New to Pool, DIY'r Opening Question(s)

[PSW]

Sounds good! Just keep up the hard work and you will have a trouble free pool very soon! The more debris you can remove from the pool, the better. Also, brushing the pool helps the shocking process (and can clean up your waterline).

Keep the pictures coming!

 

[Fooled]

Well the weather was gorgeous this weekend, so I did some extra cleaning around the pool, and kept all the FC levels up and roaring etc. The one test I had not done yet as it did not appear to be one of the "gotchas" until you got going was CH.

I ran it, and this is a gunite pool, and the CH was 110. Seems awful low, and dangerous given being a gunite pool. Should I get this raised quick? Also does a low CH cause cloudiness at all?

 

[linen]

Focus on the shocking process and clearing the pool for now, worry about CH later.

Here is a good article on calcium hardness: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/calcium_scaling It's focus is on scaling but it give a good overview of CH for plaster pools and points you to the CSI tool in the poolcalculator.com.

It was built and installed in the 50sa, and actually used to be fully enclosed in the house!

That sounds interesting. Any details?

 

[Fooled]

Yeah I have been shocking for a full week solid now. Seems to be getting better, but this morning I noticed a lot of foam on the surface.

Only details I have on the pool is it was installed around the time the house was built, and the house was built in the late 40s. Originally it was all enclosed but the previous owner deemed it too much work to refurb the enclosed space so he took it down and stood a fence up around it. I know the skimmer opening has a cover by Refinite, but thats all I can make out so far. Hopefully as it clears more and I can get in it I'll be able to tell more of the story that the pool holds!

 

[Fooled]

Alas some more progress. I woke up to more foam on the top today, but when I was scooping it out I decided to touch the bottom of the shallow end with the pole...and low and behold, I could still see it!

For an instant gratification guy, this has been painful... I cant imagine how slow this would have been without all the help, thanks everyone!

 

[Fooled]

Another update -- still foamy on top, not sure what thats all about but it seems to slowly be going away.

Got home last night and I could completely see the bottom in the shallow end, and now can see the 3rd step on the deep end ladder...

Friends ask why I didn't just drain and it and start with clean water... and that might have been easier, but I wouldn't have learned anything. I never thought so much work, would be so much fun!

 

[duraleigh]

I haven't read back through your whole story but that foaming is usually the result of the chlorine "killing off" some additive that was put in your pool prior. An inexpensive algaecide is the most common culprit.

The solution is exactly what you are doing....high levels of chlorine will get rid of it.

 

[Fooled]

And today I can see the bottom through the entire pool. I was very diligent in my measurements each reading keeping it at shock levels at all times. I am out of the fancy accurate FC/CC reagents(at least the drops) so I will be going by some guesswork from here on out but all in all, minus some serious cleaning I am almost there!

This was from 2 days ago -- first time I could see the bottom in the shallow end from a distance.

Here is from this morning. I could see the bottom of the deep end, and the main drain! Now onto some vacuuming and with any luck(and more chlorine), I will be cannon-balling into the weekend!

 

[thewags]

Nice job, and thanks for the pictures!

 

[rock]

And today I can see the bottom through the entire pool.

I came here after searching for how to clean my filter - and I am impressed with what you've done with this pool.

I was faced with the same problem just a week or so before you and found this forum helpful. In fact, after shocking for a few days, mine looked just like yours, with that pretty milky white turquoise color after the green/brown swampy color.

Friends ask why I didn't just drain and it and start with clean water... and that might have been easier, but I wouldn't have learned anything. I never thought so much work, would be so much fun!

Personally, that's what I decided to do (details here):
- What maintenance would you do with a pool before refilling?

I figured the advantage of draining was:
a) I didn't have to run the two cleaner/filter pumps 24/7 (save money)
b) I didn't have to pour in chlorine day after day after day (save money)
c) I could manually remove ALL the debris (with a broom and shovel)
d) I could remove and clean the pop-up cleaner heads (you don't have them)
e) I could fix the leaking shutoff Jandy valve (no way to fix it with water in the pool)
f) I could wash the sides of the pool (long story - I ended up skipping that step due to ignorance and the time it took me to learn)

Personally, I'd do it the same way again (i.e., draining vs chemicalling & pumping 24/7) - but your situation may be different than mine.

 

[linen]

Looking good Fooled!

@rock

In most cases it is more cost effective (and safer) to do it Fooled's way and not do a full drain. I felt you gave up way too soon on the shocking process. Even with a full drain (watch out for high water table), a refilled pool almost always needs a significant time shocking to kill the organics on the pipes, equipment, and walls. The longer the pool sits empty the less organics on the walls, but that is a safety issue and a higher risk for popping.

 

[Fooled]

There was a lot of risk involved with emptying mine, I am about 2 miles from Lake Ontario to my north, and a very active underground spring to the south (basically in my backyard.) Water table is always extremely high, and being a novice, everything I had read scared the Crud out of me! This has taken me a week longer than it should. I was stubborn and waited that long to buy my test kit and put the correct amounts, and maintain the correct amounts of chlorine.

I have also done a lot of calculations, and I have come to the conclusion that odds are it will be close to a wash to leaving the pump on 24/7, or paying for more chemicals in the long run. Maybe it's false advice, but a lot of people I have talked to think its less work and more cost efficient to pump 24/7 and maintain a lower FC level.

 

[rock]

In most cases it is more cost effective (and safer) to do it Fooled's way and not do a full drain. I felt you gave up way too soon on the shocking process.

Thanks for the clarification. I see the point.

For me, I'm comparing electricity costs of about 45 cents per kilowatt hour (which is probably twice that of the OP) ... and ... I have to run TWO 1.65 HP pumps to clean & filter (because of the self-cleaning system) so that probably makes it roughly four times what it costs for the OP for power.

Plus, my chemical costs are likely higher because I have a 1/3 larger pool ... plus ... everything (including pool chemicals) in California is/are more expensive:
- How to calculate cost per effective chlorine liquid v powder

Water table is always extremely high, and being a novice, everything I had read scared the **** out of me!

I understand.

My water table is about 400 feet below ground so I worried more about the sun baking my plaster than I did the pool floating out of the ground.

Thanks for the courtesy explanations.

 

[linen]

For me, I'm comparing electricity costs of about 45 cents per kilowatt hour (which is probably twice that of the OP) ... and ... I have to run TWO 1.65 HP pumps to clean & filter (because of the self-cleaning system) so that probably makes it roughly four times what it costs for the OP for power.

and maybe even higher...I think my electrical costs are at about 9 cents/KWhr

Okay, at those prices and with your low water table, yours is a very unique situation

 

[rock]

my electrical costs are at about 9 cents/KWhr)

To be fair, my first kWh is only about 14 cents but "most" of my kWh are about 45 cents.

The power company gives everyone the same baseline so it doesn't matter how big or small your house is or how many people live there - or if you have a pool and well - you still get the same baseline. Once you reach that baseline, then you get hit with the 45 cents per kWh rate.

It takes about a week ... maybe a week and a half before you're in the higher tiers.

 

[Fooled]

So I was in the pool all weekend... Literally over 12 hours in 3 days! Water felt great, looked great, and the company had a blast as well.

Friday night the water was cold, and still a little dirty. As I was having friends over I really wanted it to sparkle, so I took some "drastic measures."
I was terrified to mess with my filter as I thought I was sure to screw something up. But I took the risk, unhooked the filter, removed the top and got the garden hose out.

After a solid hour of running the garden hose in the filter, and reaching my hand in clearing the clumps of sand/dislogding debris there was still a lot of gunk coming out. After about another hour it wasn't as bad, and I was beat! I followed the directions to turn the water flow back up and ran it over night Friday (been on 24/7 anyways.) Saturday I woke up and it was 200% better.

I can't imagine how much faster I could have gotten it ready had i tried this sooner, but in any event, it was ready when I needed it! Pool is maintained at 80 degrees, looks amazing, feels amazing, and I wanted to say thank you for everyone on the forums help, guidance, and experience. Without it I would have spent a fortune and known nothing about what was going on.

Now that the hard part is done (ha!) It is time to turn the money expendatures to landscaping it! YAHHHOOOO here's to an amazing summer!

 

[Bama Rambler]

I'm glad you posted this. We don't normally suggest cleaning the sand filter but this proves, there's definitely a time for that.