So disappointed in how we have treated our pool (new member)

[mlrogers]

Wow, after finding this forum thanks to suggestions from another forum I read, I am almost sick about how we have treated our pool and how much money we have poured into chemicals we didn't need! We have a beautiful free form vinyl pool which was built by a highly reputable pool company in our area. When the pool was done they gave us a two way test kit, PH up, PH down, dichlor and a bucket of 1" trichlor tabs to put into our autofeeder and left us to our own understanding. Now I see how we messed up!
The first two years were great and the pool held chlorine. Last summer was very hot for our area and we could not keep chlorine. We added so much shock and had floating trichlor baskets trying to keep the chlorine where it should be. The pool liner faded where the baskets floated, so we ruined the look of our beautiful blue liner. Then we paid to have the pool closed as usual and we were shocked to find it completely nasty green this Spring. Now after reading here about how CYA builds up over the summer, I am sure our CYA numbers were off the charts last fall. So, adding enough chlorine to get thru the winter probably didn't do a thing because the high CYA rendered it useless. Thus a nasty nasty mess this spring. To clear up the mess the pool store sold us tons of chlorine, dichlor, calcium up and alkalinity up!
So, I am about to go drain my pool down to get the CYA under control. I have a shed with trichlor 3 inch and 1 inch tabs I can't use. Totally bummed right now. Wish I had known all this stuff 4 years ago. I would not have had to refer to pool maint. as "fighting with the pool". So thanks for the useful, unbiased advice which I can hopefully begin using and get the pool treated right!

 

[linen]

Re: So disappointed in how we have treated our pool (new mem

Welcome to tfp, mlrogers

The first and most important thing to do is to get an appropriate test kit. See this pool school article:http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison Without that you will continue to fly blind. Many of us have the tf-100 since that is the best value.

When draining, make sure that you leave at least a foot in the shallow end so your liner doesn't float.

 

[Isaac-1]

Re: So disappointed in how we have treated our pool (new mem

Welcome, most of what you need to know if covered in pool school (link in the upper right), for the rest we are here to help when you have questions.

Ike

 

[techguy]

Re: So disappointed in how we have treated our pool (new mem

You are likely in good company in abusing your pool before TFP. I know I ruined my old liner by dumping chem into the pool

 

[chem geek]

Re: So disappointed in how we have treated our pool (new mem

I have a shed with trichlor 3 inch and 1 inch tabs I can't use.

Save those for when you go on vacation or when you need to touch up the CYA level if it drops from water dilution. However, as you have found out, you need to make sure the floating feeder doesn't park itself in one place or else it can damage whatever is nearby due to the low pH and high chlorine level. 9 years ago I had stainless steel mounts rust from a Trichlor feeder that parked itself nearby. You can probably tether the feeder with a string across the pool so that it is positioned away from any wall, at least when the pool is not in use.

 

[ship of fools]

Re: So disappointed in how we have treated our pool (new mem

Before you drain i would get an accurate CYA reading as often times CYA disappears over the winter months.

I'm not sure where you are located but here in upstate NY i closed my pool with a CYA reading of 40 or so and i opened it up to 0.

It's worth checking just in case you don't need to drain.

 

[mlrogers]

Re: So disappointed in how we have treated our pool (new mem

I am hoping next spring to find pool CYA low or at 0. This year we have already added so much dichlor to get rid of the algae that the CYA is very high. I am not able to drain the pool too far down because we have well supplied water but I did what I was comfortable with and now it just rained again so that added a little more fresh water. I will have to order a testing kit for an accurate number on the chems.
We do drain well below skimmers in the fall and I will know next spring to use liquid chlorine instead of dichlor to start up pool. If CYA is 0 or low in the spring do people actually add stabilizer or start with their trichlor tabs for a few weeks to add stabilizer and then switch to liquid?

 

[chem geek]

Re: So disappointed in how we have treated our pool (new mem

If the CYA is near zero upon spring opening, then most on this site add CYA directly, usually in a sock hanging over a return or in a bag/shirt/sock in the skimmer. If the CYA is low but not zero, then one can use Trichlor pucks. Another alternative if the CYA is zero is to use Dichlor and this is the easiest way to get started with a temporary or very small pool. Even in spas, the Dichlor-then-bleach method is an easy way to build up CYA and then switch over to bleach.

There's no one right way -- you can decide what works best for your situation. BBB is about knowledge -- testing accurately, knowing what to do, dosing appropriately.

I wouldn't count on the CYA going away over the winter on its own. Use winter rains to dilute the water if you need to or do a partial drain/refill after you open if you still find the CYA to be high.

 

[Patrick_B]

Re: So disappointed in how we have treated our pool (new mem

Welcome to TFP mlrogers. You came to the right place and you are far from the first with this type of situation. I find it so frustrating that builders and stores do this to people. Most of us do, and it's why we like it here where education and solid knowledge are the most important factors in pool care. If you stick around and learn, you won't be in a "fight the pool" mode ever again. We enjoy helping people so when you run into a snag, there will be someone along shortly to help you out. Take care, and enjoy the forum.