old pool, new owner, leaking... :(

[The Mermaid Queen]

Ok, here's the scoop. Or at least as much as I know so far.

Pool (specs that I know in sig) has been covered for at least 2 years. Realtor indicated there was a leak a couple years ago, but did not know where or if it had been repaired.

ETA Pool is 17 years old.

New pump motor 1hp, SF 1.0 (probably too big, but boss had it ordered and installed before consulting me!)

Pool company opened, only added liquid chlorine on my instruction Water not ot as bad as I expected upon opening. Full of sludge.

pH was high, lowered it with MA. Started shocking and scooping. lots of goop and dead bloated worms. 2 days of shocking and scooping later, and the pool lost about 8" overnight. hm.

Leak detection called, but we still need to clear the water. So we are scooping and shocking, running pump for about 45 minutes after shocking and then turning it off.

Are we at all on the right track? And yes, I have 'our' TF 100

 

[duraleigh]

Oh my gosh!!! TMQ, How are ya'?

It is so great to see you back on the board!!

You are certainly on the right track....I see two priorities (I know you do, too)

1. Find that leak

2. Continue to dig out the sludge so you can get started clearing the water.

Have you let the pool leak down to a stopping point yet or are you just adding extra water everyday?

 

[dmanb2b]

Welcome back TMQ

 

[Butterfly]

Hi TMQ

So happy to see you back and with a pool!

Every mermaid needs her own water :lol:

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

thanks duraleigh! it was really fun to get the test kit... still have not quite tried out all the tests, but soon! Boss nearly passed out when he saw it... chemistry is NOT his thing!

Since I don't live at the house with the pool, and the boss is a bit antsy (it is his money, after all), we are sort of taking a pseudo-TFP approach... BBB all the way for chemistry, but he is a little more comfortable letting the pool store handle the 'big' stuff for now, and truthfully, so am I!!

Since the pool held water until we started scooping the sludge in earnest, we feel that the leak is in the bottom of the deep end, and the sludge was keeping it plugged. The pool store said the leak detectors will dive to patch the liner, if that is the issue, so the water needs to be cleared up. Which seemed logical. The water is probably ~60*, so I am not too excited about jumping in to patch a leak!!

So we have not let it level out, but rather are scooping, topping the water, shocking (we are fortunate to be able to get 10% LC here), filtering for 30-45 minutes to mix it up, and shutting off the pump.

We started shocking and scooping on Wednesday, the day the pool was opened, scooping big time on Friday, and the leak showed itself by Saturday afternoon. I have not seen the pool since Friday noon-ish. Also, we have been having torrential rains here in the Cincinnati area, which just adds to the fun. Woohoo.

So I guess we are mostly on the right track.... Boss's wife already spilled a jug of LC in boss's suburban (of course black interior, and of course he is very picky about the car) They would have gladly hired a pool service, but have faith that I know my stuff... given the spill and now the leak (both beyond my control) I am loathe to make any more boo-boos!

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

So 'we' have to get a new liner. There is a gash at the steps, and the liner is in pitiful condition... bubbled up in the corners of the steps, wrinkly and dark on one side, bleached out horribly and scaly, and has about as much flexibility as plexiglass. The gash could be patched, but one wrong footstep on the steps and the whole thing will collapse.

So we will have a shiny new pump, a shiny new liner, and sparkling clear water!! Yay!

 

[Bama Rambler]

And then they'll see just how good this BBB thing really is!

We been missing ya girl!

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

the best laid plans... let pool sit for a couple days, and water stopped leaking around the 3rd step. Boss decided to try to patch it and limp along this year, and perhaps replace with fiberglass next year. (is that even possible?)

So the patches have held quite nicely, and we are working at clearing the water. Boss is a 'I just want to dump some stuff in there and hurry this process along' kind of guy, so that is somewhat of a challenge!

Thanks to the great advice of the pool store guy (NOT) who came out to look at the liner, Boss dumped in 1/2 a quart of copper algaecide. Ahhh!

But he is learning. Nightly he vac's to waste, checks pH and adjusts, and shocks with dichlor to get the cya and chlorine up. We are keeping the pH low, about 7.0 - 7.2 to try to get some of the scale off, and that is working nicely.

CYA - 0
TA - 90
CH - never reached an endpoint... lots of floatie stuff in the test. Gotta dig out that mag-stirrer!
pH - 7.0-7.2
FC - 15 (oops, that was after adding LC in the morning and a full day of sun!)
CC - 0 (YAY!!!)

 

[JasonLion]

CYA isn't zero if you still had FC after a sunny day.

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

CYA isn't zero if you still had FC after a sunny day.

Yes, you are right... but I have not measured CYA since we started adding the dichlor. It should be about 15, given how much dichlor has been added, and how much he has vac'd to waste.