Help me keep my pool clear!

[IceShadow]

I haven't done the overnight chlorine loss test, but I did test my FC again, and I'm at 16 now after adding that gallon of 12.5% chlorine. We got a pretty wicked storm last night and I just got done cleaning up. The robot's in the pool doing its job now on the bottom, but my water level came up pretty high. At what point should I drain water (I seemingly need to do that anyway so maybe take advantage of some free water?)

You don’t want water over the skimmer throat or it won’t work as a skimmer.

 

[zimdogg]

You don’t want water over the skimmer throat or it won’t work as a skimmer.

Looks like I'll be hooking my hose up to my drain spigot. I don't have a "waste" valve on mine.

Assuming I just use the bottom drain for the intake when draining since pulling from the skimmer would only last so long?

 

[zimdogg]

Also, how do I link my pool math app to this forum?

 

[IceShadow]

Looks like I'll be hooking my hose up to my drain spigot. I don't have a "waste" valve on mine.

Assuming I just use the bottom drain for the intake when draining since pulling from the skimmer would only last so long?

If you take a photo of your equipment we could see if there's a way to drain from that, but it's not recommended to use your pool pump to drain as if it starts running with just air and no water it can overheat. Most will buy or rent a submersible pump and use that to pull water from the pool.

With Plaster you want to make sure it stays wet so you'll have to wet it down with a garden hose. You don't want it exposed to the heat too long or it can weaken its life.

A no-drain water exchange might be a better choice. See here:

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Also, how do I link my pool math app to this forum?

It's in settings down at the bottom, under Sharing.

 

[zimdogg]

It's in settings down at the bottom, under Sharing.

Thanks. I have the sharing setting clicked on, says its sharing via unique link. Do I put that somewhere in my profile on this site?

You can't see my logs at all can you?

 

[IceShadow]

Thanks. I have the sharing setting clicked on, says its sharing via unique link. Do I put that somewhere in my profile on this site?

You can't see my logs at all can you?

Not yet. It might be the way you have it set up - if it's not your TFP login used and instead a Facebook login or the like, it may not share. Mine started that way and then an admin had to fix it. @Leebo - is this something you can help fix on this one too?

 

[zimdogg]

Not yet. It might be the way you have it set up - if it's not your TFP login used and instead a Facebook login or the like, it may not share. Mine started that way and then an admin had to fix it. @Leebo - is this something you can help fix on this one too?

Here's my equipment.

 

[IceShadow]

It looks like there's a spigot rigged up before your filter on the far right side that you could use to pump water out of the pool. That said, as I said before, we don't recommend using the pool pump for that and would instead use a submersible pump. It's very expensive to replace a pool pump if it runs dry and overheats too much.

 

[csconner]

Zimdogg,

I’m not the expert that many of the others are but, if you get lots of rain like we do here in middle Tennesse, draining after rain storms will decrease CYA over time.

we recently had three storms (in 5 days) that averaged between .8” to 1.5 inch, I had to drain after each of those storm events and then tested the water After the third event. Needless to say levels were down across the board, FC, CYA and Calcium.

I had to add 15lbs salt and 4lbs stablizer to get back in range. I didn’t add calcium as I was at high end of the range and wanted to decrease it to mid range .

my point being, you can leverage rain events to your benefit to lower CYA.

for your consideration.

 

[IceShadow]

It works even better if you can try to anticipate and drain down a bit before the rain hits. That dilutes it even further.

 

[zimdogg]

It looks like there's a spigot rigged up before your filter on the far right side that you could use to pump water out of the pool. That said, as I said before, we don't recommend using the pool pump for that and would instead use a submersible pump. It's very expensive to replace a pool pump if it runs dry and overheats too much.

Thats what my pool guy who opened the pool had said to use if water level got too high. Should I set the intake to only come from the bottom drain to avoid potentially getting air in the lines from sucking from a dry skimmer?

 

[zimdogg]

Zimdogg,

I’m not the expert that many of the others are but, if you get lots of rain like we do here in middle Tennesse, draining after rain storms will decrease CYA over time.

we recently had three storms (in 5 days) that averaged between .8” to 1.5 inch, I had to drain after each of those storm events and then tested the water After the third event. Needless to say levels were down across the board, FC, CYA and Calcium.

I had to add 15lbs salt and 4lbs stablizer to get back in range. I didn’t add calcium as I was at high end of the range and wanted to decrease it to mid range .

my point being, you can leverage rain events to your benefit to lower CYA.

for your consideration.

Thank you sir, just depends on the year for us here in Kansas City. We had one of the 4 wettest May's on record, but we've also been dry as a bone in May in the past. A couple of nights ago we had an unexpected severe thunderstorm that seemingly raised my pool's water level up a few inches.

 

[IceShadow]

Thats what my pool guy who opened the pool had said to use if water level got too high. Should I set the intake to only come from the bottom drain to avoid potentially getting air in the lines from sucking from a dry skimmer?

It'd be best to rent a submersible pump and pump out the water that way, just to be safe. But if you really insist on using the pool pump, then yes, that'd be the way to go.

How do you plan to refill the pool? You'll need to do it quickly to avoid damaging the plaster. As mentioned before, the safest way to exchange the water is a no-drain water exchange where you're simultaneously adding and removing water from different areas of the pool in a way that's meant to minimize mixing while you're exchanging the water. I linked earlier to a page explaining how to do that.

 

[zimdogg]

It'd be best to rent a submersible pump and pump out the water that way, just to be safe. But if you really insist on using the pool pump, then yes, that'd be the way to go.

How do you plan to refill the pool? You'll need to do it quickly to avoid damaging the plaster. As mentioned before, the safest way to exchange the water is a no-drain water exchange where you're simultaneously adding and removing water from different areas of the pool in a way that's meant to minimize mixing while you're exchanging the water. I linked earlier to a page explaining how to do that.

I don't think I'm going to go with full drain, just need to get it down so the skimmer can do it's job. My water level is over the opening now.

I think I've decided to try maintaining higher FC levels while the CYA level is high, and see if it comes down over time before I commit to a partial drain at this point.

 

[IceShadow]

If you're going to be there the whole time you're draining then I'd go ahead and use that spigot. You can pull from the main drains to be safe, but if you're standing there you'll know if the pump starts to run dry and can turn it off.

Have you done the overnight chlorine loss test yet to see if you're losing anything overnight? If you're not, then maintaining the higher CYA level is possible, though difficult. You'll need to let the FC get down below 10ppm to test the pH reliably, then make your pH adjustments, and immediately bring the FC back up above minimum to where it needs to be. You'll want to stay up around 13-14 FC and not let it get below 10 unless you're testing pH (maybe once or twice a week). It'll take a lot of watching and if it ever does get algae, plan on replacing water to get the CYA down so you can SLAM at reasonable levels. At 120 CYA the SLAM level is around 48ppm of FC!

 

[zimdogg]

If you're going to be there the whole time you're draining then I'd go ahead and use that spigot. You can pull from the main drains to be safe, but if you're standing there you'll know if the pump starts to run dry and can turn it off.

Have you done the overnight chlorine loss test yet to see if you're losing anything overnight? If you're not, then maintaining the higher CYA level is possible, though difficult. You'll need to let the FC get down below 10ppm to test the pH reliably, then make your pH adjustments, and immediately bring the FC back up above minimum to where it needs to be. You'll want to stay up around 13-14 FC and not let it get below 10 unless you're testing pH (maybe once or twice a week). It'll take a lot of watching and if it ever does get algae, plan on replacing water to get the CYA down so you can SLAM at reasonable levels. At 120 CYA the SLAM level is around 48ppm of FC!

Not yet, life is hectic at the moment. Have a new 7 week old little girl, a 4 year old running around, a 13 year old, a job, a wife, and a new to me house to get organized, an acre of yard to maintain, and now a fairly recently opened pool to manage

I signed up for this though, right?

 

[IceShadow]

Not yet, life is hectic at the moment. Have a new 7 week old little girl, a 4 year old running around, a 13 year old, a job, a wife, and a new to me house to get organized, an acre of yard to maintain, and now a fairly recently opened pool to manage

I signed up for this though, right?

Get it clear and clean and safe, and your children will love having it

 

[zimdogg]

Get it clear and clean and safe, and your children will love having it

I know my numbers are a little off, but so far its sparkly clear, so no problems with clarity. I'm sure happy I found this site though! Testing is easy, the material is here to have on hand (I printed off the "What should my levels be" info, and the daily/weekly checklist items), and the help is fantastic. This feels like a great community.

Based on my numbers before, does it seem safe to swim in? I don't get the impression it's unsafe.

 

[IceShadow]

It likely is, but getting FC up to where it needs to be for your CYA is the way to be sure.

FC between minimum and SLAM for your CYA
pH in the 7's
See whole bottom of pool

That's the list for swimming safety.

 

[zimdogg]

Appreciate the help. I've been getting into at least somewhat of a routine to check FC levels daily. I'm going to TRY to do the chlorine loss test tonight Ice, promise!

Couple questions I have -
1) What's the best time of day to check FC levels and then add my chlorine? I've been doing it in the morning so far so I can add chlorine to get the levels where they should be prior to having anyone potentially swim in the pool
2) Is there a good measuring tool that you all recommend when measuring my chlorine out? Pool Math has been telling me I need 67oz's for example. That's not exactly a number I can just dump out. I know it's about half the gallon of chlorine so I've been pouring half the bottle in so far as needed. Is this good enough? Should I be a little more exact on my additions to the pool, or given my CYA number's its probably fine to overshoot, but definitely not undershoot. I'd like to not "waste" chlorine if I can help it if I'm adding 60+ ounces to the pool every day.

My pool get's direct sunlight pretty much all day long, so I'd expect chlorine loss throughout the day.