I have an old 25,000 gallon. 19' x 43', "Tahitian" brand, oval vinyl pool which was installed in 1969. We have had the pool since 1983 and have maintained it ourselves, Theoretically I should be an old hand at this. I have a fairly thorough (???) understanding of the chemistry and what to do, but it was my husband who did most of the maintenance and he passed away 7 years ago. Prior to his death he was having trouble getting it to vacuum and had decided that the skimmer line had a break in it. Initially after his death the pool was out of service but in 2014 I had a new liner, skimmer and all new plumbing installed. I did not replace the Astral pump or the original (1969) Sta-rite stainless steel sand filter. The pool company said they were okay. I should mention that the pool does not have a drain.
The first year the pool was clear all summer. 2015 was okay except that once again I was having trouble getting it to properly vacuum. It didn't seem to have enough suction so I bought an Aquabot Classic which meant I didn't have to worry about the suction. Last summer I had a terrible time getting it to clear (I think I was dealing with chlorine lock) but once I did it stayed clear all summer. I did make the mistake of not thoroughly cleaning the pool before they closed it last fall. This year I have not been able to get it to clear since I opened it and I can't seem to maintain free chlorine to save my life. I have tried everything I can think of!
The water is clear in a container. There is no odor. The pool appears blue (the liner is blue) not green. My alkalinity is over 100 (the pool guy's computer says 40 with stabilizer correction, whatever that means, but two types of test strips and my reagent test kit all say over 100), my ph is 7.2 and there is plenty of algaecide. I know there is dead algae in the pool that I can't seem to vacuum (nor does the Aquabot seem to get it) but I don't believe there is any live algae. My calcium hardness is only 60 but since I have a vinyl pool with all pvc plumbing, everyone says that doesn't matter.
I just can't believe that I don't have any chlorine. I have maintained at least 3 tablets in the skimmer almost all summer and I have shocked it more times than I can remember. I have used liquid (10%) chlorine for shock - gallons and gallons. For about a week I used just liquid (not tablets) for basic chlorination because I wondered if it was a chlorine lock problem even though the cya doesn't appear to be too high, but that didn't solve it either. Friday the pool guy had me use two bags of Sun Guard no-chlor crystals followed by 2 gallons of 10% liquid chlorine - nothing! About 4 hours of acceptable levels and then right back to no free chlorine.
By the way, I'm testing 2 and 3 times a day - every day. I'm usually pretty smart but I just can't figure this one out! Help - please - help! And, in advance, thank you!
The first year the pool was clear all summer. 2015 was okay except that once again I was having trouble getting it to properly vacuum. It didn't seem to have enough suction so I bought an Aquabot Classic which meant I didn't have to worry about the suction. Last summer I had a terrible time getting it to clear (I think I was dealing with chlorine lock) but once I did it stayed clear all summer. I did make the mistake of not thoroughly cleaning the pool before they closed it last fall. This year I have not been able to get it to clear since I opened it and I can't seem to maintain free chlorine to save my life. I have tried everything I can think of!
The water is clear in a container. There is no odor. The pool appears blue (the liner is blue) not green. My alkalinity is over 100 (the pool guy's computer says 40 with stabilizer correction, whatever that means, but two types of test strips and my reagent test kit all say over 100), my ph is 7.2 and there is plenty of algaecide. I know there is dead algae in the pool that I can't seem to vacuum (nor does the Aquabot seem to get it) but I don't believe there is any live algae. My calcium hardness is only 60 but since I have a vinyl pool with all pvc plumbing, everyone says that doesn't matter.
I just can't believe that I don't have any chlorine. I have maintained at least 3 tablets in the skimmer almost all summer and I have shocked it more times than I can remember. I have used liquid (10%) chlorine for shock - gallons and gallons. For about a week I used just liquid (not tablets) for basic chlorination because I wondered if it was a chlorine lock problem even though the cya doesn't appear to be too high, but that didn't solve it either. Friday the pool guy had me use two bags of Sun Guard no-chlor crystals followed by 2 gallons of 10% liquid chlorine - nothing! About 4 hours of acceptable levels and then right back to no free chlorine.
By the way, I'm testing 2 and 3 times a day - every day. I'm usually pretty smart but I just can't figure this one out! Help - please - help! And, in advance, thank you!
