New pool owner...am I doing this right?

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neorn75

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Apr 30, 2010
16
We just bought a house that came with an in ground pool. The only experience I have with pools is testing the water. When we moved in the pool was crystal clear, then we had a windy day and a day of rain and the water has slowly turned green. This morning I noticed the pressure in the filter was 10lbs. over the starting pressure from when we moved in so I backwashed the filter about 20 times until it ran clear. I also vaccumed all the debris to waste from the bottom and brushed all the dirt to the deep end. When I went to add my DE I tried to use a 5 gallon bucket but couldn't get enough water in to mix the amount of DE. I tried pouring it into the skimmer then adding more water and pouring, ect. Well then we got NO pressure and when we pulled the pump basket it was FULL of DE. I think I may have over measured the recharge amount (I was putting in the whole 12 cups) so I didn't tsress to much on the stuff caught in the basket.
Now I have the main drain on and the skimmers at minimum while I replace the pool water. I haven't tested the water today because of all the junk we stirred up, on Monday my pH was low but my chlorine was in the right range. I figured I would let the pump run until tomorrow morning when I get home from work and then test? Am I doing this all right?
 
Welcome to TFP!

For the most part you are doing very well. There are always some bumps in the road when you are just starting out, there are so many things that you need to learn. Eventually it will all come automatically, but for now take it as slow as you can and try not to get overwhelmed.

When adding DE it is very important to get it all mixed well in the bucket. That may well mean doing half, or a third, or a quarter of it at a time. If you haven't already, you should find a time to open up the filter and do a through cleaning. It might be fine, or it might be backed full of old DE, so it is worth checking.

Could you describe what "turned green" looked like? Has the water cleared up since then?

If you post a full set of water test results we can give you more specific advice.
 
As it was raining we could see the water going from blue to a algae green like color. The shallow end was still clear and blue. Of course now it's not because I brushed the whole thing but the shallow end is still clearer then the deep end. The test kit the previous owners left only tests the pH and the Chlorine levels.
My pH is 6.8
Chlorine is less then 0.6
Chlorine tests did not even change color and I did them twice so I must have depleted all of it. I pulled the chlorinators and the tablets are all gone so I have to buy some more of those! I almost dumped some Power Plus into the pool but held back because it said I have to raise the pH first. I will take a water sample to Leslie's tomorrow and get it fully tested.
I should probably take some pictures.....
 
The trial and tribulations of pool ownership...lol
So my husband refused to take the water to be tested because he didn't want them to try to sell him a bunch of stuff he didn't need. He went and bought soda ash and a bucket of tablets (not going in yet). I added about 4 pounds of soda ash to the pool this afternoon and tested the pH two hours later, it was up to 7.6! :party:
Before I left for work I shocked the heck out of it and told hubby "DO NOT TOUCH MY PUMP!!!!" Of course I get a text that he turned the pump off because the pressure was up. I said that unless it's 8-10 over my starting pressure to turn it back on and leave it alone until morning! So he turned it back on...lol
He also asked "What has that pool board done to you?" :lol:
Now I just have to convince him we need the TF-100 testing kit, he thinks our cheap chlorine/pH/TA kit is just fine. Obviously he is soooo out of the pool loop!
 
I did a set of tests this morning after work. The pump has been on all night and the pressure has gone up but the pool is clear. There is some leaves in the deep end and it needs to be sweeped.

FC 3
pH 8.2
TA 100

I think the chlorine is okay and I plan on adding Dry Acid today to drop the pH. Should I backwash the filter before putting the acid in? Would backwashing lower the pH without adding acid?
 
No, backwashing won't have any effect on the PH.

Your PH was too low last time. Now it is too high. What happened in between? You need to be careful when adding chemicals that you don't add too much.

There is no way of knowing if your FC level is alright until you find out what your CYA level is.
 
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