At the beginning of April we purchased a house with a pool. My background with pool ownership until now was ZERO. The previous owners used the perma salt system and after I went to the pool store :blah: to find out how much the chemicals cost ($480.00). I started looking around the internet for another solution. Thats when I found this site. I made a couple initial posts and read Pool School about 10 times. After ordering my test kit and new pump and some of the chemicals involved in the BBB method I started the shocking process on the 16th of April. I needed to replace my pump and a couple valves to get everything in line and after that I was ready to go. it seemed that it was taking a long time to get my water clear but I keep brushing every day and testing hourly for the first couple of weeks. I was ready to give in to the pool store, then last weekend I decided to take my filter apart and see if everything was ok. I found out that my sand was clumped together and the filter itself was not filled with the proper amount of sand. After adding the proper amount of sand and finding some DE I was back at it. I used the method described in pool school for adding DE to a sand filter. And this week I was noticing overnight results, the water was getting clearer and I was backwashing my filter twice a day.
I have attached a couple of pictures one from when I began and one from today. There are some leaves visible in the second, I will get them out tomorrow right now it is 45 degrees outside.
As for costs. I have a little over $550.00 up until now. I did purchase a new pump, valves for the skimmer and filter, backwash hose, skimmer basket, and sand. Either way I would have had to buy these items no matter which way I went, unless I tore down the pool. just in chemicals alone I have about $200.00 tied up in it I do have allot of chemicals I have not used yet, such as baking soda, borax, stabilizer, and 10 gallons of bleach (I used the walmart brand the entire time).
This forum has helped me out so much and I am so thankful to those who have made this information available. Don't get impatient, THIS METHOD WORKS!!!!! Just follow the Shocking Process to a T and you can turn your green swamp into a crystal clear oasis!!!!
I have attached a couple of pictures one from when I began and one from today. There are some leaves visible in the second, I will get them out tomorrow right now it is 45 degrees outside.
As for costs. I have a little over $550.00 up until now. I did purchase a new pump, valves for the skimmer and filter, backwash hose, skimmer basket, and sand. Either way I would have had to buy these items no matter which way I went, unless I tore down the pool. just in chemicals alone I have about $200.00 tied up in it I do have allot of chemicals I have not used yet, such as baking soda, borax, stabilizer, and 10 gallons of bleach (I used the walmart brand the entire time).
This forum has helped me out so much and I am so thankful to those who have made this information available. Don't get impatient, THIS METHOD WORKS!!!!! Just follow the Shocking Process to a T and you can turn your green swamp into a crystal clear oasis!!!!
. What is my next step in balancing my water? Do I just let FC get dow to normal level for my CYA and test for PH,CH, and TA?
My next project is a deck in the next couple of weeks.