We are thinking of building a paver patio in an area next to the pool. So basically, the contractor will build a base using AB-3 (not concrete) and a small retaining wall (since the area is in a slope) and lay pavers. I just this week realized that there are PVC pipes that run to the pool underground in that same area.

Is this a bad idea? Has anyone done something similar and are there any concerns I need to have or is there a chance I may have to reach the pipes? Lived here for 10 years but no issues until now. Pool is around 25 years old so I am guessing the pipes are around 25 years old as well.

Should we try to locate the pipes (by a professional) and build the patio in such a way to avoid the path (although that might be hard)?

I have not started any work so would not be opposed to aborting the plan altogether.

3 month old NPT Stonescapes pool. Salt. Every so often I get these spots in the deep end. I have an acorn tree (soon to be removed) that drops into this section and I always assumed it was from them. I add the regular weekly muriatic acid and the spots go away. But I don’t think I’ve had this many acorns out there this week. And we just added MA last night but no change. My water stays in this range all the time. My results today do show I need more calcium (even though I’m in the acceptable range). TA stays between 90-100 most days which is borderline.

Could this actually be algae? Can you get algae with chlorine this high all the time? I use my Taylor test kit 3-4 times a week (yes I’m obsessed) and never had anything out of range. I clean my pool twice a day with my vacuum and brush the pool because of the tree mentioned above.

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.

Hi all,

I am having issues getting my numbers under control and I am wondering if possibly it's due to heat and evaporation in Houston right now. I am adding water every other day to keep the level high enough. My alkalinity is always 130-150 no matter how much dry acid I put in. PH tends to be in the 7.4-7.8 range. FC is low, but that I am not surprised about due to the heat and sun here.

Any advice?

Thanks!

Hi. We have a Fiberglass in ground 18k pool salt water pool and are hoping to learn from all of you.

I will start by saying I did some searches on vacation prep, I know its a well covered topic. We just got a lot of rain and the water level is just a couple of inches from the bottom of the 4" concrete decking around the pool. Over the skimmer. Highest its been.

Typically I would pump this down to ~2/3 skimmer height, but I am about to leave on vacation for 11 days (for the first time as a pool owner). Should I leave the water a little high to make sure it does not evaporate below the skimmer level? I don't have the ability to only pull from main drains. Its hot here in the midwest... though seems like it would take more than 11 days to lower the water THAT much. I might be over thinking it.

My SWG setting has done a good job of maintaining FC at ~60% setting, 8 hours pump time. My thought ahead of vacation was to get my FC a bit higher for safety margin, then just keep my SWG at the setting and pump for 8 hours a day which has been working. Keep the solar cover on the entire time. I have never lost my water quality (man's last words!?), so far it has been very maintenance free.

So for the past few months we've occasionally had our auto fill system start spraying water from what I assume is the anti syphon valve. Can anyone explain why this may be happening? It seems to only do so when the pool is full, and even then it seems random when it actually does this. One thing I have noticed is that when I shut off the valve on the pool side of the anti syphon valve, it won't stop, but if I shut off the valve on the water source side, it stops. Any advice is much appreciated.

Wanted to change this thread as I am now debating over some robot model and not sure what features I need for my pool. It is a 24' round above ground vinyl liner pool. Most reviews of the more premium robots all are for in-ground pools and even these are listed as for in-ground pools.

The biggest thing when looking at a few models like the E10 vs E20 vs something like the DX4 or the E30 is the wall cleaning vs waterline cleaning. The E10 cleans the floor only. E20 Floor and climbs walls. E30, DX4, Triton, Qunatum etc all do Floors, wall and waterline. Does waterline cleaning work on above ground and specifically round pools or is it a waste of the extra $400.

I am curious if anyone else has an above ground pool and if they have a waterline cleaning model and how it fairs and how they like it.

Hello, I’ve browsed TFP for a little bit and the more I read and learned the more I do not want to have a pool. I’ve read about the pool chemistry and that’s right over my head. There’s so many moving parts in building a pool and the more I dive in the confusion sets in and stresses me out.

I’ve had the privilege to talk some members which provided great insight, but also put in perspective I’m over my head.

Well here’s the design for owner build, please let me know if I’m missing anything or questions.

Individual who did plans added one skimmer, I suggested two but he doesn’t think I need it. Reading on here, I should opt for two, correct?

Skimmers are plumbed separately from everything, correct?
34x16
Acapulco shelf : 7’ wide, 18” depth
Permitter:100
Depth 31/2-6-1/2
Area:544
Gallons:19000

Pool finish will be a pebble finish, haven’t decided which one yet. We have kids so we want something smooth that isn’t rough on them and I’ve talked to people that have pebble finishes and it’s rough on their feet etc, but they are older pools as well.

The rock, tile part.. ahhh don’t get me started.. stress 99999999999 level.

Pool equipment recommended from designer
Filter pentair cartridge
Pump pentair vsf 3 hp
Lights: pentair globrite (3)
Pool cleaner : suction end

Adding from me
Intellichlor: ic40
Recommend for inteilliph by member. I just skimmed it and looks good to have.
Intellicenter?

Bonding: #8 solid copper wire, 4 equal bond points on deck grid , #3 rebar

Pool equipment/water all bonded. (Water bond pb2008)

Electrical
#10 thhn to pool sub panel 30 amp, min 18” sealed conduit lights/pump 20 amp gfi

I asked for #8 but he has 10 on hand, would this be sufficient enough for future add on etc?

All the bonding, electrical plumbing is based on the designer so thoughts appreciated.

We do have hard water where I’m located and speaking with a TFP, he utilizes his water softener as his auto refill. At the moment I do not have a water softener and when I do get one, it’s going to be difficult to hook it up as auto fill but it would be connected to the house that I can run a hose off of, but not sure how efficient that would be.

My concern is will the hard water be bad for the swcg?

We are about to work on the structural engineering aspect and then submit for permits.

Startup will be on our own and reading one members experience of managing it was putting my anxiety through the roof.

I hope we can do this!

I apologize if I missed anything, I will add as I think of it.. it’s Starbucks and donuts time, stress relievers. Lol

I've been using this Suncoast Gold liquid chlorine to chlorinate my pool, as this is the most convenient LC option for me locally.
I was under the impression (from folks in store) this is 12% strength, and this page (describing the above product) says "Provides 10-13% available chlorine"

However, I just looked the label on my actual jug and it says 10.5% sodium hypochlorite:


Interestingly, I noticed someone complaining about this apparent discrepancy on a review of our local Pinch A Penny store, and here was the owners response:

Our liquid chlorine is represented to us to be exactly in line with our supplier to be "12% by trade and labeled and sold 10.5% Sodium Hypochlorite by weight. They are the same thing just different terminology.

Click to expand...

Two questions:
1. Is that a legit explanation?
2. What % should I use in the PoolMath app when using this product?

Had a big rain event, which led to an algae outbreak. SLAMed. That was 2 and some weeks ago.
Went "blue" after about 4 days. Since then however its been various states of cloudy since. I've been dumping bleach in every night, pump running constantly. Nothing I do can clear this up. I can see my shallow end decently, but my deep end is hazy still. Its gotten better but still not perfect like it was before all this started.

FC-30 (read below)
PH 7.7 (with electronic tester)
TA-80
CH-70
CYA-60 (this was up to 90 until a week ago, had to do some water changes over the few weeks).
Salt -3000 (been holding off since SWG is off to get this where it needs to be)

Ive not done an OCLT or know exactly how high FC is. I normally stop after I confirm its at least 30. Been testing about every other day, especially this week. To me no sense in OCLT until its almost perfect which its far from.
Bleach is Pool Essentials Chlorinating Liquid for Swimming Pools, 1 Gallon - Walmart.com
Ive also used some Clorox labeled dichlor I had around. Besides a bag of salt after the water changes, Nothing else added.
Brushing partly about every other day. Did have some leaf litter in the deep end I pulled out the other day.

So it’s time to replace my 10+ year old Solaxx salt Chlorinator system
My options are an Pentair iChlor30 or a Jandy TruClear.
I’ve heard good things about the Pentair and also bad things. The 1 year warranty scares me.
I know nothing about the Jandy but it does have a 3year warranty.
I have an ancient 15 x 30 pool that came with the house.
You thoughts or experiences on these 2 units is appreciated. Is the Pentair an upgrade from the solaxx?

Hey TFP, I want to work on my Calcium Hardness. I have a 50lb bag of calcium chloride. It seems I need to had the whole 50lb bag. What is the best way to go about this?

I've learned a lot from this site since joining recently. Stopped using dichlor that the PB had me using and went to LC. Everyone always comments how clear the water in my pool is. But I seemed to be going through a lot of LC. Usually around 1 and a half gallons a day. I have a coverstar auto cover and it stays closed unless we are using it. Did an OCLT last night and lost 3 FC. Started at 10 FC and was at 7 FC this morning with only .5 CC. My test this morning were:
FC 7
CC .5
CH 350
TA 110
CYA 60
PH 7.2
So by pool math I need to add right at 5 gallons LC so bring my FC to 24. My questions are:
Do I leave the cover off while slamming?
Can I let my prowler 920 robot run while slamming?

Thanks for the help

Hi - a question for the chemists on the TF Pool forum: Does polyfill fiber have a chemical binding action to sequestered iron? I see many posts saying to use polyfill to filter out iron but there is no explanation on the mechanism of action. Iron in water is in solution, and this is not a standard mechanical separation/filtration operation - this requires some type of ionic action, right??? I see some posts that say the polyfill turns dark with use but that doesn't convince me iron is being filtered out - the dark color could be any particulate/contaminant in the water that is being mechanically filtered - the polyfill would be performing a water clarifying function. Thanks!

Hi All,

New homeowner with a pool (Pentair system). I had a pool guy come out and replace both the pool and spa light. For the spa, he drained the water into the pool to access the light. Then filled it up again. However, since then, the spa no longer circulates and the water doesn't spill over into the pool. If I put it into spa mode, the pool returns stop and the spa returns start pumping. I would like to return it to normal so that both the pool and spa circulate when the pump is running. This is all new to me and I've been trying to figure it out. Photos of my system are below. Unfortunately the previous owner painted over the labels so I am trying to figure out what each pipe does. Any advice would be appreciated.

The whole system:


Current mode the system is set to (pool mode).




In the photo below, I manually set the return to both pool and spa using the switch on the actuator. Pool and spa jets were running and the spillover started. I thought I had it figured out so I turned off the pump (leaving the actuators in this position) and the spa lost a few inches of water over an hour . I filled the spa back up again and set it back to pool mode.

Photo below is the pool return. No clue what the pipe with the closed off valve does. Also, is the pool return set correctly (3/4 open?).

I just bought an Intex 2x4 meter above ground Prisma Frame. Filled with water last week and only got the new pump 4,500 liter sand working last night finally. So will be jumping in later today to give it a good scrub. I know I have a huge learning curve so here I am.

Have had pools in the past below and above ground but back then had husbands and staff to take care of things. I’ll get there. I am in Rome, Italy, near the seaside.

Thanks for having me and look forward to figuring everything out. Kris

It has some serious chlorine resistance, and does not just die off and disappear even with a hard shock. Leaves brown stains EVERYWHERE that have to be hard scrubbed off with a wire brush. Anyone know what this stuff is and how I can get rid of it for good? I scrubbed the entire steps completely clean 2 weeks ago and this stuff is back worse than ever. It’s incredibly slippery too.

I'm interested in performing the steps in this TFP article, and had a question about the first step:

1. Take your chlorine down to 0 ........ Let it decline naturally. Remove tablets, stop adding liquid chlorine, or turn off the SWG.

I was curious if I really needed to let the chlorine drop "naturally" or whether I could force it down with chlorine neutralizer so the process doesn't take as long. Is using chlorine neutralizer not recommended in this case?

I'm Derek, a somewhat new pool owner having bought a house almost 3 years ago with an indoor pool. I'm 36, male, like video games, anime, and horror, and I really suck at knowing what to put for introductions. I'm hoping to learn as much as I can from these forums though!

Tried to replace gasket to mpv, turned off pump, closed valves to skimmer, drain and vacuum.
Removed lid and water continues to flow out, rapidly filling up the pool box.
Have changed these before so am lost why there is still water flowing out, this is a new pool.
Obviously cannot carry out any future maintenance to mpv.

Hello all,
I'm Sebastien, from South of France. I'm 40, having a pool for 10Y and I like troubleshooting and repairing faulty units.
I appreciate reading this forum with many experienced users.
Posting is also great with easy attachment management !

We have a Bestway 18'X48" pool that came with a 1500GPH sand filter. I know they spec these pumps/filters to cover the bare minimum.

I have a shed with electrical about 20' away from the present location of the pump/filter and I'd like to relocate them there on a platform that I would build.

I'd run the PCV underground and stub it up to connect to the pool.

I am going to add a Hayward skimmer and possibly a solar heater.

I was just given a 14" Intex SF15110 sand filter but no pump.

My question relates to the parasitic loss giving the 20' run of PVC and the added work of pulling through the skimmer and pushing through a solar heater. I figure if I spec the pump correctly, I can use it for the heater and not add a pump for it.

Assuming this filter is adequate, can anyone recommend a pump? One with a timer if possible. TIA

Hairline crack developed in bottom of old gunite pool and apparently caused a slight leak. Crack has been filled with pool putty and leak apparently ended for now but what might i expect in the future? I will continue to monitor the situation. What else, if anything, would you suggest doing now, based on following info? I apologize for the lengthiness of this post, but it is a scary situation.

25,000 gallon in-ground gunite pool, with concrete slab decking, built in 1981 at the edge of a steep hillside -- the land had been graded/terraced to obtain a flat area for construction of the pool and the adjoining house. The ground is heavy red clay. One side of the pool is parallel to, and right up against, the downhill side of the remaining slope. We bought the place in 2007.

two causes for concern which existed in 2007:
1. The ground on the downhill side of the pool had apparently sunk down several inches, such that a section of deck slab on that side was tilted downhill a few degrees more than might otherwise be expected, and the edge of one of the slab was completely exposed and even had a visible gap of a few inches between the bottom of the slab and the earth underneath it. Other deck slabs had also shifted and cracked, both on the downhill side as well as on the uphill side where a tree had been planted too close to the pool. Attached photo shows slabs had cracked in a ring pattern around the pool. The flowering trees (crepe myrtle) in the pic are on the downhill side.
2. The pool vessel itself is not level -- the water level on the downhill side of the pool is closer to the upper edge of the tiles than it is on the uphill side of the pool, indicating that the whole pool had tilted slightly downhill. I began measuring the delta a few times a year about 10 years ago and it has remained constant at 1 15/16 inches to the best level of precision i can achieve.

I have of course been hoping that the ground has stabilized since 1981.

My understanding is that the pool vessel shell and the decking are not a one piece construction -- that the decking slabs basically just sit on the ground surrounding the pool.

I had the deck sections slabjacked in 2012 and filled the cracks with self-leveling compound. The deck sections and filled cracks have seemed pretty stable since then, except for one section on the downhill side which seems to have shifted such that the edge along the pool has raised up a fraction of an inch.

I had the pool replastered with plain white plaster in 2017. I didn't do a good job balancing the water after that and the plaster shows it.

Last year i noticed the hairline crack, several feet long in the bottom. It had probably been there before, smaller, without my noticing. I could not tell that the pool was leaking. The crack runs semi-parallel to the area of the hillside which seems to have sunk the most.

After noticing the crack, I had a foundation engineer come eyeball the hillside. He probed the soil in several places and observed the vegetation and said he did not see any current signs of instability. There are several fair-sized trees on the hillside downhill from the pool, and he pointed out that their trunks are vertically straight -- which would not be the case if the ground had recently been shifting downhill. At least nothing significant.

This month i had a diver come and do a dye test on the crack, and he said there did seem to be a slight leak in a 12-inch section. He filled the entire crack with pool putty and did another dye test and saw no more leaking.

I will monitor things -- bucket test for leaks, watch the crack, have the diver back for another dye test at some point, continue to measure the water level delta, monitor any further movement in the deck slab, monitor the angle on the fence around the pool to see if it seems to be moving downhill.

What else, if anything, would you consider doing at this point? Build the hillside back up by adding soil? Staple the pool shell? These would both be major projects and i'm not sure they would do any good. Also i'm not sure anyone around here knows how to do stapling.

Thoughts? Questions? Thanks.

Our system keeps losing its prime and keeps getting air bubbles in the pump. No airs coming from the pipes. We keep having to put water in the pump and turn it on and off hoping itll catch. I attached pics below of our set up. What could be causing that?

We've backwashed it multiple times

Good Evening friends,

I once again find myself coming to you in search of an answer. Unfortunately, we came home Sunday and found that our pool level was down significantly. After going over to the equipment we noticed water pouring out of the bottom of our booster pump for the pool vacuum.

After a quick search and reading a few threads on here it seems this is a common and known problem and Polaris supplies a replacement housing to correct the issue. Ours is on the way (5-7 Business Days). One thing I could not find is if this is something I can replace myself the housing myself or if I need to get a professional to come out and do the replacement for us.

We would need to pay for the labor to do it. I installed the pump myself (no I’m not the reason it leaked) so if it is a similar skill level to replace the housing as it is to replace the pump consider me adequate.

Appreciate all the help folks

Thanks again

C

It's been several years since I first joined this forum. The information on this site is easy to understand and has enabled me to easily maintain our pool for years. Thank you to all contributors!

Hello TFP members!

My name is Ari, I live in Northern California and just purchased a new above ground pool by intex. Using my pool for relaxation and cooling off - we never had super hot summers in my neck of the woods until recently. After miserable summer and turning my hot tub into a "cool tub" I decided to bite the bullet and get an above ground. If I love it I will considering building something perm. Look forward to learning and maybe even contributing one day. Thanks for all your work building this community and resource.

Hi all. Happy Summer '22.

I've done two partial drain & fills over the years in an effort to remove metals. But it's too costly to keep doing. So I purchased a CuLator bag, and hope to get the remaining .45 iron out of the water. This is just a question about your thoughts on the process.

When using a CuLator bag:

- Is it best to first do an ascorbic acid treatment (always works well), which will get the metals into solution.
- And then use a sequestering agent to "bind" the metals.

???

Should the Culator better work if the metals are already in solution and bound by the sequestrant?

Thanks as always for the kind advice & help.

Hi everyone, my name is Francesco and I write from Italy. I discovered your fantastic forum and I decided to register because in Italy I could not find a solution to my problem even with qualified technicians. I have a 22x8m swimming pool with skimmer filtration system and Zeolite as filter material (changed last year) and I only use drinking water from the municipal network. for a couple of years now I have had big problems with iron stains forming all over my pool and which I can only remove with the use of ascorbic acid. however, as we know, this involves lowering the pH and destroying the chlorine. unfortunately after each treatment with AA as soon as I start adding chlorine again (even if I do it gradually) the stains in the pool begin to form again especially on the stairs and on the level of the waterline despite using sequestering products regularly. I'm desperate and don't know what to do anymore