LOTS of rain -- what to do???

[sroderus]

We have a new inground pool (LOVE IT!). PB came out and got us started on Wednesday afternoon. Pool has a DE filter; 18x38 + 8x7 kiddy area.

I've been taking the water to a local store to have the water tested for the past two days -- and we are doing great chemically. I did a shock this AM (as recommended) and were planning on backwashing on Sunday (supposed to do it a few times a week for the first few weeks). Filter is showing we are still in the "Clean" level. Clean was set at 12 -- we are at 16 now.

HOWEVER, we are having MAJOR storms in the Baltimore, MD / Washington, DC area right now. Our water was left a little high since we were going to be backwashing quite a bit over the next few weeks. We WERE around .5 - 1" below the coping on the tile -- but all of the rain has us up to the TOP of the coping. We have major drainage around 1/2 of the pool -- we have a retaining wall around 1/2 of the pool. The water is going over the top of the coping (THAT IS A TON OF RAIN!!!).

WHAT DO I DO???? We have our first pool party tomorrow (sunny and 77 tomorrow -- thank goodness). Not sure what to do.....

Thanks!

 

[jblizzle]

First, what you did is not what we call Shocking Your Pool
Second, get one of the recommended test kits for yourself and do not trust the pool store (they want to make money)
Third, backwash when the pressure goes up 20-25% of the clean pressure to maintain good circulation ... for you that would be at 15psi
Fourth, if the water is overflowing away from everything it is fine. If you want, you could go out and pump to Waste to lower the pool level.

Since you are having a big storm today, it is very questionable that your pool will be clear for swimming tomorrow. You need to at least make sure your FC level is well above the minimum for you CYA based on the Chlorine CYA Chart. In fact, given the storm, I would boost the FC up to shock level first thing in the morning (if not tonight if the rain stops).

 

[woodyp]

Go ahead and backwash with the "free" water. Keep your FC level a bit higher with the rain-2ppm or so. Also bump up FC 2or 3 ppm before a party.

 

[Davsmth41]

I'm in the same area. I'm looking fwd to a good long back flush. Then I get to play chemist yeah!!!

 

[frogabog]

Unfortunately sroderus likely has to get through the first few weeks of pool builder pool maintenance so they don't decide to void the warranty because instructions weren't followed.

This doesn't mean it's appropriate to just throw shock product in the pool, nor that the shocking your pool instructions shouldn't be adhered to. But it does mean sroderus may have to be very careful about employing the real shocking process with another chlorine source if the PB does come back to the property before the start-up time has expired.

Depending on the shock product, there also may be some accounting for calcium or CYA in the startup chemical plan from the PB. What product are you using to "shock" with?

I did want to point out that "doing great chemically" is a fairly vague statement. Is that what the PB told you? Did they offer any actual results or are you supposed to just be happy with "doing great"? I'd be interested to know what constitutes "great" personally.

 

[sroderus]

Okay -- so I have two different testing kits that I'm working with at home (I have a son that is facinated with chemistry -- so we have a few kits around). I am relying on the two testing kits THEN going to the pool supply store.

I am only *four* days into our pool experience (once it was started up), so be gentle with me. :lol: sroderus (aka Sarah) is trying her best to learn as fast as possible.

Our Ph seems to be the biggest battle -- I'm adding acid -- about a 1/2 gallon at a time -- (as instructed by PB as well) to keep that number under control. Measurements are still in the "good" range (according to my testing kids and the pool supply store). So far, I have added about 1.5 gallons. I understand this will be something to continually battle with while the pebble colored plaster is curing.

I probably shouldn't have said, "doing great chemically" -- because -- I guess when I get more experienced like you guys, I will not be testing multiple times a day. :-D BUT -- I guess that was more of a "feeling" -- I FEEL like I'm able to stay on top of this.... and nothing on my tests or the tests at the pool supply company are going crazy.

Thankfully, I was a little high last night on FC before the storms hit. I tested myself again this morning (with my two methods) -- and I was in the "safe range" -- but on the higher of the two. I can't remember the numbers and I'm inside now -- testers are outside. Sorry.

My water is extremely clear and beautiful. I was honestly, a little surprised. My biggest concern now is the temperature. We are down to 72 -- and it has cooled off dramatically. We were up to the high 80s before the storms and were down to maybe the low 60s early this AM. We get sun about 90% of the day -- and it is beautiful and sunny. With the temp going up to 77 -- hopefully, we will make it warm up!

Sorry for using the wrong term -- I'm not sure what it's called when you "shock." I will do more reading to better understand. What I am using is called "Super Pool Treat" -- that's what the bottle says. The next time I go out with my son to test the water, I will get a better picture and reply with the chemical name.

I am using something that the PB left me (they left me with a ton of supplies and instructions). The pool supply company told me to take pictures of everything I had and they would tell me what to add. I haven't had to buy anything from them yet. They are pretty great people. Everybody around us that has a pool speaks very highly of them.

woodyp - more FC before the party -- is that a standard best practice???? PB left me with a lot of great reading -- which I have done -- but they didn't say anything about preping for a party! I heard one of our neighbors talking about it as well....can you expand some more?

Thanks for your help.

 

[duraleigh]

sroderus,

You are not testing with anything that is precise enough if you are reporting pH results in the "safe range" That sounds like test strips and they are worthless.

As you read more here on TFP, you will find that everything we teach centers around precise testing and you are not doing that.

Additionally, if you try to blend our advice with Pool Builder advice and Pool Store advice, you will be caught in the middle and be hopelessly lost.

Pick a resource you are comfortable with for your pool chemistry advice. The advice you get here is from pool OWNERS just like you so we think it's the best place but you must pick.

 

[Isaac-1]

To add to what Dave just said, we are all (well almost all) pool owners, we generally came here with problems often caused by pool stores and pool industry practices, and we wish to spare you those experiences. Even assuming you have a great pool store to deal with their interest and yours will not align, they are in business to sell chemicals, and want to do so with the minimal amount of time invested in testing, etc., as a pool owner you are likely to want the best balanced water (water that does not sting the kids eyes, is safe, and does not do damage to your pool), you will also want to do so as economically as possible, and with as little work as possible. This last bit is the geat sales scam of most pool stores, they make it easy as long as you keep writing the check for chemicals, I call it a scam, because it may seem easy, take a water sample into the pool store and walk out with a car full of chemicals every week, but once you do some research and understand what the chemicals do, you will soon see many are not needed, many are to counteract the effects of the un-needed chemicals from the previous week, ....

The thing is this pool store process works for a lot of people, because they don't have to think, they don't know there is an alternative, they think dumping hundreds of dollars per month worth of chemcials into their pools is just part of pool ownership, worse yet they think it is normal for all this to come crashing down every year or so and require them to dump all the water out of their pool and start over. All of this can be avoided with a little bit of kowledge and pool testing, and maintenance, on the surface it may seem to be not as easy as the pool store way, but once you consider the time it takes for all those trips to the pool store, and the cost of all those chemicals, it really is much less work. So my advice to you now is, read over pool school (link in the upper right corner of every page here), buy a good test kit like the TFTestkits TF-100, go back and read pool school again (it really does start making more sense on the 2nd or 3rd time through). Then when your ready come back here and let us help you manage your pool, if you want to go the "easy" pool store route first, at least do so with an understanding of what all the chemicals they are selling you is doing to your pool.

Ike