The Nightmare Pool With Pics! Will update throughout.

[Bones]

Well you can see the debris issues clearly, And the pool water starts out brown/black/green every year. This was a relatives house which we wound up in, Its a very nice pool, 45,000 gal plaster, and a small outbuilding for the pump and sand filter, Diving board built in steps, Not sure what its called but there is a 6" lip that starts where the shallow starts to drop off a continues all the way around the deep end. Needless to say the person caring for this pool never opens before memorial day, and has used a plethora of chemicals over the last few years. When i asked what they used to blow out the lines with they said they havent done that in the 15 years or so they have lived there... This past year they pretty much just vacuumed dumped in hth green to blue till it started to clear up note I say started because it remained cloudy even though they shocked it several times, I am suspecting mustard algae. Two years ago he flipped it to backwash to waste and forgot about it for about 5 hours and the pool was half drained and refilled. Anywho it will be interesting to see how this turns out, I am already planning on opening early, replacing filter sand, though it was replaced 3 years ago the amount of debris and god knows what they put in there im not even taking chances with, removing debris daily, Shocking for mustard, scrubbing the inside down like a mad man repeatedly , and getting the levels under control.

So my plan thus far this is in central Indiana,

1: open in april only slight danger of frost usually after the second week I want this baby ready to go as soon as its warm enough.
2: replace filter sand check baskets, lube gaskets all pump and filter maintenance
3: clean debris out this will take the better part of 3 days as i did it for them last year, then keep it clean.
4: check CYA if any, to determine level for mustard shock also what is optimum cya level for a shock of this nature?
5: check PH, now if ph is out of whack at what point should I adjust it before or after shocking? and yes I know how to do a OCLT and I already have 275 gal of 12.5 hypo came from a camp that shut down there 80,000 gal pool and tore it out. So i should be set to shock it. I know ill be scrubbing and shocking for the better part of a week if I had to guess this things been bad for a while.

Am I missing anything? other than the tf100 kit i will be ordering the the next week or two.

And one other question there are lights in the pool thats one thing ive never dealt with, one function the other two do not, I believe the bulbs are bad.

If they havent been out in oh say the last 15 to 20 years how much of a pain is this going to be?




Ok sorry if this sounds a bit incoherent, here are my questions summed up

what is optimum cya level for a shock of this nature?

if ph is out of whack at what point should I adjust it before or after shocking?

Did I miss anything of importance?


I will be posting pics of the whole process as it goes along

 

[Buford]

Bones:

Welcome to TFP! Sounds like you have a plan and plan to succeed!

I suggest reading Pool School. (probably several times, I did) which should answer most of your questions.

Regarding the sand, there are several threads about replacing sand, and sand does not wear out. Here is one of them sand-filter-expert-help-t30049.html#p247326 You might also use google to find some other posts on changing sand.



Others will be along with suggestions and comments!

 

[Bones]

Ive read pool school several times and have several of the topics printed in a binder actually lol. My tendency to mix good tequila and bbq'ing is directly proportionate to my memory on occasion so ive learned to compensate for stupid

As far as the sand goes, I did do some reading up on that, its not so much the sand wearing out as i am slightly concerned about what may be trapped in there still but seeing as how i will probably go with a D.E. filter and a new intelliflo pump (electric bills with the pool and ac running during the summer run about 250$ a month) at some point this year or next spring, i guess its probably not worth the trouble and the risk of something breaking on this 20+ year old filter. Now that im getting into this and learning everything I have a tendency to get a bit overzealous with projects, ie once when changing the oil on a 66 Pontiac tempest two weeks later it was down to the frame rails and I was sleeping on the couch for a week. The wife wasnt happy she had to park in the snow and cold the rest of the winter.

And I did finally see where it does say to adjust ph before shocking, in the Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis thread.

I guess my real question though is what is the most efficient CYA level? to little and your wasting hypo to sunlight, too much and i would need to start buying it in 55 gal drums, either my mathematical skills are failing me or??? is there something I am missing?

 

[ROB N]

Adjust the ph first to be around 7.5, once you reach shock levels of fc the ph test is unreliable. you will need CYA to help keep the sun from burning off your fc. You could start with a level of 30 and after shocking and passing OCLT bring it up to around 50 since you do not list having a SWCG, if you do have a SWCG adjust it to about 70. Remove as much debris as possible manually this will help speed up the shocking process. Keep reading pool school and you will begin to develop an understanding of the BBB method! Sounds like you are developing a good plan and off to a good start! keep us posted and we will assist as needed!
Welcome to TFP!

 

[jblizzle]

I am certainly no expert, but am curious how old the 12.5% chlorine is and how it had been stored. I have read here that the half life decreases a lot as the % goes up, so if it is older it may not really be 12.5% anymore and could be quite a bit less.

You have a lot of it and it is useable I think, but keep in mind when you start running numbers and calculating dosages that you may need more volume than you think for a given fc rise ... although 200+ gallons should be more than enough

 

[zea3]

Adjust pH first, even before you start clean up. Also keep in mind that high FC levels will cause a temporary rise in pH. If you know high pH is due to high FC then don't worry about adjusting pH, it will fall on its own.

As long as they are working properly keep the current pump and filter until after your pool is clear. Sand filters are much more convenient for cleaning up a swamp. All you have to do is backwash when the return flow is diminished. A DE filter has to be cleaned when return flow diminishes and usually that means taking the grids out and hosing them off, then re-charging the filter with fresh DE. When a pool is really swampy you may have to do this a couple of times a day during the shock process! Once the pool is clean a DE filter will keep it sparkling, I have one myself and love it, but in all honesty an over sized sand filter is just as effective.

To test the strength of your chlorine fill a 5 gallon bucket with tap water and test it to see if there is any measurable FC. Write down the result and add 1 teaspoon of chlorine. Stir well and test the water. If the chlorine is full strength it should raise the FC in the bucket to 20 ppm.

If you really want something to tinker with on the pool, post a picture of the equipment pad and we'll let you know if there is anything you may want to change or add to make the system easier to use.

 

[Bones]

Thank you everyone Especially Zea3 with the how to test the strength of your chlorine, It had not crossed my mind that i could do that, I will get some more pics up soon, were in the process of moving with 4 week old twins, A 10 and a 6 year old, 2 cats 1 dog and I think all were missing is the monkeys and the wildabeest j/k,... It is a nice place though the back room which leads to the patio, is basically a sun room though fully insulated and with windows across one wall and sliding glass on the other wall, and includes a full granite top wet bar, I am thinking of screening in an area directly off the sliders about 20x20 and building the smoker/grill/fireplace on the outside edge of that, It will be made of masonry covered in split geodes. I did a entire chimney out of geodes a while back for a customer it turned out beautiful, though possibly blinding to low flying aircraft in the right sun conditions!

 

[Bones]

Ok so The label is missing on the sand filter and Im thinking this pump and filter is only about 10 years old now, I had not really stopped to look at it. Help me identify this if possible? I want to say pentair tagelus,

 

[zea3]

The labels are hard to read. Any chance of getting a clearer picture of the pump label?

 

[Bones]

Well I did find the manual on the pump, pentair superflo 1hp 300048, unfortunately i am not at the house at the moment so i cannot take another picture. Still having some issues ID"ing the filter, this is somewhat irrelevant though as it will all be replaced next spring, just curious as to how many times my water will be turning over this season so i have something to compare too when I get a new pump/filter maybe swg next spring.

 

[Buford]

Looks like this one, which you already have identified in your sig: http://www.pentairpool.com/pool-owner/p ... s-205.htm#
Item #18's number matches to your picture above. And about all it proves, is the valve. If you could find the part number on the tank, then match it to the parts list. But where on the tank is the question,and assuming it was indented in the plastic.