- Nov 26, 2013
- 168
I've been lurking for a while and learned so much. I bought a house with a 20K gal pool (my first) and we insisted on replastering as part of the deal. It was mess. I kept the same pool guy handling chemicals longer than I should have, especially given the trichlor dispenser and high water prices. He only visited once a week and I know now that thing change faster than that. My CYA was 120ish by the time I took over and mustard algae blooms were getting more and more common. It could have been worse.
Things I learned:
check and lube your seals
brush often and learn where to brush more often
get a mask and snorkel and look around
learn your pool
test and retest (get a good kit, seriously, your blind without it)
test strips don't work (two in a row don't even match!)
it gets easier and easier
I got lucky on my first batch of Walmart bleach
I got extra lucky I purchased lots (yeah!)
I may never find bleach concentration per price like that again (boo)
don't glue your spider gasket in or the next guy (me) will hate you (b*stard)
muriatic acid really does fume, hang back
I love having a pool 10x more than I thought I would
learn your pool
So, I've been living with mustard algae with high CYA and high water prices. Austin water prices are punitive, so I can't replace water. I'm going to SLAM over Xmas, but first I want to use as much rain to lower the CYA as possible. During the summer I could keep the algae at bay as long as I kept the chlorine above 6 ppm. Wow did it drop fast when a bloom started. The water today passed below 50 degree and it hardly gets any sun, so I add very little chlorine and see no algae. It's nice to relax. I've never once read any CC. Not even the tiniest color change from slight pink.
(Oh and the light nook was nasty. I'm not sure it was an issue, but I'm glad I cleaned it.)
I've got a few questions and stories to share, but I wanted to say "Hi" and thanks. TPF has been an amazing resource.
I'm looking forward having the time to do a full suite tests this weekend. It's been a while since I've done CYA and CH and we've had a bit for rain. I'm really hoping my CYA is down below 100.
Things I learned:
check and lube your seals
brush often and learn where to brush more often
get a mask and snorkel and look around
learn your pool
test and retest (get a good kit, seriously, your blind without it)
test strips don't work (two in a row don't even match!)
it gets easier and easier
I got lucky on my first batch of Walmart bleach
I got extra lucky I purchased lots (yeah!)
I may never find bleach concentration per price like that again (boo)
don't glue your spider gasket in or the next guy (me) will hate you (b*stard)
muriatic acid really does fume, hang back
I love having a pool 10x more than I thought I would
learn your pool
So, I've been living with mustard algae with high CYA and high water prices. Austin water prices are punitive, so I can't replace water. I'm going to SLAM over Xmas, but first I want to use as much rain to lower the CYA as possible. During the summer I could keep the algae at bay as long as I kept the chlorine above 6 ppm. Wow did it drop fast when a bloom started. The water today passed below 50 degree and it hardly gets any sun, so I add very little chlorine and see no algae. It's nice to relax. I've never once read any CC. Not even the tiniest color change from slight pink.
(Oh and the light nook was nasty. I'm not sure it was an issue, but I'm glad I cleaned it.)
I've got a few questions and stories to share, but I wanted to say "Hi" and thanks. TPF has been an amazing resource.
I'm looking forward having the time to do a full suite tests this weekend. It's been a while since I've done CYA and CH and we've had a bit for rain. I'm really hoping my CYA is down below 100.