trying to please two masters

Jump to latest Follow Reply
In case you do not have valves in your suction line between the skimmer and the pump is to use your vacuum hose. I have an adaptor for the end of the hose that plugs into the bottom inside of the skimmer where the water leaves the skimmer. I put the adapter on the vacuum hose and plug the adapter and hose assembly into the bottom of the skimmer, after removing the skimmer basket. I just let the hose hang out of the skimmer. I can then open the pump basket or remove the suction line or any thing else with no water from the pool leaving the pool. If I really need to work on the pump and filter as a whole, after plugging the adapter and hose into the skimmer, I connect the filter end of the return hose on the bottom of the skimmer. This completely bypasses the pump and filter and keeps all the water in the pool. Tis is what I do when it's time to clean it he pump basket and change the DE in my filter.
 
thank you everyone for the advice.

I have added the sequestrant. I have to leave for a Health Fair soon, but hubby is home for the day. Going to see if he can switch out the filter cartridge and get the pump and SWG back on a timer when he gets up.

I will post when/if something changes. Crossing my fingers!

(oh, and Hubby said "I trust their (TFP) advice more than I do the pool store. We need to order one of those kits." yay!!!!)
 
So the pool is looking MUCH better this afternoon. Must mean it really was metals. Going to vacuum it, add in some more bleach, add some more CYA in the sock in the skimmer. AND get the SWG going tomorrow (during sunny hours).

Hopefully the test kit will be here early next week. I will probably make a trip to the pool store on Monday to get them to check it in the meantime.
 
Maybe I should have asked this before or realized this...but do I need to run my filter 24 hours after adding sequestrant? I feel like (and almost pretty sure) we've had the filter on for 12 hours a day if not 24 hours for most days for the past week and I am DREADING my power bill.

So yeah, I turned the filter pump off late last night, woke up and the pool looks a little darker green this morning (still clear), but it is very cloudy outside today (thanks to our Tropical Storm warnings from Debby). Wondering how that will affect things also. Wondering if I need to add another bottle of the sequestrant and let the pump run for 24 hours (the bottle didn't say...).
 
:-(

Hubby wants to take the pool down and sell it. We've only had it a month now.

It hasn't gotten any better (color wise) or worse since I added the one bottle of sequestrant.

I went to the pool store this morning with these objectives: Get water tested (still do not have my own test kit..thought I could order it Saturday, didn't have the $$), get Jack's Magic or something for metals, leave.

What did I end up doing? The worse possible thing. I bought a phosphate remover. I knew there was ONE THING that I was not supposed to follow pool store advice on, but I couldn't remember and couldn't look it up fast enough on my phone. :-( :-( :-( I plan on returning it, but they also charge a 25% restocking fee.

Needless to say, the hubs is just not pleased at all.

Anyway, here are the numbers from today's test from the pool store (and just as a question, is it truly a conspiracy with their testing? Is it THAT off? I guess I will know better when I get my own test kit....)

TA: 115
pH: 6.33
CYA: 27
FC: 0
CC: 0
CH: 20
Copper: 0
Iron: 0
Salt: 3270

I asked them to please test for the metals, again, they came out at zero. She tested for phosphates and said it was something around 3000 ppm (or mabye around 300). Either way, she said it was way too high and needed to be addressed and the pool will never be blue again unless we take care of it...and "vacuum to waste".

I get what vacuum to waste means, but I have no clue how I am going to achieve this with our filter pump set up. We hook the vacuum hose up to the skimmer and it all runs through the filter lines, which have to be airless.

I'm about to where hubby is. I feel so overwhelmed at this point. I didn't need to spend $40+ on a bottle of something that's not what I need. I needed to put that towards the test kit. And now, just ready to throw the towel in.
 
Still pushing, just wait a few more days.

Based on the results from the pool store, and using the Pool Calculator, I added bleach and borax both. I'm hoping I didn't screw more up by doing this at the same time. I've pointed the return jet from the filter upward, to aerate the pool somewhat (to lower the TA...again, hoping this is what I needed to do...trying to follow the BBB method here).

I'm going to wait an hour, and then add the Jack's Magic (Magenta stuff). Hubby was able to return the unnecessary phosphate reducer for a full return at the pool store!! Yippee!

Also, test kit has been ordered. Just anxious in the meantime. Especially with this storm in the gulf. At least Jim Cantore (weather channel) has left our local beaches. Never a good sign when he's in town.

Any advice? Well wishes? :-(
 
You can do this, your knowledge is increasing and the results will eventually show it. Stay away from the pool store until you are confident that they cannot talk you into anything. Seeing your kit is now on order you'll be able to get real numbers very soon. For now, like mentioned above, add bleach daily. Have you started your SWG yet? I use an Intex unit for my pool. 4 hours a day is more than enough to maintain good levels for my larger pool but I leave it covered and obviously have lower temps up here. My point is, the Intex SWG does a good job so it shouldn't need to run a huge amount. Your electric bill shouldn't be too bad, mine only goes up a bit and I have a larger pump than you have. Hopefully the storm doesn't affect you.
 
IIRC the Intex pump has a short hose between the pump and the filter. If you really want to pump to waste, you could attach the backwash hose to the removed Intex hose. Don't forget to remove the return hose from the filter.

I don't have any valves in any of my hoses and I what I call the "hose dance" where I move the hoses around to get it plumbed the way I need it. I do it once a year so I don't bother getting valves.

My steps to to "vacuum to waste":

  • start with a dry vacuum hose
    add the hose end adapter to it (if needed)
    remove the skimmer basket (if any)
    Plug the adapted hose into the bottom of the skimmer (where the water exits the skimmer)
    the water cannot leave the pool via the skimmer at this time
    disconnect the return hose from the filter and quickly lift that open end over the pool wall and into the pool
    find some way to keep the return hose over the wall and into the pool (heavy pool toy? zip tie ?, string? velcro strip?) this prevent water from flowing backwards thru filter.
    you can now disconnect the hose between the pump and filter and connect a backwash hose, You might try an adapter like below and a couple hose clamps
    now you can fill the vacuum hose with water and start vacuuming to waste
2085903103p
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
it's still GREEN!

*grrrr*

Ok. So now what? I put in the Jack's Magic stuff yesterday, late afternoon, ran the pump until bedtime, so about 7 or 8 hours.

We are STILL GREEN. Still the same, clear green water. Only change is, there is no more of the "wormy looking, turns to clouds of dust when brushed or vacuumed" stuff on the bottom of the pool anymore.

I added the amount of borax and bleach I needed to according to the pool calculator yesterday. The 6 way test strips from Walmart are still showing FC low and pH normal to high. The crappy, two-tube test kit from Walmart (they don't have the 6 way HTH test available at ANY stores within my zip code to use while waiting on the TF-100) shows FC normal (around 2 I think? I don't know, all the yellows look the stinking same...) and the pH normal to high (above 7).

So. What should I do? Run the filter and SWG and just wait it out? Do shock treatment the best I can without at proper test kit?

:-(
 
which one is it?

I will try to post a picture later, I have to leave.

Hubby thinks it's algae (I let him go ahead and add in half a bottle of Defender from the Pool Store. I wish I knew what kind of algaecide it was...or if it even is one!). This morning, the pool color looks a tad better, and there is TON of "stuff" on the pool floor (hubby thinks it's dead algae or algae...I tried to tell him that doesn't match up with what algae normally looks like when it's killed. Our pool is not cloudy at all and still has a green tint).

I was thinking it was metals, because we fill with well water, the filters were getting terribly red colored (not so much now), and the first bottle of sequestrant seemed to really help. After adding the Jack's Magic though, there didn't seem to be much of a difference.

Now I'm thinking it's pollen. The stuff that's on the bottom is a brownish color, collects in piles (collects in a pattern almost similar to seaweed that is washed up on the shore of a beach...yes, there are some wrinkles on the bottom--so it collects along those areas, but everywhere--so ruling out mustard algae?), but we were so worried about the overall level of the pool--after taking it down after the first fill to fix the level...just tried to do our best there) and disappears into clouds of dust when brushed or vacuumed.

Ok, so the process yesterday went like this:

4 p.m.
put a clean filter in
brushed entire pool with skimmer running
vacuumed entire pool
put a clean filter in
hubby added about 16 oz or Defender
ran filter until 10 p.m.

this morning at 7 a.m.
some color difference (for the better)
TONS of "stuff" on the pool floor

used the only testing stuff I have, the 6-way strips. FC and CYA showing up low to nonexistent, added about 80 oz or bleach and 30 oz of CYA in a sock in skimmer. (one small question here, is it ok to run SWG with CYA in skimmer?)
 
I've attached a file of what the pool looked like early afternoon, after having the pump on for 4 hours. Before the pump, this stuff was all over the pool floor, I guess the pump had circulated to condense it to the center.

Any guesses to what this is? Dead (or alive) algae? Tree particles (there is a pine tree right next to the pool)? Pollen?

It turns to dust when you disturb it (so difficult to feel like it's vacuumed up).
 

Attachments

  • pool.pdf
    461.8 KB · Views: 31
The sequestrant may be pulling the iron out of the water...

Something to try... might do this outside take about 1/8cp pool water, add 1tsp 6% bleach, mix... let sit in the direct sun for a few hours.
See if anything comes out of solution. With the sequestrant in the water you may not see anything...

What happens is at high enough chlorine level the iron will come out of solution, it is appearently one method of removing high levels of iron from drinking water... discovered it was used for that in some areas of the world while dealing with my own iron issues this season!

-wc
 
wetchem...I'm not sure I understand what I would be looking for with that "test".

Vacuumed the pool yesterday, added bleach, brushed the sides and bottom. Added bleach before going to bed (about 2 cups worth?...just guessing right now, my test kit comes in tomorrow).

This morning, same story, different day. Still that "gunk" on the bottom, mostly in the center. Vacuumed as slow as possible this morning, saw the brown gunk going through the hose (put a clean filter in before vacuuming). Changed the filter after vacuuming as well, and also drained the water (brown colored) out of the filter compartment (what I'm going to call it). Added some more bleach, around 2 cups.

all I'm using is the fancy test strips right now, which show the FC between the 3 and 10 mark. It will get a color closer to the 10 mark and then when it gets closer to the 3 mark, I will add more bleach.

Trying to guesstimate based on pool calculator and such. I will be much happier when the kit arrives tomorrow.

What do I do then though? Test before major sun on the pool, add bleach to shock level and continue testing at 30 minute periods. If level holds, then I can increase my wait time to 1 hour, then 1.5, 2 hours and so on?

Major question, do I go ahead and start running the SWG while doing the shock process?

Then the OCLT.

How often do I vacuum and/or brush the pool during this? I promise I'm reading Pool School, but it's all starting to swirl.

I just want to lay in the pool!
 
EGGARTFAM said:
wetchem...I'm not sure I understand what I would be looking for with that "test".
Click to expand...
So I'm looking to confirm free iron in your water. That may be part of the brown you're seeing at the bottom... along with silt.
What I'm looking for is the Iron to come out of solution... Copper and algae will not drop out as a red/brown solid... just the iron. With the sequestrant in your pool water, few if any of the over counter or poolstore tests will confirm iron and I'm not sure if even this will do so; however, cheap, easy, and might convince DH that you're dealing with iron and not algae should it work.

What happened in my pool, Sat - set up and started filling with city water... Sun - Finished filling, did the checks, added a ton of HTH chlorine... everything was clear... Mon - morning water was clear but FC was very low so dumped more in and went to work, that evening after work... well, poop-soup. After visiting this site ( :whoot: ) and reading a ton in my water treatment textbooks, discovered that one method to remove iron from drinking water was to heavily chlorinate the water which drives the dissolved iron out of solution to a solid. That solid (basically rust) is then filtered out. Which is what I did in my pool.... sandfilter and papertowles: ( I may be a chemist... but the pool is smarter than I am! ).

There are other ways to confirm metals; however, the chemicals aren't nice or you have to have an expensive lab instrument and I don't think the LPS is going to want to do either!

-wc
 
7461707836_40463f557e_m.jpg


Here's a view at noon today. I vacuumed the pool at about 9 a.m., added some chlorine and the pump has been running.

I tried to vacuum as slowly as possible to not stir up the "stuff" and suck it up as much as possible into the filter. I realize I'm working with a very amateur filter and pump, but there is zero $$ to upgrade that at this point.

Any suggestions other than wetchem? Thinking I may try his paper towel/tshirt idea.

When is it safe to get in?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply