Complete newbie with brand new pool. Please help me get started!

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We can hold off on working on the TA as that is the last thing we work on. Pushing the pH down as often as you are having to will help lower the TA some. Once we get your pool clear we will work on the TA.

Kim:kim:
 
How is the water looking? If you take a pic looking down at the steps each day you will be able to see the clearing progress better. Your eyes cannot see it day to day. It is kind of like you don't notice your kid is growing until you try to shove their foot into a old pair of shoes that fit last week :roll:

Kim:kim:
 
The water is definitely looking more clear. I can now see the plaster dust each time I brush, something I was not able to see before. I took your advice and cleaned the filter myself yesterday. The only part where I needed the hubby's help was putting the clamp back on. I wasn't tightening it enough and it kept leaking.

I'm excited to see the changes so far. I can't thank you all enough! :D
 
Once it is clean and put back together get your paper and pen. When you turn on the equipment this time you should look at our filter gauge. Write down what the pressure is. That is your "clean filter" pressure. You can also mark the gauge to show where this is as well.
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Do you have TFP's Pool Math app? It's free to start using, with an in-app upgrade (recommended) that makes it even more useful. It records your levels, and tells you just how much of what to add to your pool. It's awesome. I use mine religiously.

There's even a place to record your filter pressure gauge reading to help you keep track of that, too.

If the gauge on your filter is like mine, you'll find an outer ring on it, with a set of colored triangles on the ring. You can dial the ring to indicate your clean filter pressure reading, then keep an eye on it for the expected increases...
 
PS. LOooooooOOOOVE your pool. Very nice design. And the cocktail table?!? Nice!! I especially like how when you look at your pool, it looks right back at you!! (Come on... somebody had to say it!) ;)
 
Oh my goodness! I had not seen it until I went looking for what you were talking about! That is SO cute! I love the pool even better now and I loved it before!

I am SO proud of you for taking on that big job! Was it a mess? Did you get a lot of stuff off and out? Do you think you might be able to do the clamp on your own the next time?

Kim:kim:
 
kimkats said:
Do you think you might be able to do the clamp on your own the next time?
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The last time my filter was cleaned was by my now-fired pool guy. He was teaching me his MO and gave me a few tips. He had me observe the coils of the spring on the clamp, which in my case were all pretty much touching each other (no space between the coils). And he used a drill, with a bit that fit the clamp's nut, to both loosen and tighten it. So it went pretty quick and easy. For tightening, he just worked the drill until the coils of the spring touched (but not any tighter). If I remember right, the instructions for cleaning the filter also mentioned how to tension that spring. Is there anything in your owner's manual that addresses that?

Do you have a drill or impact driver? Next time you have your filter apart, take the nut down to Lowes/Home Depot and ask of the tool dept for the right bit. They'll set you up.

Again, be careful when you tighten. If you use a drill, it's very easy to over-tighten things!
 
kimkats said:
Oh my goodness! I had not seen it until I went looking for what you were talking about! That is SO cute!
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I'm just hoping they fix the poor lil' guy's receding hair line with a new lawn toupee or something! ;)

Hee, hee. I can amuse myself for hours by staring at clouds and finding faces and animals and all kinds of things that other people miss!
 
Lol Dirk! I’m glad you see it too! I’ve been saying it looks like a frog face where the spa and cove are the eyes and no one else sees that! We are working on the “hairline”. I want to draw up where I will put flowerbeds first and then bring in some sod.

I do have the Pool Math app and I actually just upgraded to premium today. Very helpful and easy to use!

About the filter, it was dirty but it’s pretty easy to clean. I don’t have the owner’s manual because when they installed the equipment, they left all the paperwork outside and it rained and everything got soaked. I found one online and it shows there is supposed to be a spring on the clamp, but mine doesn’t have one. I’m going to see if I can order one. Thanks for the tip on the drill bit. We used a ratchet to tighten it up but I’m sure it would be much easier with the drill.
 

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Oh, it's a frog allright. Complete with his tongue hanging out (I'll leave that for all you advanced cloud-gazers out there to contemplate)!! ;)

Weird about that spring. Probably rolled off somewhere and nobody thought to replace it. I bet that's important to keeping a tight seal. Maybe why you had your leak... It's probably still in the yard somewhere!

My pool guy "teacher" made a big deal about the pressure involved. Something about the pump running and how dangerous this task can potentially be. I think some accidents have occurred when the pump happened to kick on right when the filter was partially disassembled, blowing the lid right off. Something like that. He recommended not just turning off the pump, but its breaker as well. (Kim mentioned that.) And I'm not sure if the system can even retain pressure after the pump is off, but I'd use the valve on top to double check that before releasing the drain. You know how to bleed the filter by turning the gauge assembly slightly? This needs to be done after you reassemble, I believe, but I'd do it before, too, just to verify there's no pressure in the filter (I expect it would help it drain, too).

I've only seen mine done, I haven't cleaned it myself, so I'm mostly thinking out loud to myself in how I'm going to do it...
 
bere said:
Lol Dirk! I’m glad you see it too! I’ve been saying it looks like a frog face where the spa and cove are the eyes and no one else sees that! We are working on the “hairline”. I want to draw up where I will put flowerbeds first and then bring in some sod.
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Plan the landscape with care. My gardener can't seem to keep lawn clippings out of the pool. It's either the mower or the blowing afterwards. Think about what the leaves from the plants are going to do year-round. Will the prevailing wind blow dropped leaves into the pool? You don't need that. My pool stays amazingly free of organic matter otherwise. The previous owners did a good job of landscape design. My pool is surrounded by plants and lawn and trees, but they're all such that they don't contribute much to pool maintenance chores (lots of evergreen stuff, succulents, ground cover, etc).
 
Update: It's been 1 week since I started the TFP method and my pool looks amazingly clear! Last night I turned on the pool lights and it almost looked like there was no water in the pool! Thank you, thank you, thank you all for your help! :)

I still have work to do on my numbers. My test results as of last night were:

FC 4
pH 8
TA 225
CH 275
CYA 50

I finally got CH to a normal level, we have soft water in our town, which is why my initial level was so low. My pH keeps spiking so I keep adding muriatic acid daily, and my TA has dropped some but I still need to lower it some more. Any thoughts or suggestions?

I bought a Dolphin Triton, so I can't wait to get that in the water and see it in action. From what I've read, it's safe to use 3 weeks after the plaster was finished, correct?
 
bere it IS amazing for sure! I LOVE adding this or doing that and seeing it do just what Pool Math says it will do!

Okay so you are ready to move to the next step-lowering your TA. It is a process more than a one time thing. Here is the link:

Pool School - Lower Total Alkalinity

Cliff notes-push PH down with m.a., this will also lower TA some, push pH up with aeration (you can turn your returns up so they roll the water good) or do lots of cannon balls! If you spa has any kind of overflow that will help push the pH up. Keep the pH on the yo-yo of up and down and the TA will get lower and lower over time.

Kim:kim:
 
kimkats said:
Pool School - Lower Total Alkalinity

Cliff notes-push PH down with m.a., this will also lower TA some, push pH up with aeration (you can turn your returns up so they roll the water good) or do lots of cannon balls! If you spa has any kind of overflow that will help push the pH up. Keep the pH on the yo-yo of up and down and the TA will get lower and lower over time.
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Thanks Kim! I will begin working on that today. I'll be letting the kids jump in the pool for the first time this weekend, so I'm sure they'll be a big help with aeration.
 
bere said:
Thanks Kim! I will begin working on that today. I'll be letting the kids jump in the pool for the first time this weekend, so I'm sure they'll be a big help with aeration.
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This is how I got my TA down. Few bucks at Lowes. Threaded into the pool returns (took the eyeballs out). The more aeration, the faster it goes:

aerators.jpg
 

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