Am I being taken... ?

[bredmond]

Greetings all,

I found this forum while searching on draining/refilling pools, and from the browsing seems to be a group of very knowledgeable people.

I'm looking for some help on determining whether I am getting ripped off by my new pool cleaner.

We've had the pool for about 3 years and I've managed it myself with mixed results. Now that we have 2 little ones time is scarce and so I decided to hire someone to clean the pool weekly for us to ensure it is in swimming condition all summer.

This weekend the company stopped by for their first cleaning. I wasn't home, but the guy called me and told me that something was too high, I think the acidity, and that the only way to fix was to drain and refill the pool.

The pool is 13.5K gallons chlorine pool (gunite) with an attached spa. There is currently a lot of algae, but I haven't put acid in the pool in over a month.

Is just their way of increasing their revenues? What questions should I be asking to ensure that we really do need to drain/refill the pool as the only option? They was $375 to drain/refill the pool.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be very much appreciated. I don't mind paying the money if this really is necessary, however I feel it is like when you take your car for service and they find 3 - 4 other expensive things that are supposedly "wrong".

Thanks,
Bill

 

[linen]

I wasn't home, but the guy called me and told me that something was too high, I think the acidity, and that the only way to fix was to drain and refill the pool.

If they were referring to your cyanuric acid (cya) level, it might need to be partially drained and refilled or have the water processed using a Reverse Osmosis treatment. For us to be most helpful we will need a full set of test results. See this article in pool school: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/read_before_you_post

 

[brg88tx]

if your cya (cyanuric acid) level is too high, then yes the only way to lower it is to do a drain and refill. most recommend only doing 25-50% at a time to decrease the chance of the pool floating up.

 

[Leebo]

How were you adding chlorine to the pool? Without knowing 100% why he suggests draining its hard to tell.

 

[bobby1017]

From what I've read here in most cases draining is not needed and could cause other problems. I think for the pool guy it may be easier to get started that way so he doesn't have to go through the shock process which is somewhat of a chore. As you have probably seen on here it's incredible what a little time and bleach can do to a swamp. If the cya level is high sometimes a partial drain, or several, are required to reduce it to a manageable level. A good idea would be to get the full water test results and post them here for the experts to comment on, also it's a good idea to do your own water testing with a good kit because you can always trust yourself more than the store.

 

[bredmond]

How were you adding chlorine to the pool? Without knowing 100% why he suggests draining its hard to tell.

3" Chlorine Tabs from Leslie's http://www.lesliespool.com/Home/Pool-Chemicals/Chlorine/12439.html in an inline chlorinator.

Chlor Brite from Leslie's http://www.lesliespool.com/Home/Pool-Chemicals/Chlorine/12055.html

I shocked the pool and reloaded the shocked the pool with about 3 lbs of shock about 3 weeks ago when the weather started getting warm here in Texas.

In the summer I take my pool water to Leslie's about every other week. Would they have noticed and mentioned the cya levels or is this something that most pools stores don't test for?


Thanks,
Bill

 

[Richard320]

You were being taken. By Leslies.

Pool stores don't know or don't care about the relationship between CYA and FC. So you just keep feeding it pucks and although the FC looks good, very little of it, if any, is free to do its job.

I'd say get thee to Pool School and start reading. Pay special attention to the FC/CYA relationship as well as the shock process.

And you ought to get your own test kit. Once a week testing by the pool service is probably not accurate. And you won't know if he's doing a good job if you can't test the water yourself. Skip the article on test kits in Pool School and just order a TF100 from tftestkits.net. It won't cost you much more than a month's service, and it should last beyond the swim season.

 

[Bama Rambler]

They do test for it but most ignore it until it gets to be a problem and then their solution is to drain and refill. We don't think like that here. We'd rather not ever let it get to be a problem in the first place. Then you don't have to throw away a ton of water every couple of years. Another thing we don't cotton to is the so called regular shocking. It's just not needed if you spend a couple minutes a day maintaining your pool. every two weeks isn't enough testing. Once a day for FC and pH is what you should be doing.

 

[jblizzle]

+1 on getting your own test kit.

THIS POST has an interesting comparison of free water tests from 4 different pool store on the same water sample. Pretty amazing how different they are from each other. You just have to be able to get consistent test results on a more frequent basis.