New Pool Build - TX

[cbink]

From pool school:

The acid/aeration process to lower TA:

Add acid to lower your PH to between 7.0 and 7.2 (this also lowers TA)
Aerate until PH rises to around 7.6 (the only way to raise PH without also raising TA)
Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you reach the desired TA.

So, what pools like this do is basically continually follow the procedure for lowering TA. Not as aggressively since we don't drop pH to 7.0, but it happens. The aeration drives up the pH faster than a non-aerated pool, you add acid, TA goes down, repeat ad infinitum. You are right - it's the acid that lowers the TA. But the aeration results in more frequent acid additions.

For what it's worth, I have a slide/waterfall with a SWCG and am constantly fighting pH (rising) and TA (falling). I probably get through an average of 1/2-3/4 bottle of acid/week on average in summer keeping the pH in range. It's a lot more consistent in winter when the SWCG isn't running as much and the waterfall is rarely on.


Love the night shots btw. The pool looks really great!

 

[zethacat]

You know I noticed this morning some streaks on the bottom, and I'm afraid it was from my leaf rake. My net has a white plastic piece on the front lip, and I discovered that if I gently glided it across the bottom it would life up the leaves and right into the net.

Yes I have the same exact leaf net and that's how you properly use it. Are you positive the leaf net caused a streak?

 

[JayBauman]

You know I noticed this morning some streaks on the bottom...we love the plaster color but it is really splotchy and sensitive. We already have that giant streak down the shallow end and now a few more streaks in the bottom of the deep end.

Dude. Your backyard is frickin' awesome. Stop worrying about some plaster imperfections that only you will notice. Trust me, when you have people over, the last thing they will be looking at is some plaster surface defects.

I think you do have a separate problem altogether: I hope you and your family are up-to-date on first aid and CPR. I can imagine that anybody who ventures into your back yard might be prone to broken chins (from jaws hitting the ground) when they look at what you've done.

 

[Biggbotti]

Thanks! We have 2 lights in the pool plus 1 spa light in the grotto floor. We have 12 led accent lights in the waterfall and 4 in the retaining walls.[/QUOTE]
Can I have some info on accent lights I want to light up my waterfall also and yours looks great

 

[Twolabs]

Dude. Your backyard is frickin' awesome. Stop worrying about some plaster imperfections that only you will notice. Trust me, when you have people over, the last thing they will be looking at is some plaster surface defects.

I think you do have a separate problem altogether: I hope you and your family are up-to-date on first aid and CPR. I can imagine that anybody who ventures into your back yard might be prone to broken chins (from jaws hitting the ground) when they look at what you've done.

Thanks kind of you say to Jay. And you are right, I need to stop worrying about it. When I went to go look at Ryno's pool I didn't notice the plaster at all, and I'm sure ours look fairly similar since its the same color and the same crew that put them in. I just stood in awe the entire time.

Thanks! We have 2 lights in the pool plus 1 spa light in the grotto floor. We have 12 led accent lights in the waterfall and 4 in the retaining walls.

Can I have some info on accent lights I want to light up my waterfall also and yours looks great[/QUOTE]

Absolutely, they are really cool. They are the Hayward LED accent lights, just introduced this year. https://www.hayward-pool.com/shop/Product_10201_10551_73519_-1_18503_14008_I

- - - Updated - - -

Yes I have the same exact leaf net and that's how you properly use it. Are you positive the leaf net caused a streak? I have streaks in my plaster too but I think it was from bad troweling. PB keeps telling me an acid bath will take care of them but I am very very VERY skeptical about letting them do this since pretty much every sub has made some kind of mistake or other.

You know I'm not positive it is because of it. As Jay said, I just need to stop worrying about the little stuff and appreciate this awesome pool we have. So I am continuing to rake them up, I'm just trying to be as gentle as possible when skimming the bottom.

 

[pragmatic]

Wow, I had forgotten about your build thread. Very surprised-That is a most excellent pool.

 

[RangerBob]

So I am continuing to rake them up, I'm just trying to be as gentle as possible when skimming the bottom.

This sounds like something to train the dogs to do - dive for the leaves! - Karen

 

[Biggbotti]

Thanks

 

[Twolabs]

I had a long post typed out earlier at work, and of course I accidentally deleted it. C'mon Chrome, give me a warning before I close out the browser!

So far the irrigation guys have come out and started rerouting the lines. The Hayward rep came out and started programming the lights and getting them networked together. He still has to come out once again next week to put some type of relay on there. I apparently have a transformer for the pool lights and then another transformer for the accent lights. He got me hooked up on the web, phone, and remote. Pretty cool!

Man, it's a good thing for TFP and Pool School because obviously my PB just doesn't think much about it. As far as they are concerned, nothing has been done to the pool since they threw in some granular chlorine, CYA, and put some pucks in the Nature 2 Fusion . So far I've added 12 lbs of baking soda to get my TA up to 80 (where it's been holding), and 2 1/2 gallons of MA to get the pH down. Then lastly I added about 10 lbs of Calcium Chloride last night and 10 this morning to get my CH up. My CH has been holding steady at 75 and this morning it was 100. No telling what my chemicals would be looking like if I just let them do their thing.

So, on to my next questions:

1) I finally opened up the canister in the Nature 2 to take a look at how many tabs they have in there, because my FC has been climbing and climbing. It was 8.5 yesterday, and I've noticed when brushing I'll get whiffs of that chlorine smell. Its not overwhelming, but I didn't think I'd smell it if I didn't have any CCs (which I haven't). My CYA has slowly been coming up, because I know sometimes it can take a while to register. The last time I tested it was 2 days ago and it was barely 20. There is probably 6 of those pucks in there....with an already somewhat high FC, should I go ahead and get them out?

2) Anyone know how to disengage the mineral cartridge on the Nature 2? Its in there and "working" and obviously I don't want it. There is nothing to screw on top of the hole if I take out the cartridge?

3) The PSI on my filter looks like its around 35-40. They put a green arrow on the 20 and red on the 30. Does this mean its time to clean the filters? Is that because of all the plaster dust why the PSI climbed so much? And is there any risk of running it now, over the weekend?

This place is a god send (as a matter of fact, heading to the donation page).

Thanks!

 

[zethacat]

Sounds exactly like my startup except I ditched the pucks after the first 3 dissolved. I had to add CYA using the sock method. If your CYA is only 20 then 8.5 is almost shock level which may be why you smelled chlorine. Once your FC is on target for your CYA you shouldn't smell anything. What is Nature 2? PSI of 35-40 is pretty high. Can't hurt to give it a good cleaning, though I imagine you'll be needing to do it again soon.

 

[pwrstrk]

Just a comment about your filter pressure. Clean your filter when the pressure rises 25% above the clean pressure.
It needs cleaned now so just note what the clean pressure is after you clean it. ?

 

[dumbcluck]

What type of filter do you have?
I have a cartridge filter and my pressure hasn't risen at all in the three weeks since plaster. I do plan on cleaning soon though as soon as my cya gets into my system. Since it's in the skimmer it will go to the filter and stick there for a while I imagine before finally cycling through to the water. It's my understanding that cleaning the filter too soon will wash it away.
Maybe I'm missing something?

 

[miles0012]

Twolabs-- dam... Your pool is so sick... What is your slide made of? And agree with all others, can't see anything at all on plaster... Let it go , let it go, ..



Sry I have 2 daughters so that phrase is imprinted in my brain...

 

[Twolabs]

What type of filter do you have?
I have a cartridge filter and my pressure hasn't risen at all in the three weeks since plaster. I do plan on cleaning soon though as soon as my cya gets into my system. Since it's in the skimmer it will go to the filter and stick there for a while I imagine before finally cycling through to the water. It's my understanding that cleaning the filter too soon will wash it away.
Maybe I'm missing something?

Thats interesting. I have a 525sq cartridge filter as well. I haven't paid attention to the filter PSI until just yesterday, so I don't quite know if it's risen or if it's been there.

I'm not sure about the CYA sticking in there, but I feel like I need to give them a good cleaning with the PSI being so high. Did you do a traditional or an acid start up? We did a traditional start up and I had TONNNS of plaster dust.

Twolabs-- dam... Your pool is so sick... What is your slide made of? And agree with all others, can't see anything at all on plaster... Let it go , let it go, ..



Sry I have 2 daughters so that phrase is imprinted in my brain...

Thanks Miles! It's all gunite, the entire structure. The slide was finished in about 4 coats of an epoxy type of finish, so its pretty slick!

And, and I know ALL about Elsa and Anna....I have 2 girls as well.

 

[dumbcluck]

We did traditional start up. White plaster. I don't have anything to gauge it against but I didn't feel like there was a ton of plaster dust. Just small white puffs as I swept only for the first maybe two weeks tops. But with that being said, I just remembered that the pb hadn't installed the pressure gauge until a week later or so...
I also see that it changes dramatically in pressure depending on the speed setting of the pump. At high speed it has never gotten over 20 and at the lowest speed close to 0.
As far as cya in the skimmer, again I think you want don't want to clean your filter for a week or so after adding until it registers on your test or you will wash it away. It's not that inexpensive to me to wash it out and replace.
I'm very new to this as well so hopefully someone who actually knows about this stuff can chime in and set us both straight.
Your pool is so much nicer than mine I wouldn't want to take any chances though. Mine is very basic old school style and yours is crazy cool.

 

[Twolabs]

Well, my plaster dust looked like I was sweeping an abandoned sawmill from the 1800s.

So I went ahead and decided to crack that sucker open and see what was inside. Needless to say, it needed to be cleaned.

Before and After


Afterwards, PSI was perfectly back to the brand new cartridge number.

 

[zethacat]

You call that dirty? Did I happen to mention that my "pool [startup] tech" decided to start my DE filter without DE and let it run that way for 3 weeks? Needless to say, this is what 3 weeks of plaster dust looks like:

And yes, I did get a new filter after that.. but primarily because they installed the wrong one to begin with. I was supposed to get a quad DE filter (which I have now). Lucky I had the part # written in the contract.

 

[kimkats]

z-cat that is DIRTY!

Good thing you had the part # written down! That is another thing we can watch out for when a new person comes on the site looking for idea and help. "Make sure to have all part numbers written down on the contract!

Kim

 

[JayBauman]

Needless to say, it needed to be cleaned.

That ain't nothing. You can still see plenty of white on that. Just wait until two labs spend some quality time in there. Then you'll see what a dirty (dog hair) filter looks like!



Maybe it's because I used pebble, or maybe it's because my PB let my surface cure for about 24 hours before filling, or maybe it's because they did an acid rinse & power wash before filling....but my PB told me to expect very little (perhaps none?) plaster dust. He said I could brush if I want, but there is no need to.

Either way, the PB's startup tech will be here about every day for the next week and a half getting filter/pumps/waterfall/floorcleaner/chemistry lined out...and then again when we go live with the salt. I won't be doing any maintenance unit after the new year.

 

[dumbcluck]

Wow that is quite a difference. Hopefully that wasn't all cya that washed out. Lol
I guess I better check mine out too then.
Also I have been told (but haven't confirmed) that there is some sort of hose attachment that is some sort of circular wand and hoses into the filter. I'm going to look into It.