Fine dirt/pollen - Pics attached

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reindeerboy

reindeerboy

0
LifeTime Supporter
May 27, 2008
519
Jamestown, ND
OK, I am new to this form, but heard about it from the intheswim.com forum.

Much more information here than I could ever imagine.

First, I read about the BBB method, and thought it to be very interesting but do not plan to utilize it. I have had this house a year now and my pool is a 16000 gallon 16x32' inground pool with a sand filtration system on it and a 1.5 hp pump. I felt a ittle uncomfortable about adding bleach to a vinyl lined pool, but from reading more comments from people, I may consider it down the road.

Second. My problem is the following: I live in ND and the wather is always intersting. Its been windy and by windy I mean 40-60 mp winds for the last month. Never seen anything like it. Luckily we live in the middle of town and that helps as the dirt blows something terrible in the country and I think when it hits down, it just drops right in my pool. So, I have now vacuumed to waste and that really elliminated much of the mud and grim on the pool. All my chemicals are in check and the pool is clear as a bell. Looks great except for the little mud/dirt in the bottom of the pool. I am now trying a combination of my aquabot and then vacumming it manually in the filter mode. It has helped and I do backwash my filter once a week.

My question is this, should I continue to vacumm like I have or should I try to the waste vacuum method? I hate to do this as it takes so much water all the time, plus the loss of the chems in the pool. I think I will try to vaccum in filter and continue to use my aquabot and if the weather holds and the wind goes down some, I think I will lick this issue but any comments or suggestions from you guys would really be appreciated.

You all seem really knowledgable and I do plan to purchase one of your test kits as mine are from the pool place and really are not that accurate like I would want them to be.

Thanks for any help you could offer. Did I mention its cold yet up here! This weather has been a pain in my rear this year. Really frustrating ya know.

Thanks.
 
I think you've answered your own question. The wasting method can use alot of water, just keep up with the vacuuming for now. You should start to get ahead of it soon. Unfortunately with high wind usually comes dust and dirt it is hard to avoid. The joys of owning the towns dirt magnet :wink:
 
Thanks. I appreciate the quick response and patience I know is something I need to learn to have.

Its just gets to me when the pool looks so awesome but is too flipping cold to get in yet. No we do not have a heater, but a solar blanket has greatly helped and now its up to 67 degrees. Weather says 70s all week so hopefully I will be swimming in another week or so.

I will keep up with the process and hopefully I can get this dirt issue flushed out of my pool without having to vacuum to waste. If I dont get it to work, then I will resort to moving to waste and then keep on the routine until its gone.

Again Thanks!
 
Re: Fine dirt in the pool

reindeerboy said:
OK, I am new to this form, but heard about it from the intheswim.com forum.

Much more information here than I could ever imagine.

First, I read about the BBB method, and thought it to be very interesting but do not plan to utilize it. I have had this house a year now and my pool is a 16000 gallon 16x32' inground pool with a sand filtration system on it and a 1.5 hp pump. I felt a ittle uncomfortable about adding bleach to a vinyl lined pool, but from reading more comments from people, I may consider it down the road.

Have you considered a Liquidator? It controls the addition of bleach (slowly), metered in only when your pump runs - it's a pretty inexpensive device. Like a salt water generator, it has the advantage of allowing you to add chlorine without the addition of stabilizer (cya) at the same time.

Second. My problem is the following: I live in ND and the wather is always intersting. Its been windy and by windy I mean 40-60 mp winds for the last month. Never seen anything like it. Luckily we live in the middle of town and that helps as the dirt blows something terrible in the country and I think when it hits down, it just drops right in my pool. So, I have now vacuumed to waste and that really elliminated much of the mud and grim on the pool. All my chemicals are in check and the pool is clear as a bell. Looks great except for the little mud/dirt in the bottom of the pool. I am now trying a combination of my aquabot and then vacumming it manually in the filter mode. It has helped and I do backwash my filter once a week.

My question is this, should I continue to vacumm like I have or should I try to the waste vacuum method? I hate to do this as it takes so much water all the time, plus the loss of the chems in the pool. I think I will try to vaccum in filter and continue to use my aquabot and if the weather holds and the wind goes down some, I think I will lick this issue but any comments or suggestions from you guys would really be appreciated.

I would have thought the aquabot would take care of the dirt - it must be a LOT. I've always heard good things about the robotics and their ability to pick up dirt.

You all seem really knowledgable and I do plan to purchase one of your test kits as mine are from the pool place and really are not that accurate like I would want them to be.

Well, www.tftestkits.com is not actually a part of TFP. We just happen to think they make the best residential kits on the market and duraleigh (Dave) is kind enough to give a discount to TFP Supporters - it's a win win. A good kit isn't cheap, but it will actually save you money in short order. You'll only being buying the chemicals that you actually need!

Thanks for any help you could offer. Did I mention its cold yet up here! This weather has been a pain in my rear this year. Really frustrating ya know.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'll bet. I almost feel guilty. The temps here are in the 90's now and we are swimming daily. There are times I trade it all to get away from the heat and humidity though.

Just let us know how we can help and Welcome to TFP!
 
90s eh. I would settle for 70-80 degrees up here. We had snow the middle of May! That is just wrong.

Thanks for the nice invite. I did purchase your test kit. I felt I needed a much more reliable testing kit rather than having to rely on the darn pool company which is 100 miles away from me to do my pool water testing. I plan to still use them, but now once I get the kit, I wont have to use them as often.

I was having issues keeping FC in my pool. Found out that my CYA-stabalizer was 4 pounds low. Added that and now the TC is holding along with the FC as well. The dirt issue is frustrating, but with time and patience I will get it looking better. The good news is that it is swim ready anyway and if the weather would start to cooperate, then we can finally swim in it.

Thanks again!
 
My sympathy on the dirt. We're dealing with it as well here in rural PA. This time of year is bad for dirt in the air as the farmers are tilling, fertilizing, and planting. We had a cloud of lime settle on the pool the other day. Not to mention blossoms from the wild cherry trees, BILLIONS of tiny little white things that fill the skimmer sock in no time and are stuck to the sides of the pool, and what doesn't get caught just sinks to the bottom.

I've never had to vacuum as frequently as I'm having to do thins year. Nice, clean water but streaks of nasty stuff on the bottom. I just suck it up :)

AnnaK
 
Pretty much the same kind of thing here. My neighbor has apple trees that are pretty, but a pain when it comes to cleaning the pool. My solar blanket really helps with that.

I did find something interesting this morning. In my skimmer basket there is a plastic ring that attaches to the sides with a silicone lubricant I think. Well I figured my vacuum was not holding properly and now I know why. The skimmer basket was in there lopsided and that is how I found it. I put it in but I will have to drain the pool below the skimmer so that the water goes down some and then use some more sealant to glue the plastic together.

What do you guys recommend on a sealant? I have some stuff called loctite which when it hardens it is rock solid and is waterproof, but I want to be sure that I dont hurt the chems in my pool?

Any suggestions before I fix it tonight would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
reindeerboy said:
Thanks for the nice invite. I did purchase your test kit. I felt I needed a much more reliable testing kit rather than having to rely on the darn pool company which is 100 miles away from me to do my pool water testing. I plan to still use them, but now once I get the kit, I wont have to use them as often.
Click to expand...

I Just have to point out, as it's a common misconception, but I (TFP) do not own tftestkits.com or profit from the kit sales.

From my first post...
SeanB said:
Well, www.tftestkits.com is not actually a part of TFP.
Click to expand...

Still a smart move on your part :wink: - you'll save yourself lot of headache and money.
 
Hello from Louisiana (water at 82..sorry just had to rib you about that),

I've used many types of sealants over the years (from having sailboats) and I would say if you are sealing plastic to plastic, just go back with a good silicone. (remember..silicone won't stick to silicone well at all), so you should clean the old silicone off. Must be dry also. Personally I would not use a sealant that is harder than plastic..so I would not use the loctite. If the silicone won't hold, let me know..we'll go to the next type of sealant that will hold!!.
Harry
 
Thanks a bunch. There really wasnt much left of the old silicone so that I already cleaned off 100%. I only have to now drain down the water past the skimmer and then fix it before tonight as I dont run my pump at night anyway. I was going to shock my pool tonight but will hold off a day until this issue gets resolved.

I already was going to have to clean my pool on waste due to the dirt issue so now I just wont refill the pool up until this sealant is completely dry and that should take only a few hours but I plan to leave it overnight and then check it before work in the morning and then refill it up and start the pool before I head in to work tomorrow morning.

I talked to the local pool company who suggested the same thing. To just use the silicon as that is nontoxic and 100% waterproof so that is what I will do tonight.

Thanks for that jab by the way on the water temp down there. Ha Ha.

But seriously, I hope to be swimming in a week as long as the weather starts to hold. Geez, its darn near June for Gods Sake!

Thanks again and I will let you know if that doesnt work. Appreciate the comments and support!
 

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Hey Rudy..I was going easy on you...it was more like 85!!
Put that silicone on soon..It does dry in a few hours but it needs to cure for no less than 12-15 before I'd let water run on it.
Good luck..Harry
 
Know what you mean about wind, RDB. We've had several storms lately and the wind from those have really mucked up the nice clean floor of our pool. Oh well . . . no worries. BTW, I was very hesitant about pouring bleach of all things into our vinyl liner pool in the beginning too! Ahh, but the BBB method is the best way to go IMHO. :-D
 
Thanks for that 85 comment!

I did decide to hold off on the silicone as that little piece does stay put in the skimmer just fine. The only time it pops out is when I pull the skimmer basket out. Either than that, I figured that as long as it stays put then why drain any unneccessary water until I winterize it. I will then do it at that point and it will have loads of time to cure then with the pool being closed up for the year. I was talking to my local pool dealer and he thought that as long as everything works and it doesnt go anywhere, then why drain the water and have to add more chems into the pool now that I have it looking so good.

It did solve the problem of the dirt. I found out that by not having that ring all the way down, water was getting underneath it cause a lack of suction when I did vacuum the pool. Duh! No wonder it took longer than normal in getting the pool cleaned up this year. Again, keep in mind that I bought this home with the pool late July in 2007 so all of this is a learning experience for me, but with a little common sense and some patience, I now have sucked that darn dirt out of the pool and the wind finally went down enough that the pool tonight looks AWESOME!

I still am struggling with the neighbors apple trees. He has 3 HUGE trees that are dropping their flowers now. What a freakin mess.

Oh well. Thanks everyone for the comments and I think that silicone will work great this fall when I close up the pool. That way I save myself some $$$ as with pools, everybit saved sure helps.

I did do a test and found that my FC was a bit low and it was time again to shock the pool so I hope to get that test kit from the site here soon as I would like to see just how close my darn test strips are to what is actually going on.

Thanks and have a great evening everyone!
 
reindeerboy,

If your existing skimmer is having trouble keeping up with your neighbors apple trees, you might consider an in-pool skimmer device called the PoolSkim. It is the best $85 I have spent on the pool so far. The PoolSkim removes at least 5 times the amount of surface debris as my regular skimmer.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/viewtopi ... t=poolskim

http://www.troublefreepool.com/viewtopi ... t=poolskim

Also, please post the particulars of your pool in your signature. That way we will be able to help you much more efficiently. ttp://www.troublefreepool.com/sticky.php?s=3662

Titanium
 
PoolSkim does catch far more surface debris than what gets pulled into the skimmer, at least on my AGP, but it only works while the pump is running, of course. Any blossoms or other debris that drops into the pool during the pump's off time will eventually get soggy and sink to the bottom and require vacuuming.
 
The flowers are not real bad and soon it will be all done and then I really do not have to many problems with debris in my pool. I run my pump 8-10 hours a day so it turns it over once and then turn it off at night. I have found the same problem that Anna has and that is that anything overnight drops to the bottom. Fortunately I added a solar pool blanket. That has REALLY helped keep out the dirt and debris dramatically and then when I roll it up, I just skim out the flowers and leaves and then throw either my aquabot in to finish the job or just if there is only a small amount to do, I will manually do it myself as I did last night.

The dirt has gone way down now that I solved my vacuum issue and I plan to vacuum again tonight and clean out the flowers from the trees. I will continue this until they are done dropping now off the tree and hopefully the wind isnt so bad that it blows them in my pool.

I plan to maybe try to get my digital camera working and then try posting some pics for you all as well. That may give you a better idea. I did put the pools statistics on my signature so that should help now.

Thanks again for the suggestions. I do plan to look into that pool skim feature a bit more to see if it will work for me.

Have a good day! :)
 
Rained some today and wow, did that show the dirt back in the pool again. The rain must have caught the rest of the dirt in the air and wow was it dirty. Still raining so decided to hold off in vacuuming until tomorrow.

Tree flowers are still dropping like crazy, luckily the pool blanket catches most of them and I can just run around the edges of the pool and scoop them out. This may take a couple of weeks of work I think and then I should be good.

Then I just have to continue working with getting the dirt out. Its better before it rained today but its expected with the rain.

Will try to post some pics if its nice out tomorrow.
 
How long usually does it take to receive the test kit. I ordered in on 5/27/08? I know I am a bit anxious, but I am really curious to get it to compare it to what I have been using and then to what the pool stores results as well.

Thanks
 

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