I am crying. Pool leaks and Filtration problems.

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Few more questions before I go into maintenance mode. What is the recommended ratio for main drain/skimmer both are currently turned on full. I didn't want one to get clogged and starve the pump with all the junk that was in the pool to start with. How many hours a day should I run my pump? Do I need to check the FC everyday or should I try to figure out the ratio to put to maintain over the recommended amount for the week?

Update: Went ahead and got a patch kit with Boxer glue from the pool store. They told me the included patch wouldn't be big enough so they gave me some liner samples they had. Which seem like a way better patch anyways.

You can clearly see everything in the pool now. Going to run the FC and CC test tonight. From standing above I can see the holes and details of the main drain as well as a few leaves which have escaped the vacuum lol!

The pictures don't do the clarity justice because we have so much water disturbing the surface with the above ground return jet.

We've been swimming! Everyday! It is awesome!
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Happy to hear the news, water looks better in each pic you've posted! I was nervous about that tear and didn't want to scare you, but I was hoping you guys were tending to it ASAP.

I'm going to leave the specifics about your pump/valve/chem questions to the pros on here. I'm in a completely different part of the country with cooler overall temps so in that regard I'm lucky to not need to do as much work as you guys in the hotter climates.

Might want to keep running the pump 24/7 until the water is crystal clear, but like you said with that return above the water, the pics might not do it justice. After that the DE that you add via the skimmer will literally make the water sparkle! Every time I roll back my solar cover I'm surprised the water can shine so much in the sun. Hopefully you can get a routine down once you know the pools normal chemistry. I test and add my chems once per week, vac once a week and add a little PH down after a big rain fall. However I think most people on this site are much more active with testing and in sunny climates that is really a necessity.

Good luck, pool looks great and good for you for all you've taken on and with all the stuff you've figured out this season!
 
If you want you can add an extension onto that return so that you can have it under the water level and even add an eyeball fitting for directionallity! That way you'll have a better circulation pattern and less splashing to drive up the pH.

Great job with a challenging pool!
 
I think it's a good idea to test pH and FC daily for a while and learn your trend. Weekly testing of TA is fine, and monthly for CH and CYA because those move slower.

Within a fairly short time, you'll have a good sense of what's needed and you can test every other day, and maybe even every three days or twice a week, but more is better at this stage, and you'll get very efficient with it. You can estimate your daily need for chlorinating liquid and add that each day without testing.

The good part of having a 1/2 HP pump is that your running cost is fairly low, so I'll second the advice to keep the pump running long hours until you're completely happy with the clarity, then gradually dial it down. Eventually it could be as little as 5 or 6 hours hours per day, but every pool is different so it's hard to predict. My wild guess is around 10 hours per day.

It's fantastic to hear that you're getting some well deserved use of the pool!! :)
 
Did a full test run while I was making sure we hit the < 1ppm FC loss over night and the CC of <.5. Here are the results:

FC 10.5 (Night) 10 (morning) CC .5
PH 7.8
TA 250
CH 190
CYA 40? (I never know with this. I've done this test 4 times now and It's never what I think it's going to be nor am I sure I'm getting it right. I've found if you focus with only one eye the CYA is higher but using both looking directly into the tube I feel like I can always see the dot. If I think I have it then look away and look back... I see the dot again.)

TA is high. My plan is to lower the PH to 7 - 7.2 and let it rise again with my above ground return jet. Test again and repeat if necessary.

I made a little cheat sheet for the target numbers of my pool last night. Woke up this morning and found out it had been used as a coffee grounds coaster.... Someone will pay! lol

Thanks again everyone. Still running the pump 24 hours and keeping FC at at least 10 because I really don't trust my CYA number. But the pool has gained even more clarity! So much in fact that I am inn need of a good vacuum or scooping session.

The pool was originally set to 50% draw from main drain and full draw from skimmer. Should I go back to that? Currently set on full draw from both.
 
Awesome news!

I'd keep pump on 24hr until it's crystal clear. The goal around here is to be able to flip a quarter into the deep end and be able to tell whether it landed on heads or tails. :)

CYA is a difficult test for sure. If you think it's either 30 or 40, set your levels assuming 40. Or at least target levels for 30, making sure your levels never dip toward the minimum FC for 40.

At your high TA, you will probably notice pH floating up rapidly. Just add acid to bring it back down to 7.2 and eventually that TA will drop a bit and your pH rise will also drop. Like others said, you may also want to put that "replacement return" with some extra fittings to get it down below water level, to avoid extra aeration that will help pH increase. Also, note that at FC=10, the pH test is slightly inaccurate. You might let it dip below temporarily just to test/adjust pH and then bump it back up to SLAM. I'd keep it at SLAM until the water is crystal clear - it can only help things now.

I'd keep things at full draw from both skimmer and main drain, but everybody has their own settings on this. When vacuuming let it focus on skimmer. Or if you have a lot of floating debris, set it more towards skimmer. I like a lot of main drain because I feel it helps with deep end circulation since our kids are young and don't circulate the deep end for me yet. :) Feel free to experiment based on what you see your pool doing.
 
Paul & Crystal said:
Oh happy happy! Let's see a pic of that sparkalicious water!

C
Click to expand...

Here's the latest pic just for Crystal! Took a lovely swim today in between thunderstorms the sun came out for just long enough to clean up the pool and hop in. Of course it was in the 90s the week it was starting to clear up. I refused to get into it until I could see the bottom though... I was still thinking there could be a dead body! :O

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Should have turned the pump off for a clearer picture but you can still see the main drain even though the above ground return is breaking the water surface. I'll eventually pipe it into the pool or do a water feature keep in mind that it will raise the Ph if I do that =D
 

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