New Pool Owner

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Ssouthar

Ssouthar

Bronze Supporter
Dec 27, 2019
39
Elk Grove, Ca
Hey folks! We bought our house in Elk Grove and moved in back in late August of 2019 and the pool came with the place. Been reading all I can here to get up to speed. Boy, I thought I had it all dialed in until I started reading and realized it's a lot more complicated than checking FC and PH every day or so. So glad I found this site! I used to do pool maintenance back in the early 80s - another lifetime but pretty much forgot everything I ever knew about it. First thing we did and BEFORE I learned about this site <wink> was to have a UV system installed. I know, I know! <grin>. Also had a variable pump installed and replaced the pool cleaner that broke the first week we were here. We had originally wanted to do SWG but the guy I hired to advise me talked me into UV/Ozone. Now to be fair, part of the reason was because that's what he runs in his own pool and he loves it AND we had a large solar system installed and his point was that yes, you have to run the pump longer but the electricity is basically free so why not? I agreed and I have zero issues with any of it so far. The pump runs from Midnight starting at speed 4 and then ratchets down eventually to speed 1 at noon and then off all together at 4:00PM. I try to keep the FC between 1.5 and 2. I switched from the tabs to plain liquid bleach. I enjoy doing all the maintenance myself. There is no heater so it really sucks having to do all this work through the winter months and not being able to use it. Maybe some day in the future we will spring for a heater.
 
Welcome to TFP, Ssouthar..... glad to have you join us, even if you did spring for the UV/Ozone doohickie. At least you know what its limitations are and how it is no magic cure. So what it if chews thru your chlorine a bit more... you'll keep a close eye on that, right??

Your FC seems a bit low, but since you seem to have purchased a good test kit you can keep a close eye on things.

Just let us know if you have questions or a problem. We're happy to help you.... like telling you not to bother replacing the bulb when it dies. See?!- We even help folks with alternative ideas ;)

Maddie :flower:
 
YippeeSkippy said:
Welcome to TFP, Ssouthar..... glad to have you join us, even if you did spring for the UV/Ozone doohickie. At least you know what its limitations are and how it is no magic cure. So what it if chews thru your chlorine a bit more... you'll keep a close eye on that, right??

Your FC seems a bit low, but since you seem to have purchased a good test kit you can keep a close eye on things.

Just let us know if you have questions or a problem. We're happy to help you.... like telling you not to bother replacing the bulb when it dies. See?!- We even help folks with alternative ideas ;)

Maddie :flower:
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Thanks Maddie! Yeah, I knew I was going to get a dig on the UV thing but it is what it is and I have a good sense of humor (thick skin) LOL! It is what it is, right? I have to say that after switching to liquid bleach, I am having a problem getting the levels up. I'm using the 6% stuff from Costco and I put a whole 120 oz in yesterday and then let it run over night and it didn't bring it up at all. Poured in another bottle this morning and will check it later today. Thinking I should run an overnight test as I'm thinking maybe there is material in the water chewing up the chlorine? UV maybe? <wink>
Steve
 
Hey Steve, welcome! Don't worry about the UV purchase. Chalk it up to learning curve. I don't know what those cost, but it can't be more than what I shouldn't have spent on my first pool (this one) before I found TFP. So now you're in the right place, home, and we'll take good care of ya! It's funny that you wrote "it's a lot more complicated" because after finding TFP I've come to realize just how easy it is to take care of my pool. It won't be long before you'll feel that way too!
 
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Check the bleach you are using from Costco. I bet it is Clorox with Cloromax. Discontinue using that. It has additives you do not want in your pool water.
 
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Yikes!! Good call Marty!! Thanks for pointing that out! Yes, that is exactly what it is. Ok, more research to do then. You'll crack up... in addition to buying two cases from Costco, I already bought a case from Amazon not knowing what the normal price is. I paid something like $30 for prime delivery for something I could have picked up at Costco for $9 AND I bought the wrong stuff ta boot! LOL! Live and learn! I will post more on the Getting Started section. Thanks again! Good news is no one is using the pool now anyway but I DO want the least amount of "junk" in my pool as possible so no more Colormax!
 

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Dirk said:
Hey Steve, welcome! Don't worry about the UV purchase. Chalk it up to learning curve. I don't know what those cost, but it can't be more than what I shouldn't have spent on my first pool (this one) before I found TFP. So now you're in the right place, home, and we'll take good care of ya! It's funny that you wrote "it's a lot more complicated" because after finding TFP I've come to realize just how easy it is to take care of my pool. It won't be long before you'll feel that way too!
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Thanks Dirk! I actually enjoy doing this. Got to tell you a funny story. When I first met my wife back in '82, I was playing music for a living (starving musician) and I took up working for a friend that had a pool service company in San Jose. He gave me a route that was in the Los Gatos and Saratoga areas - two of the most expensive areas to live in the Bay Area. Lots of really nice pools and man, I loved the work and was prepared to start my on business with my friend's help but then both my family and my in-laws to be stepped in and insisted I take a job at a car dealership that my dad was offering me. He was the manager. They told me they didn't want me working around those "chemicals". I knew better - they didn't want me around all of those housewives! That was their perception at least but honestly, no one was ever home at these pools I was caring for. My friend owned his own home, had a BMW and very large boat. Pool maintenance was good to him and I look back at that decision with a lot of regret but at least I'm back in the game with my own pool now. <grin>
 
Big learning curve but you will come out of it with a pool that SPARKLES!! It will be very hard for you to get into public pools and some private ones once you see how good your pool looks once we get done with it.

Chlorine-see if there is a pool store that easy for you to get to. They will have you put a deposit down on their jugs to bring it come in. Most of theirs is 11% and is "clean". If there is not one that is easy to get to then try Home Depot for the HDX liquid chlorine BUT take make sure it has date code within 3months of today AND it is not kept in the direct sun.

LOL on the pool service job and "nasty chemicals". Look at you now :roll:

Kim:kim:
 
kimkats said:
Big learning curve but you will come out of it with a pool that SPARKLES!! It will be very hard for you to get into public pools and some private ones once you see how good your pool looks once we get done with it.

Chlorine-see if there is a pool store that easy for you to get to. They will have you put a deposit down on their jugs to bring it come in. Most of theirs is 11% and is "clean". If there is not one that is easy to get to then try Home Depot for the HDX liquid chlorine BUT take make sure it has date code within 3months of today AND it is not kept in the direct sun.

LOL on the pool service job and "nasty chemicals". Look at you now :roll:

Kim:kim:
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Thanks Kim! I will look into that!
 
Ha! Your family will have no worries now! TFP pools use so few chemicals (compared to the cart full that nationally known pool stores sell new pool owners) that its hard to get exposed to much.
Shame hearing about those fancy big homes and pools ....and no one is home to enjoy them?

Maddie :flower:
 
He's got a Leslie's nearby in Elk Grove. That's where I get my chlorine, when I need it in the winter (SWG the rest of the year). Their price is competitive, and they've got the 10% stuff, always fresh, and no additives. They also have the perfect water sampling bottle, which they'll give you for free. I let them test my water once in a while (the results from which I just ignore). But for the privilege they'll give you discounts and send you emails with coupons for pool supplies (you just have to ignore their sales pitch when they read you your results). I only buy chlorine and acid from them. After a while they figured it out, and now leave me alone, pitch-wise.

That's another benefit of a saltwater pool system. For most of the year my pool get's the absolute "purest" chlorine, made fresh daily (literally)! I don't have to lug chlorine around either, or find the best bargain, or store a bunch of it at a time. I also don't have to yo-yo my FC level. Instead of dosing x-amount to get me through x-amount of days, which means my FC will be high at the beginning of the cycle, and low at the end, an SWG (once you get it dialed in) can keep your FC level fairly constant. Not only from day to day, but virtually hour to hour. I also use an automated acid-adding system, too, for basically all the same reasons. Those were two investments I made early on and together they produce a better, more stable water condition, and take a lot of the chore out of my pool care. (Sheesh, talk about high-pressure sales pitch!! There's more!)

I can't now remember exactly how the UV/Ozone stuff works, but if I remember right it's mostly doing what it does as the water passes through the gizmo. Once out in the pool, the water is "on its own." One of the many reasons why chlorine is the preferred sanitizer, is because it "kills on contact," but then remains "on guard" out in the pool, working 24-7, even when the the pump is off. With chlorine, there is something "attacking" that bird poop the second it lands in the water. WIth other methods, that bird poop doesn't get blasted until it runs through the various machines. Would I much rather not have chlorine on my skin and in my mouth, you bet. But I'll take that over the alternatives... That's the reason you still want to (have to) use chlorine with those systems, and why TFP highly recommends chlorine as the primary (and only necessary) sanitizer for a pool. I'm pretty sure you can run both systems, so if you ever tire of the chlorine buying/lugging game, we'll get you set up with the right SWG.

PS. I grew up in Cambrian Park, so I know Los Gatos and Saratoga well. And I was touring the Bay Area and the Northwest during that same period. Gotta wonder if we were working some of the same gigs!! Small world...

:rockon:
 
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