Help me with my OCD

[randys]

Ok. So this is my first time owning a pool and for the past month and a half I have been testing daily and learning how the chemistry in my pool fluctuates. I am also using the Poolmath App from TFP and I love it. By testing daily, I am learning how rain affects chemicals in my pool. I was testing daily prior to CYA and now after and completely understand now the affects. I am using Liquid Bleach (12%) to bring FC to 4ppm whenever it drops to 2ppm.

In addition, it's fall here and we have a lot of trees. To give you an idea, we took down about 23 trees just to dig our pool. I also have no concrete decking around my pool yet. So every day I am skimming the bottom of my pool (sometimes in the morning before work, sometimes after work when I get home). When it rains heavy, I vac to waste the dirt that inevitably splashes in. It's not a huge amount and I can usually vac-to-waste the dirt and bring the water level to normal after the rain.

I empty the skimmer twice a day (before and after work). I may empty it 3 times a day on a weekend.

We've also had some big rains (3 non-stop days and flooding in our town)... So I had to siphon water throughout heavy rain falls.

Here are my questions:

1. Am I doing too much during off-season?
2. Do I need to care about FC when the water consistently drops below 50F (we are leaving our pool open). I fear forgetting about it and getting an algae bloom on a surprise warm day (we've got full sun).
3. Am I skimming too much? or can I take it easy? On a windy day, the leaves will pile up around the main drains. When I skim, I get every last leaf.
4. Dirt, should I care as much right now before we have concrete decking? Or is it ok to let it build up longer? It's gross, sometimes there are dead, bleached earth worms down there too!
5. I checked CC today after the heavy rain and lots of organics introduced / removed. It was .5 . Will that naturally go down, or will that keep adding up until I need to follow the SLAM method to get rid of it? It used to be 0

Even though last night the air temp got to 38F, our pool water was 55F this afternoon.

 

[aussieta]

i would still keep your fc at your target level
i clean at least twice per week in winter and get every leaf
we have eucalyptus which are renowned for staining if left too long
i generally get as much with the net as i can and then run the robot
i empty the skimmer (hair net) every night and in the morning if it has been stormy

 

[ajw22]

Ok. So this is my first time owning a pool and for the past month and a half I have been testing daily and learning how the chemistry in my pool fluctuates. I am also using the Poolmath App from TFP and I love it. By testing daily, I am learning how rain affects chemicals in my pool. I was testing daily prior to CYA and now after and completely understand now the affects. I am using Liquid Bleach (12%) to bring FC to 4ppm whenever it drops to 2ppm.

What is your CYA level? 2-4PPM implies a CYA level of around 20.

Am I doing too much during off-season?

... So every day I am skimming the bottom of my pool (sometimes in the morning before work, sometimes after work when I get home). When it rains heavy, I vac to waste the dirt that inevitably splashes in. It's not a huge amount and I can usually vac-to-waste the dirt and bring the water level to normal after the rain.

I empty the skimmer twice a day (before and after work). I may empty it 3 times a day on a weekend.

We've also had some big rains (3 non-stop days and flooding in our town)... So I had to siphon water throughout heavy rain falls.

Probably. You are learning why many folks just close their pool for the off season if it is not swimable.

Leaves are a major pain. Don't know how much leaves you get into your pool. But in my pool I can get enough to clog the skimmers and starve the pump of water. That is why I close and cover my pool by the 3rd week of October before the leaves start coming down.

No point in trying to keep a perfect pool open if no one sill be swimming in it. But you have to keep the pool from overflowing with water, the skimmers from getting clogged, and the filter from getting too dirty.

Do I need to care about FC when the water consistently drops below 50F (we are leaving our pool open). I fear forgetting about it and getting an algae bloom on a surprise warm day (we've got full sun).

The pool has a big thermal mass. Water temp is not going to change much due to a surprise warm day. I think as long as the water temp is below 60 the chances of algae growing is minimal. I think you can relax about FC levels at that temp.

Am I skimming too much? or can I take it easy? On a windy day, the leaves will pile up around the main drains. When I skim, I get every last leaf.

You need to keep the skimmers clear or your pump can get starved for water.

Dirt, should I care as much right now before we have concrete decking? Or is it ok to let it build up longer? It's gross, sometimes there are dead, bleached earth worms down there too!

Why doesn't your pool cleaner get the dirt?

I checked CC today after the heavy rain and lots of organics introduced / removed. It was .5 . Will that naturally go down, or will that keep adding up until I need to follow the SLAM method to get rid of it? It used to be 0

CC of .5 is ok. As long as it doesn't climb it just indicated your CL is doing its job and the CC gets burned off by the sun UV. CC should not accumulate.

Even though last night the air temp got to 38F, our pool water was 55F this afternoon.

Pool is a big thermal mass. It takes a while for the water temp to respond to multi-day changes in air temp.

 

[randys]

What is your CYA level? 2-4PPM implies a CYA level of around 20.

It's a little under 30.

Probably. You are learning why many folks just close their pool for the off season if it is not swimable.

Can't have a pool cover before there is concrete. My wife is saying the same thing, but I think it adds to the beauty of the yard without a cover.

Leaves are a major PITA. Don't know how much leaves you get into your pool. But in my pool I can get enough to clog the skimmers and starve the pump of water. That is why I close and cover my pool by the 3rd week of October before the leaves start coming down.

I'm hoping once fall is over, this will no longer be the case.

Why doesn't your pool cleaner get the dirt?

It does a fairly good job, but after a heavy ran, the amount of dirt requires I run that thing 3 times in a row to get it all.

 

[ajw22]

Sounds like you may have less to do next year once you have your decking installed.

How much of a perfect pool you want in the winter is up to you. Much can be cleaned up in the Spring once you get into swimming season.

 

[Oly]

How about using some landscape cloth to cover the dirt and keep it out of your pool until you finish the concrete work.