New Pool Owner, old pool, draining (stain pics added)

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T

Ttime

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May 14, 2013
10
Edmond, OK
Hello and thanks in advance for your help. We purchased a home with a neglected pool and am opening it for the first time. All equipment works but the pool needs some TLC.

I have already made my fair share of purchases at the pool store and am ready to do this on my own with the help from this website. I'm draining the pool for several reasons. 1) CYA levels of 120+++ and CH is 500. 2) main drain covers need to be replaced for safety I'm told. 3) Some staining that hopefully I can scrub off.

I am very interested in BBB and am willing to put in the work to learn it.

Here are my questions.
1) what do you recommend to take off calcium deposits from tile?
2) chewable vitamin c did help remove some staining as did the shock process. Pool looks much better but not perfect.
3) I have the pool calculator app and will refer to that for amount or product to use. Is there a certain order to do it in?
4) Do I just start dumping in product as I fill the pool? Also I assume I don't add the salt until I shock and get CH levels up?

Here are the test results for my tap water. (Tested with local YMCA Test kit for their pools)
PH 8++
Chlorine: 0
TA 230
CH 30
TDS 650
CYA 0

Additional Notes:
I have cleaned the filters and acid washed them. I hope to make it through this season before purchasing new. I ran a metal cleaner through the pool as well. I will be ordering a test kit tonight so I can do my own testing.

Hopefully I have provided enough information. I look forward to your responses.
 
Re: New Pool Owner, old pool, draining and starting over.

Welcome to tfp, Ttime :wave:

Ttime said:
1) what do you recommend to take off calcium deposits from tile?
Click to expand...
http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/calcium_scaling Post a picture.
Ttime said:
2) chewable vitamin c did help remove some staining as did the shock process.
Click to expand...
Stains removable with a vitamin C tablet are metals, for that and if it is widespread, an ascorbic acid treatment will help. See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/metal stains

The stains removed by the shocking process are organic. Did you do a complete shocking process and pass all three criteria simultaneously? See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool

Ttime said:
3) I have the pool calculator app and will refer to that for amount or product to use. Is there a certain order to do it in?
Click to expand...
Generally do it in the order that the calculator shows.

Ttime said:
4) Do I just start dumping in product as I fill the pool? Also I assume I don't add the salt until I shock and get CH levels up?
Click to expand...
Are you doing a full drain and refill? If yes, do you have a high ground water table level? If you do, this can pop your pool out of the ground... not good.
 
Re: New Pool Owner, old pool, draining and starting over.

Thanks for the quick response.

Ttime said:
4) Do I just start dumping in product as I fill the pool? Also I assume I don't add the salt until I shock and get CH levels up?
Click to expand...
Are you doing a full drain and refill? If yes, do you have a high ground water table level? If you do, this can pop your pool out of the ground... not good.[/quote]

No I don't have at high ground water table. After reading a few posts on here I did some checking and am in the clear. Also my neighbor behind me did a full drain and refill last year with no issues.
 
Re: New Pool Owner, old pool, draining and starting over.

What brand/model test are you using? I would redo the cya test by mixing half pool water and half cya free water (tap water is fine for this dilution) and repeat the test. Take that result and multiply it by 2 to get your pools cya level. Then we will know how much you have to drain/refill...there is probably no need to do a full drain and refill unless you are going to do an acid wash to remove some scale.
 
Re: New Pool Owner, old pool, draining and starting over.

The stains removed by the shocking process are organic. Did you do a complete shocking process and pass all three criteria simultaneously? See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool

No, I didn't. The pool store said to sprinkle 2 packets of "shock" around the edge of the pool and water would clear up. Then bring in another sample to test. That's when I discovered the extremely high CYA, etc.

That was enough of the pool store for me.

I now know that there is a full process to follow. I'll read the instructions for shocking here and do what is suggested with the 3 criteria.
 
Re: New Pool Owner, old pool, draining and starting over.

linen said:
What brand/model test are you using? I would redo the cya test by mixing half pool water and half cya free water (tap water is fine for this dilution) and repeat the test. Take that result and multiply it by 2 to get your pools cya level. Then we will know how much you have to drain/refill...there is probably no need to do a full drain and refill unless you are going to do an acid wash to remove some scale.
Click to expand...

I think I will go ahead and do an acid wash. Are there acid wash instructions you can refer me to?

Plus i'll probably go ahead and replace the main drains per code from our home inspection. I think they are called anti entrapment covers. Does anyone ave any suggestions on which of those are recommended. I have 8" drains.
 
Re: New Pool Owner, old pool, draining and starting over.

Ok, I'll snap some pics tomorrow and post them. I don't really want to acid wash, but since I am draining anyway I thought I might try to figure it out.

These forums have been extremely helpful!
 
Re: New Pool Owner, old pool, draining and starting over.

OK, here are some pictures. It's cloudy this morning so I hope it is bright enough to tell. What do you think?
 

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Ok, the drain is complete and I acid washed the pool and replaced the drain covers. The plaster looks great and almost all stains are gone. I also powerwashed the tile which removed most of the calcium deposits.

I'm refilling now. Looking forward to beginning BBB. I guess I'll use the pool calc to start balancing things out. Then do the shock process recommended above.

Am I on the right track?
 

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Ttime said:
Ok, the drain is complete and I acid washed the pool and replaced the drain covers. The plaster looks great and almost all stains are gone. I also powerwashed the tile which removed most of the calcium deposits.

I'm refilling now. Looking forward to beginning BBB. I guess I'll use the pool calc to start balancing things out. Then do the shock process recommended above.

Am I on the right track?
Click to expand...
The shock process is probably not needed with a fresh fill. Maybe go a little higher on FC initially, since the CYA won't dissolve instantly and there may be some nasties inside the plumbing or filter.
 
Thanks Richard. Good news on not having to shock.

Time to go to the store and stock up on supplies for balancing.

Does it matter when I add the salt? Do I need to get test values in order first or go ahead and start pouring it in?
 
Ttime said:
Thanks Richard. Good news on not having to shock.

Time to go to the store and stock up on supplies for balancing.

Does it matter when I add the salt? Do I need to get test values in order first or go ahead and start pouring it in?
Click to expand...
Conventional wisdom is to hold off on the salt until the pool is balanced. That's one less variable to mess you up. Give yourself a couple days to get used to things and be sure the pumps and filter are good and the water is sparkling. And let the CYA completely dissolve - a SWG won't be able to keep up with the demand until CYA is dissolved. Then add salt and fire off the SWG. Do you have kids? Scroll down in this thread until you see the highlighting.
 
Ok. First of all I couldn't have done this without this forum. Thanks to everyone.

My TFT100 test kit arrived today and here are the results.

FC 3
PH 7.8
TA 80
CH 200
CYA 50

It looks to be in pretty good shape and the water is crystal clear.

I have added bleach, borax, muratic acid, and cya over the last 5 days primarily off of basic test kit results and a trip to the local pool store for TA and CYA.

Any other suggestions before I add salt? Also, how high do you think my chlorine should be prior to adding salt?

I did not shock based on Richards recommendations.
 
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