This all very new to me, and i'll do my best to outline everything...having already felt like I was getting worked over at the pool store, I left before they suckered me into a bunch of stuff, and then found this site...I assumed there had to be an easier way. So hopefully i'm in the right spot.
We bought our new house three weeks ago (5/31), and it came with a nice inground pool. The pool, had been closed ("professionally") and not opened for three years before we bought the house. As part of the P&S I made sure that it would have to open, running, clear, and clean. Somewhere around mid April it was all of that, at least looking at the pictures they had sent. They fixed some parts, replaced the main drain and skimmer shutoff valves, and also replaced some chewed wires in the pool heater (more on that later, but i've since shut it off once I knew it worked).
Fast forward to the final walk through on the home...and of course what do I see? A green swamp in the back yard. Apparently, after it was opened, they never bothered to add any chlorine to the pool for the next couple month and half. Given the house was more important than the pool, we compromised and they had someone bring it up to "ideal" conditions. Not knowing what the heck that was, I agreed and took ownership.
I've been battling it now for two weeks, and i'm not sure if going in the right direction. The pool has a grayish/blue tint to it at the moment. One thing that I think is making it hard to read is the pool liner is very bleached out to the point where it looks white.
Last weekend I tried following the SLAM directions here, and had my biggest change in water clarity, and it move to this "bluer" color from the green. I've been cleaning the filter twice a day, and its usually pretty clogged up each time. This morning was the first time the FC didn't change overnight. I do think I put in far too much chlorine to start, and it was probably very high...I was flying in the dark without the proper test kit, and going off friends recommendations on how much shock to use.
My test results
FC 20
CC 0.5
pH 7.2
TA 75
CYA 50
CH - I need to re-test this because I think I got an incorrect number, will check it again tonight
My general questions are, when I run the brush on the bottom of the pool it sends up a cloud of brown (assuming dead algae), this has gotten less and less over the past week. Is it ok to just keep brushing it like that and have the filter catch it? Or is it better to vacuum, seems the vacuum just stirs it up anyways.
There are spots of orangish brown on the bottom of the pool liner that don't brush up. We are on well water, its high in iron and manganese...could these be metal staining spots? Looking at a receipt from on of the pool companies that "professionally" opened the pool, added some sort of algaecide. I hopped in the pool yesterday, and these spots feel a little slippery, and kind of rub off with my foot?
Pine needles...i've had an issue now with pine needles getting though the pump strainer baskets, and clogging the veins on the impeller, and overheating the motor to where it shuts down. Is there a solution/product to prevent this?
Feeling rather overwhelmed at the moment. I have a kid and a wife who want to get in the pool lol...thank god there is a lake across street to go swimming at. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Matt.
We bought our new house three weeks ago (5/31), and it came with a nice inground pool. The pool, had been closed ("professionally") and not opened for three years before we bought the house. As part of the P&S I made sure that it would have to open, running, clear, and clean. Somewhere around mid April it was all of that, at least looking at the pictures they had sent. They fixed some parts, replaced the main drain and skimmer shutoff valves, and also replaced some chewed wires in the pool heater (more on that later, but i've since shut it off once I knew it worked).
Fast forward to the final walk through on the home...and of course what do I see? A green swamp in the back yard. Apparently, after it was opened, they never bothered to add any chlorine to the pool for the next couple month and half. Given the house was more important than the pool, we compromised and they had someone bring it up to "ideal" conditions. Not knowing what the heck that was, I agreed and took ownership.
I've been battling it now for two weeks, and i'm not sure if going in the right direction. The pool has a grayish/blue tint to it at the moment. One thing that I think is making it hard to read is the pool liner is very bleached out to the point where it looks white.
Last weekend I tried following the SLAM directions here, and had my biggest change in water clarity, and it move to this "bluer" color from the green. I've been cleaning the filter twice a day, and its usually pretty clogged up each time. This morning was the first time the FC didn't change overnight. I do think I put in far too much chlorine to start, and it was probably very high...I was flying in the dark without the proper test kit, and going off friends recommendations on how much shock to use.
My test results
FC 20
CC 0.5
pH 7.2
TA 75
CYA 50
CH - I need to re-test this because I think I got an incorrect number, will check it again tonight
My general questions are, when I run the brush on the bottom of the pool it sends up a cloud of brown (assuming dead algae), this has gotten less and less over the past week. Is it ok to just keep brushing it like that and have the filter catch it? Or is it better to vacuum, seems the vacuum just stirs it up anyways.
There are spots of orangish brown on the bottom of the pool liner that don't brush up. We are on well water, its high in iron and manganese...could these be metal staining spots? Looking at a receipt from on of the pool companies that "professionally" opened the pool, added some sort of algaecide. I hopped in the pool yesterday, and these spots feel a little slippery, and kind of rub off with my foot?
Pine needles...i've had an issue now with pine needles getting though the pump strainer baskets, and clogging the veins on the impeller, and overheating the motor to where it shuts down. Is there a solution/product to prevent this?
Feeling rather overwhelmed at the moment. I have a kid and a wife who want to get in the pool lol...thank god there is a lake across street to go swimming at. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Matt.