First time having a pool. Was opened professionally last week. The tests have been basically zero FC, zero CYA.

Today:
FC: 0
CC: 0
CYA: 10?
pH: less than 7
TA: 250
CH: 300

Over the last few days I’ve added 6 lbs of CYA stabilizer With the sock method. I added the last pound now.

Should I add borax? Should I add liquid stabilizer? Should I add any bleach now or wait until CYA comes up? I’ve added several gallons of bleach over the week and it seems to burn off quickly which is expected with the CYA, but I was trying to learn and read at the same time.

Hello all, We have had our pool for two weeks, and the water had been nice and clear until 7/18 when we tested TA, PH, and FC and adjusted per the Pool Math app around 1600 cst, and ran pump 24 hours. Our water has went from pretty and clear to the color of the water in the attached photo overnight. To add, there is not a slimy feeling on the sides or bottom. There doesnt appear to be any algae deposits anywhere, the water is still clear just tinted a green/teal green. I have attempted to research it and have come up with beginning stages of algae or metal oxidation. We did fill our pool with well water that had been filtered through a commercial water filter through Culligans, that supposedly removes metals and sulfides. my current testing stands at FC: 5ppm PH: 7.2 TA: 80ppm TH: 0 CYA:0 (didnt want to add more chemicals until i can get my water color resolved.) Please Help. Thanks The Morgan Family from Texas

Hi
we noticed in Tuesday that our pool is leaking. This is not our first leak so we’re able to quickly narrow it down to the buddy seat. With the previous leak the due was clearing spiraling away, this time it’s slower ( water level dropping less rapidly) the dye is gathering at the edge as shown in the photo.
We live in Jersey so have maybe 6 weeks of pool use left this season and don’t want to to it up everyday. We are looking for the quick fix (bodge) to see us through. Thinking silicon sealing?
Appreciate community thoughts!

Any secrets of LeafVac debris canister? I put the pool in “service mode” and remove lid of Leafvac but water continues to pour out of this device? I thought in “service mode” that would prevent water from overflowing. It’s difficult to put the lid back on. Thanks very mcuh.

Costco pool, still in the box.
PowerSteel 22"x 12'x 48" Above Ground Oval Pool
Water Capacity: 6,021 gal
I really need help in finding out what SWG I need and any other supplies.
My Dr. has recommended it for myself & spouse for Lupus & PSA.
THANK YOU EVERYONE.

Hi folks! Today’s test results:

FC 5
PH 7.8
TA 60
CH 250
CYA 30
Temp 92
CSI - neg 0.10

We had a monsoon yesterday evening which lowered pool temp a bit, and probably increased PH which was 7.5 on Tuesday. Interestingly, I tried scraping scale off liner with fingernail - no dice. But the inside of my skimmer is smooth, as is my weir door. Forgot to check that before.

Daughter is home this weekend so we are going to tackle the sand filter. I’ve been running on recirculate since I figured out where all the sand came from. I was being pretty aggressive in lowering my PH, but now my TA is at 60 so I’m not sure I should continue with the MA without raising TA some.

My CH came up 25 points, but still isn’t high at all, in my mind.

Your thoughts?

Hi everyone!

Long story short my wife wanted to remodel our pool (we remodeled our kitchen and bathroom ourselves) she figured since we did those remodels a pool wouldnt be much harder.... we had the pool poorly painted that only lasted a couple of years before the paint started rubbing off the walls onto our skin and clothes and eventually flaking off, so now we are looking to replaster the pool.

We have the tiles removed and pressure washed the whole pool and we are going to do a acid wash this weekend.

Im hoping to get any recommendations for a contractor to repair/ replace the cantilever decking surrounding the pool. One contractor told me to avoid doing the concrete decking because I would have to replace all the plumbing and electrical and the whole project would run 80-100k. He recommended I leave the decking and just replace the broken skimmer basket housing and the floor drain to bring it up to code. To replace the skimmer, drain, tile and replaster would run around 25k. Doesn't seem that bad of a deal but doing the replaster and tile ourselves would save us 20k (5200.00 to repair the skimmer basket)


The second thing im hoping to get comments on is the product sider-crete. Ive watched videos and read threads but there is never a follow up after to see if the product holds up to the advertised 7-10 years.

Thanks for any and all advice, recommendations, and tips.

On Sunday, 16-JUL during the day we started seeing cloudy water in our normally "Crystal Clear TFP Pool" water. The cloudiness gradually worsened throughout the day. When i was closing the pool up for the night, i set the SWG to super chlorinate since i assumed there was a load on the pool from the weekend and day.

Monday 17-JUL afternoon i was able to take a sample and the results were:

Once i saw the results i added 2# of soda ash to bring the pH up as i knew i needed to start a SLAM.
i overshot my FC to 38, and my CC was at 1.5 @ 8pm Monday 17-JUL night

the following is a list of testing results and times, (full logs are in my profile).
after each test, i added the proper amount of 10% bleach (liquid chlorine from walmart) to bring FC level back up to 28
I've also been brushing twice daily, and using our robot as well.
I've scrubbed the steps, ladder area (inset steps), light (did not dissemble), skimmer and return, all by hand. I've also ran our deck jets for a few hours as well.


The FC loss seems to have slowed, but is still concerning. Hoping for a good OCLT test tonight.

Am i missing anything w/ the process and testing? How often should i be testing?
Also, should i have the pool uncovered? we have a solid auto-cover.

Thanks for the assistance.

-Phil

Our pool (outdoor) is almost completed, water goes in on Friday. I am at work and was making some notes to get ready for everything I will have to learn (we are first time pool owners). I was just reading this in the UV description:

"UV, in combination with a sanitizer, is very nice for use with an indoor pool. UV can take care of the CC which tends to build up in indoor pools. UV is not worth it for an outdoor pool, where sunlight performs the same function for free."

My pool builder has already installed a DEL AOP 40 Ozone/UV-C Sanitizer, even though we are outside, and apparently its really not needed. That's about $1400-$1800. I did not find out about this group until very recently from a coworker that has a salt water pool. I guess we are just stuck with a useless piece of equipment now. Should I be calling them and telling them to come remove it before we introduce water to it? Will it help at all? Or totally useless and I should get that money refunded? Thanks!

Just found this thread a couple of minutes ago while searching for information around quartzscape.

I am in the 12th day of my pool build. So far long pipe has been finished.

I have 18 helical piers, no.4 rebar with 8x8.

I am on thr fence on quartzscape but wanted to see if anyone can convince me to go with it.

View attachment 484592

I have an older k1004 kit I have been using and recently after a replaster I thought I would pickup a k2005 so I could monitor calcium and alk more closely. That being said I'm having a heck of a time with the new kit. Attaching a picture for reference. The old 1004 on the left is matching what the strips and store say I have. Also the old kit showed 5ppm on Monday and is now down to 1 or less (I expect it to go down over time). The new kit on the right shows what I'm reading as a 5 - and hasn't changed, same reading today as on Monday. Both tests were for Free Chlorine in this picture but the results are similar for the total. I tested tap water with both kits and both showed no detectable chlorine.

What am I doing wrong, what's wrong with the test kit...

I have the pictured pump and looking for a seal kit to have on hand.
Looks like there are a couple of options at inyopools. It is salt but was converted at some time in the past, if that matters for fit.
Choice 1
Choice 2
Which would be the best choice?

Hello there. Just bought my house with pool and I'm doing what I can to learn. My pool has a slide but when I turn the water valve it barely trickles down from about 1/2 down the slide and nothing comes out at the top. If i remove the hose feeding the slide from the valve i can put my finger over the outlet and stop the flow of water. My pool guy who I fired originally told me he thought the second pump was to run the slide, but I believe it's actually for a Polaris vacuum that is no longer here. When I turn that pump on a 3rd center jet in the pool blows water out just below the slide and it actually kills what little pressure the slide had. If that 2nd pump is off I can still feel water coming out of the center jet, but it's weak pressure. The other two jets have really strong pressure. Please advise how pools slides are supposed to work, so I can troubleshoot the low pressure. Pics attached of everything involved. Thanks in advance

Ok so I’ve read the ABCs and test kit arrived. I know I’m way out of balance without testing.

I will be doing my first test tomorrow or Sunday. Any tricks or advice before I start?

I have a large syringe and was going to pull my sample with it so I had plenty of water to use through all the testing



All help is greatly appreciated

PH test with Taylor test kit is bright yellow...
CYA is 120 (I cut the sample water in half with fresh waster and CYA said 60 so I doubled it...)
TA is 0

I have added suggested amounts of baking soda and run the fountain Jets...

Why is my PH and TA not coming up?
Does a high CYA level effect PH and TA tests?

I'm draining and refilling smaller amounts trying to get my cya down. Then add the baking soda my next test still shows TA and PH bottomed out. I have done this twice.

I was having an algae problem, SLAM’d,
OCLT zero, and then sent my new Nautilus CC Plus on patrol. It’s first pool outing was after the SLAM. I also have a PV3 in-floor cleaner so the primary purpose of the Nautilus is wall cleaning and overall brushing, the PV3 gets rid of most leaves and other big stuff.

The first few passes of the Nautilus caught some stuff that sure looked like algae and was still green, as well as sand, stone dust and some seeds. Subsequent passes captured less and less of it but it’s still there a little bit in the Nautilus filter after each pass (I clean it every pass).

I also get a faint smell of algae from the Nautilus as I pull it out of the pool. Nothing else smells like algae (brushes, nets, etc). It’s literally just the Nautilus that I get a whiff of algae from.

Is all this normal/expected from the Nautilus?

Hi, I have never posted here, but I am at the of my wisdom. I am winging maintaining our saltwater pool (21,000 gallons, vinyl liner, cartridge filter) for 6 years (came with the house, I converted to salt after a year of ownership) and did a reasonable good job keeping it crystal clear most summers. I don't use a pool company or pool store chemicals.. I test my own water.
I opened the pool end of May and was never able to clear it from cloudiness this year. Turned out the salt cell was dying. Waiting for an expensive replacement from manufacturer Solaxx (after getting burned buying a cheap knock-off cell from a shady internet company (saltpoolstoredotcom, avoid at all cost) and loosing time).
Meanwhile the pool turned green again this week, although I kept adding shock and maintained a 3ppm chlorine level. I added 6 gallons yesterday and no change.
CYA level is at 80, which I guess is ok for a saltwater pool. PH is 7.8 this morning, a jump from 7.2 (after adding muriatic acid) pre-shock yesterday. Alkalinity is at 90. Current chlorine level is at 9ppm , from 17ppm yesterday evening.
New Salt cell is due to arrive tonight.
Appreciate any advice. Thanks.

New liner installed last year, just noticed this. It's not a huge slip. (you can see more of the light blue in the middle of the pic here).

Tried to briefly move it back in with my hands until I decided I didn't know I was doing and to do some more research. Reached out to the installer a few days ago, nothing back yet. What can I try without damaging the liner?

Thanks!

Hello folks,

Here are the facts:
Pump motor stopped running. Display states "Check system. Pump failed to start. Check motor and wet end for binding." Took apart wet end and saw impeller was stiff. Was able to hand free impeller and turned on the pump without re-attaching to the housing. The motor and impeller turned fine. Attached motor to housing and the motor does not run and trips breaker. Disconnected motor again from housing, and tested motor, and this time motor does not come on, just hums and then trips breaker and also the free spinning impeller is now binding badly and not turning. Am now able to turn impeller 3/4 turn only back and forth. Something is preventing it from spinning.

So is the problem with the impeller or is it with the motor. Please help. My pool is green and starting to stain the surface. What do you recommend as possible solutions? Pump is 7 years old.

Thank you.

I had a quick question regarding chlorinator use. I removed my Perma Salt system this year with chlorine and it was the best switch I made, my pool is crystal clear this year thanks to the help of TFP!! I was curious, if I have a chlorinator do I need to routine super shock my pool with liquid chlorine after a pool party, heavy rain, routine, etc.? If so, how often?

Thank you!

Hello everyone, My 40,000 gallons pool has fresh added water with salt at 3200, chlorine at 4 and PH near 7.2 Water seems perfect. I am investigating the idea to add CYA but I am not convinced it is a good idea. Yes the sun evaporates the chlorine rapidely, but why should I be concerned by that? The TCELL makes free chlorine. Maybe with CYA I could produce less chlorine, like running the Aquarite at 60% instead of 75% and make the cell last a little longer? I would love to hear your thoughts on that. Thank you! Jimmy.

My return opening is under the gasket and leaking between my sidewall and vinyl, does anyone have a recommendation on how to correctly fix it?

Hello all! I’m so glad I found this site! I am in the process of locking in a contract. I have a pool proposal from a builder below. I really like the look of this gunite build but I still don’t know much so I am hoping to get feedback on what I can improve (remove / add) to make this better. I have been working with this builder for weeks. But just to be sure, I am meeting with a different builder tomorrow, for the first time, to see what they come up with and also so I can compare designs and pricing. By the way I already paid a $600 design fee for this one, to be used as part of the construction.

Looking forward to your feedback. Thanks so much!

Dimensions: 26’-10” L x 7’-6” w x 9’-2” w x 13’w Water envelop: 26’-10” x 13’
Perimeter: 80’
Area: 245 sq. ft
Depths: 3’-6” to 5-6”’
Volume: 5,607 Gallons
Benches: Per Plan
Lights: (2) Two @ 3’-6” & 5’-6”
(2) Pentair Niche-less Color LED (1)
Sun shelf: One @ 67 sq. ft.

MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT and OTHER
1L2 PENTAIR MicroBrite Color LED Lights IN POOL
1 PX100 Transformer 100w Intermatic with Built-in Noise Filter
Pentair 420SQF CLEAN & CLEAR PLUS CARTRIDGE FILTER IntelliFlo3TM VSF Pool Pump with RELAY BOARD 3HP
Pentair Hydro Boost Booster Pump (Cleaner Pump)
QUATTRO SPORT IG PRESSURE SIDE POOL CLEANER Pool Brush
LEAF RAKE/NET
VAC HOSE
TELESCOPIC POLE
AquaChek Silver 7-Way Pool Water Test Strips
DEL UV-C 50 Ultraviolet Sanitizer
POWERCLEAN ULTRA VS INLINE Chlorine Tablet FEEDER 2
1 Vinyl PLUMBING LABELS
8"X24"X.25" Aluminum Skimmer Coping Support Plate
2 CMP PRODUCTS Pool Defender WATER BOND SKIMMER
1 A&A AVSC Unlockable Drain FILLABLE PEBBLE TOP Drain Single Port 1 Umbrella Sleeve
4 10' Deck Drain (Stegmeier)
1 5GAL MIRAPRIME AQUA-BLOK XL WATER BARRIER
1 PENTAIR 2-POLE 20A GFCI CIRCUIT BREAKER
1 Surge Protection Kit

CONTROL SYSTEM
InteliFlo3 Pump has Wi-Fi/Bluetooth for App control of pump, cleaner pump, and pool lights (on/off only for pool lights)

POOL START UP
Start Up Pool
Pool School with Homeowner
Balance Chemicals

No idea if that is an actual name for the part, it’s just what makes sense to call it given it’s purpose.

Long story short, used an old parts robot to fix a corroded cord on my mostly working robot.

The little actuator that moves the nozzle left and right to clean the water line is dead. After finding the corroded cord and replacing that, was still not getting any love. Unplugged the actuator and powering the unit back on gets both the dive motor and impeller motor working.

After cracking it open, appears the control board shorted and the sacrificial plastic gear got destroyed when the unit locked up .

Anyway, anyone have a source for this little guy?

Thanks in advance guys.

My SLAM is complete, and I'm letting the chlorine levels drop. My hardness and alkalinity are a little low. At what point should I work to balance these? Chlorine is down to 9.6 today, so I'm within target but I will try to let it settle between 7 and 8.

Last test results:
FC - 9.6
CC - 0
pH - 7.6
CH - 200
TA - 84
CYA - 84

What order should I tackle this in? Should I pump out some water and get CYA in line, and then re-test and adjust from there?
Thanks in advance to all you smart people out there! I appreciate your advice.

I'm a new pool owner grappling with the car payment sized power bill I got after running my single speed pump excessively last month. I've been doing some research into variable speed pumps, and like what I'm reading about the new Black & Decker pumps. As I understand, the Calimar pump should be the same, with the exception of the housing and included unions.

It looks like my pump has a 2" intake, but the return is only 1.5", so I assume that I'm going to be limited to a max flow of around 44 gpm. I think that running a 1.5 hp Calimar pump at around 1200 rpm will max out my flow. It looks like there may have been a split return at one point, two 1.5" pipes, but one is capped. Also, 2 of 5 jets don't have any flow, so I am assuming this is related. I believe at one point there was a Polaris vacuum that is not longer active, so possible that capped pipe is from that?

So does that make sense? Just get a 1.5 hp instead of the 3 hp and save an extra hundred bucks or so there, since my flow rate will be the main limiter and is well within the lower rpm range of the Calimar?

This is the operating cost breakdown for a 24 hr run time on the Swimming Pool Steve blog using the 1.5 hp pump.
1.5 HP Variable Speed Pump
3 Hours @ 3000 RPM / 86 GPM
6 Hours @ 2000 RPM / 55 GPM
15 Hours @ 1000 RPM / 29 GPM

1040 W/h @ 3000 x 3 = 3.12 kW
348 W/h @ 2000 x 6 = 2.1 kW Watts
68 W/h @ 1000 x 15 = 1.02 kW Watts

6.24 kW per day x $0.13 / kWh

Hey everyone, I have a question. My thermistor is bad, I have a new one on the way but it won’t be here until Monday. I noticed the pool beginning to turn green. Would it be appropriate to shock it while I’m waiting for the new part before it gets any worse?

Had some issues getting started this year and things got pretty green. The past few days I've been waking up to zero FC after dumping almost a gallon of bleach in each day. So, did a SLAM a bit ago and added 4 gallons. Anything else I should do/know to get this pool in balance?

My son turned on the pump (Pentair Superflo dual speed 1HP) with the inlet valves closed and walked away. I think it probably ran dry for two or three hours. Now, it barely moves water, and can't clear air in the pump basket. The PSI reading on the filter is 2 vs. 15 before this incident. It doesn't lose prime overnight when it is off, so there doesn't seem to be any leaks, so what do you think is the problem? Does the motor need rebuilt? Any help/advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

OK, my 1.5 HP Hayward Superpump kicked the bucket. I am replacing with the Hayward W3SP3215X20XE TriStar XE Ultra-High Efficiency Pool Pump, 2.25THP, 230/115V. Any suggestions on speeds and run times before I install it?

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