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Some of us are members of "Team Run Hot" - we run the Cl at the top of the range, or even a bit above. It is safe to swim all the way up to the SLAM level, so no issues there. A belt and suspenders margin for pool party days, or other times when CL might take a hit. A reason not to run high...

The only negatives to having one are: Initial cost (although over the life span, it saves you a GREAT deal of money on chlorine costs). They stop working in colder temps (<50), so at those times you need to use liquid chlorine. But not much at those temps. Depending on your other equipment...

A minor, and obvious, note to PoolStored's advice - try for a return in the deep end. Further for the heavier acid to fall and dilute itself before it gets to a surface, than if in a shallow end.

Ohhh...but you added the dry acid....... (Not preferred....but I have used it at times too, because it was there....)

Just as background - there is a relationship between TA and pH. The higher your TA, the higher your pH will want to be. Adding acid will lower both - but the effect on TA is a lot less, so it takes time. Those that really want to get after it will add acid to lower pH to 7.2-7.4. Then repeat...

And - do the deep cleaning!! You can add the new sand, then clean the old and new at the same time.

Minn Guy here - you've gotten great advice above. I was a tablet guy for decades, and the life changer was going salt water, and a big cartridge filter. My sand was too small for the pump/pool - so that was a big factor, which I fought for years unknowingly. Went from hours per week, and...

While this site is all about saving you time and money - there are two expenses you should consider: 1. The $8/yr subscription cost for the PoolMath app. Free only let's you save the most recent readings. Paid get's you a history of all past readings and additions to the pool. VERY helpful...

TEST FIRST! You may be very surprised at how much salt is in your "fresh water" pool! Fewer bags to buy and haul. Jury is out on the Core 55 monitoring of Ph and ORP. Just too new. Past history is that electronic measuring lacks much precision and needs frequent calibration. Always trust...

IF you are going into a SLAM to kill off algae, yes. Removes the dead algae faster. For normal operation - your choice. It is a balance between water appearance, cleaning needs, energy costs, and chlorine generation. Many of us run 24/7 at as slow a speed as will keep equipment (SWCG, Heater...

Hate to say, but if you aren't going to fix it, you either have to accept the loss of value on the property, or remove the pool. No idea as to cost in the Philly region for removal, but when I looked into it a few years ago for mine, the cost was in the several tens of thousands. There's...

Yes! Algae is microscopic. You can have a fair amount floating around that cannot be seen - until it reproduces so much that the water becomes cloudy and/or you can see the growth on the walls/floor. OCLT = "Overnight Chlorine Loss Test". Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT)

My pool sounds like it was similar - too small of a sand filter for the pump used. The flow would just force the dirt through, and back into the pool. It would take sometimes two weeks to clear from the conditions you show. I got very familiar with floc and the like over the years to try to...

Was out of town, so had to open several weeks later than I usually do. I try to get it done a few days after they declare ice out for my local lake (3/28 this year). So a month late. Water temp a balmy 46F. Algae has already gotten a foothold, so that stuff about it being too cold for algae...

Bad water chemistry can kill the heat exchanger - but it has to be extreme to do it so fast! The usual suspect in those cases is either really bad pH, or extremely high Calcium Hardness. Combustion issues are not due to the water, but they may be due to extreme temperature differences in use...

Welcome, even if you were welcomed before! Post a few more pictures, some from different angles. It looks like you might be able to vac to waste - but more pics needed to confirm. That black valve in the middle of the photo appears to allow diverting water away from the filter, and instead...

You may want to add in the "CYA Standard Sampler". It is premixed water with a CYA reading of 50, to be used when you run the CYA test. That test is the hardest to discern what the result should look like, and the standard allows you to see what it looks like when the black dot disappears...

The manual (Powerclean Chlorinator Instructions - CMP Pool Products) says that 3-5" of water inside is normal operation. There is a warning about a 90 bend being too close to it, that can interfere with filling and operation. Unclear whether yours is suffering from that issue due to the valve...

In Minn, about the same season as you, and I routinely have 1/2 of everything leftover, or a bit more, at the end of the year. Because going pure TFP a couple of years ago has saved me massive amounts of dollars in other pool costs, I just buy the refill each spring, to make sure it is good for...

Circupool was my choice. I got the RJ series, primarily because it allowed setting the "power" in 5% increments for finer control. The plumbing part was very easy, especially if you can do PVC pipe at all (which is also pretty easy). The control box is a bit large, so a place to hang that...

Millipede - they live in mulch, leaf litter, even grass thatch. Primarily eat decaying vegetative matter. They need damp areas. Do what you can to remove nearby mulch, grass piles, leaves, any decomposing vegetation, and keep the area dry, or at least not damp all the time. Increase in...

Back in the day when I had an undersized sand filter, and two giant white pines that extended over the pool, I can assure you that pollen clearing took a LONG time. (I got a new filter, and cut down the monster trees!) Follow the continued SLAM advice as noted, just to be sure. Sand filters are...

Have you switched to liquid Cl? The Cal-hypo will be raising your CA also. SLAM can demand a lot of CL adds, so you want to pay attention to the CA level also - or just switch to liquid, which is likely much cheaper, and avoids the issue.

Welcome! I am in no way qualified to give an opinion on the structure. Just a long term pool owner. Whether the decking can be saved by mud/foam jacking to bring it all back into level, or needs to be replaced will have to be addressed by others more knowledgeable. From the pictures, to me it...

My decades old sand filter died a couple of years ago, and I converted to the Pentair cartridge. Best change ever - and I only have to clean the carts once a year. As far as waste: While not having the slope issue you describe, I did originally dump the waste out of a 2" pipe onto a less used...

With the pool warmer than the air, it is transferring heat to the air immediately above the water. That drops the RH, so water then evaporates. But the air above that level is cooler and at the boundary the RH increases - causing condensation of the evaporated water, which is the mist/vapor...

How are you testing? The CL is oddly precise for the 0-5 scale of the Poolmaster test kit you cite in your signature. And the Poolmaster kit doesn't include a CYA or a CH test. Would hate to see incorrect advice given due to pool store testing, etc.

We don't know what your daily usage rate of CL is currently, but using PoolMath's "Effects of Adding", an Aquapure 1400 is guestimated to raise FC by 2.0 if run at 80% for 10 hrs. So if yours is close to keeping up a level of 3.0 over time, it seems to be doing a bit better than predicted - or...

Back in my sand filter days my waste pipe extended about 50+ ft to the discharge area. I drilled a ton of holes on it's length, making a really long lawn sprinkler. Both backwash discharge as well as times when I had to lower due to excess rain (or forgetting to shut off the hose used to top...