Understanding my equipment for opening

[westbrook215]

Bought a house with an inground grecian pool about 20,000gal. Removed cover on saturday and found a lot of green algae on the bottom and halfway up walls. the water itself was clear.

local store suggested 15gal chlorine and revive. I skimmed the top yesterday.

I'm ready to vacuum but don't know that there is a waste output in the plumbing.

I'm fearful if i vacuum when filter is in discharge it'll clog up the filter?

There is a hose bib above the pump, can't imagine that is the waste output?

Help me understand where I can vacuum to waste in this system.

Also the previous owner has the main drain closed. Can I keep this closed to prime and vac?



Pentair whisper flo 3/4 HP
Pentair FNS Plus 48 DE filter
Pentair Intellichlor saltwater chlorine generator

 

[Richard320]

You can't vacuum to waste with your setup. Sorry.

The hose spigot between the pump and the filter will let some pool water exit before the filter, but not all of it. It's probably there to make a handy way to lower the water level during huge rain storms.

You have a push-pull backwash valve. Normal runs dirty water to the outside of the grids in the filter and clean water goes from the insides of the grids back to the pool. Backwash runs pool water backwards through the grids and pushes (theoretically) the caked DE off the grids and out the bottom waste port. Trying to vacuum in backwash will fill the grids with sludge that you'll never be rid of.

You're just going to have to accept that you'll be backwashing a lot while you're clearing the swamp. When it's all done, then you might consider breaking down the filter and giving the grids a good cleaning to establish your baseline clean pressure

 

[westbrook215]

Understood. The previous owner has a pool vac and hose, don't know how they used it or whether they even used it. They have a dolphin cleaner.

For winterization they closed the main drain, during the season they had it open. With the algae sitting at the bottom in deep end, ok to open up the main drain for the initial startup?

 

[Richard320]

Understood. The previous owner has a pool vac and hose, don't know how they used it or whether they even used it. They have a dolphin cleaner.

For winterization they closed the main drain, during the season they had it open. With the algae sitting at the bottom in deep end, ok to open up the main drain for the initial startup?

Sure. Circulation is key to getting stuff into the filter and out of the pool. Any thing to move more water is better.

 

[westbrook215]

Filter is running and initial psi is 12. Yesterday chlorine was high today its zero. Still have bits of algae to filter and its a little cloudy. Pool temp is about 60F.

Ph is about 7.8-8.0.
Cya 0

What do you recommend i add?

Expecting rain tomorrow.

 

[Razorhog]

Maintain FC first would be my suggestion. Get FC up to shock level or at least recommended level and then add some stabilizer (CYA). CYA can take a few days to show up on a test, keep that in mind.

 

[westbrook215]

Dichlor a good choice? 2 birds 1 stone

 

[kimkats]

The first question I have is how are you testing the water? I am guessing the pool store I have to tell you that we have found the PS (pool store) does more harm than good in the long run. They hit your wallet hard and your pool never looks as good as it should.

Here at TFP we teach you how to test and care for you own pool. Sure the PS will test it for "free" BUT is it really free if you walk out of the store with $$ of stuff?

You can get a good test kit off of Amazon (Taylor 2006 NOT 2005) or you can look in my siggy for the test kit we feel gives the best bang for the buck as it has the stuff we use the most of on a daily bases.

Let us know what you want to do. We can help you clear your pool AND keep it clear!

Kim:cat:

 

[westbrook215]

Current state. No vac so i will drop the dolphin in again.

No not using pool store. What i started out with i think they were honest. They didnt want to sell me anything the first trip, attempted the dolphin to get algae off bottom. After cleaning the bag twice in 1 hr i said screw it and went back for chlorine. The part they probably got me on was the revive.


Anyways, im using aqua test strips. Checked in 2 different places of the pool to come up with 0 chlorine.


C

 

[Texas Splash]

C, that's a great looking set-up. Since you sound like you're fed-up with the pool store, you really have one last thing to do ... get the right test kit as Kim noted above. Rest-assured it's not a money thing for us. There is no commission or funds raised here from it. But just like having a BMW, you would probably take it to a BMW specialist, not some fly-by-night mechanic. You need the right kit to see accurately what's happening in that water. The test strips are nicknamed "Guess-strips" for a reason. Also remember that no amount of filtration will remove algae. Once it's in - it's in until it is killed with the right amount of sanitation. Since you appear to have a vinyl liner, so the last thing you want to do is guess on how much bleach to put in because you don't want to damage the liner by having it fade.

We hope you will consider the TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C (your choice), although you get a better value wit the TF-100. Post-up a full set of numbers so we will know exactly where you stand. Have a good day.