Hi to all of you, this site has given me new belief in the fact that i don't have to spend hundreds of dollars to try and achieve a clean pool.
We Bought our house about 18 months ago with a horrible green pool. So off to the pool store i went, and a few hundred dollars later and many hours of hard work we had a clean pool, but the algae kept coming back, it appeared to be mustard algae not the green that we had inherited. that was at the start of our summer and I battled it all the way through, over the winter, it was still there but not as bad and when last summer started I decided to get on it early, seemed ok, still there but not too bad, anyway I continued to spend money every fortnight on various chemicals, flocks etc and all with no joy. I was wondering what else we could do with the pool as i was fed up with chucking all our spare cash into it and all my spare time into cleaning it, just to be back in the same situation again a few days later, having swam in it maybe once.
Four weeks ago I found this site and I now look forward to a good summer next year (we are just at the beginning of our autumn now).
Ok so I have read and read and read posts on this site and now understand more about the chemistry than i ever had, and still understand very little i am sure. I have not spent a penny in the last 4 weeks other than to buy some muriatic acid and some un-stabilised chlorine (granular). I have saved enough money to buy the TF-100 at least twice but settled for just the one kit. best money i ever spent, it only arrived 3 days ago, and it works unlike my previous attempts with my old kit. at last i can measure TA which I never managed before. prior to this I knew I had been guessing a bit (as read on many posts) even so my pool has never looked so good for so long. I knew that the CYA was far to high even though the pool shop recommended somewhere between 30 and 200. at present I have clear water and I get what I can only assume is Algae appearing on a pretty daily basis in the same areas of my pool. I have vacuumed these to waste and brushed. I have been trying to keep my Ch levels high and my PH in range although I now know that high Ch will affect the PH readings I get (I am fairly confident that the PH reading is ok though, as it always has been and I have always just had to add about 500mls of muriatic acid every couple of days to keep it in the right range). I am hoping that by vacuuming about 3inches everyday or so and refilling, my CYA levels will drop and the chlorine will start becoming more effective.
these were my first test results
PH - 7.8
FC - 12.5
CC - 0.5
TC - 13
TA - 220
CH - 120
CYA - 100
I am fairly confident in these results for accuracy although I am maybe less confident on the CYA I am sure practice will help.
todays results were
PH - 7.8
FC - 9
CC - 0
TC - 9
TA - 190
Ok question time
1) am i ok to keep on going with vacuuming the algae to waste daily and replacing the water slowly thus reducing my CYA and TA levels? I also refill with the hose pointing into the air to get some aeration going on to help reduce TA levels
2) I read somewhere that algae turns white when its dead and most of what i vacuum up is white so I assume dead. If this is the case why does it keep lying in the same spots on the bottom of the pool, is this just due to the way the water circulates from the return jets ?
3) Once I have reduced the CYA and TA levels to acceptable levels am i ok to just vacuum any further algae to the filter and backwash as necessary or will it grow in the filter ?
4) Am I on the right track or have i got it completely wrong ?
5) I live in Australia but assume the same theory for pools works word wide
looking forward to any advice that any of you could throw my way, Cheers.
I added some more Ch today so I will test again later and also see if my TA and CYA levels are continuing to fall.
finally keep up the bloody good work your all doing, you have saved me from not only bankruptcy but also a nervous breakdown.
We Bought our house about 18 months ago with a horrible green pool. So off to the pool store i went, and a few hundred dollars later and many hours of hard work we had a clean pool, but the algae kept coming back, it appeared to be mustard algae not the green that we had inherited. that was at the start of our summer and I battled it all the way through, over the winter, it was still there but not as bad and when last summer started I decided to get on it early, seemed ok, still there but not too bad, anyway I continued to spend money every fortnight on various chemicals, flocks etc and all with no joy. I was wondering what else we could do with the pool as i was fed up with chucking all our spare cash into it and all my spare time into cleaning it, just to be back in the same situation again a few days later, having swam in it maybe once.
Four weeks ago I found this site and I now look forward to a good summer next year (we are just at the beginning of our autumn now).
Ok so I have read and read and read posts on this site and now understand more about the chemistry than i ever had, and still understand very little i am sure. I have not spent a penny in the last 4 weeks other than to buy some muriatic acid and some un-stabilised chlorine (granular). I have saved enough money to buy the TF-100 at least twice but settled for just the one kit. best money i ever spent, it only arrived 3 days ago, and it works unlike my previous attempts with my old kit. at last i can measure TA which I never managed before. prior to this I knew I had been guessing a bit (as read on many posts) even so my pool has never looked so good for so long. I knew that the CYA was far to high even though the pool shop recommended somewhere between 30 and 200. at present I have clear water and I get what I can only assume is Algae appearing on a pretty daily basis in the same areas of my pool. I have vacuumed these to waste and brushed. I have been trying to keep my Ch levels high and my PH in range although I now know that high Ch will affect the PH readings I get (I am fairly confident that the PH reading is ok though, as it always has been and I have always just had to add about 500mls of muriatic acid every couple of days to keep it in the right range). I am hoping that by vacuuming about 3inches everyday or so and refilling, my CYA levels will drop and the chlorine will start becoming more effective.
these were my first test results
PH - 7.8
FC - 12.5
CC - 0.5
TC - 13
TA - 220
CH - 120
CYA - 100
I am fairly confident in these results for accuracy although I am maybe less confident on the CYA I am sure practice will help.
todays results were
PH - 7.8
FC - 9
CC - 0
TC - 9
TA - 190
Ok question time
1) am i ok to keep on going with vacuuming the algae to waste daily and replacing the water slowly thus reducing my CYA and TA levels? I also refill with the hose pointing into the air to get some aeration going on to help reduce TA levels
2) I read somewhere that algae turns white when its dead and most of what i vacuum up is white so I assume dead. If this is the case why does it keep lying in the same spots on the bottom of the pool, is this just due to the way the water circulates from the return jets ?
3) Once I have reduced the CYA and TA levels to acceptable levels am i ok to just vacuum any further algae to the filter and backwash as necessary or will it grow in the filter ?
4) Am I on the right track or have i got it completely wrong ?
5) I live in Australia but assume the same theory for pools works word wide
looking forward to any advice that any of you could throw my way, Cheers.
I added some more Ch today so I will test again later and also see if my TA and CYA levels are continuing to fall.
finally keep up the bloody good work your all doing, you have saved me from not only bankruptcy but also a nervous breakdown.
