Recent content by johnbrodie

Yeah, my wife wasn't too keen when she came home and I was digging up our new back yard, but I *will* figure this out one way or the other ;p

So I did just a little exploratory digging... The pool is to the LEFT of the equipment, so the mystery "return" (I'm assuming here) should go to the sewer - it takes a 90* bend to the right, directly away from the pool, and towards the street. I do wonder why it doesn't just immediately tie...

Thanks Texas Splash and others... I'll speak with the neighbors (whom were good friends with the previous owners) and see if I can't find more information. I'm going to grab a shovel and do a little exploratory digging. Can't get through concrete but the side yard is just loose stone, so no...

Hopefully that clears up some confusion. That image contains all I know right now. The rightmost pipe is the one I *thought* went to waste, but after attempting to drain water from the pool today, appears to go absolutely nowhere. If I block off the aerator/main returns with that 3 way valve...

OK, I give up. The valve after the backwash plunger valve that I THOUGHT sent water to the aerator/main jets AND/OR waste doesn't appear to work like I had assumed. The unlabeled line must be capped somewhere, I left the pump on speed 3 (of 4), and the water level never went down, the...

So after some more research, I'm fairly certain it's one of these Paramount Parascope Water Feature - YouTube. The other thing in the first pic isn't a valve, it's just a screw on cover for an umbrella hole. There are pictures of the equipment pad further up the thread, the only return lines...

Does not come on with the aerator (I've had it on lately to try and get TA under control), and it's the only one like it in the pool :confused:

I pulled it up by hand (it'll stay at the top position) and turned the pump on, but nothing. There's two lines going back to the pool, one for the return jets, one for the aerator... No other return pipes, and no valves I haven't already played with.

Brief update and a new question: I finally backwashed the filter, dropping the filter PSI from 18 to 9. Tried out unlabeled valving on the filter outlet, and realized I can direct filtered water either to the pool or into the sewer - so draining to solve my CYA problem should be easy...

Thanks for the advice all. We move in Saturday, so until then I have limited time to actually check on the pool. With the CYA high, it being winter, and a target FC of 8 when I added bleach on Sunday, I'm hoping everything will be OK until tomorrow when I can retest. I did stop back over at...

So I went back over tonight and checked everything again. This time I had my wife (with much better eyesight than myself) double check my findings, since some of the tests seem fairly subjective. My findings: CYA: 70 FC: 3 CC: 0 pH: 7.5 I poured between 1/2 and 2/3 of 8.25% bleach...

I have the TF-100 (or 1000?) Has all the tests I should need minus salt and borates, but I'll deal with that when I have salt or borates to test for ;p. I got ham fisted with the FAS-DPD and put in too many drops at once, hence it wasn't really accurate, and I didn't have time to retest it. I...

So I officially own the house now. Went over and did my first tests today: CL between 3 and 5 (I got a little heavy handed doing the DPD test so it's not as exact as I'd like) pH 7.5 to 7.8 CH 600 CYA appears well over 100 TA 170 Pool was found with a floating puck in it, which I assume is...

Already have the TF-100 kit in the mail. Didn't think about this... Not a big deal, I just default to the DIY route. I'll remember this for when the time comes though.

Good to know, thanks for the datapoint. I honestly didn't realize the water softener isn't usually connected to the outdoor water sources, but it makes sense. It's funny, I thought I knew much of what I needed for home ownership - and then we moved across the country. Pools, water softeners...