Background: I grew up with an above ground pool. My dad did all maintenance, balancing, vacuuming. He was OCD about it and I enjoyed a beautifully kept pool growing up. It being above ground, and being 24', with a total depth about 4 1/2', he always had the options to drain and fill if things got to out of whack.
Last year my family and I bought a new house and it came with a roman shaped, 19,500 gallon in-ground fiberglass pool. When we moved in the previous owner had it up and running. It has a little high acidity-wise (low PH and low alkalinity), but sparkling blue beautiful water. A few visitors would complain that it burned their skin, but me and my family had no issues at all. But I was constantly trying to get the PH and alkalinity up.
Remember, I am used to a pristine pool! So I maintained through rest of the summer. Towards the end I was having issues keeping in clean (more on that in a moment).
Followed close up procedures last fall. And put it out of my mind. Now this spring (this past Saturday), I removed the safety cover to a green pool. Immediately started adding chlorine and brushing the pool. Got pump going. Water was high so I did drain some water. Now, 4 days later water is clearing up well. However, I am still having the issue of trying to keep the bottom clean. A lot of dead algae, and a lot of cleaning the filter.
However, I believe my cartridge is compromised. I found a receipt for a cartridge from 2012 (it is a sta-rite PLM2 type so it should last a couple of years but probably not 7). So I've ordered a new one and it will be arriving early next week.
I've also been fighting to get the free chlorine up. It is hovering around .5 PPM while total is around 10ppm. I did shock again last night hoping to rectify this.
I'd also like to start a treatment of Jack's Magic Blue Stuff to keep metal staining from occurring, but water temperature is too low for that at the moment.
Two concerns. Since it is a fiberglass pool I cannot just drain and refill. There are multiple warnings from the pool manufacturer about draining the pool without bracing it. Second concern is that in order to refill I would need water delivered (we currently use a water tank for water with no well on the property and no city water). So I am trying to avoid a drain and fill for both reasons.
Any help, tips, thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Last year my family and I bought a new house and it came with a roman shaped, 19,500 gallon in-ground fiberglass pool. When we moved in the previous owner had it up and running. It has a little high acidity-wise (low PH and low alkalinity), but sparkling blue beautiful water. A few visitors would complain that it burned their skin, but me and my family had no issues at all. But I was constantly trying to get the PH and alkalinity up.
Remember, I am used to a pristine pool! So I maintained through rest of the summer. Towards the end I was having issues keeping in clean (more on that in a moment).
Followed close up procedures last fall. And put it out of my mind. Now this spring (this past Saturday), I removed the safety cover to a green pool. Immediately started adding chlorine and brushing the pool. Got pump going. Water was high so I did drain some water. Now, 4 days later water is clearing up well. However, I am still having the issue of trying to keep the bottom clean. A lot of dead algae, and a lot of cleaning the filter.
However, I believe my cartridge is compromised. I found a receipt for a cartridge from 2012 (it is a sta-rite PLM2 type so it should last a couple of years but probably not 7). So I've ordered a new one and it will be arriving early next week.
I've also been fighting to get the free chlorine up. It is hovering around .5 PPM while total is around 10ppm. I did shock again last night hoping to rectify this.
I'd also like to start a treatment of Jack's Magic Blue Stuff to keep metal staining from occurring, but water temperature is too low for that at the moment.
Two concerns. Since it is a fiberglass pool I cannot just drain and refill. There are multiple warnings from the pool manufacturer about draining the pool without bracing it. Second concern is that in order to refill I would need water delivered (we currently use a water tank for water with no well on the property and no city water). So I am trying to avoid a drain and fill for both reasons.
Any help, tips, thoughts would be greatly appreciated!