Hi everyone,
We bought a house with a 24' hexagonal on-ground pool in January. Pool is about 10000 gallons. We were told that the pool was installed in 2007 or 2008, and the liner was replaced in 2014. After we moved in, we discovered that the previous owners (who'd been there two years) did absolutely no maintenance on the house. We also found out that the pool was last opened in 2014. I guess we shouldn't have been surprised when we opened the pool to find a swamp. The water was black and full of dead leaves.
Photo taken three days after opening. Results from the day before:
FC 0
TC 0
CC 0
pH 7.3
CH 54
TA 83
CYA 0
Copper 0
Iron 0
Phosphate OVR 326.46 ppb
I was told to add a jug of phosfree, 10 cups of hardness increaser (5 cups two hours apart), and put some stabilizer in a stocking. Then I used a leaf net to remove as many of the leaves as possible, and I started vacuuming to waste once I could see the bottom a little more clearly. We were using granular shock at this point, but we switched to the liquid shock on the Tuesday.
I even found a 4' downspout from someone's house, and ended up vacuuming out a few pounds of gravel.
A week after opening (Thursday)...
We have been shocking using 1 gallon of liquid chlorine per night for the last three days of the week. I've backwashed and refilled the pool to above the skimmer several times. We added conditioner yesterday as well.
Ten days later (today)...
Results from yesterday's test:
FC 3.99
TC 4.75
CC 0.76
pH 7.5
CH 162
TA 99
CYA 15
Copper 0
Iron 0.1
Phosphate 46.61 ppb
I was advised not to shock it last night, so I didn't. Will the TC go down on its own? Yesterday, I added some hardness increaser and some stabilizer (6 hours apart) and let the filter run all day and night-- except for while using floc. The pool is extra cloudy in this picture because I have not yet vacuumed the floc out. I know opinions are mixed on using floc, however, I'm having a hard time pulling the remaining organic particulate from the bottom. I've even left the vacuum running in the middle of the pool for a little while to see if I could filter it out.
The good news is that I no longer have to vacuum to waste because nearly all the leaves have been removed.
Is there anything else we can do? Or is it more of a waiting game now?
We bought a house with a 24' hexagonal on-ground pool in January. Pool is about 10000 gallons. We were told that the pool was installed in 2007 or 2008, and the liner was replaced in 2014. After we moved in, we discovered that the previous owners (who'd been there two years) did absolutely no maintenance on the house. We also found out that the pool was last opened in 2014. I guess we shouldn't have been surprised when we opened the pool to find a swamp. The water was black and full of dead leaves.
Photo taken three days after opening. Results from the day before:
FC 0
TC 0
CC 0
pH 7.3
CH 54
TA 83
CYA 0
Copper 0
Iron 0
Phosphate OVR 326.46 ppb
I was told to add a jug of phosfree, 10 cups of hardness increaser (5 cups two hours apart), and put some stabilizer in a stocking. Then I used a leaf net to remove as many of the leaves as possible, and I started vacuuming to waste once I could see the bottom a little more clearly. We were using granular shock at this point, but we switched to the liquid shock on the Tuesday.
I even found a 4' downspout from someone's house, and ended up vacuuming out a few pounds of gravel.
A week after opening (Thursday)...
We have been shocking using 1 gallon of liquid chlorine per night for the last three days of the week. I've backwashed and refilled the pool to above the skimmer several times. We added conditioner yesterday as well.
Ten days later (today)...
Results from yesterday's test:
FC 3.99
TC 4.75
CC 0.76
pH 7.5
CH 162
TA 99
CYA 15
Copper 0
Iron 0.1
Phosphate 46.61 ppb
I was advised not to shock it last night, so I didn't. Will the TC go down on its own? Yesterday, I added some hardness increaser and some stabilizer (6 hours apart) and let the filter run all day and night-- except for while using floc. The pool is extra cloudy in this picture because I have not yet vacuumed the floc out. I know opinions are mixed on using floc, however, I'm having a hard time pulling the remaining organic particulate from the bottom. I've even left the vacuum running in the middle of the pool for a little while to see if I could filter it out.
The good news is that I no longer have to vacuum to waste because nearly all the leaves have been removed.
Is there anything else we can do? Or is it more of a waiting game now?