Pool supply stores are out of stabilizer, and I have 28oz which should be enough to get me from 0 to at least 10ppm which would give me something solid to go by for my shock level.
First attempt to open pool.
- Thread starter epxroot
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Looks like walmart has some stabilizer so I will run over there real quick and pick some up. Will it be OK to stat the shock process later on in the day, or should I wait till morning to make sure I have a full day of staying on top of it. I would like to get started today since I have to work Monday. Alos a little worried about letting it filter all night while I am sleeping, not sure how much pressure will build up over night from filtering the nasty water.
WalMart, Home Depot, Lowes, K-mart, etc.
Assume your CYA is zero and get enough to raise it to 30 per the poolcalculator
One other problem I have is right now I only have test strips that read up to 10ppm FC, I have a TF100 coming in on Monday. Should I go ahead and raise CYA to 30ppm and just bring shock levels back up to 12ppm once they reach 10ppm, or add enough CYA for 20ppm which would allow me to make a better effort holding the FC at 10ppm?
I would go right to 30ppm.Im all ready to go. Think I am going to wait until morning to start the shock process and stay on it all day so I can get a good idea of how often I will need to add and backwash. Thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it! This place is great!
Should I have waited until the water was clear from the filter before shocking, or is it OK to shock the pool as the filter is cleaning the water?
You should be going through the shock process the whole time with the pump/filter running 24/7.
OK, that's what I have been doing. I don't think I will be able to run the pump all night due to it needing backwashed so frequently. My psi will rise from 15 to 25 in about an hour and a half to two hours. My manual states that the tanks pressure should never reach 50psi.
Your pressure would likely never get that high even if the flow was completely blocked.
Sounds like the filter is catching a lot of stuff. Do you have a recirculate function on a multi valve you could use at night?
Sounds like the filter is catching a lot of stuff. Do you have a recirculate function on a multi valve you could use at night?
Yes, there is a recirculate setting that would bypass the filter. I suppose I could get up at the four hour mark and backwash if needed. I would like to have it filtering all night since it seems that would allow it to clear quicker. Just checked the gauge and it looks like my psi is rising 5lbs per hour. Manual states I should backwash every 5 to 7 lbs of increase. Would it hurt to let the psi rise to about 30 to 35?
We recommend backwashing after the pressure rises 20-25% over the clean pressure. Any more than that and the flow rate gets overly restricted ... Although should not hurt anything unless flow is completely stooped.
Thanks for the replies. I will keep an eye on it. My psi is 15 after backwash and I try to backwash between 20 and 25psi. I may just stay up a little later than normal due a final backwash and then just recirculate until morning.
Leaving the filter on recirculate should not build pressure in the tank, but just keep chemicals and water moving, correct?
Thanks jblizzle! I was able to keep the filter going all night. Got up at 3 and backwashed, then again at 7 this morning. Seems the pressure is not rising as quick as it was earlier in the day yesterday. I have a few reasons why this may be. First I think part of the reason the pressure was rising quickly was from me adding 6lbs of stabilizer to get my CYA up to 30ppm. The bottle said this can cause a sudden increase in pressure. Second I believe it was also because of the water condition when I first kicked on the pump it was a nice dark green swamp. Yesterday around 5pm it was a nice grayish green. Couple of questions since this is my first time having to Turn my swamp into a sparkling oasis!
1. How long does it usually take before the water becomes clear?
2. Is it normal to start having to backwash frequently at first and then not as frequently?
My water color hasn't seemed to change much since around 6 or 7pm last night. It still looks like the same grayish green this morning. I am wondering if my filter may not be working as well as it was at first, but then again I am not sure since I really do not know what to expect or how long it takes to get past the grayish green color.
Looks like I lost about 5 to 6ppm of FC over night so there is for sure lots of live stuff in there which I am sure is due to leaves and algae. Tried getting as much leaves as I could out but it is getting harder since I really cannot see. I am getting my TF100 either today or tomorrow so I should be able to get more accurate readings once that arrives.
1. How long does it usually take before the water becomes clear?
2. Is it normal to start having to backwash frequently at first and then not as frequently?
My water color hasn't seemed to change much since around 6 or 7pm last night. It still looks like the same grayish green this morning. I am wondering if my filter may not be working as well as it was at first, but then again I am not sure since I really do not know what to expect or how long it takes to get past the grayish green color.
Looks like I lost about 5 to 6ppm of FC over night so there is for sure lots of live stuff in there which I am sure is due to leaves and algae. Tried getting as much leaves as I could out but it is getting harder since I really cannot see. I am getting my TF100 either today or tomorrow so I should be able to get more accurate readings once that arrives.
I had a particularly swampy pool this year when I opened it. I think I waited a little too long to start. I could not see the bottom so after PH and TA adjustments I turned my pump on recirculate. My CYA was near zero after winter so I added my stabilizer, but remember that stuff dissolves very slowly I would be careful how much I put in all at once, and I don't think you want that sitting in your filter. It also takes about a week to bring the cya level up. Then I started shocking at 12 ppm. When it started to clear a little I got the net out cleaned as much debris as I could, then I turned my filter on, probably day 2. I had to backwash frequently at first but it got better. If I was going to be gone a long stretch I put it on recirculate until I could watch it closer. I had to to keep shock levels up around 10-12 ppm until it got clear and my over night loss was less than .5 and my CC were 0. It took about a week and a half all in. Crystal clear now three weeks later.
Exproot, to answer your questions above....
1. Sand takes a long time, so don't despair if you're not crystal clear before 10 - 14 days. I opened up my pool last week to just a slight haze from accumulated dirt and it's just getting clear now. Starting from a swamp will be (painfully) slow, but it will happen.
2. Yes, your backwash pattern is normal and predicted. That's part of the reason why it's so important to monitor your filter pressure, especially early on, and backwash when needed. The times in between backwashes will get longer and longer.
1. Sand takes a long time, so don't despair if you're not crystal clear before 10 - 14 days. I opened up my pool last week to just a slight haze from accumulated dirt and it's just getting clear now. Starting from a swamp will be (painfully) slow, but it will happen.
2. Yes, your backwash pattern is normal and predicted. That's part of the reason why it's so important to monitor your filter pressure, especially early on, and backwash when needed. The times in between backwashes will get longer and longer.
Thanks for the replies mizzou1987, and Smykowski! Feel a little better knowing it is still the color it is for a reason, but still bad it's going to take a while. Should be able to get a full nights sleep tonight. So far I have only backwashed at 7am and it's only risen about 5psi since this morning. My wife told me my TF100 arrived! Excited to get home and use it. I will get some readings before I raise to shock levels and post.