When my family had to cancel our summer vacation this year we were bummed but decided to use the money to do what so many others have this year, we got a covid-19 pool. It's our first pool, a 15' x 36" quick set pool by Summer Waves.
While waiting for it to arrive I was reading up about these pools and how under powered the stock pump and filter is. I was able to find a 2,150 gph Intex Pump, Sand filter and SWG combo on eBay so I pulled the trigger on that too. My back yard is not perfectly level and I had read how important leveling is, so we dug up the grass and dirt to make it as level as we could before laying 2" of sand down. I leveled the sand by driving a stake in the center and attaching a 2x4 with a level, it worked out really well. By this point it was late June and the days were getting hot here in Ohio. My four kiddos were actually a huge help, knowing that they would be paid back in summer fun.
After the work was done, we filled up the pool (it's just under 4,000 gallons so it was only a few hours with the garden hose) and added salt. The pump is a bit overkill for this size pool but it's worked well. For the first month I was happy because the water stayed clear and beautiful but after a few heavy rains I got a sudden and green algae bloom.
Up to that point I was just flying blind with chlorine levels. I had been using the test strips that came with the pump but I hadn't added any CYA and honestly, I didn't know what I was doing haha. When I woke up to find a green pool I started panicking. I started doing a lot of reading and found out about the SLAM method. That in turn led me to trouble free pool!
Last week I got some liquid chlorine and although I didn't have a good test kit, I shocked the pool and kept the level high (I think) until the algae disappeared. I also got some CYA and added it to a 30ppm level after the water cleared. Between scrubbing and shocking it, the water was clear but somewhat cloudy. I finally got my Taylor K-2006 SALT test kit today and was able to get a full test done. My levels were all pretty good surprisingly, my FC was a little low but not horrible. My CC was .5ppm but it may be lower because I used the test with .5 per drop instead of .2 per drop. Next time I'll run the other test. I'm thinking that I need to do a true SLAM now that I have the test I need, I think that it will clear up the cloudy water... Thoughts?
Here are my levels:
FC: 2ppm
CC: 0.5ppm
CYA: 30ppm
CH: 120ppm
TA: 90ppm
pH: 7.5
Salt: 2,800ppm
Thanks for this website. Any tips or input is appreciated!
Edit: Reading some more, it looks like I need to up the CYA to 70-80ppm. Should I do that before or after I complete a SLAM? Or does it matter?
While waiting for it to arrive I was reading up about these pools and how under powered the stock pump and filter is. I was able to find a 2,150 gph Intex Pump, Sand filter and SWG combo on eBay so I pulled the trigger on that too. My back yard is not perfectly level and I had read how important leveling is, so we dug up the grass and dirt to make it as level as we could before laying 2" of sand down. I leveled the sand by driving a stake in the center and attaching a 2x4 with a level, it worked out really well. By this point it was late June and the days were getting hot here in Ohio. My four kiddos were actually a huge help, knowing that they would be paid back in summer fun.
After the work was done, we filled up the pool (it's just under 4,000 gallons so it was only a few hours with the garden hose) and added salt. The pump is a bit overkill for this size pool but it's worked well. For the first month I was happy because the water stayed clear and beautiful but after a few heavy rains I got a sudden and green algae bloom.
Up to that point I was just flying blind with chlorine levels. I had been using the test strips that came with the pump but I hadn't added any CYA and honestly, I didn't know what I was doing haha. When I woke up to find a green pool I started panicking. I started doing a lot of reading and found out about the SLAM method. That in turn led me to trouble free pool!
Last week I got some liquid chlorine and although I didn't have a good test kit, I shocked the pool and kept the level high (I think) until the algae disappeared. I also got some CYA and added it to a 30ppm level after the water cleared. Between scrubbing and shocking it, the water was clear but somewhat cloudy. I finally got my Taylor K-2006 SALT test kit today and was able to get a full test done. My levels were all pretty good surprisingly, my FC was a little low but not horrible. My CC was .5ppm but it may be lower because I used the test with .5 per drop instead of .2 per drop. Next time I'll run the other test. I'm thinking that I need to do a true SLAM now that I have the test I need, I think that it will clear up the cloudy water... Thoughts?
Here are my levels:
FC: 2ppm
CC: 0.5ppm
CYA: 30ppm
CH: 120ppm
TA: 90ppm
pH: 7.5
Salt: 2,800ppm
Thanks for this website. Any tips or input is appreciated!
Edit: Reading some more, it looks like I need to up the CYA to 70-80ppm. Should I do that before or after I complete a SLAM? Or does it matter?
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Looks like your helpers were *motivated* and y'all did a good job.
