Kind of like that old pilot saying - any landing you can walk away from is a good one. So I guess my first opening was a good one. The good parts are that the air lock seemed to hold and I do not see any cracks from the freeze. That's a big one. Also, my pump came back on with no apparent issues. So in that respect, I'm thankful since last year was my fist DIY closing.
However, the water was less than hoped for. I haven't seen so much green algae in my pool since the stagnant water from the original build. Still, it wasn't like a green pond, but it wasn't good. Oh well, I'm sure I can have it back to TFP clear in a few days.
So far, I'll I've done is put a couple gallons of chlorine in it and brush. I also started the robot. All the green is gone and it just looks like a lot of dirt settling. My understanding is that is dead algae. For tonight, I'm done. I'll keep the pump on tonight and check everything in the morning. I'll also do a full test of the water to see what I need to do.
In retrospect, I think the issue was that at the end of last season, I was running low on CYA. My guess is that, without the stabilizer, there wasn't enough chlorine to get me through the winter. Thankfully, I opened a bit earlier than I was anticipating. I'm thinking in a week it would have really been a mess.
We have one more warm day, tomorrow, and then a cool down. I would think cool weather is a good time to do a SLAM. The chemistry starts tomorrow.
Thanks go to this site and those that helped me close last season for giving me the confidence to do this stuff myself. It's a little harder than writing a check, but I do get some pride of ownership out of it and I know it's being done properly. Thanks!
However, the water was less than hoped for. I haven't seen so much green algae in my pool since the stagnant water from the original build. Still, it wasn't like a green pond, but it wasn't good. Oh well, I'm sure I can have it back to TFP clear in a few days.
So far, I'll I've done is put a couple gallons of chlorine in it and brush. I also started the robot. All the green is gone and it just looks like a lot of dirt settling. My understanding is that is dead algae. For tonight, I'm done. I'll keep the pump on tonight and check everything in the morning. I'll also do a full test of the water to see what I need to do.
In retrospect, I think the issue was that at the end of last season, I was running low on CYA. My guess is that, without the stabilizer, there wasn't enough chlorine to get me through the winter. Thankfully, I opened a bit earlier than I was anticipating. I'm thinking in a week it would have really been a mess.
We have one more warm day, tomorrow, and then a cool down. I would think cool weather is a good time to do a SLAM. The chemistry starts tomorrow.
Thanks go to this site and those that helped me close last season for giving me the confidence to do this stuff myself. It's a little harder than writing a check, but I do get some pride of ownership out of it and I know it's being done properly. Thanks!
