New Pool Owner in Georgetown, TX

[xford66]

Hello, just bought a house with a pool and have been reading up on pool maintenance.
Some details on the pool:
14000 gallon in ground with hot tub, gunite, Variable speed pump, booster pump to run Polaris 280, DE filter, uses Chlorinator, has Aqualink app to control things.

Have three oaks bordering pool.. so constantly raking leaves out.

A few things I'm still not 100% sure of:
1. How to clean out basket on pump without dumping a lot of water, opened once to clean with system off and couldn't get lid on because of water pouring out (note pump is probably 8 feet lower than top of pool), finally figure out if turn pump on it takes most the pressure off and can get the lid back on, but now leaks. Heard of someone switching valves to skimmers only and then blocking them.

2. I got the water tested for the 1st time last week at the pool store (attached pic of report), alkalinity is low and CYA is at 145, they just advised to raise alkalinity and didn't mention anything about the CYA, but after reading more on CYA it seems I should drain the pool a significant amount first and then test water and adjust.
Also lead to believe I need to not rely solely on Tabs in the chlorinator like previous owner did, because this leads to high CYA after a few years.

3. Ran across the BBB method, do people really use this method and does it work well? I hear of adding chemicals almost daily which seems like a lot of work.

4. Shocking the pool, is this simply adding alot of chlorine to kill any potential bacteria or similar? Can you do this with liquid chlorine or bleach, or do you need to use special "Shock" packs they sell? How long does it generally take for the chlorine levels to come back down?


Thanks for any information can help with!
James

 

[Texas Splash]

James, welcome to TFP! I'll get right to your questions:
1 - Water flowing out of the basket is usually from two causes: either the waterline is above the pump or there is something open on the equipment pad (i.e. air relief valve) that equalizes pressure allowing water to move. In your case, it sounds more like the waterline being significantly above the pump, so you may need to close any suction and pressure side 3-way valves before before removing the pump basket lid.
2 - Pool store testing is horrible - period. You must have your own TF-100 test kit (or Taylor K-2006C). See Test Kits Compared. I recommend the TF-100 with magnetic speedstir. If your CYA is indeed over 100, a partial water exchange will be required to lower it.
3 - BBB is an outdated term. Here we use Trouble Free Pool Care (TFPC). Yes, it is that simple and is basically the same products that you may much more money for than at the pool store. See our ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry for more info.
4 - We don't just "shock" the pool for no reason. Again, that's redundant pool store advice. If you have no algae, an elevated FC level is not required. If you get algae, then we follow the SLAM Process. You can see more about that on this video:


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[xford66]

Thanks for quick response, Information is much appreciated.