Hey everyone! So I bought a house with a pool this year, and being a complete rookie, I already made some mistakes (hopefully nothing too damaging). This is the first season I've ever operated/maintained/owned a pool, so be gentle.
Pool info:
24' above ground
Sand filter
Anyway, at the beginning of the season, my pool was green. I poured 4 gallons of liquid shock in one morning, and tossed in 3-5 chlorine tablets (I know now this is a very terrible idea). Later that evening, I tested the chemicals, and everything appeared good besides the lack of chlorine. The water was still green at this point, I added 2 bags of powder shock and let the pump run all night.
In the morning, the pool wasn't green, but was instead cloudy. I tested the chemical levels again, and same as the previous time - no chlorine. Add in a few more gallons of liquid and powder chlorine, test again later in the evening, and again, no chlorine and the water is still cloudy. I shut the filter off for the night, do some googling and learn about algae particles being too small to filter out. That explains why the return jet was cloudy as all could be after coming from the filter.
I get some H2H Green to Blue and follow the steps. Morning comes and as expected, everything is orange and clumped to the bottom of the pool. Water is still a smidge cloudy, but I manage to vacuum to waste the gunk. Add some liquid chlorine (1 gallon) and went about the day. Tested in the evening, and there was chlorine present finally, albeit low. I add another gallon and let the filter run all night again. When I checked it this morning, all chemical levels looked good. I look in the water, and at first I thought it was still cloudy, but it turns out the pool liner seems to have a lost a lot of the blueness to it, which makes the water looks a little cloudy from certain angles.
Okay, so now that's out of the way, I have some questions:
First question - did I royally F up with throwing the chlorine tablets into the pool (without a skimmer)? Like I mentioned, the liner on the bottom looks much more pale than the walls (though, where the mat for the stairs sits is still a dark blue, even though the mat was in the middle of the pool) - is that from the tablets, or just sun fade? The fade appears to be even across the bottom, except for where the stairs land. I did try to brush the liner floor, but nothing comes up, plus you can see the pattern still, just very light. I don't see any chemical burns or wrinkles anywhere - and it's entirely possible they landed on the mat, as there seems to be a few areas of discoloration on it. I did see the pool last year, but I don't recall it being this light. The pool does sit in the sun all day as there's no trees around it.
Second question - on top of my sand filter is the multi port valve. I'm assuming you shouldn't leave that on all winter, but I don't have a cover for it otherwise. Do they make a solid cap that goes on where the multi port value sits?
Third question - can you leave the stairs in the pool during the winter, or is this generally a bad idea?
Fourth question - the mat for the stairs necessary, or is that just extra precaution to not damage the liner?
Thanks!
Pool info:
24' above ground
Sand filter
Anyway, at the beginning of the season, my pool was green. I poured 4 gallons of liquid shock in one morning, and tossed in 3-5 chlorine tablets (I know now this is a very terrible idea). Later that evening, I tested the chemicals, and everything appeared good besides the lack of chlorine. The water was still green at this point, I added 2 bags of powder shock and let the pump run all night.
In the morning, the pool wasn't green, but was instead cloudy. I tested the chemical levels again, and same as the previous time - no chlorine. Add in a few more gallons of liquid and powder chlorine, test again later in the evening, and again, no chlorine and the water is still cloudy. I shut the filter off for the night, do some googling and learn about algae particles being too small to filter out. That explains why the return jet was cloudy as all could be after coming from the filter.
I get some H2H Green to Blue and follow the steps. Morning comes and as expected, everything is orange and clumped to the bottom of the pool. Water is still a smidge cloudy, but I manage to vacuum to waste the gunk. Add some liquid chlorine (1 gallon) and went about the day. Tested in the evening, and there was chlorine present finally, albeit low. I add another gallon and let the filter run all night again. When I checked it this morning, all chemical levels looked good. I look in the water, and at first I thought it was still cloudy, but it turns out the pool liner seems to have a lost a lot of the blueness to it, which makes the water looks a little cloudy from certain angles.
Okay, so now that's out of the way, I have some questions:
First question - did I royally F up with throwing the chlorine tablets into the pool (without a skimmer)? Like I mentioned, the liner on the bottom looks much more pale than the walls (though, where the mat for the stairs sits is still a dark blue, even though the mat was in the middle of the pool) - is that from the tablets, or just sun fade? The fade appears to be even across the bottom, except for where the stairs land. I did try to brush the liner floor, but nothing comes up, plus you can see the pattern still, just very light. I don't see any chemical burns or wrinkles anywhere - and it's entirely possible they landed on the mat, as there seems to be a few areas of discoloration on it. I did see the pool last year, but I don't recall it being this light. The pool does sit in the sun all day as there's no trees around it.
Second question - on top of my sand filter is the multi port valve. I'm assuming you shouldn't leave that on all winter, but I don't have a cover for it otherwise. Do they make a solid cap that goes on where the multi port value sits?
Third question - can you leave the stairs in the pool during the winter, or is this generally a bad idea?
Fourth question - the mat for the stairs necessary, or is that just extra precaution to not damage the liner?
Thanks!
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