Hello all....1st post - be gentle.
Background...Hurricane Irene...9 inches rain...dumped it twice (instead of using "waste" used rinse)...pool filled back up with additional rain...lost power for 48 hrs. 1st stage...clouding...so I vacuumed w/hose/pole kit...good for about a day...next day...cloudier...and so on and so forth...until I came home from work Monday of last week and it was green...I rent this home and got little guidance so it is only recently that I got an education...this has consumed me and depressed me too. So many questions. I realize now that one of my mistakes was 1) draining the pool took my chemical balance too, 2) the rain didn't help much, 3) I backwash too frequently (top mount sand filter) and 4) at the first sign of cloud I should have taken the sample to the corner and found out the problem...and most likely needed to adjust the chlorine and pH. History...pump/filter/SWG run 24/7...and I haven't had a problem...ran it from August to last week non-stop...including winter...separate issue to tackle after this fix.
30K/inground vinyl w/saltwater chlorine generator (HAYWARD Swimpure Plus)/HAYWARD PRO Series sand filter...don't have specific pump HP/filter tank size...can get if necessary.
I work 12 hour days and cannot be at home as much as I'd like to in order to get it under control...build that into the equation...not to mention I'm at the top of my budget and cannot waste money on chemicals that don't work/are not the right prescription for the illness.
Readings from yesterday...
Chlorine - total chlorine - .7, free chlorine - 0.0
pH - 7.7
Alkalinity - 190
Hardness - 100
Cyanuric Acid (AKA stabilizer) - 0
Sand filter
What are Borates?
Major concerns...1) is my pump filter going to live? I backwashed the heck out of it after trying to clear things up and vacuum...it started blowing green algae back into the pool so I just shut it off for the past 48 hrs...should I back wash once more and empty the container (per owner manual instruction) and take off top 1" of sand and replace? 2) if alive, should I wait until i have killed the algae to run it again? The pressure comes up after a while...and I don't want to damage anything (yes about 8psi more)...3) I've seen where I need to keep the SWG turned off...I did that after I found out it was a good idea given calcium concern...and I think I have determined how to clean the cell...4) I don't want to run the entire filtering/generating system when it will damage it so need guidance. I added 8lbs of AquaChem Shock w/dichlor in it...(again - I was clueless)...so now you have a heck of a lot...
I think that is it. I just want to make this as simple as possible for each step...I know how to follow directions. Besides wanting to know the amount/type of shock to use and the procedure...I have read a lot of the posts...I'm overwhelmed here. I'd like to preclude damaging the vinyl and costing me more $$$$$ than needed.
Thanks for any assistance. WR/randyb63
Background...Hurricane Irene...9 inches rain...dumped it twice (instead of using "waste" used rinse)...pool filled back up with additional rain...lost power for 48 hrs. 1st stage...clouding...so I vacuumed w/hose/pole kit...good for about a day...next day...cloudier...and so on and so forth...until I came home from work Monday of last week and it was green...I rent this home and got little guidance so it is only recently that I got an education...this has consumed me and depressed me too. So many questions. I realize now that one of my mistakes was 1) draining the pool took my chemical balance too, 2) the rain didn't help much, 3) I backwash too frequently (top mount sand filter) and 4) at the first sign of cloud I should have taken the sample to the corner and found out the problem...and most likely needed to adjust the chlorine and pH. History...pump/filter/SWG run 24/7...and I haven't had a problem...ran it from August to last week non-stop...including winter...separate issue to tackle after this fix.
30K/inground vinyl w/saltwater chlorine generator (HAYWARD Swimpure Plus)/HAYWARD PRO Series sand filter...don't have specific pump HP/filter tank size...can get if necessary.
I work 12 hour days and cannot be at home as much as I'd like to in order to get it under control...build that into the equation...not to mention I'm at the top of my budget and cannot waste money on chemicals that don't work/are not the right prescription for the illness.
Readings from yesterday...
Chlorine - total chlorine - .7, free chlorine - 0.0
pH - 7.7
Alkalinity - 190
Hardness - 100
Cyanuric Acid (AKA stabilizer) - 0
Sand filter
What are Borates?
Major concerns...1) is my pump filter going to live? I backwashed the heck out of it after trying to clear things up and vacuum...it started blowing green algae back into the pool so I just shut it off for the past 48 hrs...should I back wash once more and empty the container (per owner manual instruction) and take off top 1" of sand and replace? 2) if alive, should I wait until i have killed the algae to run it again? The pressure comes up after a while...and I don't want to damage anything (yes about 8psi more)...3) I've seen where I need to keep the SWG turned off...I did that after I found out it was a good idea given calcium concern...and I think I have determined how to clean the cell...4) I don't want to run the entire filtering/generating system when it will damage it so need guidance. I added 8lbs of AquaChem Shock w/dichlor in it...(again - I was clueless)...so now you have a heck of a lot...
I think that is it. I just want to make this as simple as possible for each step...I know how to follow directions. Besides wanting to know the amount/type of shock to use and the procedure...I have read a lot of the posts...I'm overwhelmed here. I'd like to preclude damaging the vinyl and costing me more $$$$$ than needed.
Thanks for any assistance. WR/randyb63