunity of having high FC to throw some Polyfill in the skimmers and see what I can catch. But 2 days in and the Polyfill is just as bright white as it was when I put it in: the only thing it seems to be catching is bugs. Is all the iron on the liner already? Or do I need to do something else to get it to catch? Just be patient? I’ve tried it before, but never been able to catch anything.

The pool is a lovely clear green, and you can see the iron stains pretty clearly all over the liner. The pics show my robot at the bottom of the 9ft deep end, for reference.

Good afternoon AG pool owners,

I am new to the forum but have about 7 years of pool ownership under my belt. I was reading some of the great posts on AG modifications and builds, and thought I would share my own pool build.

I love, love, love my pool but as any AG pool owner knows it does have it's share of limitations. Personally I am happy to just float on my raft sipping a margarita, but when my 3 year old granddaughter comes over she wants to swim. I do not really like for her to be hanging off of the ladder for a place to hold on, so that generally means she's hanging on to me! Holding her constantly in the water is slowing down my teaching her to swim.

So after endless hours researching the internet for above ground pool furniture, swimming decks, and every other search term I could think of, I decided to try and build something myself. More research on marine materials that would not tear or puncture my pool.

My concept was to have some sort of removable step or stool that would be heavy enough to remain in the pool while not in use. I headed down to Lowes and bought a ton of different PVC fittings, PVC pipe, and a composite deck board. After making a rough sketch, I thought my little DIY project would be a piece of cake....I was wrong!!

Well after many hours of measuring and cutting and cutting some more, I accomplished the vision I had in my head. I wanted my platform to be wide enough that the baby would feel safe, tall enough that she would be at least half way out of the water, and short enough that it wouldn't take up a ton of space in the pool.

Dimensions: 22"H x 38"W x 48"L

My platform is perfect for the littles to feel safe and doubles as a bench for the adults. It will easily hold 350 lbs, yet is easy to move around the pool.

**If anyone is interested in the build information, I would be happy to post it.

My pool pump would not start when I opened the pool in May. It took until late July to get all my equipment replaced (thanks supply chain!). My pool went from clear to a idyllic shade of green (picture attached) to a brown swamp with tadpoles in it (also pictured).

pH was astronomically high. I added acid to no apparent effect (evidently, a bad idea if the pump is not running), then added some more with equally poor results. Lots of 10% bleach helped turn it from brown to green, which is where our story begins.

After running for one night, the pool was a milky, pretty green on 7/22. On 7/24, it was similar but more blue. It kept turning blue until it was solidly blue but milky, and this persisted for a long time. By 8/2, it still looked cloudy and hadn't visibly changed in days.

I kept chlorine levels up per SLAM process for a long time (even as chlorine was holding overnight) and the water was generally balanced (although I was very low on calcium, so I added that during the process). Also, once my new pump turned on, I guess it stirred up the acid I'd added previously, because pH plummeted to well below 7. Getting it balanced out was a chore.

Anyway, the water was cloudy AF. I'd gone from a DE filter to cartridge, so I blamed that at first. I added Super Blue clarifier to no effect. I then added PR-10000 phosphate remover, since I've got high organic loads and phosphate levels (it reduced my levels from 1000 to 125 quickly) and I needed to install a SWCG once the water cleared up, but the milky/cloudy water persisted.

On 8/2, I tried added a $25 quart of Orenda's CV-600 enzymes. Their website claims that if you have high amounts of XYZ (oils, non-organics, etc.) in your water, chlorine can have a hard time dealing with it, and those materials can make water cloudy and also bind with the phosphate removers to keep them from settling out. I know folks on here are against most things that don't come from the supermarket, but by the next morning, the pool was markedly clearer, and by the following day it was clear. A little more Super Blue clarifier made it crystal clear.

So now I'm happily on SWCG, and 10% bleach as/if needed. But I thought I'd share my experience here.

Hello All - Moving to a little place just west of Phoenix and will be building a pool starting (hopefully) in a few months. In escrow right now with contingency so no exact date, but soon. I'd like to get the build done this fall (2023) and be in the pool by next swim season.

As of right now, I'm planning on going the Owner/Builder route to save a few bucks and to get better control of the schedule. I've been hearing outrageous amounts of money and time to get this done by a pool builder around here. (2yrs, $60 k) and I just think I can do better.

Background - I am a retired Home Builder from SoCal, with a strong past in the swimming pool trade since the 1970s. Had a C-53 builders license myself and did some builds but mostly remodeling. So I have, errr had the knowledge to do this, but it's been 30 years since I was around pools and I know the industry/materials/equipment/etc has changed a lot.
But a pool is still a pool, right?

I'll be checking out the posts and getting some background knowledge and then asking a lot of question (I apologize in advance I'll appreciate all help and guidance!

I never got an answer from Taylor about that one fluky series of FAS-DPD FC tests I encountered back in March. It is now the only chlorine test I do unless I am demonstrating the straight-up DPD method to one of my lifeguards. I love having a confidence level in my results give or take 0.2 ppm.

I am less enthralled by that tiny little blue spoon and the way it interacts with the DPD powder. It cakes up on the spoon making any kind of precise measurement dubious. Then it hangs around and turns the spoon and the little plastic powder container it hangs on black. Cleaning the spoon, even with water or alcohol and a Q-tip, leaves most of the smut in place. It probably does not matter but it bugs me so I wasted a good part of this stormy Independence Day looking for Taylor spoon alternatives.

First question that came up is what does 50 mg of DPD powder equate to in terms of volume? One 32nd of a teaspoon? 1/64? My nasty little blue spoon holds between 50 and 60 mg of water so that would be between 1/83rd and 1/100th of a level teaspoon if my tiny scale is accurate and I got my math right.

Second question was—does powder precision mater? the instructions state "Add 2 dippers R-0870 DPD Powder. Swirl until dissolved. Sample will turn pink (Fig. 1) if free chlorine is present. NOTE: If pink color disappears, add R-0870 DPD Powder until color turns pink." Given the nature of the dipper and the powder "2 dippers" could vary a lot from one person to the next. I find that, if FC is even only 1 PPM, I get a pretty bright pink with just two dippers. If you can just continue to shovel the stuff in . . . how much can precision matter? If it doesn't matter much or at all, can I just use the tip of a popsicle stick to dump a little in? If it doesn't turn pink, just keep doing it until it does?

Possible solutions I have found to my nasty little spoon problem include: tiny stainless measuring spoons, tiny disposable plastic measuring spoons, a 12 pack of the little blue Taylor spoons, and popsicle sticks which are biodegradable and cheap as dirt. I could also see a shrink but that would be prohibitively expensive.

Hello all! My wife and I signed a contract a few months ago for an 18x36 inground gunite pool. Only issue is they can’t even start until February 2022 due to being completely booked for the year. They’re a very reputable builder, family business for over 40 years and we have friends who had theirs built and they had nothing but good things to say about the process so we’re willing to wait. Plus I’m in a region where there are only a few other options. Below is what we were quoted, anything I should add/remove based on experience?

- Auto cover
- 18x36ft w/ 6ft tanning ledge (12in depth). Shallow end is 3.5ft going to 7ft in the deep end.
- Custom steps w/ bench and 2 hydro jets
- Lifetime structural guarantee
- 48 sq/ft Jandy DEV filter
- 1 HP Jandy stealth energy efficient high performance pump
- Auto chlorinator
- 2 skimmers & 3 floor returns
- 2 8” main drains
- Flagstone coping with custom waterline tile
- Hydrostatic relief valves
- 500 watt light
- White marbelite plaster, hand troweled
- Polaris TR35P pressure cleaner
- Approximately ~2,000 sq/ft of concrete decking, broom finished

It also comes with manual vacuum, hoses, leaf skimmer and pump for the auto cover. Anything stand out as needing an upgrade or unnecessary?

We’re currently in the process of having 1/2 acre of trees removed from the property to make space for the pool, pavilion and eventual detached garage. Now it’s just a waiting game until February, but want to make sure I have everything nailed down before our final design meeting.

A friend of mine came over and saw my many jugs of 10% chlorine that I get from Walmart. He told me about a local chemical company that sells to the public in Greenville, SC. They just delivered my 55 gallon drum of 12.5% and a siphon pump for a total of $290. That is about $125 cheaper than buying single gallons
in my area.

If you have chemical companies in your area that sell straight chlorine, it might be worth checking out.

The pump was $25. I can reuse that for the next drum.

Hi all! We are trying to finish up our pool design.... and cannot decide on the tanning ledge size... for those of you that have a tanning ledge- Do you have any regrets? Too big? Too small? Shouldn’t have done at all? I am considering 3 options (pictures below).
Option 1- Half tanning ledge, half stairs. 1 bubbler.
Option 2- BIG and L shaped (I have steps in the retaining wall right behind the small part of the L that lead up to house, those are not pictured) 4 bubblers.
Option 3- tanning ledge all the way across the shallow end . With 3 bubblers. 8x18

I am leaning towards option one so I don’t take up too much room... but maybe I need more room?

Pool size- 18x40 3.5 shallow end to 5 ft deep end with slide.

3 kids- age 4,7 and 8.

Any regrets? Thanks for your help!
Ashleigh

So for the first couple years, we were very frustrated by spending $$$ on umbrella products that barely made it through one season. No matter how much they "claimed" the product was rough & tough, after one year either the metal stand became bent/broken, and/or the shade material become tattered. Nothing would stay in-place with a little wind. Then it just looked like trash around the pool. So I decided to make my own.

The first image shows the basic parts required. I got everything from a local big box store (HD) for something like $15 or so (excluding the umbrella of course).


The next 3 images are just close-ups of it all put together.






So basically, I got the plastic planter (with drain tray) and turned it upside down. I did that on a piece of scrap plywood since I would later be filling it with concrete like a big mud pie. Then I cut a circle out of the top (used to be the bottom) so that I had room for the PVC pipe (1.5 inches x 2 ft long I believe) in the middle of the opening and room to pour Quickrete around the pipe. So I carefully filled the upside-down planter (with PVC in the center) with the Quickrete. I made sure I was happy with the PVC in the middle and centered, then let it dry. The next day, I "creatively" moved that heavy planter to its new home poolside. I tool the planter drip tray, flipped it upside down over the PVC (after cutting a hole in it as well) and it serves as a tray for keys, glasses, etc. A small clamp ring serves to keep it from moving. I haven't done it yet, but I could paint the stand and PVC any color I want. Then I simply purchased a nice umbrella and it slips right into the PVC tube. DONE! It's not going anywhere. When pool season is over, or a bad storm is coming, I simply life the umbrella out of the stand to somewhere safe.

So now we have something nice & reliable. Might come in handy for some of you.

Hard to really see in this pic, but two of those stands are on each end. The ridiculous store product is in the middle about to fall apart. Molly is keeping a close eye on things.



And a final pic ....