Another newbie with no pool experience. Help is appreciated.

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Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. (Or maybe I did?). I just know I would have appreciated knowing more about emptying my pool before I hired some guy to do it. He ended up destroying my plaster and it required complete replacement. I only found TFP after all that occurred. You're in good hands here, just take it one step at a time...
 
Finally, I am almost done with the move so I have time to start working on the pool. First thing I bought a submersible pump and started draining the pool adter turning off all the pool equipment. I just started draining 3 hours ago so I think I have 9-10 more hours to go. I will post updates but here are some pictures. Thanks again gor everyone encouraging me to do this drain on my own :)
IMG_4540.jpgIMG_4544.jpg
 
Simply draining is huge. Hint - don't let the pool drain completely. Keep at least about 18" or so in the bottom, or drain no more than the top of the bottom step. Also fill it back up as soon as you can so that the bare shell isn't exposed to sun/heat any longer than necessary. Once refilled, test the CYA first. If it's still high, let's say over 50 or 60, then you know another partial exchange would be required. But if you get the CYA down to about 50 or so, then you are in a position where you can start to manage the water properly. So continue with the water exchange and let us know what your new CYA is. Good luck.
 
In the future, when draining for high high CH, you can add fresh water at the same rate as you are removing water. Place the hose in the shallow end. You will get a pretty good exchange without ever draining your pool. When you think you are done, test the water coming out of your sub pump for CH to confirm.
 
Hi Caspian,

I to am in Chandler Arizona and just had my pool emptied and refilled. There are no water table issues here in Chandler so no worries about your pool popping out of the ground. I have an 11000 gallon in ground pool, and it cost me $35 bucks in water to refill the whole thing! If you are going to drain it, you might as well take advantage of it being empty to have it looked at for any cracks or repairs that might be needed. (I had the white scale build up at the water line removed while it was empty. They do that with a glass bead blasting machine. And all of the cool decking caulked as well.)
If you need the name of a really good pool guy, PM me and I will give you his info.

I too am having some issues with my water that the folks here are helping me out with at the moment. I know your pain. :p

~Rob
 
mknauss said:
In the future, when draining for high high CH, you can add fresh water at the same rate as you are removing water. Place the hose in the shallow end. You will get a pretty good exchange without ever draining your pool. When you think you are done, test the water coming out of your sub pump for CH to confirm.
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Thanks for the sugggestion. I will definitely consider doing that in the future.

- - - Updated - - -

Arizonarob said:
Hi Caspian,

I to am in Chandler Arizona and just had my pool emptied and refilled. There are no water table issues here in Chandler so no worries about your pool popping out of the ground. I have an 11000 gallon in ground pool, and it cost me $35 bucks in water to refill the whole thing! If you are going to drain it, you might as well take advantage of it being empty to have it looked at for any cracks or repairs that might be needed. (I had the white scale build up at the water line removed while it was empty. They do that with a glass bead blasting machine. And all of the cool decking caulked as well.)
If you need the name of a really good pool guy, PM me and I will give you his info.

I too am having some issues with my water that the folks here are helping me out with at the moment. I know your pain. :p

~Rob
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Hi Rob,

Great to meet people who share my pain :) I drained my pool overnight and already started to fill it up without emptying the full pool. I kept the water level at the top of the bottom step as suggested by Texas Splash. I will definitely contact you and get your recommendation if I need to drain it again. My CYA level was so high and not sure if partial drain will bring down my levels to acceptable. I will do the CYA testing tomorrow and depending on that I may need another drain.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
OK, the pool is almost refilled but got the bad news. I remeasure the CYA level while the pool is being filled in and the new value I got is around 100. It is definitely reduced compared to original value but still not acceptable. What do you guys recommend? Should i just stop filling in the last 5-6 inches and starts draining again or should i wait it to get fulled and start my pump and remeasure the CYA after couple hours of circulation. Do you think that I will get lower readings ?

I am open to any suggestions at this point since I was hoping to get the CYA levels down to 50-60 by this draining but got dissapointed :( ..

Thanks...
 
It might be a little less than the 100 you measured when the other 5 to 6 inches fill up and the cya gets diluted. However, being that it only measures up to 100 max, you may have even more than that. Try doing a diluted test and doubling the amount to verify that you indeed are near 100. If you're still there, I would drain 50% to get cya down to 50 and go from there.
 
DeanP66 said:
It might be a little less than the 100 you measured when the other 5 to 6 inches fill up and the cya gets diluted. However, being that it only measures up to 100 max, you may have even more than that. Try doing a diluted test and doubling the amount to verify that you indeed are near 100. If you're still there, I would drain 50% to get cya down to 50 and go from there.
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DeanP66 --> Thanks for the advice. I just did the diluted test and measured CYA to be around 60 so it means that I have my CYA levels around 120. THis confirms that I need to do one more drain. I stopped filling the rest of 5-6 inches of water and shortly starting my 2nd round of draining :(...
 

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Hi everyone,

I just finished filling up my pool after my 2nd (almost complete) drain. Here are my new values:

FC : 1
CC : 0
CYA : ~0 (filled the full CYA test tube and still clearly see the black dot)
PH : 7.5
TA : 140
CH : 400

According to my 2 weeks of experience and reading pool school, it seems like I need to add liquid chlorine and stabilizer as soon as possible, right? Let me know what you think and I appreciate the help.

Thanks in advance...
 
Thanks Peirek for your input.

First I will aim to increase my CYA to 40 with FC of 6. Poolmath calculator tells me to add 70 oz of 10% liquid bleach and 152oz of liquid stabilizer. I also read that liquid bleach will not affect CYA values so those should be independent , correct?

One last question: where can I get liquid stabilizer and do I need to be more cautious about certain types?

Thanks...
 
You can get liquid stabilizer if you like but it's much more expensive. It's cheaper and just as easy to get the solid kind at WalMart, Lowes/Home Depot. Just steer clear of anything that says "Blue", you want 100% Cyanuric Acid. Put enough in a sock (Pool Math), tie the top and hang it in front of a return. If the water is warm enough you can also get in with the sock and squeeze it and move it around in the water. 40 is a good target, if you overshoot just a little that'll be ok for your area.
 
Thanks Mr. Bruce. I will check my local Walmart/home Depot store today when I go there to buy liquid bleach. I will go with the solid kind as you suggested..

Mr Bruce said:
You can get liquid stabilizer if you like but it's much more expensive. It's cheaper and just as easy to get the solid kind at WalMart, Lowes/Home Depot. Just steer clear of anything that says "Blue", you want 100% Cyanuric Acid. Put enough in a sock (Pool Math), tie the top and hang it in front of a return. If the water is warm enough you can also get in with the sock and squeeze it and move it around in the water. 40 is a good target, if you overshoot just a little that'll be ok for your area.
Click to expand...
 
Caspian said:
Thanks Mr. Bruce. I will check my local Walmart/home Depot store today when I go there to buy liquid bleach. I will go with the solid kind as you suggested..
Click to expand...

I burned a small patch in my brand new pebble mishandling liquid CYA. I expect the resulting lightness will be with me for quite some time, if not forever. It's my "reminder!" I'll never use liquid CYA again. But the solid has potential, too. The blame is on me, and my insufficient respect for it, not the product itself. However you add it, take care than none of it has a chance to settle on the bottom.
 
They have it at Wally World. They also have a good deal on MA 2 gallons for 8.44, and liquid 10% chlorine 2 gallons for 6.44.
I stocked up yesterday when I was there. I shop at the one on gilbert rd by the 202.

~Rob
 

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