...like literally, brand new.
Hey TFP folks,
I was recommended by a coworker to this site, and it's been an absolute lifesaver. I even purchased a subscription for Pool Math as well!
I want to apologize for the following essay, but I want to list as many facts as possible so I can get sound advice and not to waste money.
A little background, this is my first time owning pool, but I'm not a complete newbie. I used to help my buddy with his pool cleaning chores when I was a kid. He had a cartridge system.
As shown in my half-completed bio, I have a DE filter for what I calculated as an approximately 23,000 gallon pool.
The previous owners left all of last year's fall in the pool when they closed it last season, as well as utilizing a mesh cover. The pool was a very dark green. We utilized a local company to open.
I'm learning a lot as I go along. DE filtration was completely foreign to me. The guys who opened barely explained the filter to me. They basically left me with the idea that the DE would capture onto the algae and settle to the bottom of the pool, where a vacuum would pick it up the DE/Algae mess. They also barely showed me how to backwash the filter, or when to backwash. They did hose down the grid, at least. The clean pressure at the filter is what I assume to be 20 PSI. The max pressure per the manufacturer is 50 PSI.
They also didn't properly open the valves, as I spent an hour on the phone with the owner of the company trying to diagnose the issue of no pressure. The handles are broken and require channel locks. I can only assume that because they came back early the next morning and the valves were in different positions.
The previous owner threw away the cartridges and filters for the Nautilus CC Pro, and I'm (very impatiently) waiting for them to arrive from Pool Zoom. I was also left with a skimmer net and pool brush that broke day 1, and a partially taped pool hose. He did leave me with a few bags of DE, a full bucket of Trichlor tabs, pool algae treatment and some other unknown stuff, although there is a koi pond on the property and is possibly for that (which also has its own set of issues). Every day is something else with this pool, with surprises I was left with, and I've long lost my patience. I know where he works and currently lives, and every new surprise makes me want to go down to his business and give him a piece of my mind.
Over the last few days, I've noticed the flow through the pool equipment becomes what I can best describe as "neutral". There's no negative pressure at the skimmer, and no positive pressure coming from the jets. The pressure at the filter drops to 10%. A rinse and backwash solves the problem. since I backwash, I need to add full DE, per pool company. I add about 4.5 pounds per manufacturer recommendation. Again, this has been almost daily. Important to note, there is a oak dropping it's catkins, a lot got into my pool/skimmer.
The "neutral" pressure is repeatable when I try to manually vacuum the bottom of the pool floor by connecting to the skimmer.
The only thing I have at the moment that's helping is the leaf eater I got at Home Depot. The pool is about 80% there, blueish with a bit of cloudiness. I still cannot see the bottom of the deep end to clean whatever is still down there (8 feet). I need those Dang robot parts! I've been SLAMing and backwashing almost everyday, which receives the lack of pressure issue. I'm out of DE and need to pick up some tomorrow. I test, and I'm currently utilizing TriChlor pucks and a bottle of 10% bleach almost daily. My Taylor test shows I have no CYA, .8 FC, 3.8 CC and I'm overwhelmed at Walmart with endless choices trying to find the right stuff to put in.
I feel like that until I can get the cleaning of the bottom of the pool issue handled, I am just keeping the algae at bay with the trichlor tabs and a bottle of 10% bleach every other day until I am fully set up instead of throwing good money for nothing.
So, with this all laid out, I have a few questions.
1) should I be backwashing this much?
2) the pool company told me my filter system needs to be replaced, due to the 20% reading and estimated a $2000 job. I have a sneaky feeling they may be trying to sell me something I don't need. I do eventually want to switch to SWG (quoted at $2000), but I get the feeling they're trying to pull a fast one because they didn't correct me when I incorrectly estimated that it was going to be a $6000 job (a filter replacement this year, SWG next year not realizing the two systems are separate and not $2000 this year and $2000 x 2 next year.) I do have a plumber for a FIL, who offered to help do the work. Again, The clean pressure at the filter is what I assume to be 20 PSI. The max pressure per the manufacturer is 50 PSI. The highest I got it was around 27 PSI.
3) I'm counting on having the pool opened by Memorial Day weekend because my wife invited everyone she knows for a weekend bash before we even closed on the house. Should I continue SLAM or should I just hold what I have with the pucks until everything is in place? Again, I don't want to be throwing good money away for nothing until I can clean the bottom of the pool.
4) the pump has been running almost a week straight at this point. There's no variable speed, just on/off. Are there any issues with that?
I definitely have more questions, but I think this is enough.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and reply!
Hey TFP folks,
I was recommended by a coworker to this site, and it's been an absolute lifesaver. I even purchased a subscription for Pool Math as well!
I want to apologize for the following essay, but I want to list as many facts as possible so I can get sound advice and not to waste money.
A little background, this is my first time owning pool, but I'm not a complete newbie. I used to help my buddy with his pool cleaning chores when I was a kid. He had a cartridge system.
As shown in my half-completed bio, I have a DE filter for what I calculated as an approximately 23,000 gallon pool.
The previous owners left all of last year's fall in the pool when they closed it last season, as well as utilizing a mesh cover. The pool was a very dark green. We utilized a local company to open.
I'm learning a lot as I go along. DE filtration was completely foreign to me. The guys who opened barely explained the filter to me. They basically left me with the idea that the DE would capture onto the algae and settle to the bottom of the pool, where a vacuum would pick it up the DE/Algae mess. They also barely showed me how to backwash the filter, or when to backwash. They did hose down the grid, at least. The clean pressure at the filter is what I assume to be 20 PSI. The max pressure per the manufacturer is 50 PSI.
They also didn't properly open the valves, as I spent an hour on the phone with the owner of the company trying to diagnose the issue of no pressure. The handles are broken and require channel locks. I can only assume that because they came back early the next morning and the valves were in different positions.
The previous owner threw away the cartridges and filters for the Nautilus CC Pro, and I'm (very impatiently) waiting for them to arrive from Pool Zoom. I was also left with a skimmer net and pool brush that broke day 1, and a partially taped pool hose. He did leave me with a few bags of DE, a full bucket of Trichlor tabs, pool algae treatment and some other unknown stuff, although there is a koi pond on the property and is possibly for that (which also has its own set of issues). Every day is something else with this pool, with surprises I was left with, and I've long lost my patience. I know where he works and currently lives, and every new surprise makes me want to go down to his business and give him a piece of my mind.
Over the last few days, I've noticed the flow through the pool equipment becomes what I can best describe as "neutral". There's no negative pressure at the skimmer, and no positive pressure coming from the jets. The pressure at the filter drops to 10%. A rinse and backwash solves the problem. since I backwash, I need to add full DE, per pool company. I add about 4.5 pounds per manufacturer recommendation. Again, this has been almost daily. Important to note, there is a oak dropping it's catkins, a lot got into my pool/skimmer.
The "neutral" pressure is repeatable when I try to manually vacuum the bottom of the pool floor by connecting to the skimmer.
The only thing I have at the moment that's helping is the leaf eater I got at Home Depot. The pool is about 80% there, blueish with a bit of cloudiness. I still cannot see the bottom of the deep end to clean whatever is still down there (8 feet). I need those Dang robot parts! I've been SLAMing and backwashing almost everyday, which receives the lack of pressure issue. I'm out of DE and need to pick up some tomorrow. I test, and I'm currently utilizing TriChlor pucks and a bottle of 10% bleach almost daily. My Taylor test shows I have no CYA, .8 FC, 3.8 CC and I'm overwhelmed at Walmart with endless choices trying to find the right stuff to put in.
I feel like that until I can get the cleaning of the bottom of the pool issue handled, I am just keeping the algae at bay with the trichlor tabs and a bottle of 10% bleach every other day until I am fully set up instead of throwing good money for nothing.
So, with this all laid out, I have a few questions.
1) should I be backwashing this much?
2) the pool company told me my filter system needs to be replaced, due to the 20% reading and estimated a $2000 job. I have a sneaky feeling they may be trying to sell me something I don't need. I do eventually want to switch to SWG (quoted at $2000), but I get the feeling they're trying to pull a fast one because they didn't correct me when I incorrectly estimated that it was going to be a $6000 job (a filter replacement this year, SWG next year not realizing the two systems are separate and not $2000 this year and $2000 x 2 next year.) I do have a plumber for a FIL, who offered to help do the work. Again, The clean pressure at the filter is what I assume to be 20 PSI. The max pressure per the manufacturer is 50 PSI. The highest I got it was around 27 PSI.
3) I'm counting on having the pool opened by Memorial Day weekend because my wife invited everyone she knows for a weekend bash before we even closed on the house. Should I continue SLAM or should I just hold what I have with the pucks until everything is in place? Again, I don't want to be throwing good money away for nothing until I can clean the bottom of the pool.
4) the pump has been running almost a week straight at this point. There's no variable speed, just on/off. Are there any issues with that?
I definitely have more questions, but I think this is enough.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and reply!
You have a great opportunity to clear the pool. Take your phone or tablet on your bathroom breaks and read pool school top to bottom, side to side, inside n out.