New pool owner, filling new water, am I prepared?

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kiunch

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May 5, 2011
7
Hi,

I just moved in to my new house, it came with a pool, and they ain't kidding when they said pool can be annoying. Due to ignorance I drained the pool water (the day after I read about the danger of drained pool, had me scared for days), luckily nothing wrong happened. I also opened, drained, and cleaned my filter.

I am filling the pool with new water so I need help to verify if my information is correct.

I been reading the forum and random internet site for a while, I know I can ask the store. But I am very bitter toward my local pool store since they convinced me to brought 40 dollars worth of testing stripe, and told me that all test kits are worthless. (I guess its my fault for relying 100% on them. =/)

Sorry for all the crying, here are my questions:
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1. I know that there are better test kit out there, but I got this kit already, http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...talogId=10053&productId=100350165&R=100350165, is this enough for now? Or should I buy the one recommended at the forum?

2. I brought a gigantic box of chlorine tablet, before I learned about BBB, it is too late to return it (brought it before I move in), can I still use the BBB method, but replace bleach with chlorine tablet? Or should I just follow the traditional method?

3. For the new water, should I get bleach as a start-up? Or can I just put 2 tablet in a floater, and test it after a few hours?

4. Here are what I scheduled to do after my pool is full, if other equipments don't suddenly fail on me:

Open manual pressure relief valve, set it to backwash, wait till water start leaking from manual pressure relief valve
Close manual pressure relief valve, set it to filter.
DE mix with water into filter
Put chlorine tablet in floater into the pool with filter on
Measure and adjust ph accordingly after 1 hour of chlorine tablet
Adjust Total Alkalinity level after ph and fc level correct
Cyn Acid in sock in skimmer, run filter for 1 week, while checking chlorine and ph level everyday.
After 1 week, test Cyn Acid, and test CH

5. I heard that I shouldn't add all chemical in one day, since Cyn Acid will take 1 week to fully register, can I still work on other chemical during that 1 week period?

6. Since CYA cannot be bring down without draining the water, should I add 1/3 of recommended amount per week over a period of 3 weeks?

7. The pool store told me to add the whole bottle of 6lb CYA into the skimmer, I planned to use the sock method... this could be a silly question, but I must need a lot of socks for the full 6lbs =/

8. Running test on water, since its new water, should I test for CYA and TA level even if I never added any to it before? The level should be zero since its new water right?

Sorry for the big post, but I am getting pretty nervous, as my water is getting full either by tomorrow morning or afternoon.

Any help will be appreciated, thank you.
 
1. That kit will get you started. As you learn more or experience problems, you'll want a better kit.

2. Your chlorine tablets are probably fine. They add CYA, but you need CYA, so they are ideal. If you keep them dry, they'll be handy for vacations etc. in the future. You probably won't be able to get chlorine in the water fast enough with a floater though.

3. Again, since you need CYA, you can just use powdered shock. It's handy and will do what you need.

4. I'm going to have to spend some time reading this part :)

5. Once one chemical is thoroughly mixed into the water, you can add another. 15 minutes is more than enough with the pump running.

6. You can either add the CYA or use stabilized chlorine. Your choice. It's always easier to add than take out, so a little at a time is the way to go.

7. Just one sock at a time. You need to keep the skimmer working if that's where you put it. Lack of CYA only causes you to need to add chlorine more often. No big deal if you just check it twice a day.

8. No need to test fill water for chlorine or CYA. TA, Calcium Hardness and pH are the things you most want to know before you fill. If it's a well, a test for metals would be worthwhile.

It's not as complicated as it seems, just a lot of new stuff at once. I honestly haven't tested my pool in quite a while where I didn't already know or have a pretty good idea what the numbers were going to be. You just get a feel for it. I don't spend a lot more time on my pool wok than I did cutting the grass in the area where it is.
 
I have a new problem.

I just finish backwashing the filter with the manual pressure relief valve open, I wait until water is leaking from the relief valve, and close the relief valve. Then I set it to push it back down to filter mode, and I notice big bubble are shooting out of the return jet, soon the big bubble disappear, but there are still a lot of tiny bubble shooting out. Does this mean I have a leak?

When I turn off the filter, I can heard a few big bubble coming out from the return jet, and there are some air noise inside the pipes.

My pool also have a SPA, could that cause the bubble, since I have no idea how to operate the SPA.

When I backwashing with the manual pressure relief valve open, there are lots of water coming out from the backwash line continuously for a few minute when air are blowing out of the manual pressure relief, is that normal?

I haven't add any DE yet, since I afraid I might have to take the filter apart again to check if something are not correctly sealed.

Also, I cannot open the plastic cover on top of the pump, it is completely stuck, can I use some kind of lub or oil around it? Or there are some kind of procedure to open it? We were trying to open it by hand.

Do I have a huge problem? Can I still operate if I don't mind the bubble shooting out of the jet?
 
Could you post pictures of your pump and filter? That will help us to identify your problem. I think the manual pressure relief valve should be closed when you are backwashing. What brand and model is the filter?

You may need to use a pry bar for leverage to turn the pump strainer lid. Once you have removed the lid, coat the rubber o-ring with silicone pool lube. That will help it form a good seal and make it easier to remove in the future.
 
There is always some air in the system when you first start up. As long as the bubbles go away and stay away after five or ten minutes then everything is fine. You may also need to let air out of the filter another time once things have settled down. Again a little air in filter or returns during the first day or two is no big deal, but if you are getting air in the filter or returns day after day there is probably an air leak.

Go ahead and add DE.

The filter lid can be quite difficult to open sometimes. You really shouldn't need to open it right now. When you do need to open it, plan on spending some time getting it apart. You don't want to use tools to pry at the lid as it might be damaged, so focus on getting a good grip on it and using a twisting motion.
 
Thanks for the help.

I added some DE 2 days ago, those thing dissolved like milk, kind of surprise how the filter can catch them.

Here are the picture of my pump and DE filter:
oHPAm.gif

1bcGL.gif


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I try to play around with the pipe setting and I found out that there's a switch to release water as SPA or normal, only the SPA one shoot bubble, is that normal?

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I also noted the pressure in my filter is different depending on where the water is coming from:

If I drain water from the skimmer, the PSI read about 10.
If I drain water from the bottom drain, the PSI never raise and stay at zero.
If I drain water from the SPA, the PSI read about 15.
All 3 drain on PSI read about 15, when all 3 drain on, the SPA lose water to the pool side.

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I never add any baking soda or other chemical that raise total Alkalinity, but when I test it is 190, I guess I will just test the water and keep lowering the PH level when its high twice a day.

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I vacuumed my pool yesterday, since the bottom of the pool is full of dirt dust(is that what it call?). I vacuumed all the dirt, but on the next day the dirt gather back at the bottom of the pool again. Did I do something wrong that the filter doesn't catch the dirts? There are also some small trash flowing on top of the pool, I am not sure if they are new or the filter fail to catch them too.

After searching for on the forum I heard that filter sock will help me on this, will something like this work?
ref=sr_1_1
I know they have some for the skimmer basket, but I cannot vacuum with my basket.

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One last thing I want to clarify, if my filter use 7.5lbs DE, after every backwash I have to put 7.5lb back?


Sorry for all the question, but there are just so much things to worry about now. =/

Thank you.
 
After a backwash you put in 80% as much DE as the manual calls for.

It is normal for the pressure to be different depending on how you set the valves. You should note the clean filter pressure when the valves are in their most common position and then only check if the pressure has gone up enough that the filter needs cleaning when the valves are in that position.

It is common for fine dust to settle out of the water slowly over several days after a storm or when your FC level is too low. So needing to vacuum several days in a row is common enough.
 
Thanks for the help again Jason.

I just vacuum my pool again, a hour later I went back outside the same amount of dust is on the bottom of the pool. Is this normal? Is it because I didn't put enough DE, or the filter just isn't designed to catch those kind of dust?
 

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A working DE filter can catch anything you can see. Either the dust is continuing to accumulate or the filter isn't working correctly for one reason or another. Both are perfectly plausible. Dust can continue settling out for days, this time of year pollen is constantly accumulating, and every so slightly low FC levels can cause dead algae to rain down on the bottom continuously. At the same time, there might be too little DE in the filter, or a torn grid allowing dirt back into the pool.

Also, vacuuming it's self disturbs the water, which causes dust on the floor to get pushed up back into suspension, which then settles back down in an hour or two.
 
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