So tired of this every year!

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Jamie A 14

0
Aug 11, 2015
98
St Johns, MI
We have had our pool 10 years or so. I am the primary maintenance person and I’d say for all but the first 2 years I have struggled with debris on the pool floor. Dead algae I’ve always heard, SLAM the pool,keep FC way up there (to the point of bleaching the heck out of my liner), vacuum, yada, yada. STILL it’s there. Water looks clear after opening a few days ago (we don’t cover it in winter so it’s usually pretty grungy but wasn’t too bad this spring) after the initial round of vacuuming, bleaching, brushing, etc. Of course the debris is there. Everyone here says maintaining a pool is simple. WHY do so struggle so? I refuse to have days and days of chlorine levels at 15-16 because my liner suffers for it. I guess we will just live with a leas than clean pool. Argh.
(I am really just venting here because I have literally done everything y’all have told me to over the years and it hasn’t helped...wishing one of you could come to my house !! LOL
 
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Well lets do something about this :)

The first thing, You have a sand filter, yes they are supposed to be easy and cheap but they are not that great when it comes down to it.. If you want a clearer pool you could do 1 of 2 things..

1. Use DE in your sand filter.. This will help with clearing the pool, but you will need to redo the DE after every backwash..

2. go to a cartridge filter.. A 300 to 400 sq ft size should be perfect for your pool size and in MI your only open about 8 months.. That will get you a year without cleaning your filter... How easy is that?

3. SWG: They are the greatest things in life.. salt water pools are WAY easy and stay clear.. I run mine at 7FC or above at all times.. I have had to SLAM my pool 2 times in 8 years.. both times because my breaker went off for a day and i missed it... My water t=started to get cloudy and I instantly knew something was up... checked FC and it was at 2 and the other time it was at 1... Both times my SLAM was over in 48 hours...

A Vinyl liner will fade and if it is a blue it will fade fast... I gave up worrying about liner fade and just embrace it :)

How does all this sound?
 
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I see no mention of a test kit or full test results but a liner shouldn't bleach out if you have the proper amount of CYA in the water to buffer it. Though liners with organic blue inks instead of synthetic blues are known to fade fast. We advise folks to avoid the organic blues.

Can you tell me how you're testing? Can you give us results?
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

Is that FROG system causing stains or other problems?

Maddie :flower:
 
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YippeeSkippy said:
I see no mention of a test kit or full test results but a liner shouldn't bleach out if you have the proper amount of CYA in the water to buffer it. Though liners with organic blue inks instead of synthetic blues are known to fade fast. We advise folks to avoid the organic blues.

Can you tell me how you're testing? Can you give us results?
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

Is that FROG system causing stains or other problems?

Maddie :flower:
Click to expand...
This was yesterday’s:
With Taylor 2006 test kit.
FC 5.8
PH 7.4
CH 350
CYA 30 - I have the hardest time with this one. Does it ever really disappear? Lol
TA 200
 
YippeeSkippy said:
I see no mention of a test kit or full test results but a liner shouldn't bleach out if you have the proper amount of CYA in the water to buffer it. Though liners with organic blue inks instead of synthetic blues are known to fade fast. We advise folks to avoid the organic blues.

Can you tell me how you're testing? Can you give us results?
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

Is that FROG system causing stains or other problems?

Maddie :flower:
Click to expand...
And we haven’t used the FROG in years. Just liquid chlorine.
 
cowboycasey said:
Well lets do something about this :)

The first thing, You have a sand filter, yes they are supposed to be easy and cheap but they are not that great when it comes down to it.. If you want a clearer pool you could do 1 of 2 things..

1. Use DE in your sand filter.. This will help with clearing the pool, but you will need to redo the DE after every backwash..

2. go to a cartridge filter.. A 300 to 400 sq ft size should be perfect for your pool size and in MI your only open about 8 months.. That will get you a year without cleaning your filter... How easy is that?

3. SWG: They are the greatest things in life.. salt water pools are WAY easy and stay clear.. I run mine at 7FC or above at all times.. I have had to SLAM my pool 2 times in 8 years.. both times because my breaker went off for a day and i missed it... My water t=started to get cloudy and I instantly knew something was up... checked FC and it was at 2 and the other time it was at 1... Both times my SLAM was over in 48 hours...

A Vinyl liner will fade and if it is a blue it will fade fast... I gave up worrying about liner fade and just embrace it :)

How does all this sound?
Click to expand...
Sounds great but hub won’t go for a new filter. He doesn’t really mind dirt in the pool and thinks I stress to much over it. So, here’s the thing... last night there was debris kind of scattered around the bottom. Brushed, added chlorine, ran pump for a couple hours (he doesn’t like pump running for long enough either...you see, herein lies part of my problem😅). This morning checked and way more debris than before I added chlorine and ran the pump. I just don’t understand it.
 
Are leaves and such blowing into the pool nightly? Any animals swimming in the pool? I'm trying to imagine what this debris looks like? Does your husband work? I'd run the pump when he's not home then. Save your self the aggravation of his complaints.
Do you know anyone who has a DE filter who would give you a cup or so and you could try a ittle out in your filter?
www.troublefreepool.com

Add DE to a Sand Filter

A clean pool filter will increase the efficiency of your pool! ... your filter are to backwash it, clean the manifolds and grids, and add new DE.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

That's a high calcium number for a vinyl pool. Don't add any, if you have been. You don't need it.
 
Jamie A 14 said:
Sounds great but hub won’t go for a new filter. He doesn’t really mind dirt in the pool and thinks I stress to much over it. So, here’s the thing... last night there was debris kind of scattered around the bottom. Brushed, added chlorine, ran pump for a couple hours (he doesn’t like pump running for long enough either...you see, herein lies part of my problem😅). This morning checked and way more debris than before I added chlorine and ran the pump. I just don’t understand it.
Click to expand...

sounds like maybe a cover is needed or a robot cleaner?

on a side note, I’ve never understood the deal with shutting the pump off so much. When I had a single stage, I just set it to shut down at night automatically.
 
YippeeSkippy said:
Are leaves and such blowing into the pool nightly? Any animals swimming in the pool? I'm trying to imagine what this debris looks like? Does your husband work? I'd run the pump when he's not home then. Save your self the aggravation of his complaints.
Do you know anyone who has a DE filter who would give you a cup or so and you could try a ittle out in your filter?
www.troublefreepool.com

Add DE to a Sand Filter

A clean pool filter will increase the efficiency of your pool! ... your filter are to backwash it, clean the manifolds and grids, and add new DE.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

That's a high calcium number for a vinyl pool. Don't add any, if you have been. You don't need it.
Click to expand...
Haven’t added any—ever . Calcium that is. And I have some DE so I’ll add some. Thanks
 

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So, this is the bottom of my pool, with a sand filter and NO DE. How does it look like this, when I have pollen and leaves and a dirt filled yard because we are in our dry season? A few things:

1. Proper chemistry
2. Good circulation, so that most debris hits the skimmer before it settles on floor.
3. Speaking of skimmer, hairnet or skimmer sock, to catch a lot before it ever hits the filter
4. A robot. Sucks up anything on the floor AND stirs up fine debris so it will get sucked thru skimmer.
5. Enough run time with a pump that has enough oomph and a large filter. Right now I am still using my old Intex, and I let it run most of the day. I turn off the SWG and use pump only, to keep the water moving, especially since it has been super windy for days and all kinds of stuff is blowing into my pool.
6. I don’t use a cover, but using one will certainly keep debris out of the pool.

0F7467C0-D62A-4802-A4E9-5D396F4A5F00.jpeg
 
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