New to inground pools

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Thanks Kim.

I was estimating a gallon for every 3 days. This normally calls for 1 gallon every 6 days for my size. While my pool has no shade, it is Michigan. Water tends to be cooler (I think it is under 70 degrees right now), and we do get a good amount of cloudy days. I was a bit surprised to hear you use 10 gallons every 12 days though. So now I am thinking I should plan for 20 gallons every 12 days and go down from there.

20% smaller
Not as hot. 10%
More days of cloud cover. 10%

So I believe that I will need 14 gallons for 12 days.....

100 days * $3.77 *1.7 including tax = $439

IF I do drain and fill ~$300

Based on calculations I'll need 6 gallons every 12 days, or .5 gallon/day.

$300+($377/2) = $489

So for now I will plan on a gallon a day.

Thoughts?
 
My pool is not much smaller than yours and our climates are similar. I use about 1/3 of a gallon of 12.5% every day. I understand balancing the cost of water against the cost of chlorine. Keep in mind that at at CYA of 120 you are going to have a tough balancing act. If it gets away from you it will be very difficult to clear the water. Also you will need that much more chlorine to SLAM the pool if you have an algae bloom.

You can add new water anytime if it gets away from you. I decided to change water because I got tired of fighting it and I'm not all that risk tolerant. Like I said try it and see.
 
Thanks Dorsal, I believe you said you have a vinyl pool, correct? The OEM of these fiberglass pools highly caution against draining of the pool without professional help. I am assuming that the professional help will not be cheap. I can probably drain down to the level I drain to for closing the pool safely. I don't think that gets me down to the 60% I will need to however. So I will go with kim's suggestion for now. Like I said, last year my CYA was close to 200 by end of the summer. Draining to closing level, and having the run off and rain fill it back got me down around 100, and then I started using dichloro tabs again...and it started increasing.
 
YOU can drain it BUT not all of the way. It just is not worth the chance. You might have to do a couple of drains and refills if it comes to that.

I am glad to hear the water is clearing!!

Now for me to ask some questions about your home and area. Do you plan on ever getting a well on the property? How far out of town do you live? I love to learn about people and new areas so tend to ask lots of questions. :hug:

Kim:kim:
 
kimkats said:
YOU can drain it BUT not all of the way. It just is not worth the chance. You might have to do a couple of drains and refills if it comes to that.

I am glad to hear the water is clearing!!

Now for me to ask some questions about your home and area. Do you plan on ever getting a well on the property? How far out of town do you live? I love to learn about people and new areas so tend to ask lots of questions. :hug:

Kim:kim:
Click to expand...

We do plan on getting a well eventually. Though we'll need a very good filtration system. The water in this area has high sulfer which is why so many of us around here are on water tanks. There is city water about 2 miles away but the farmers in the area have been blocking it coming this way. The big blocker on this is waiting for our old home to sell. It has been on the market for over 9 months. :( We are crossing our fingers that it will sell soon.

We live about 2 1/2 miles from "town". However, town is Dundee, MI. LOL It is a very small, sleepy town.
 
I keep my CYA in the 30 - 40 range. Usually it is zero after the winter so it's easy to hit the range I want since I'm starting from scratch. This year I put in a new liner so it was a clean slate with new water. We have a shallow well so I have the water trucked in from town.

I understand your concern with draining water. You don't have to get your CYA down in one shot but several partial drains is costly. I'd stay with your plan for now. I would calculate how much water you drain out when you winterize. That way you'll have a good idea of how much that will help.
 
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Thank you, both. Very helpful.

I wish I hadn't inherited this issue, but I did propagate it by not educating myself on stabilized chlorine tabs when I took over in July. I had never heard of CYA until my stick started showing it being really high. If I had done this research last July, I would be in the 40-60 CYA range today!
 
The pool people are not very good about educating you. I liked the people who installed our pool. It's a small family business and they did an excellent job with the installation. I followed their advice (with mixed results) for fourteen years. I was more than a little disappointed in them when I had problems one year and realized that my CYA was the issue. My local tool rental place had started carrying pool supplies so I took some water to them instead. They pointed out the CYA issue and suggested I purchase a better test kit. They also told me I'd have to exchange water. I didn't want to do that so I got online and found TFP.

From there I learned pool chemistry and purchased a FAS-DPD kit to go along with my Taylor kit. I've had a clean pool for the last six years now. I still buy shock and pool parts from the rental place. I've never been back to the original pool store.
 
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DorsalSpine said:
The pool people are not very good about educating you. I liked the people who installed our pool. It's a small family business and they did an excellent job with the installation. I followed their advice (with mixed results) for fourteen years. I was more than a little disappointed in them when I had problems one year and realized that my CYA was the issue. My local tool rental place had started carrying pool supplies so I took some water to them instead. They pointed out the CYA issue and suggested I purchase a better test kit. They also told me I'd have to exchange water. I didn't want to do that so I got online and found TFP.

From there I learned pool chemistry and purchased a FAS-DPD kit to go along with my Taylor kit. I've had a clean pool for the last six years now. I still buy shock and pool parts from the rental place. I've never been back to the original pool store.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but my mistake was just assuming the previous owner knew what he was doing. He didn't! LOL

I also think a big part of my problem has been the filter cartridge. I screwed up and didn't buy a new one to start the season. I knew the current one had issues. I was having a lot of problem with debris being in the pool even after vacuuming. One day late in the season last year I held my hand skimmer up to one of the inlets and sure enough the skimmer was capturing all kinds of debris coming out of the inlet. But then I closed the pool and forgot all about it until I went to clean the filter and reinstall it.

So live and learn. I have learned more reading this forum in the last week than I did all of the last year previously!
 
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