Foreclosure...good or bad?

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spoiledrtnbrat

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Feb 22, 2009
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Hello to all. I have been doing some reading up on your site and I am stumped so please forgive my ignorance. I have not maintained a pool in over 15 years so here goes. Purchased a home at foreclosure...GOOD for me...also obtained an AG that has not been opened in 2.5 years..BAD for me. I have shocked it I thought quite well. Water went from green swamp to NOT an oasis. Water is clear and blue. I have scooped leaves out and seem to be left with an algae on bottom that will not go away. It floats through vacume back into pool no matter how much backwashing is done. The seperate auto cleaning system gets clogged up with a slime that smells like seaweed. Tried to vacume to waste but it seems to not go anywhere. I am not sure at this point what to do. I am maintaining with BBB and have let some levels fall due to frustration. What should my next step be? Levels as follows...
total hardness-0
total chlorine- 1
free chlorine-1
ph-6.8
alkalinity-40
stabilizer-0

I am awaiting new test kit and am using gool ol' strips for the time being. HEELLLLLLLLLLPPP!

A very frustrated pool owner.
 
Welcome to TFP!

Test strips are not particularly accurate, so some of the needed adjustments should perhaps wait for the real test kit.

You need to get the PH and TA up. This is worth doing now, as test strips are usually best at these two numbers. Keep in mind that many of the test strips will read a PH lower than 6.8 as 6.8. Get the PH up to at least 7.2 and TA up to at least 70. Final adjustments can wait for a real test kit.

If your stabilizer is really zero, test strips are especially bad at measuring the stabilizer level, then you need to add some stabilizer. With stabilizer at zero you will lose all of your chlorine to sun light every day. It is fairly easy to raise the stabilizer level, but quite difficult to lower it. I would add just a little stabilizer, say 10 ppm, right now and otherwise wait for better testing.

How are things hooked up? If you have a multi-port valve it is easy to vacuum to waste. If you don't have a multi-port valve, one way to vacuum to waste is to disconnect the hose between the pump and the filter. Vacuuming to waste can get tedious, as the water level goes down quickly and then needs to be refilled.

One possibility is that your sand might be getting channelized. That would let debris go right through the filter.

Can you tell us a little more about your equipment, what size pump, etc?
 
Thanks for such a fast response...there is noothing on the pump tag to tell me it's size. I have done a ton of research on it and come up empty handed. It is a Baquacil Workhorse that is not made any longer. On the tag is says HP-------no number.(Gotta love previous owners attention to details like...leaving a manual.) It is a multi-port which allows me to vacume to waste easily. So am I to assume that seaweed smell is still live algae? Not even sure where to start to open up pump to check sand and possibly replace. Once again thanks for your help!!!!
 
As you rejoin the battle, it will help you to understand that the key to clearing that pool is chlorine.

If you get sidetracked with CYA, broken pump, bad filter, sand problems (I'm just making these up) go back to this principle....Chlorine, and lot's of it will clear your pool.

The application of chlorine is a process not an event. You must put chlorine in your pool constantly and in larger doses than you realize to win the battle over the organics in your pool.

Chlorine will clear your pool. It is the single most important thing to understand about clearing a neglected pool.

Continue to read and learn up in pool school and get the other peripherals fixed but it's chlorine that will clear your pool and lack of chlorine that will keep it murky and stinky.

Welcome to the forum :-D Sorry for the overbearing post but it is very common for newbies to not understand just how important the constant, continual application of high levels of chlorine is in clearing your pool. I'm sure this made my point.......I hope it was not too offensive.

Ask tons of questions.....there's lot's of folks here who will help you get this pool crystal clear.....promise. :-D
 
I tried to post and I see Dave has beat me to it, but we're both basically saying the same thing....

More chlorine!!!

Keep your FC up to continue to stay ahead of the algae. Until your stabilizer is at the right level as Jason stated, you'll need to keep adding that chlorine daily, possibly more than once a day to keep your shock level target, or the algae will win out and you'll just be going in circles.

Good luck figuring out that filter!

Welcome! :wave:
 
Thanks to all replies...I will invest in a truckload of bleach and continue on. I will get some pics in tomorrow and maybe it will add to the adventure. No offense taken...you are trying to help and it is most appreciated!!! Hopefully I can get this going soon. At this point I am looking into how to open up this filter...shouldnt be too hard...to find out what is happening with the sand. Once again thanks to all helping this ignorant new pool owner. Will post again tomorrow.
 
Hello Everyone...

This is the stuff I am battling. I have a ton of bleach in AGAIN, water is quite clear except for this stuff at the bottom that smells like seaweed. When I vacume it goes straight through and back into water. It clogs the auto cleaner that is on a seperate filtering system. Should the bleach have gotten rid of any of this by now? What is my next attempt; vacume to waste as I have been trying to do? If I can get past this hurdle I am quite confident water will clear up quickly. Seeing as this pool has been neglected for 2.5 years it's a bit different than anything I have done with a pool before. Starting all over will be a crunch on the wallet if I have to drain everything. We are on a well and have dumped a ton of cash so far. Any suggestions are appreciated. I am waiting for another hour before re-testing water.
 

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Have you thought about adding some DE to your sand filter? It helps filter the fine stuff better than sand itself and could possibly help you a bit more. Just remember that every time you back wash, you should add more because the filter will release it with all the gunk.

Good Luck. Your pool will be clear soon!
 
You do need to get that stuff off the bottom and out of the pool one way or another. The filter really ought to be catching that stuff. It might be time to open up the filter and take a look inside to see if the sand is all clumped up or has mysteriously vanished or anything like that.
 
Thanks guys...I have been on the phone with the company that USED to make my filter to get some documentation. I am a dog chasing it's tail getting this stuff out but it looks like it's back to the good 'ol leaf rake for me so I can vacume that junk to waste. Then I guess I will see what she can do. Will continue to post pics and I will have tons of questions along the way...good thing I found the pool gurus!!! :-D
 

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spoiledrtnbrat said:
Hi Nicole,

Once again forgive this ignorant pool owner...but what makes you think this was a baquacil pool at one time? Trying to gather as much information as I can.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

The baquacil labeled equipment. Those pools usually come with a "complimentary" supply of baquacil products to get you hooked. "The first one's free..."
 
Hi Everyone...

I am halfway there with the vacume to waste. This sludge is about 2 inches thick so it is slow going. Have to stop and wait for water line to re-fill. Is there any tips or tricks to doing this? It took me about 1.5 hours to get to this point and I am refilling from a well. Slowwwwwwwwwww going! :-D
 

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