Off to a rough start of the pool year, but I won't bore you with details. Just today I bought a used second hand Intex frame style pool. The lady I bought it from says she used it one season, two years ago, and that in the meantime it has been stored in a garage in Nebraska - so freezing in winter and sweltering in summer. She sold us a bunch of stuff with it like solar cover, ladder, cover, pump/filter unit, pool toys, and a bunch of useless chemicals I'll never use.
The good news is all the parts were there and it seems to be holding water. The bad news is that in the course of erecting and filling the pool, it became obvious she had had algae in it. Green residue in pump tubes; random but numerous "spots," none larger than a dime, of green stuff that I could easily dislodge from the interior of the pool. No odor of mildew at all on pool, but the cover is already in the trash because smelled very musty. The solar cover does not seem to have an odor, but I haven't even had a chance to open it up all the way.
My questions are:
1. Will this algae that I assume is long dead somehow rehydrate, breed, or otherwise come alive in the pool now that there is water, or can I assume it is dead and will just filter/skim/vacuum out and that will be that? I did have a smaller pool last year (my first year) and lucked into finding this forum on day one -- as such, I've never seen or dealt with algae at all.
2. If there is a chance it will come to life, am I doomed as long as I'm using her pump hoses? I am not using her actual pump/filter unit because I had a clean one of same gph rating -- but my hoses weren't long enough so at the moment I'm using her hoses. If this is a terrible mistake, I can go get new hoses tomorrow. Or, will my normal sanitation of the water take care of it?
3. I decided to "shock" the pool to get a jump on fighting any algae that thinks it should spring back to life. So, I put in 96 ounces of 6% bleach tonight after dark, mixed it in real well as pool was still filling, and plan to pop HER solar cover on it tomorrow early morning (if solar cover looks in good shape when I unpack it) in hopes I get a clean and warm pool within a day or two. Once the FC comes back down (14 now, based on calculator) I was planning to add dichlor and then start BBB. Does it sound like I'm on the right track, or is there something special to do when starting with a second hand pool? Any one think I should definitely NOT put her solar cover on tomorrow morning? I won't have time to clean it at all -- will have to rely on high FC in water to combat any crud.
I do have a good test kit (Duraleigh's) and will post numbers tomorrow night (pool still filling), but if anyone can chime in with the info I've given, I'd appreciate it.
Only numbers I know now are:
FC = 14 (based on calculator)
CYA 0 (I've added only bleach)
Thanks, and happy swimming!
The good news is all the parts were there and it seems to be holding water. The bad news is that in the course of erecting and filling the pool, it became obvious she had had algae in it. Green residue in pump tubes; random but numerous "spots," none larger than a dime, of green stuff that I could easily dislodge from the interior of the pool. No odor of mildew at all on pool, but the cover is already in the trash because smelled very musty. The solar cover does not seem to have an odor, but I haven't even had a chance to open it up all the way.
My questions are:
1. Will this algae that I assume is long dead somehow rehydrate, breed, or otherwise come alive in the pool now that there is water, or can I assume it is dead and will just filter/skim/vacuum out and that will be that? I did have a smaller pool last year (my first year) and lucked into finding this forum on day one -- as such, I've never seen or dealt with algae at all.
2. If there is a chance it will come to life, am I doomed as long as I'm using her pump hoses? I am not using her actual pump/filter unit because I had a clean one of same gph rating -- but my hoses weren't long enough so at the moment I'm using her hoses. If this is a terrible mistake, I can go get new hoses tomorrow. Or, will my normal sanitation of the water take care of it?
3. I decided to "shock" the pool to get a jump on fighting any algae that thinks it should spring back to life. So, I put in 96 ounces of 6% bleach tonight after dark, mixed it in real well as pool was still filling, and plan to pop HER solar cover on it tomorrow early morning (if solar cover looks in good shape when I unpack it) in hopes I get a clean and warm pool within a day or two. Once the FC comes back down (14 now, based on calculator) I was planning to add dichlor and then start BBB. Does it sound like I'm on the right track, or is there something special to do when starting with a second hand pool? Any one think I should definitely NOT put her solar cover on tomorrow morning? I won't have time to clean it at all -- will have to rely on high FC in water to combat any crud.
I do have a good test kit (Duraleigh's) and will post numbers tomorrow night (pool still filling), but if anyone can chime in with the info I've given, I'd appreciate it.
Only numbers I know now are:
FC = 14 (based on calculator)
CYA 0 (I've added only bleach)
Thanks, and happy swimming!
