Hi Everyone!
My wife and I just recently moved into our first home (foreclosure) down here in Pensacola, FL! Took us a few months just to get into it - had to re-do the roof / electrical, ceilings, and a number of other items as the house sat empty for about 5 years (and copper thieves had their way with it). After getting the major portion of the remodel taken care of, we're pretty much broke but loving our new house. One of the biggest selling points for us was the swampy inground pool in the back yard, which we've finally started working on!
Found the site about a month ago and wow, I've pretty much lived here with my free time since. This place is awesome. Read through pool school about 5 times, bought an expanded TF100 test kit, stocked up on a few chemicals, and we're finally ready to go!
Took a few weeks to get materials together and finish work on the plumbing for the sand filter and new pump. Old pump was stolen and gulf power offered us a rebate so we went with a new variable speed pump. We also picked up a second-hand 1.5hp hayward pump that I'm building into a big trash filter (there are TONS of leaves and debris in the pool - I've netted out about 20 wheelbarrow loads so far). The sand filter was re-buildable (once I tinkered with it and figured out how it works), and it's now up and working great. I found an old trichlor feeder that I plumbed in just because I had it, and I also bought a compupool SWG that I'll tie in once the pool is clean and functional.
Chemicals. I bought 12 2.5-gal containers of 12% hypochlor (liquid) and stuck it in the darkest place I could find. Before finding myself here, I added 2lbs of trichlor "shock" powder to the pool and bought a 3lb container of CYA. I also bought 2lbs of dichlor "shock" powder that I haven't used yet. Once I got the pump and filter moving, I added 2lbs of CYA (via a sock at the return) after reading my first set of test results:
pH: 6.8
CYA: less than 20 (Poolcalculator said 13, due to the 2lbs of trichlor that I previously added)
TA: 20
CH: 20
FC: 0
CC: 0
TC: 0
Right now, I'm not running the new pump while I'm at work - mostly just b/c I don't want the skimmer / sand filter to stop up and burn it up (I'm assuming the main drain is completely covered with leaves and have it closed to prevent it from blocking up). The bottom of the pool is covered in silt, which just kicks up and clouds the pool like crazy when I go to netting trash out. Also, I'm having to be careful not to damage the liner with the various objects that I've found at the bottom (rocks, BRICKS, sticks, broken coffee cup, etc....). I'm actually amazed that the liner is holding water with all the stuff that I've found so far.
I'm assuming that I should NOT start with chemicals until I can barely remove any more debris from the pool via my leaf rake. Anybody have any words of advice on exactly when I should start the process of sanitizing? Poolcalculator says I will need about 18lbs of baking soda (for a pH of 7.2) and about 4 lbs of borax before shocking...
Also, when I do start the shocking process, should I start out with mustard algae shock levels? I don't see any yellow in the water (but then again, I don't see anything below about 1 foot or so haha). Is there any specific way to check for mustard algae?
Pictures will be added tonight!
My wife and I just recently moved into our first home (foreclosure) down here in Pensacola, FL! Took us a few months just to get into it - had to re-do the roof / electrical, ceilings, and a number of other items as the house sat empty for about 5 years (and copper thieves had their way with it). After getting the major portion of the remodel taken care of, we're pretty much broke but loving our new house. One of the biggest selling points for us was the swampy inground pool in the back yard, which we've finally started working on!
Found the site about a month ago and wow, I've pretty much lived here with my free time since. This place is awesome. Read through pool school about 5 times, bought an expanded TF100 test kit, stocked up on a few chemicals, and we're finally ready to go!
Took a few weeks to get materials together and finish work on the plumbing for the sand filter and new pump. Old pump was stolen and gulf power offered us a rebate so we went with a new variable speed pump. We also picked up a second-hand 1.5hp hayward pump that I'm building into a big trash filter (there are TONS of leaves and debris in the pool - I've netted out about 20 wheelbarrow loads so far). The sand filter was re-buildable (once I tinkered with it and figured out how it works), and it's now up and working great. I found an old trichlor feeder that I plumbed in just because I had it, and I also bought a compupool SWG that I'll tie in once the pool is clean and functional.
Chemicals. I bought 12 2.5-gal containers of 12% hypochlor (liquid) and stuck it in the darkest place I could find. Before finding myself here, I added 2lbs of trichlor "shock" powder to the pool and bought a 3lb container of CYA. I also bought 2lbs of dichlor "shock" powder that I haven't used yet. Once I got the pump and filter moving, I added 2lbs of CYA (via a sock at the return) after reading my first set of test results:
pH: 6.8
CYA: less than 20 (Poolcalculator said 13, due to the 2lbs of trichlor that I previously added)
TA: 20
CH: 20
FC: 0
CC: 0
TC: 0
Right now, I'm not running the new pump while I'm at work - mostly just b/c I don't want the skimmer / sand filter to stop up and burn it up (I'm assuming the main drain is completely covered with leaves and have it closed to prevent it from blocking up). The bottom of the pool is covered in silt, which just kicks up and clouds the pool like crazy when I go to netting trash out. Also, I'm having to be careful not to damage the liner with the various objects that I've found at the bottom (rocks, BRICKS, sticks, broken coffee cup, etc....). I'm actually amazed that the liner is holding water with all the stuff that I've found so far.
I'm assuming that I should NOT start with chemicals until I can barely remove any more debris from the pool via my leaf rake. Anybody have any words of advice on exactly when I should start the process of sanitizing? Poolcalculator says I will need about 18lbs of baking soda (for a pH of 7.2) and about 4 lbs of borax before shocking...
Also, when I do start the shocking process, should I start out with mustard algae shock levels? I don't see any yellow in the water (but then again, I don't see anything below about 1 foot or so haha). Is there any specific way to check for mustard algae?
Pictures will be added tonight!