Hi everyone! My husband and I own a 3-year old pool in sunny Florence AZ built by Shasta Pools. We invested in as much automation as we could and hired a pool maintenance company right away as my husband is disabled and paralyzed on his left side (the pool is his sanctuary since the buoyancy allows his to "walk") and I travel almost every week for work. Anywhoser - sadly, I checked my brain at the door when the pool was finished and ready to go and now I've paid the price for my ignorance. About 10 days ago the heater quit working (we keep the pool heated all year so my husband can exercise). Bummer i thought, but hey, its under warranty so it will get fixed... Pentair came out and pulled the heater apart; it was full of water (in the bottom half that looks like a bowl) and the heat exchange piping was badly corroded. They tested the water and declared that the water was so bad (CYA>300) that the warranty was voided. I grabbed a sample of the pool water and took it to the local Leslie's - more bad news.... The water was really bad: TDS +5500 (upper limit of test they use), Salt +5500 (upper limit of test they use), PH 7.7, Chlor 0, CYA +99 (upper limit of test they use), Phosphate 2500, and Alk 240. I was surprised by the salt. Originally my husband really wanted a salt system but the sales guy at Shasta talked us out of it.. he said "just throw a couple of bags in the pool and you'll get the benefit of a salt system without the expense and hassle"... so we went with his recommendation. We threw a couple of bags in the pool and called it a day.. Unfortunately when i shared the test results with my husband, he admitted that he may have added a few more bags of salt to the pool since then... (bless his heart 
he has a full time aide to help him while I'm travelling, so this is very plausible - after-all the salt didn't get there by itself ). So, it seems, we did this to ourselves... I did call our pool service and explain the situation, and after checking into our records it was evident that the only thing they had been testing was PH.. Everyone agreed that the water needed to be drained and refilled so I got that process under way. Shasta gave us a little break on the new heater, the pool service gave us six months free and agreed to more testing so I feel like i did as well as i could considering that it was probably the salt levels that contributed to the heater issue. Additionally we decided to get an Intellichlor system so that my beloved husband can have a salt system (that he wanted in the first place), and last Friday we had the new heater and Intellichlor installed, the water drained and refilled, water balanced after fill (and TDS 4200, Salt 3600, PH 7.6, Chlor 4, CYA 30, Phosphate 100, and Alk 90), and the last thing to get running is the heater which they can't do until Thursday (fingers corssed). At any rate, I am taking accountability for my pool now. I have tons of questions and have been exploring this site for answers (super helpful as there is SO much bad information out on the internet), and I'll post my questions out on the appropriate threads.. Just a huge thanks to everyone who supports this site - it has been a lifeline this week as I slowly get myself up to speed on what it really takes to manage a pool! My brain is checked back in and I'm ready to learn!
he has a full time aide to help him while I'm travelling, so this is very plausible - after-all the salt didn't get there by itself ). So, it seems, we did this to ourselves... I did call our pool service and explain the situation, and after checking into our records it was evident that the only thing they had been testing was PH.. Everyone agreed that the water needed to be drained and refilled so I got that process under way. Shasta gave us a little break on the new heater, the pool service gave us six months free and agreed to more testing so I feel like i did as well as i could considering that it was probably the salt levels that contributed to the heater issue. Additionally we decided to get an Intellichlor system so that my beloved husband can have a salt system (that he wanted in the first place), and last Friday we had the new heater and Intellichlor installed, the water drained and refilled, water balanced after fill (and TDS 4200, Salt 3600, PH 7.6, Chlor 4, CYA 30, Phosphate 100, and Alk 90), and the last thing to get running is the heater which they can't do until Thursday (fingers corssed). At any rate, I am taking accountability for my pool now. I have tons of questions and have been exploring this site for answers (super helpful as there is SO much bad information out on the internet), and I'll post my questions out on the appropriate threads.. Just a huge thanks to everyone who supports this site - it has been a lifeline this week as I slowly get myself up to speed on what it really takes to manage a pool! My brain is checked back in and I'm ready to learn!
