Wanted a house with a pool.... now what
- Thread starter ladiekali
- Start date
Hey there Ladiekali, I'm always glad to welcome another Georgian to the board! And as a fellow military wife (although Skippy is retired) thank YOU for your support of your serviceman and thank him for helping protect our country.
Can you provide us with some basic pool chemistry test results:
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Your pool looks pretty darn good and you've done a lot obviously to slay the green beast!
You mention you're backwashing your filter twice a week. Why? Is your pressure gauge working properly? Does it turn to zero when the pump is off? We suggest to folks to only backwash when the filter pressure rises 20-25% over baseline clean pressure. A slightly dirty filter actually works *better* than one squeaky clean. I dunno why....it just does :cyclops:
You can test for leaks by performing a bucket test- Pool School - Leak Detection
I wouldn't worry about your CYA at this point quite yet... 30ppm of CYA is adequate at this point and easily raised once things heat up some. Remember that any time you raise your CYA, you are also raising your FC requirements. So while you're in re-hab mode 30 is a good place to be.
How are you chlorinating the water? Please understand that chlorine is a *consumable* item in a pool... it won't linger forever. So you need to dose it daily to every other day if you're using liquid chlorine. Your test results will guide you. You want to keep your chlorine up to about 4-6 ppm at all times. If you dose it to 6ppm, it buys you a little time so that your basement level of acceptable FC is 2ppm, so hopefully you'll never go below that. Reference--> [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]
Brushing is good- but once a week is about the average folks do. Sure you can do more, but it sounds like you have other things more pressing, huh?
Don't forget to clean your skimmer baskets out every few days (or more if a tree falls in the pool
)
Keep us posted as to your progress please.
Yippee
Can you provide us with some basic pool chemistry test results:
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Your pool looks pretty darn good and you've done a lot obviously to slay the green beast!
You mention you're backwashing your filter twice a week. Why? Is your pressure gauge working properly? Does it turn to zero when the pump is off? We suggest to folks to only backwash when the filter pressure rises 20-25% over baseline clean pressure. A slightly dirty filter actually works *better* than one squeaky clean. I dunno why....it just does :cyclops:
You can test for leaks by performing a bucket test- Pool School - Leak Detection
I wouldn't worry about your CYA at this point quite yet... 30ppm of CYA is adequate at this point and easily raised once things heat up some. Remember that any time you raise your CYA, you are also raising your FC requirements. So while you're in re-hab mode 30 is a good place to be.
How are you chlorinating the water? Please understand that chlorine is a *consumable* item in a pool... it won't linger forever. So you need to dose it daily to every other day if you're using liquid chlorine. Your test results will guide you. You want to keep your chlorine up to about 4-6 ppm at all times. If you dose it to 6ppm, it buys you a little time so that your basement level of acceptable FC is 2ppm, so hopefully you'll never go below that. Reference--> [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]
Brushing is good- but once a week is about the average folks do. Sure you can do more, but it sounds like you have other things more pressing, huh?
Don't forget to clean your skimmer baskets out every few days (or more if a tree falls in the pool
) Keep us posted as to your progress please.
Yippee
I have never see a sight glass like that one. VERY interesting and neat.
The gauge will be easy to fix. You can get a good gauge from here: TFTestkits.net They last quite a big longer than the ones from Lowes and such.
You will need some plumbers tape to put on the threads. I bet you could even find a video on how to do it. Husband does mine but says it is easy.
You say you are cleaning the filter 2 times a week. That is really too much BUT without a gauge it is hard to tell if it is needed.
We will get you all set up one thing at a time.
Kim
The gauge will be easy to fix. You can get a good gauge from here: TFTestkits.net They last quite a big longer than the ones from Lowes and such.
You will need some plumbers tape to put on the threads. I bet you could even find a video on how to do it. Husband does mine but says it is easy.
You say you are cleaning the filter 2 times a week. That is really too much BUT without a gauge it is hard to tell if it is needed.
We will get you all set up one thing at a time.
Kim
I am sooo thankful, i really am, I'm been doing this on my own with zero knowledge from the beginning.
to skippy,
i'm working on my chemicals....
when i learned about cya, mine was well over 100. I don't know much about draining so drained 5 inches, filled the pool tippy top, drained 10 inches filled tippy top, repeat, like 10 times, then my cya started to read below 100. I currently have it at about 30 now.
so now that I have the cya at a workable level. I checked the alakalinity, it was 180. yestereday it was 120 and i added another gallon of muriatic acid, so far i'm at 3 gallons, that' should be good, i hope.
I'll check the again alkalinity today. If it's good, I'll check the ph, which has been running about 7.6, but my understanding is that the muriatic acid may drop the ph as well.
so after I get the ph up I will slam the pool. bring it to shock level, maintain it at shock level and check that it's not dropping more than 1ppm over night... it was in the past dropping like 3 even with as good as it's looking, my understanding is that the alkalinity and ph could be causing that, or algae...
now in the past my CC has been 0 - 0.2. so i think that's good, I think. But when i walk around the pool, it seems to me there may be green algae in the pores of the concrete.... don't know if that's even possible... just my novice hypothesis.
after all that, i plan to attempt a 7ppm fc level... i think i'm right in all this.
i understand my cya is low, so i may have to add stabilizer at some point with water draining and such...
I'm hoping to maybe use some of these pucks, have a huge bucket... maybe i can float some pucks on the days i have to drain or clean my filter. I bought a floater for that. mainly for ease of use as the pucks don't fit in the chlorinater. and I want to be able to quickly get them out if i need too.
so that's the checmical side of things.... that's the least of my worries right now because I think I'm on the right track. I know it takes 5 gallons of liquid chlorine to get my pool to slam level, which i have on stand by... i use a local water supply store here. $2 a gallon. I figure I'll slam during the week, so i can get refilled and be ready to maintain my slam levels...
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ok, as far as cleaning the filter, the gauge is dead, that puppy don't move no matter what.
I'm going to order a new gauge today and pray i can get it installed.
i tried testing for leaks with shaving cream, i had read some where that works better. I can try another way, but that process kinda confuses me, i'll reread the link you posted. I'm by myself so that makes it a little more frustrating.
to skippy,
i'm working on my chemicals....
when i learned about cya, mine was well over 100. I don't know much about draining so drained 5 inches, filled the pool tippy top, drained 10 inches filled tippy top, repeat, like 10 times, then my cya started to read below 100. I currently have it at about 30 now.
so now that I have the cya at a workable level. I checked the alakalinity, it was 180. yestereday it was 120 and i added another gallon of muriatic acid, so far i'm at 3 gallons, that' should be good, i hope.
I'll check the again alkalinity today. If it's good, I'll check the ph, which has been running about 7.6, but my understanding is that the muriatic acid may drop the ph as well.
so after I get the ph up I will slam the pool. bring it to shock level, maintain it at shock level and check that it's not dropping more than 1ppm over night... it was in the past dropping like 3 even with as good as it's looking, my understanding is that the alkalinity and ph could be causing that, or algae...
now in the past my CC has been 0 - 0.2. so i think that's good, I think. But when i walk around the pool, it seems to me there may be green algae in the pores of the concrete.... don't know if that's even possible... just my novice hypothesis.
after all that, i plan to attempt a 7ppm fc level... i think i'm right in all this.
i understand my cya is low, so i may have to add stabilizer at some point with water draining and such...
I'm hoping to maybe use some of these pucks, have a huge bucket... maybe i can float some pucks on the days i have to drain or clean my filter. I bought a floater for that. mainly for ease of use as the pucks don't fit in the chlorinater. and I want to be able to quickly get them out if i need too.
so that's the checmical side of things.... that's the least of my worries right now because I think I'm on the right track. I know it takes 5 gallons of liquid chlorine to get my pool to slam level, which i have on stand by... i use a local water supply store here. $2 a gallon. I figure I'll slam during the week, so i can get refilled and be ready to maintain my slam levels...
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ok, as far as cleaning the filter, the gauge is dead, that puppy don't move no matter what.
I'm going to order a new gauge today and pray i can get it installed.
i tried testing for leaks with shaving cream, i had read some where that works better. I can try another way, but that process kinda confuses me, i'll reread the link you posted. I'm by myself so that makes it a little more frustrating.
ok as far as the skimmer, that has to be cleaned through out the day... for instance when i turned the pump on, about a half hour later, empty the basket and about every hour after that, on most days.
I definatley have to brush the shallow end every day, you can see the black dirt form on the steps. most likely from the trees i think
also when the pump is not on, there is pollen, you can see it at the water line on the tiles. every day... so at the minimum I brush that tile. The tile doesn't look like it was taken care of, the blue tile is turning white. so i'm trying to prevent it from getting worse.
i also just ordered a new polaris, the wheel fell off the other one and it's not able to get screwed back in. not to mention the polaris is prolly 15 years old, everything on it is looking worn and brittle.
I have to wait a whole week for it to get here, that's really gonna mess things up for me as the leaves in the pool are crazy, I run the polaris 3-4 hours a day and usually have to empty the polaris 280 bag twice... once only if i'm lucky.
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my main concern is these dang bubbles coming out the jets...
my understanding is it can affect the ph.... am i right on that, not to mention if there's a leak, I want it fixed.
and then this dome on the sand filter, seems to me it should be fuller, i definatley can not tell the color of the water in the dome, it barely comes up to be seen.
so i may be cleaning the filter too often. didn't know that was a thing. the water is usually brown coming out, so brown is ok?
I definatley have to brush the shallow end every day, you can see the black dirt form on the steps. most likely from the trees i think
also when the pump is not on, there is pollen, you can see it at the water line on the tiles. every day... so at the minimum I brush that tile. The tile doesn't look like it was taken care of, the blue tile is turning white. so i'm trying to prevent it from getting worse.
i also just ordered a new polaris, the wheel fell off the other one and it's not able to get screwed back in. not to mention the polaris is prolly 15 years old, everything on it is looking worn and brittle.
I have to wait a whole week for it to get here, that's really gonna mess things up for me as the leaves in the pool are crazy, I run the polaris 3-4 hours a day and usually have to empty the polaris 280 bag twice... once only if i'm lucky.
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my main concern is these dang bubbles coming out the jets...
my understanding is it can affect the ph.... am i right on that, not to mention if there's a leak, I want it fixed.
and then this dome on the sand filter, seems to me it should be fuller, i definatley can not tell the color of the water in the dome, it barely comes up to be seen.
so i may be cleaning the filter too often. didn't know that was a thing. the water is usually brown coming out, so brown is ok?
I found the leak
i found it, thank you. it's on the pipe, i don't know how to fix it, but i found it, there's two pieces of pipe,... wait i'll take a picture
and maybe some one will tell me what to buy, i hope.
i found it, thank you. it's on the pipe, i don't know how to fix it, but i found it, there's two pieces of pipe,... wait i'll take a picture
and maybe some one will tell me what to buy, i hope.
thanks for helping me find the leak. i bought some fiber fix, hopefully this works. 100x stronger than duct tape.
I also ordered a new gauge for the filter.
now to test the chemicals
I also ordered a new gauge for the filter.
now to test the chemicals
OH happy day! How did you end up finding it??
We will get you fix one thing at a time!
Do you have a deep net? Not as easy as throwing the machine in but better than ruining your pretty water!
Kim
We will get you fix one thing at a time!
Do you have a deep net? Not as easy as throwing the machine in but better than ruining your pretty water!
Kim
Good day LadieKali- Congrats on finding the leak. I didn't see a picture (if you posted one?) but it might be an easy fix....
As to the filter question- no, brown is NOT good. I'm confused as to how it could still be backwashing brown if you've done this repeatedly?? Do you set your multiport valve to backwash for enough time that the water in your sight glass is clear? Then do you put your multiport valve on "Rinse" for about 2 minutes after? If you don't do that rinse, maybe that explains the brown water??? Once you get your new gauge you'll be able to monitor things in there a bit better. And if your gauge is like mine on my sand filter, it really is easy to replace. Its like a screw off- screw on thing. A little plumbers tape and voila!
Yippee
As to the filter question- no, brown is NOT good. I'm confused as to how it could still be backwashing brown if you've done this repeatedly?? Do you set your multiport valve to backwash for enough time that the water in your sight glass is clear? Then do you put your multiport valve on "Rinse" for about 2 minutes after? If you don't do that rinse, maybe that explains the brown water??? Once you get your new gauge you'll be able to monitor things in there a bit better. And if your gauge is like mine on my sand filter, it really is easy to replace. Its like a screw off- screw on thing. A little plumbers tape and voila!
Yippee
Thanks you two. I don't feel so alone with this now.I don't have a deep net. Just a flat skimmer net
I used the water house and slowly moved it around my equipment, starting g with the pump filter lid. All of a sudden no bubbles were in the lid. The fiber fix took care of 99 percent of the bubbles In the lid. And there are zero bubbles coming from the return.
Not sure what a sight glass is....
I watch the water that's being backwashed at the end of the hose. It goes from clear to brown to clear. Then I rinse for about two minutes.
Maybe this new gauge will make things easier for me.
I went ahead and bought plumbers tape so I'm ready for the new gauge.
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Ps I have posted pics, are y'all not seeing them?
I used the water house and slowly moved it around my equipment, starting g with the pump filter lid. All of a sudden no bubbles were in the lid. The fiber fix took care of 99 percent of the bubbles In the lid. And there are zero bubbles coming from the return.
Not sure what a sight glass is....
I watch the water that's being backwashed at the end of the hose. It goes from clear to brown to clear. Then I rinse for about two minutes.
Maybe this new gauge will make things easier for me.
I went ahead and bought plumbers tape so I'm ready for the new gauge.
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Ps I have posted pics, are y'all not seeing them?
I see the two pics of the pool but thought you posted one of the leak. Sorry if I was confused?
Yip
Yip
I have seen them all. Yippie in post 27 is the one that shows a pipe where the leak is/was.
Now that was a neat way to find the leak. You are so smart! I would have never thought about that!
Do you have a few extra bucks? If so here are two things you can buy that will help you get leaves and stuff off the bottom of the pool:
https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Leaf-Gulper-Pool-Vacuum/dp/B002WKO8OK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486690537&sr=8-1&keywords=leaf+gulper
https://www.amazon.com/Swimline-8040-Professional-Heavy-Deep-Bag/dp/B000MOIWWM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1486690537&sr=8-6&keywords=leaf+gulper
I LOVE the leaf gulper but it does add water to the pool so you have to watch your water level and rebalance as needed.
kim
Now that was a neat way to find the leak. You are so smart! I would have never thought about that!
Do you have a few extra bucks? If so here are two things you can buy that will help you get leaves and stuff off the bottom of the pool:
https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Leaf-Gulper-Pool-Vacuum/dp/B002WKO8OK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486690537&sr=8-1&keywords=leaf+gulper
https://www.amazon.com/Swimline-8040-Professional-Heavy-Deep-Bag/dp/B000MOIWWM/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1486690537&sr=8-6&keywords=leaf+gulper
I LOVE the leaf gulper but it does add water to the pool so you have to watch your water level and rebalance as needed.
kim
Oh my gosh! I just remembered we bought one of those before we knew how to hook up the polaris!!
You are brilliant, I have to dig it out, but totally worth it as the leaves are already nesting in the deep end!
the hose trick was from the link above about finding leaks. so i can not be held accountable for that smarts!
You are brilliant, I have to dig it out, but totally worth it as the leaves are already nesting in the deep end!
the hose trick was from the link above about finding leaks. so i can not be held accountable for that smarts!
I have seen them all. Yippie in post 27 is the one that shows a pipe where the leak is/was.
kim
That's odd.... post #27 is entirely blank for me?? Yet I see her first two pics of the pool. c'est la vie.
irat::sad:
:uhh:
strange indeed!
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i think some one drank my water sample for testing! i can't find it anywhere and silly me used a water bottle!! I'm pretty sure the chlorine is zero as i've been concentrating on my alkalinity all week... and by some one i mean, my 5 year old daughter!
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i think some one drank my water sample for testing! i can't find it anywhere and silly me used a water bottle!! I'm pretty sure the chlorine is zero as i've been concentrating on my alkalinity all week... and by some one i mean, my 5 year old daughter!
Oppsie!! Time to get a mustard or ketchup bottle with those neat tops. They work great for test water. I would mark it though LOL KIDS ast least you can get her to drink water LOL
I am glad you already have one of the leaf glupers. They work great! Did you know they have a fine mesh bag if you have lots of little stuff to get up? They are SO easy to use and do a great job!
Yippee, the picture is of white pvc pipe that looks like it has already been repaired as there is very little room between what looks like to couplers or ends.
Kim
ast least you can get her to drink water LOLI am glad you already have one of the leaf glupers. They work great! Did you know they have a fine mesh bag if you have lots of little stuff to get up? They are SO easy to use and do a great job!
Yippee, the picture is of white pvc pipe that looks like it has already been repaired as there is very little room between what looks like to couplers or ends.
Kim
My gauge should come in today. So excited to get that repaired.
Just finished my first slam, well now I'm on maintain.
Trying to use aeration to get my Ph up.
I am using the polaris tubing and knotted it around the stair step handles.
Also need to get the cya up to at least 30. Would like to shoot for 40.
This is very rewarding!
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Gonna get me one of those condiment bottles today!
Just finished my first slam, well now I'm on maintain.
Trying to use aeration to get my Ph up.
I am using the polaris tubing and knotted it around the stair step handles.
Also need to get the cya up to at least 30. Would like to shoot for 40.
This is very rewarding!
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Gonna get me one of those condiment bottles today!
I can see you are loving being in control! NICE job! It will only get easier from now on! SWEET!
Kim
Kim