Keeping it clean?

[jbr]

I've been lurking around here for a while, figured I'd start off with a hopefully simple question.

We bought a house, with a pool. Its been doing fine all year, but there is one persistent pain, and that's keeping the spa clean. So, I've made some random observations, and I'm hoping maybe there is an easy answer here.

The biggest problem is dirt. It settles down onto the steps, and the spa is basically one giant square corner. It is a huge pain to brush. Are there any suggestions for keeping the corners clean?

In addition, during normal operation, no water is drawn from the spa. It is a spillover into the pool, and it is "return only", which makes me think its keeping some of the dirt from making it to the filter, so it just lives there forever. During normal pumping should the spa be pulling water through the drain?

Thanks!

 

[jblizzle]

Sounds like a typical setup. Certainly would not hurt to run in spa mode occasionally to draw the dirt out ... easy if you have automation.

You can not usually go with partial suction from both the pool and spa as it is difficult to balance and you may drain the spa.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short

 

[jbr]

Oh right... Automation... I kinda forgot I had that...
Thanks!

So, I also failed to mention... I don't usually use the drain at all. I have a pool vacuum on the suction side that i generally use instead... Is there a benefit to using the drain some as well?

 

[jblizzle]

If you were able to switch to run spa mode for a little while each day, then maybe some of the dirt would be sucked out thus reducing your need to vacuum.

No harm either way.

Do you have an automation setup? Or when you want to use the spa do you manually turn the 2 valves and turn on the heater?

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short

 

[jbr]

We have automation for pool/spa mode, but the main drain is not a part of that, so it would either have to be open with no vacuum... or maybe partially open? Is there is any benefit to that (besides not having the vacuum in the pool)?

I set the spa to run for an hour each day, and its already looking better.

 

[jblizzle]

Do you normally have a spill over to the pool? You have to circulate/mix the water in the pool and spa to ensure that the chemical levels stay uniform, so I assume the spa must normally spill over, but that will not remove any dirt that has sunk.

Running in spa mode will make the suction come from the pool and possibily pull the dirt out.

I am not sure I understand what you are saying with regards to the "main drain" not opening in spa mode? How else is the water circulated in the spa?