G'Day All,
I will try to keep to the short version of this story, but understand that with 7 kids (5 at home), stories never seem to be short ------
We live here in Eastern Washington State on an 800 acre wheat/horse ranch. We also live about 7 miles from one of the largest man-made recreational areas on the country (Lake Roosevelt) and spend quite a bit of time at the lake in the boat. However, about 5 years ago, a friend (now an empty nester) gave us a 21' doughbough pool. Well, needless to say, farming and ranching and boating and....... got in the way, and I didn't get it set up until last year (07). I had done some pool maintenance during college (as part of a caretaking job - ya' know, lawn, pool, weeds, ..... ) so had a LITTLE knowledge, and last year went effortlessly.
Then fall came, and I followed the directions on the closing kit to a letter, and covered the pool with the 10 YO micromesh cover that had come with it, and saw no problems with the couple of large holes in the cover, other than I may have to pull a few leaves out, right?????
Well, after a winter of almost 7' of snow, the cover did its job, and let the water pass through, along with the small bits of organics and dirt in it. Uncovering it, I notived the water was crytal clear, with a light layer of dirt on the bottom. So, I filled the pool, hooked up the filter (a cartridge type) shocked the water, and started vacuuming. The filters, of course, filled up quickly, so it took a few days, as other things took priority. The solar caver worked on getting the temp up, and as it reached 70 deg, boom----you guessed it --- it looked like lemonade, not pool water. So, I went to the pool store, had combined chlorine explained to me, and walked out with $30 worth of liquid chlorine, and instructions. A week later, my pool was clear again, and I started looking for help understanding the problems and solutions and the chemical situation that occured.
I have already budgetted for next year for a sand filter, am going to build a solar system, and have ordered a new winter cover.
I found this forum from Poolforum, and will start the BBB as soon as I run out of the $100 worth of chemicals I still have left. I will be able to use some in the hot tub, but probably will be next season before I begin.
I have read a ton of posts already, and participate regularly in a couple of other forums on other subjects, so am familiar with the stuff of them....
Looking forward to tapping the endless knowledge........
TJ.
I will try to keep to the short version of this story, but understand that with 7 kids (5 at home), stories never seem to be short ------
We live here in Eastern Washington State on an 800 acre wheat/horse ranch. We also live about 7 miles from one of the largest man-made recreational areas on the country (Lake Roosevelt) and spend quite a bit of time at the lake in the boat. However, about 5 years ago, a friend (now an empty nester) gave us a 21' doughbough pool. Well, needless to say, farming and ranching and boating and....... got in the way, and I didn't get it set up until last year (07). I had done some pool maintenance during college (as part of a caretaking job - ya' know, lawn, pool, weeds, ..... ) so had a LITTLE knowledge, and last year went effortlessly.
Then fall came, and I followed the directions on the closing kit to a letter, and covered the pool with the 10 YO micromesh cover that had come with it, and saw no problems with the couple of large holes in the cover, other than I may have to pull a few leaves out, right?????
Well, after a winter of almost 7' of snow, the cover did its job, and let the water pass through, along with the small bits of organics and dirt in it. Uncovering it, I notived the water was crytal clear, with a light layer of dirt on the bottom. So, I filled the pool, hooked up the filter (a cartridge type) shocked the water, and started vacuuming. The filters, of course, filled up quickly, so it took a few days, as other things took priority. The solar caver worked on getting the temp up, and as it reached 70 deg, boom----you guessed it --- it looked like lemonade, not pool water. So, I went to the pool store, had combined chlorine explained to me, and walked out with $30 worth of liquid chlorine, and instructions. A week later, my pool was clear again, and I started looking for help understanding the problems and solutions and the chemical situation that occured.
I have already budgetted for next year for a sand filter, am going to build a solar system, and have ordered a new winter cover.
I found this forum from Poolforum, and will start the BBB as soon as I run out of the $100 worth of chemicals I still have left. I will be able to use some in the hot tub, but probably will be next season before I begin.
I have read a ton of posts already, and participate regularly in a couple of other forums on other subjects, so am familiar with the stuff of them....
Looking forward to tapping the endless knowledge........
TJ.
