So yes, it can happen to even the most seasoned of us....

This morning I was out by my pool testing my water using my K-1004 "Troubleshooter" test kit after making some adjustments the day before. It's nice because I can easily do pH, TA and FC/CC tests with it. The chlorine test is a color comparison based on DPD (pink) and comes with the R-0001 and R-0002 reagents. The R-0001 reagent is a buffer and pH stabilizer with some chelating agents to remove metal interference and the R-0002 is the DPD indicator solution. R-0001/R-0002 together can be though of as a liquid version of the R-0870 powder. With the right comparator and some good lighting you can easily distinguish FC levels.

A few days ago I had measured FC and it was quite low from what I expected it to be coming out of spring and into warmer weather. Usually this time of year I can easily expect 5ppm or more, a very distinct reddish/pink color. It was closer to 2-3ppm and so I added some liquid chlorine (about 4ppm worth) and turned my SWG up to 50% and my runtime to 6 hours (It was previously at 35% and 4 hours). I did know my CYA was a little low so I just assumed that the recent spat of warm weather and high UV was eating up my FC faster than I was producing it. My CYA usually drops a bit over winter and when I measured it I was getting values of 60-70ppm, I typically run at 80-90ppm. SO I loaded up a sock with granular CYA to add another 10ppm and let go for two days.

Fast forward to this morning and I measure my FC....less than 2ppm and the color looked weird. Not the usual light foggy-pink but more of a brownish-pink color. Scratched my head a bit (and my other end too) and then decided to test again. Definitely the weird light brown-pink. As is usually the case, I went though all of the impossible theories first .... bad SWG, leaking pool, dead bear in the deep end, space aliens removed my pool water, etc, etc. Then I tilted over the R-0002 bottle a little bit to look at the fluid in the tip. Sure enough, the R-0002 reagent was a brown color and not at all the usual clear color. I twisted the bottle and, sure enough, the Exp Date read "10/2017".....hmmmm, so maybe it wasn't space aliens after all (although they do exist as per recent DOD press releases...but that's another topic). But, being a man of "science" I decided to follow Occam's Razor. I also remembered that when I did the first test before adding chlorine and bumping up my SWG and CYA, I had gotten three drops of R-0002 out of the previous bottle before adding two drops from this compromised bottle. So the original test that led me to make some of the changes had 3 drops of good reagent and two drop of bad reagent which was enough to give it the right pink color but at a much lower level.

After realizing that space aliens did not take my pool water (but they probably messed with the order of my spare reagents in my cabinet...), I used my DPD powder test chemicals (R-0870/R-0871) and found that my FC was actually at 7ppm (35 drops on a 25mL sample). That's typically higher than I like to run (by a factor of 2), but I felt much better. I went to my mom & pop pool store that sells Taylor reagents and got some fresh bottles of R-0001/R-0002. I then retested and, sure enough, the color of the test sample was a blazing hot red/pink which is way over the 5ppm color block and, if my color-memory serves me right on the big-boy comparator, easily is the 7.5ppm match.

So, long story short, keep an eye on your expiration dates, they matter......

Happy pool'ing

We added this amazing tiki bar to our backyard last year and I never posted. He’s local to us but ships all over the country. It’s from white sands tiki bars.

A while back I saw there was a FB page called Trouble Free Pool. I joined, thinking it was you fine people, just in another land. I realized it was not TFP peeps. This weekend he changed the name of the group to Pool Owners Mafia. Not really newsworthy, just interesting.

Took a 2 day road trip and picked a hotel specifically for the pool for something to do in the middle of nowhere.............

I have been anxiously awaiting the pool cover coming off today, especially after seeing other people's photos of their pools. I too can brag about how great my pool looks. Despite some dirt in the pool from a major landscaping project going on around the pool right now, it is the best it has ever been in over 20 years. I already have the vac in the pool and am ready to get my testing kit out. It is just weird to see snow with the pool open. I'm thankful that I when through such a terrible year last year with getting my pool up and running because it brought me to TFP. The amount of money I will save is huge! Thanks to all who have helped me over the past year.

The family said they wanted a "resort" style setup so I did my best. The key thing is that we did all of this (sans the pool itself and palm trees) on a budget. I scoured to find the best deals and did any electrical, technical and appliance work myself. Example: The sound system was 2 - 50w speakers wired to a 30w amp using 14AWG speaker wire. It uses BT and we just stream to it. Total price was $75.

If you want more details on the stuff, I can give links if you want them.

First year opening pool (built my pool last spring). So glad I found this website. I opened this past weekend, below is what my pool looks like after just running the vacuum twice and turning the pump on. No need to "shock", like everyone tells me to, ha! Chlorine was still at a good level actually, didn't even have to add any. My next door neighbor pays a company $50-100 weekly to take care of his pool, plus opening/closing fees, and you cant even see an inch down in his water its so cloudy. I'm sure they will be glad to charge him a few hundred dollars to "fix" it.

So, after diagnosing a bad (and still under warranty) salt cell, getting it replaced FAST after keeping the pool balanced and sparkling with LC (reputable PB for the win, again!), we are officially in swim season!
The 4 year old's birthday party was on Saturday, with 12 sunscreened people (including 2 in swim diapers plus aforementioned birthday boy) in the pool.

Saturday night it looked a little worse for wear (as did I!)... A little cloudy, missing the sparkle. I waited until Sunday afternoon to test, and... Perfect! Sparkle is back, FC perfect, barely a hint of CCs (understandable) and pH stable at 7.7 (our pool's happy place).

Love my SWG, love knowing that I can maintain our beautiful pool with minimal effort and cost.

THANKS TFP!

Just starting the process - This is the idea, let me know what you think on the over all design and layout. It will be about 100 perimeter with a 3.6 to 6 ft. depth with Baja shelf depth still to be decided but currently thinking 9 inches. -

Pool Design Video

Update 3/31/2022 - Got my initial design and equipment list -
Update 4/18/2022 - Engineering plans completed, equipment list modified slightly, City application permit is being submitted this week. Should be able to start getting quotes soon so I can get a good idea how much this is going to cost.
Update 4/26/2022 - Permit submitted to City, Obtaining quotes. Pool Equipment including heater and water/fire bowls etc came in at $23k, from what I can tell that's not to bad even though it seems expensive.

A few folks asked for a sticky on this so here it is. If you just want to jump to how without the why look for the blue part of this post below!

Several companies are selling sodium tetraborate pentahydrate as a pool additive under such names as Proteam's Supreme, Bioguard's Optimizer Plus, Poollife Endure, Guardex Maximizer, and others. Several claims have been made for these products when used in a 30-50 ppm concentration such as:
1) more stable pH
2) Algaestatic properties
3) reduced chlorine usage
4) silkier feeling water--less skin and eye irritation
5) clearer, 'sparkling' water

Do these products live up to the claims made for them?
A definite YES!

Remember that all pools are different so you might see dramatic results or just a slight improvement. There are a lot of other factors that come into play. Do borates help simplify pool maintenace? Another definite YES!

Are there any downsides to adding borates?
I can only think of two.
1) They are an additional expense
2) There has been some concern of toxicity if dogs drink large quantities of water from the pool.

I do have to say that most people find that their pools become much easier to maintain once the borates are in and several people on the PoolForum board have reported that since adding borates they have not had any mustard algae outbreaks.

As far as dogs (or people) ingesting small amounts of pool water, that's not going to hurt then BUT if you dog things the pool is their own private giant water dish that is NOT a good thing, borates or not! There are may chemicals in our pools that are not really good for our pets to consume in large quantities! Provide fresh drinking water outside and change it regularly and it's pretty easy to teach your pets not to drink from the pool! (I know a bit about this, I have three dogs and a cat!)

Do I feel the benefits of borates outweigh the downsides?

A RESOUNDING yes!

Just remember that adding borates are not going to magically cure your pH problems or algae problems and they are NOT going to relieve you of having to test and balance your water!
They will just help make these jobs easier!


You can also use sodium tetraborate decahydrate (20 Mule Team Borax) to achieve the same results for a much lower price.

Here is how to do it:
You will need a bunch of 20 Mule Team Borax and 31.45% Muriatic Acid. Don't forget some borate test strips! The LaMotte Borate test strips are the best ones I have come across.

1. First, adjust your TA to your target value. (This is actually the hardest part of this whole procedure.) This should be around 70-80 ppm for SWGs and liquid chlorine (or bleach), around 100 ppm if you are using trichlor. The borates will cause a very slight increase in the TA when you are done.

2. After TA is at target value adjust pH to between 7.4-7.6 (This is the second hardest part!)

3. Figure out how much borax and acid you need. An easy way to do this is to remember that 12 oz. BY WEIGHT of borax raises 1000 gallons 10 ppm and requires 6 FLUID oz. of acid to neutralize the pH rise. This is not exact but it's close enough. Remember, we are talking about a pool, we're not making rocket fuel here!
So, if 12 oz. of borax raises 1000 gallons 10 ppm and we want 50 ppm we need 60 oz. of borax for every 1000 gallons in our pool. Likewise, we would need to add 30 oz. of acid for every 60 oz. of borax! Here is an example:

Let's say we have a 15000 gal. pool, then we would need 15 X the borax needed for 1000 gallons which is 15 X 60 = 900 oz. by weight. Let's convert that into pounds by dividing by 16 (16 oz. per lb. or we could write that 16 oz./lb.) That would be 56.25 lbs.
Each box of borax weights 4.75 lbs. or 76 oz. so here is a faster way to figure out how many boxes you need:
number of oz. needed / 76 oz. in a box = number of boxes needed so in our example we would have:
900 oz. borax / 76 oz. per box = 11.8 boxes. Remember it's not rocket science so use about 11 and 3/4 boxes or just use 11 or use 12. You will end up close enough to 50 ppm!

Now for the acid. we need 30 oz. per 1000 gallons to neutralize the pH rise of 50 ppm borates and we need to multiply that amount of acid by 15 since we have a 15000 gallon pool. That comes to 15 X 30 = 450 fluid (liquid measure) oz. of muriatic acid. There are 128 oz. in a gallon so we divide our amount needed in oz. by 128 to find out how many gallons of muriatic acid we will need.
For our example this is 450 oz. / 128 oz. per gallon = 3.5 gallons of muriatic acid. If you follow along on a calculator you can see how I am rounding off to the nearest EASY measurement. Once again, REMEMBER, it's a pool, you're not working in a chemistry lab!!!!!!!! We will balance out any slight inaccuracies a bit later so don't worry. It's all good!

Now take a deep breath, the worst is over!

4. WITH YOUR PUMP RUNNING add 1/2 the required acid to your pool. You can pour it SLOWLY into the stream of one of your returns or dilute about 1/2 gal at a time in a 5 gal bucket of pool water and broadcast it around the pool. As soon as the acid is in put in 1/2 the borax. Just dump it in the water or pour it in your skimmer.

5. Brush down the sides of your pool all the way around. This will create currents that mix everything. You are 'stirring' your pool water by doing this. This is a good procedure to follow when you add any chemicals to your water and want to mix them. Anyway, none of us really brush our pools enough, do we?

6. Add the rest of the acid and the rest of the borax and brush just like you did for the first batch. You don't have to wait, just put it in when you finish brushing.

7. Brush again!

8. Let the pump run continuously for 24-48 hours.

9. After 48 hours (not sooner please!) test your borates. You should be right around 50 ppm. Now test your pH, if it is above 7.6 add a bit more acid to bring it down to about 7.6. If you pH is below 7.4 you can start aerating to bring it up unless it's below 7.0, then you need to add more borax.

10. Test your borate levels monthly. If you backwash a lot you might need to test a bit more often. When your borates drop to about 30 ppm increase them another 20 ppm to bring them back up to 50 ppm by adding the acid and borax. This time you don't have to divide it into two batches. Just make sure your TA and pH are in range then add the needed acid and borax and brush. Check your levels in 48 hours and make any minor adjustments that might be needed. If you have a cartridge filter you will find that you borate levels stay pretty stable (unless you have a leak somewhere! )

11. Enjoy the sparkling water, the reduced chlorine demand, the pH stability, and the algaestatic properties that the borates have added to your water. The 'sparkle' has been commented on by just about everyone who has done this. The water looks almost jewel like!


If that is too much work and you don't mind spending the money then Proteam has Supreme Plus and Haviland has Salt Support. These are both pH neutral products that do not require the addition of acid along with them. They are the only two pH neutral borate products I know of. The Salt Support also contains some CYA I believe but I have not been able to confirm this. They are more expensive than the regular borate products and MUCH more expensive than 20 Mule Team Borax but only you can decide if the convenience is worth the extra expense to you.

Started this thread because @IUsedToSail asked about orientation of valves/check valves. Made me realize I didn't do a plumbing thread on my rebuild.

Some may know my story, new pool owner last year (came with the house), I was PoolStored...then I found TFP. Pulled out the UV system and the Puck Chlorinator. Added a stenner pump, smart plug and ran for the year. Was a great year.

At the end of the year, @Newdude convinced me I *NEEDED* an SWCG. So I got one. I also did an almost complete re-plumb.

Here is what I had, and what was wrong:
1) Old Ball Valves on incoming lines. Were a bit "sticky" to say the least.
2) Incoming line closest to the camera was a suction line for vacuum that had been vinyl linered over. Not in use.
3) Pump to Filter line was a threaded fitting...yes, it had a union, but it was janky.
4) Inbound connection to the multi-port had this tape over it, it was ok, but at times would drip a little.
5) Puck chlorinator holes in in-bound and out-bound pipes. Had to interconnect them when I took out chlorinator.
6) Ugly unions looking at you with no connection was where the UV was located, ugly.
7) No check valve on the heater.
8) More janky ball valves.
9) Connection from the filter to the heater lines was a flexible PVC, it was ok, but I think poor workmanship.



Last fall and today I finished the install. Here's what I did:

Pump through Filter

1. The inbound lines actually had threaded fittings, thank the Lord, at least I could start there easily. If they hadn't have done that, there is not much inbound pipe to work with. Removed the old valves, in with the Lube Free Valves and new Unions on the inbound. Capped the abandoned vacuum line.
2. Rebuilt the lines to the pump with the proper unions in and out of the pump.
3. Just to be a bit "extra" for @Newdude, I added a union between the pump and the mulit-port. Would allow me to work on and replace the multiport in the future. Otherwise, the length between multi-port and pump output would not allow me to remove that section (it would hit the ground when you tried to back it out). With union, it shortens the arm, misses the ground, and I can get it out if necessary.
4. Removed the old threaded insert into the multi-port and re-inserted using the recommended plasto-joint stick.

Filter to Pool:

1. Removed all of it, UV, Unions, valves.
2. Rebuilt with a union before the heater and bypass; allows me to fix issues downstream in the future.
3. Added 3 way valve to create a heater bypass.
4. Added a check valve to the heater.
5. Added a Circupool RJ-60.
6. Added the flow switch with ~14" of straight before it. When I did it last fall, for whatever reason, I put the cell on the up-flow and the switch on the downflow. Learned since that if the switch spring fails, it would fail "Closed." So today, I cut the switch and cell upside down "U" and switched them so the flow switch is in the up-bound flow (hence the extra couplers).
7. Included 2 injection "T"s so that I can hook up stenner pumps, one for Chlorine and one for MA. Yes, I know they cannot run at the same time. Chlorine for if the cell fails and I need backup for a period of time.

Electrical

1. Removed the GFCI on the left, It was unnecessary.
2. Added a new box, and rerouted pump power and Circupool power to new box.
3. To be a bit "extra" for @Newdude, and since I run my pump 24x7 at a low rate, and I have a programmable Superflo pump (and have no timer), I added a Current Sensing relay hooked to the pump circuit. Circupool will lose power if pump is off for whatever reason. I can also set a threshold where the power comes on at the right current draw to ensure pump is running at a high enough speed to generally match the timing of the flow sensor. Got the idea from @laprjns. Here are a couple threads explaning it.

Just waiting for a new plug for the sand filter and I'll fire up the pool under cover with chlorine from the stenner. When temps warm up (Pool is 48 Degrees), it will be time for salt and to fire up a new SWCG!

He everyone,
Hope youre doing awesome.

I did a purge today due to needing to empty the spa to get the cover lift & handrail under the tub. Figured if I was going to empty I mine as well start fresh again.
I used the ahh-some, did a full & mini cycle.

Note to self: remember to come back and read prior instructions before doing it again. Just a few minor things I forgot but could/would make a difference.

Got floaters, but I know they are nothing to worry about.

Tested today and will start with dichlor again for 3 days until I can get CYA to 30??

Readings were similar to first fill & purge. Spa is only a month old.

Ive been testing for the month and surprisingly the FC & PH seem to hold up very well. Very little needed in the line of chlorine to keep things stable.

Im finding if you read what is here on the forums, the spa is no where near the maintenance we thought it was going to be.

It is like a big bathtub to soak, have hydrotherapy in and decompress.

So thank you to all here who contribute so the rest of us can learn, & enjoy vs having it be a chore to take care of.

47,093
27,310
243,081
1

This last year has been a year on TFP has been one I never would have expected, and the numbers above boggle my mind. While they likely mean nothing to you without knowing the entire context, when I look at them my eyes still to this date do a double take. Had you of told me that an event would have caused TFP to explode in traffic over the last year I quickly would have started looking at all sorts of items we can do to "exploit" this surge in traffic, but I would have likely missed our key "selling point," just how amazing our members are.

Over the last year as many of you can expect TFP has seen a major surge in traffic. This surge meant that we've registered 47,093 new users to the website who have went on to start 27,310 new threads. These new threads have caught the eye of our users and have received 243,081 responses from our users, assisting them with their issues. To date, out of the 27,310 new threads only 1 thread hasn't received some sort of a comment from another user.

Over the last year TFP's members have been so amazing as they've reached out to others to help some total stranger solve some problem with their pool. I've seen members offer to take care of a strangers water while another is on vacation, I've seen members drive hours to hand deliver some extra test reagent to a user who's low and in the middle of a SLAM, I've seen members send personal funds to other members who were facing hard times. Over the last year with all the chaos in the world I've seen so much good from the members on TFP that it makes me smile. To each of you from the bottom of my heart, thank you for making this website what it is...........an amazing community of people helping one another.

To each of you out there who are assisting some total stranger with their problem, Thank You! To each of you who are just joining TFP looking for assistance with your pool, Thank You for joining us!

After a season of excellent chemical performance thanks to TFP, I peeled off my mesh safety cover today and found my 3yr old vinyl liner floating off the pool walls.

I've read posts on this topic back to 2015 and consulted Professor YouTube. I have a small transfer pump I can use to move water from outside the liner to inside (as recommended by several on the faculty) but is there any point in doing that before I fill the pool? I'm ready to add water but only if it's going to help, not hurt.

Here's what I'm up against. Any advice is welcome.

Orijohnal

I have a lingering question that I have not found a satisfactory answer to. I have noticed that, depending on where I get my MA from, it can be varying shades of yellow. If I buy the stuff from Leslie's Pool Store, it is often a very bright yellow. The first time I got it, I thought they put a colorant into it for safety purposes. If I buy the refillable HASA stuff from e-Konomy Pools (local Tucson shop), it is a very pale/straw-yellow. If I splurge and waste...um I mean, spend money at Patio Pools, the MA is crystal clear (same is true about MA from Ace Hardware). From my research lab days, we bought reagent-grade HCl and it was also totally clear. All of it is marked as 20 Baume, 31.45% HCl.

I also know that the manufacturing process for making HCl does contain (or should contain) a step for iron removal as Fe-salts are a known contaminant from the manufacturing process. So, does the yellow color of the HCl indicate a poorer quality material with possible iron contamination?

Thank You to all that make this site possible!
TFP ROCKS!
If it was not for you, this would NOT have happened! .... AGAIN!

Login to view embedded media

There is a way to use pool water chemistry to calculate pool water volume without using the traditional geometric calculations.

The geometric formulas are fine for pools that are traditionally shaped. However, when pools do not fall into these convenient shapes, a chemical method can be used.

What is required? An alkalinity test kit, sodium bicarbonate or acid, and the formula.

This method to calculate pool volumes, then, is to add a specific amount of acid or base to the pool water, observe the results, and “plug” the dose and result into a formula, so you can calculate the gallons of water in the pool.

Here is the method:
1. Take a water sample from the pool, test and determine the total alkalinity content. However, for sufficient accuracy, it is important to use a test method which is accurate to within 1 or 2 ppm. Most test kits have each drop of titrant equal 10 ppm. To accomplish this, add 10 times the amount of pool water as the normal test kit sample amount into a small cup. Then each drop of titrant becomes 1 ppm instead of 10 ppm. If the alkalinity is on the low side and could be raised, then use sodium bicarbonate to raise the alkalinity.
2. For pools between 15,000 and 30,000 gallons, add precisely 5 pounds of sodium bicarbonate. For larger pools, add 10 pounds.
3. With the circulation system running and proper dilution, wait for the chemical to completely blend throughout the water, which will probably require waiting at least several hours.
4. Take a second water sample from the pool and test the alkalinity again using the same 10 times of pool water volume.
5. Apply the following formula: 71,400 (formula number for Sodium Bicarbonate) times (multiply) by 5 (amount of pounds of sodium bicarbonate added) divided by the ppm change in alkalinity increase equals the pool volume.
(You may add a different amount of sodium bicarbonate, but be precise in weighing, and change the formula accordingly).

Example – The starting alkalinity was 100 ppm, 5 pounds of Bicarb is added, and the ending TA (alkalinity) is 116 ppm. (116 – 100, equals 16 ppm change)

71,400 X 5 (pounds added) divided by 16 (ppm ALK increase) equals 22,312 gallons.

Then you can round off to the nearest 1000 gallons, or however you prefer. The margin of error should be less than 5%.

If the Total Alkalinity of the pool is high (over 160 ppm) and you want to lower the TA instead of raising it, then you can use muriatic acid (31.45%) to lower the alkalinity to determine the pool volume. The formula for adding acid is as follows:

125,000 (formula number for Muriatic Acid) times (X) the quarts of acid added, divided by the ppm reduction in alkalinity. Of course, be careful to not add too much acid at one time. Generally, it is safe to add two quarts of acid per 20,000 gallons of pool water when the TA is over 160 ppm, and the pH is above 7.7. Two quarts of acid will lower the TA by 12.5 ppm per 20,000 gallons.

The accuracy of this method is directly dependent on the accuracy of the chemical dose and the alkalinity test method. You will notice that using 10 times more test water sample means that if the alkalinity level is 100, it will use 100 drops of titrant. That may seem a lot, but you get good accuracy and results.

Do not go overboard on volume precision. Since a one-inch change in a pool’s water level can result in hundreds of gallons of water volume difference, round off the calculated volume to the nearest 1000 and call it good.

The method of addition of the acid dose does not affect the amount that the alkalinity changes, so it is not necessary to worry about “columns” or “slugs” or any other methods of adding liquid pool acid. However, it is best to dilute the acid and trickle it around the pool or over the return lines when the system is on.

What is at issue is that the acid or sodium bicarbonate added is allowed to fully blend throughout the pool before the second sample is taken and tested. Wait at least 3 hours with equipment running for good accuracy.

Why doesn't anyone manufacture 3" chlorine tabs without CYA in them? Is it not possible?

Or if someone does, where can I buy it?

Nobody :





Nobody for a year :






Komatsu: let me sing you the songs of my people.

My pool guys literally just turned maintenance of my new white fiberglass pool over to me this week, though it has been in the ground a couple of months.

There are some weird geometric stains in the deep end that don’t come up with brushing. They almost look like something scratched it. I have been running a new Pentair Warrior SI cleaner ever couple of days, but I can’t see how anything on that would be abrasive enough to affect new gelcoat. The pool sat in my front years for a couple of weeks before it was installed this winter, with dirt and leaves ion the deep end, but this doesn’t look like something from that.

Anyone have any idea what this is?

I am new to the forum and just finished a pool about 6 months ago. Built it as an owner builder.

Anyways, just sharing some of the BBQ area that I built with custom built in TV enclosure. The fire bowls are ones I made as well.

Now I am working on the patio cover which is taking a little longer. I am doing a steel frame with only 2 posts connected to the house and a louvered system on top that will open and close.

Did the full suite of tests tonight for the first time. Can't add any TA yet because I'm at week 5 of the pool, going on week 6.

How's she look?

She just arrived today. So happy to have her and happy to not have to brush a much!

Good afternoon everyone! First spring for us and I was super anxious to peek into the pool to see what I would be dealing with this spring. It is clear all the way to the bottom. However, on the bottom, there is a decent amount of silt or dirt. Through the research of this lovely forum, I think it is a combination of both dead algae and just dust in general (no yard yet, new construction home). I had to SLAM my pool last fall, super late into the season to get rid of a green pool. I would say I got 90% there until I had to winterize it for the year. This leads me to think it is algae. Either way, I am having a hard time researching the most efficient way to clean it up. Do I just toss the robot in? Turn the pump on high and let her rip? Thoughts?

Thanks for any insight provided

If you are interested in knowing what goes into building a pool, here is a start to finish video in just 2.5 minutes.

My project started Jan 4. The pool was completed in 2 months. Of all the trades, tile took the longest. I created a fast motion of the entire project with my security camera footage.

It's really cool to watch it happen so quickly.

Login to view embedded media

Growing up, I watched my dad fight season after season with our swimming pool. Start ups were the worst... always removed the cover to find a swamp.

So I was a little apprehensive after having our pool installed. I'm glad I found you guys!

This is my second year opening up our pool. After 7 bags of salt and 2 gallons of LC, along with several backwashes to clean out the pollen, we have crystal clear water (too bad its 54 degrees!)

Here are the directions to use Ascorbic acid to rid your pool of metal stains:

Here is the ascorbic treatment:

Take your chlorine down to 0 and PH down to 7.2, if there is chlorine in the water it won't hurt, it will just eat up the ascorbic acid, so you will need more to get rid of the stains. You can add poyquat 60 per directions on the bottle to avoid getting algae while the chlorine is low.
You will need about a half to one pound of ascorbic acid per 10,000 gal. I like to go lighter on it and see if all the stains lift off before adding more.

Put the filter on circulate.
Use a cup and go around the perimeter of the pool and drop it down the sides as you go.
Let the ascorbic acid circulate for 1/2 hour. You will be amazed how the stain just disappears before your eyes.

If the stain is not all gone, leave the filter in circulate and add more ascorbic acid close to where you still see stain. Leave it in circulate until all of the stain is gone. (add more ascorbic acid if it circulates for 1/2 hour and there is still stain)

When the stain is gone, add enough sequestering agent for the volume of your pool - more is better than not enough.

Put the filter back on filter and leave it on 24/7.

The ascorbic acid will bring your ph down, and sometimes the alkalinity. After 24 hours you can start to rebalance the water. Bring up your ph and alkalinity, - use arm and hammer washing soda first, it will raise both ph and alk. Make sure you test in between, because you don't want your ph to go any higher than 7.2. If your alkalinity is in range, and you still need to raise your ph, use Borax to take it up to no higher than 7.2. You can start to bring up your chlorine. You want to do this slowly. It will take a lot of chlorine - I prefer to use bleach only at this time, and try to take it up to your minimum chlorine for your cya according to the Chlorine / CYA Chart - Trouble Free Pool. As you slowly raise the chlorine, watch for stains starting to form. If you see stains, make sure the ph is no higher than 7.2, and add more sequestering agent. You should see the stain lift in a couple of hours. Do not shock! Do not shock for at least 2 weeks! Make sure you keep your ph low for (7.2) for a week or two - it won't be hard because the ascorbic acid and sequestering agent will help it stay low. Once your chlorine starts to hold, it means that you have used up the ascorbic acid in the water and it will be easy to rebalance the pool back to your regular parameters.

Here are two important notes: High ph along with high chlorine will precipitate any metals that are not sequestered out of the water and on to the surface of the pool again. If this happens take the ph back down to 7, or 7.2 and add more sequestering agent. This should lift the stain off. You can add polyquat 60 to the water before starting the stain treatment to avoid getting algae while the chlorine is low.

Here are two links to buy ascorbic acid:

Storefront : PC NetwoRx Inc.

http://www.chemistrystore.com/Chemicals ... _Acid.html

Since they have really raised the price on Ascorbic acid I tried Citric acid and it worked.Here is a link to citric acid which is cheaper. You will have to use more, and it takes a little longer but it works

http://www.chemistrystore.com/search.cg ... earch2.y=0

Opening the pool today, hoping no green stuff. I'm in NJ and Holy Moses, we had a deluge the last couple days and one day last week. Popped the corner of my cover and the water was about an inch from the top. Opened the de-watering vertical pipe and the water was way way up. Put my pump in that pipe at 7:00am and started pumping. That will take an entire day to get that water level down. Put a second pump into the pool to lower it a bit as my cover is floating on the water and I would like to get it dry before the boys come to open up the pool. The sun is out finally and will warm up next week. Grass is green and telling me, "it's time to mow" but the ground is saturated so it will take days to dry off.