Hello, all!
I’ve been lurking around this forum for a little while absorbing as much as I can, and I think I’ve gathered enough information at this point that I’m comfortable with getting to work on my (soon to be) pool.
First, some chemistry as measured by a Taylor K-2006 test kit:
FC - 16ppm
CC - 0
pH - 7.4
TA - 80ppm
CH - 360ppm
CYA - A bit over 100 but I’m not sure by how much. I would guess it’s at 120 or 140. I wasn’t aware of the 1/2 tap water 1/2 pool water method when I performed the test for very high CYAs, but when I get a chance to get back to the pool I will take a more accurate measurement (I’m not full time in the house yet).
I would say that the bottom and sides of the pool are about 1/3 covered in algae right now. Also, the skimmers are completely underwater, and my understanding is that the water level should only go about 1/3 up the skimmer. This is about a 10,000 gallon pool, and I do not yet have a grasp on the condition of the DE filter. It reads 22 psi, but I have no idea what the “starting” pressure is.
So that’s where I am now. Here’s my plan of attack, with some questions sprinkled about:
I need to get the CYA down. My present understanding is that ~40 is a good goal, so I’m probably going to need to drain something like 60% of the pool, then fill it up again with water from the hose.
1) With a gunite pool there’s no problem with draining that 60% of water all at once right? The pool-ruining issues some people have to be careful with don’t apply to me when draining massive amounts of water?
2) I am afraid of doing the drain wrong and breaking my pool pump. I’ve read a bit here and there about “priming” water from the skimmers, but I don’t quite have a handle on how to keep that water there. Around the pump, I see a set of three pipes coming out of the ground, one labeled “Skim”, one labeled “Main”, and one that is not labeled. When I drain the pool, am I supposed to close the “Skim” pipe to keep priming water?
3) Also, I have a solar collector that I can divert the flow of water through. If I have the water going through the solar collector, then shut off the pump, is that going to drain all the water from the collector and cause an issue when I turn the pump back on? Is there a valve I’m supposed to close to keep that “primed” as well?
4) The FC is that high because that’s what’s appropriate for the high CYA, right? I know that the previous owner was using trichlor tablets (or their pool service, I don’t really know how it was taken care of).
5) The sight glass is totally green. Should I clean this out before tackling the algae problem I have?
6) I brushed the pool a bit with the long pool brush and noticed that a lot of stuff that looks like algae isn’t coming off. Is that going to require a more thorough cleaning, or is that just some leftover stain from algae that’s been there before and won’t come out?
7) By the way, when you drain a pool, you just send that out the “waste” pipe, right?
Thank you all for this wonderful forum, and thanks in advance for your time and patience with all these questions!
I’ve been lurking around this forum for a little while absorbing as much as I can, and I think I’ve gathered enough information at this point that I’m comfortable with getting to work on my (soon to be) pool.
First, some chemistry as measured by a Taylor K-2006 test kit:
FC - 16ppm
CC - 0
pH - 7.4
TA - 80ppm
CH - 360ppm
CYA - A bit over 100 but I’m not sure by how much. I would guess it’s at 120 or 140. I wasn’t aware of the 1/2 tap water 1/2 pool water method when I performed the test for very high CYAs, but when I get a chance to get back to the pool I will take a more accurate measurement (I’m not full time in the house yet).
I would say that the bottom and sides of the pool are about 1/3 covered in algae right now. Also, the skimmers are completely underwater, and my understanding is that the water level should only go about 1/3 up the skimmer. This is about a 10,000 gallon pool, and I do not yet have a grasp on the condition of the DE filter. It reads 22 psi, but I have no idea what the “starting” pressure is.
So that’s where I am now. Here’s my plan of attack, with some questions sprinkled about:
I need to get the CYA down. My present understanding is that ~40 is a good goal, so I’m probably going to need to drain something like 60% of the pool, then fill it up again with water from the hose.
1) With a gunite pool there’s no problem with draining that 60% of water all at once right? The pool-ruining issues some people have to be careful with don’t apply to me when draining massive amounts of water?
2) I am afraid of doing the drain wrong and breaking my pool pump. I’ve read a bit here and there about “priming” water from the skimmers, but I don’t quite have a handle on how to keep that water there. Around the pump, I see a set of three pipes coming out of the ground, one labeled “Skim”, one labeled “Main”, and one that is not labeled. When I drain the pool, am I supposed to close the “Skim” pipe to keep priming water?
3) Also, I have a solar collector that I can divert the flow of water through. If I have the water going through the solar collector, then shut off the pump, is that going to drain all the water from the collector and cause an issue when I turn the pump back on? Is there a valve I’m supposed to close to keep that “primed” as well?
4) The FC is that high because that’s what’s appropriate for the high CYA, right? I know that the previous owner was using trichlor tablets (or their pool service, I don’t really know how it was taken care of).
5) The sight glass is totally green. Should I clean this out before tackling the algae problem I have?
6) I brushed the pool a bit with the long pool brush and noticed that a lot of stuff that looks like algae isn’t coming off. Is that going to require a more thorough cleaning, or is that just some leftover stain from algae that’s been there before and won’t come out?
7) By the way, when you drain a pool, you just send that out the “waste” pipe, right?
Thank you all for this wonderful forum, and thanks in advance for your time and patience with all these questions!