Ok so I am not really a newbie..persay. I use to help out my grandfather take care of our pool growing up but as a supervised kids I didn't actually have to have the knowledge I just followed orders. I've got the cleaning basics down, brush, net, clean filter out. I know the pool needs chemicals, chlorine, shock, and I seem to remember needing acid. I did read the ABC's of Pool Chemistry briefly and I will read again. But getting to the point, So we have been trying to get this pool to stay balanced. Our biggest problem has been the chlorine and algae. When we moved the pool appeared clear but a week after moving in it turned green. We went to the pool place (expensive trip) and got readings. Did what they said. So a month later it just seems we are shocking this darn thing every 3 days. I took a reading this morning and the pool has no chlorine. I gave it some algacide and shocked it again. I am really interested in organics in my pool and how they may be eating up the chlorine as well. My house backs up to a desert belt with two trees. We also have a water fountain that the birds like to bathe in. Bird and poop don't really go well in pools. I am wondering if I really should be focusing on getting the birds away more. Also as I mentioned my pool gets a LOT of sun. Even though we have some trees they don't really provide much shade to the pool, so I am sure this plays into effect as well. Last but not least How long should we run filter. Leslie Pool guy told hubby 12 hrs and reading online says run for 4 hours. Big difference. We have a sand filter Triton II. Could the filter running so long eat up my chemicals? Oh and last but not least, my filter is running a little high on the PSI but reading online it looks like it may be time to clean the sandfilter to lower the PSI. I will follow up once I can get things balanced. Thanks for help in advance.
Summary - Pool with fountain in sun with desert belt (trees and birds) behind it. Chlorine won't hold. Shocking every 3 days. Al age appears fast.
Summary - Pool with fountain in sun with desert belt (trees and birds) behind it. Chlorine won't hold. Shocking every 3 days. Al age appears fast.
Let me be blunt and get right to the point .... your situation is not unique or unmanageable. Your #1 problem is you are relying on free pool store testing (hey, it's free!), then taking their advice (NOT free). See how that works? You go to Ford for Ford expert advice, and Chevy for Chevy expert advice. Unfortunately, the advice you get at the local pool store is dependent upon the seasonal employee they just hired on summer break, and those computer printouts that are geared towards selling products ($$$).
