New Owner to an Older Pool - Questions about Cleaning & Plumbing!

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J

jglonek

0
Dec 25, 2016
44
Tampa, FL
Hi all!

My wife and I moved into a house in Tampa, FL in October that has a pretty good sized in-ground pool, which was built in 1985. The house was foreclosed for awhile and I know the sellers replaced the pool liner, but I'm not sure what else (definitely not the light bulb.. grr). I was able to use the pool twice! And then it got too cold. So I've been working to keep the chemicals balanced, bringing some water to test to a pool place every few weeks. Chemicals have been fine, although for the past month or so there is some green build-up on the bottom of the pool - all over. I was looking at some threads and I'm 99% sure it's pollen (it's not growing on the walls, and it's not only in shaded areas), as the pool is under trees and there's definitely pollen all over the patio furniture. It's a pain to clean out, though! (Although I'm sure vacuuming once a week currently isn't helping much). Suction is great on the vacuum. With the chemicals, I have been putting in one chlorine tablet and half a bag a shock a week (every Sunday). Once a month or so I have to put in a few pounds of alkalinity+ (I did 3 pounds this past Sunday). Sorry, I am not good on the chemical terms here yet! And currently the pump is running for 8 hours a day.

File Feb 16, 2 57 36 PM.jpg 2.jpg
(It doesn't look that green in person.. I swear).

The pool is I'd say 15 feet across, 20 feet long, 3ft in the shallow and 8-10 ft in the deep end.

One of my first thoughts to help keep it clean was to get a skimmer sock, since the skimmer holes are way too big to catch pollen. Definitely is grabbing things! But currently I have what I'd say is a big green cloud of pollen in the deep end, as I've been sweeping the pool the past few days. It doesn't seem to be going anywhere, so today I tested to make sure the main drain was working by covering the skimmer valve, and the pool kept functioning so I'm thinking the drain is okay, it's just not clearing as quick as I would like it to. (I should probably vacuum more, huh?).

So my first question is if there is anything else I can do to try and get the pollen out at this point!

My second question is, I have a side port on my pool that I really have no idea what it is. It looks like it should be a vacuum port, but there's an opening in the ground (similar to the top of the skimmer access), and when I open it up I see three valves, and none of them seem to be doing much. So I'm not quite clear on what this should be used for? I do not feel any suction or anything when I place my hands over the valves (although I haven't taken the cap off of the port since I'm not sure what would happen if I do).

File Feb 16, 2 57 00 PM.jpg

File Feb 16, 2 57 18 PM.jpg
(The valve to the right is closet to the port inside the pool).

As for the plumbing.. I have a picture below of the filter and pump, if that helps. I'm thinking the skimmer and main drain are on separate pipes? And it's a pentair pump and a Hayward cartridge filter (I have taken the cartridge out a few times and washed it down - definitely get a lot of green gunk off when I do that!)

File Feb 16, 2 56 35 PM.jpg
 
FLORIDA in the house!! HI! Are you loving how our weather has been lately?? I am!

You pool and area is very pretty. We have some work to do to get that pool looking like the jewel it can.

First things first though. You REALLY need to get your own test kit. We have found Pool $tore testing to be more wrong that right :( Yeah it is free but as seen by your pool it is not right. There is no reason for your pool to look like that. Look in my siggy for the test kit I feel is the best bang for the buck as it has more of what we use the most.

For right now I am going to share a link with you that many new pool owners have found helpful to get started the TFP way:

TFPC for Beginners

You can put a skimmer sock in the skimmer basket and that will help you catch some of the pollen. BUT until you get the test kit and share you numbers with us we are flying blind as to the real problem with the water.

I can't wait to get you started on the path to a clear, easy to maintain pool! Let me know when your test kit gets there!

Kim:kim:
 
J,

Welcome to TFP... A Great resource for all your pool questions... :shark:

I assume by the floater in your pool, that you are using tabs (chlorine pucks) to chlorinate your pool.

You say your chemicals are good, but my gut says otherwise. My guess is that your FC is about 1 or 2 (if that) and that your CYA is 100 or more. If this is true, then you are much more likely to have algae, then pollen.

The whole TFP process is based upon testing your own pool water, so that you can understand if the chemicals are balanced or not. The pool $tore's process is based upon selling you something. Most of the time, something you don't need.

I have never used "shock" in any of my pools for over four years. Other than Muriatic Acid (MA) and Liquid Chlorine, I rarely need to add anything else.

One of the things you will see all the time on this site is a request to .... :testresults: We ask for this test data so that we can help point you in the right direction. Without this data, we have no idea where we are, so it makes it pretty hard to provide any useful advice..

As far as your "Skimmer Like" pit with the three openings at the bottom.... I'm guessing it is an unused leaf catcher and that one of those pipes at the bottom goes to the port in the wall. But that is just a guess. Are there some capped off pipes at the equipment pad. If it is a leaf catcher, there are parts missing. Did the previous owner leave any extra parts laying around? What kind of lid does it have? I can't see the suction side valves very well.. can you take a pic facing the pump's input?

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.
 
kimkats said:
FLORIDA in the house!! HI! Are you loving how our weather has been lately?? I am!


You pool and area is very pretty. We have some work to do to get that pool looking like the jewel it can.


First things first though. You REALLY need to get your own test kit.
Click to expand...


Hey! The weather is real nice lately, it's been giving us some time to clean up the yard of our new house (I have never seen so much glass and concrete on the ground in my life). I keep telling my wife we need to get it done soon because it's going to get HOT, hah.


I was looking around the site yesterday to see what would be a good test kit and I did come across and bookmark the TF-100. I guess the only question I have before I order is about the optional items and what I should get! I will definitely buy one, I'm disappointed I only got to use the pool twice before it got cold and I want to maintain it for when it gets warm again!

Edit: I was looking around some more and decided to order the TF-100 with the stirrer and the XL option. Hopefully it will be here early next week! And then should I take a look at that TFPC for Beginners link you posted, and do an initial test and post it and see what we're dealing with? Should I just post it on this post, or is there somewhere else to put it?


Jimrahbe said:
I assume by the floater in your pool, that you are using tabs (chlorine pucks) to chlorinate your pool.


You say your chemicals are good, but my gut says otherwise. My guess is that your FC is about 1 or 2 (if that) and that your CYA is 100 or more. If this is true, then you are much more likely to have algae, then pollen.


As far as your "Skimmer Like" pit with the three openings at the bottom.... I'm guessing it is an unused leaf catcher and that one of those pipes at the bottom goes to the port in the wall. But that is just a guess. Are there some capped off pipes at the equipment pad. If it is a leaf catcher, there are parts missing. Did the previous owner leave any extra parts laying around? What kind of lid does it have? I can't see the suction side valves very well.. can you take a pic facing the pump's input?
Click to expand...


Hey Jim, I wouldn't be surprised if the chemicals are off. The sellers were doing the bare minimum to maintain it before we bought the house and I didn't want it to get terrible while we were focused on moving so I hit up the pool store. I definitely feel like I am in a losing battle with.. something.. at this point, and I'm hoping I can turn things around! I will definitely get a test kit ASAP.


With the Skimmer-Like thing, no unfortunately there are no parts around. This house went through I think 5 different owners (with three foreclosures) over the past decade, and i ended up buying it from an investment company who did a complete remodel of the inside but didn't touch the outside. So all I got was a pool, hah. Not even a hose or vacuum.

I took pictures of the hole cap, and the equipment pad. I'm still trying to figure out how to post images on here (it says i'm still above my attachment limit!), so I put them on imgur, hopefully that's okay :D http://imgur.com/a/9Hrha
 
Jimrahbe said:
J,

A little Google and it appears that what you have is an auto fill.. (with parts missing) :p

See this... http://poolmiser.com/poolmiser/

Jim R.
Click to expand...

That's pretty neat! Although it makes me really wonder where it pulls water from, and where it discharges it to! The house used to be on well water (the house is from 1955), I have no idea when it was changed to city water. And we still have a septic tank. Would it be connected to all of that, or should I be looking for something else around the yard? I figured that open pipe between the filter and the pump was used to discharge water if it got too full :)

I guess my real question is, knowing absolutely nothing about the history of the pool, is it a good idea to buy this and put it in? hah
 
J,

It would be worth looking into.. Somewhere outside, I suspect there is a shut off valve that looks a little like a hose-bib valve, When turned on this valve would supply water to the one of the three ports in the bottom of the auto filler.

If you can find that water valve, and it sends water to the auto-fill box, then it would be worth getting it fixed. I don't have that type of auto-fill, so I'm not sure exactly what is missing, but it looks like just a standard toilet fill system.

If it were working, as the water evaporated from your pool, it would replace it. The only downside, is if your pool springs a leak, you'll never know until you get your $$$$ water bill.

Jim R.
 
That makes sense. I will hunt around for it while I wait for my testing kit to arrive. The sellers redid the plumbing in this house though so I have a feeling the line isn't hooked up anymore (They somehow managed to not hook up the front hose line which is pretty visible, so more than likely they missed this).

I think the only other question I have about it is the drain portion. Maybe I haven't had enough coffee yet today, but I'm struggling to picture how it works! Obviously it wouldn't drain all the time, since water from the pool is constantly in the leveler. So it must be pressure based, something with the valve I guess tells it to fill or drain? I only ask this because I sprayed some water in there with the hose and it's not going anywhere.
 
J,

Look at the link I sent you above. Very similar to your toilet overflow. Once water gets above a set point, it goes out the overflow pipe.. You would hope the overflow pipe was connected to a lower area or a deck drain somewhere..

Jim R.
 
Ah yeah, that makes sense! So I'm missing both the intake valve and a pipe for overflow. I did check it again and it did drain, just slowly, so I probably have a clog. I could fix the clog, but there's probably not much point if I can't figure out how to turn on water to the intake.


I'll table this for now, but definitely appreciate the answers!


I will get back to everyone once I have my testing kit next week. Is there anything I should try this weekend, or just let it be until I get the kit?
 

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Welcome again to TFP!

Can you give us the model number on your filter and also the length of your pool? You mention 20' long but it's longer than that, probably 32-38' long. Since it's 8'+ deep and probably in the low 20K gallon range, I'm feeling the filter may be undersized. It's not a huge issue in the short run, though it will come into play as you SLAM your pool to kill the algae (it's algae not pollen that's the main visible item here) once you get your TF-100. Great choice on the test kit and accessories - that's the best combo you could get. Kim's got you with hitting it daily with bleach until your test kit comes in. Then the road to recovery begins.

Your pool will be crystal clear if you read, learn and follow TFP advice. Guaranteed. With 1000's of pools as a testament to the Trouble Free Pool Care (TFPC) approach. It's all scientific and reproduce-able in any pool.

I'm curious on your house/lot. What size property do you have? Usually with something that's been around that long the lot can be quite large. Though they also get encroached upon by newer construction.
 
Hey, thanks!

You are right, I just did some better measuring (there's nothing on our survey or home history for the actual dimensions unfortunately). It's 15 feet at the narrowest, 20 feet at the widest. The entire pool is 28 or so feet long. It's 3ft until it starts to drop down roughly 16ft in, and it does drop down to 8ft.

The Filter is a Hayward Star Clear Plus, Model C1200.

I definitely look forward to, and appreciate, any advice to get the pool back into good condition (and keeping it that way!) It definitely was blue when we moved in, so I failed it the past 4 months. Time to fix that!

I just put up two photos of the pool from early November on imgur: http://imgur.com/a/6ZIvg

Oh, and yeah our house is from 1955, it's a .6 acre lot. A decent amount of space in the middle of tons of homes.
 
I have been running around for work more than usual the past two days so I actually didn't see the pool at all yesterday (Sunday) when there was light! I checked this morning and it looked a little better, but I also haven't brushed in a few days so things might be settling down. I don't have tracking information yet for the test kit but it looks like it shipped today.
 
Right, start with those (use a 10ml sample for the Free Chlorine test - divide number of drops by 2 to get your FC and then CC).

Post your results like this:
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

I suspect your first act will be an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test to see if anything is growing in your pool.
 

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