No, that's spread out over two months. Am I a bad person for dumping them all into the grave marked "deal with later?"
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Proud owner of a glorious swamp!
- Thread starter scriptorum
- Start date
So, how much did you end up spending on getting your pool from the swamp to crystal clear? 83 or so bottles of bleach plus what else? I've not re-read the thread but I do remember you buying a few more items including the test kit. And how much time do you think you put into cleaning it up? Just for fun...
Lets get an updated picture of the pool
Here is a little time-lapse GIF from this afternoon, a hot day but a wonderful breeze here in the Charleston area. We have several zero-gravity pool chairs out (two shown here), and a new porch swing under the trellis. Also we're building a collection of ridiculous pool toys. The pool is quite sparkly in the full sunlight with the pump running.
Let see - just for the SLAM - in addition to 80 gallons of bleach, there's a Taylor K-2006 test kit, a few bottles of muriatic acid, a big box of baking soda, a box of 20 mule, extra DPD powder, extra chlorine titrating reagent, a replacement pressure gauge and two leaf rake heads. Around $400 I would guess. I didn't locate any particularly good bargains on bleach that might have brought that number down.
Several articles of clothing were sacrificed for the Bleach God. Also I picked up calcium hardener, stabilizer, a replacement part for the SWG, the 1766 salt test kit, and pool salt, but most of that wasn't strictly needed for the SLAM. Soon I'll be buying a replacement timer motor so the 1HP pump doesn't have to run 24/7.
Tough to say. I probably spent more time researching pool maintenance on this site than I actually spent doing the cleaning! I had a lot of questions, and never maintained a pool before.
For the SLAM period, the first two days were most involved, ~4 hours a day measuring and doping and brushing and raking. I was out there for 30 minutes at the top of each hour. By the end of the second week I was spending less than an hour a day.
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That is an awesome .gif. Thanks for posting it !!
EDIT -- found myself sitting and staring at it. I really need a pool.
EDIT -- found myself sitting and staring at it. I really need a pool.
Everyone really needs to go back and look at the first couple of pics of this pond LOL What a wonderful job you did! SWEET!
Kim
Kim
Just read from page 1 to the end without so much as a bathroom break. Great job on the recovery! I was in Mt Pleasant several times the first part of July during our annual stay on Sullivan's Island. If I would have found this thread sooner, I likely would have reached out to try to buy you a drink at Reds. Enjoyed seeing the progress!
I've been to Reds a few times now. I would have taken that drink.
Glad you enjoyed the thread, but sorry about the lack of bathroom breaks.Nice job scriptorium... You've got quite the private oasis there. Looks like it may be time for some skinny dipping woops wrong forum ...never mind
I too just read from the beginning. It was like reading a book, I wanted to turn to the last page to see how it ended.
I think I've reached the breaking point with my T-CELL. It has been reporting 2600-2700, lower than actual. Over time, it has repeatedly dropped below 2600, and in response I've added salt to bring it back up. Below 2600 not only does it complain that there are low minerals, but it generates almost no chlorine at all. However, when I get it back to 2600 it instantly starts working fine like nothing has happened. Anyhow, now that the salt level is at an actual reading of 3400 (based on the 1766 salt test) I really don't want to add any more salt just to convince the SWG to run at a useful capacity. I took the T-CELL 15 to the store and of course their tester came back with FAIL.
At this point the plan is to replace the T-CELL 15 and hope for the best. What are my options without also replacing the old control panel? The panel has a revision of 1.1. Since I have a 15k gallon pool, I'm thinking this GLX-CELL-5 will be sufficient, but I don't know if it works with old controller like mine.
EDIT: Oh and another question! For cell settings I have the options AL-0, AL-1 and AL-2. Which cells do these settings actually correspond to?
At this point the plan is to replace the T-CELL 15 and hope for the best. What are my options without also replacing the old control panel? The panel has a revision of 1.1. Since I have a 15k gallon pool, I'm thinking this GLX-CELL-5 will be sufficient, but I don't know if it works with old controller like mine.
EDIT: Oh and another question! For cell settings I have the options AL-0, AL-1 and AL-2. Which cells do these settings actually correspond to?
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I would go with the largest cell your controller will work with. You can always turn down a large cell, but you can't turn up a small cell. One other advantage is longer lifespan on a larger cell that is run at a lower setting.
That's an interesting point. So will this Hayward GLX-CELL-15 work with my old-revision Mineral Springs control panel? This larger cell is more expensive and has a shorter warranty than the smaller cell. I'm just trying to figure out if you can put any "Aqua Rite" cell in with my old 1.10 revision control panel and have it work properly if I set it to AL-0, or if I have to be more selective.
I'm in the Charleston SC area and I'm wondering what expectations I should have for winter maintenance. I've done some reading, but the pool school articles seem to be geared towards colder climes. This is our first winter with a pool. I'm having a loop loc cover installed today. It's a mesh style (in blue, to match the pool chairs). I'd love some feedback on my "closing" plan.
1. I am not planning to drain the lines or add antifreeze. I have heard that it doesn't stay at low temps for long down here.
2. I am planning to turn off the pump. When a freeze is predicted, I'll turn the pump back on for the duration, to be safe.
1. I am not planning to drain the lines or add antifreeze. I have heard that it doesn't stay at low temps for long down here.
2. I am planning to turn off the pump. When a freeze is predicted, I'll turn the pump back on for the duration, to be safe.
- This is moot right now (because the timer is broken) but during a freeze should you run the pump 24/7, or could you get away with less?
- What temperature should trigger this reaction, since I presume it would take <32F to reach the pipes?
- During the winter, how often do I need check for pH?
- Should I still expect an upward pH crawl?
- How often do I need to check the chlorine level?
- One pool school recommended polyquat, but I thought the use of algaecides was frowned upon.
- Can you use the SWG to adjust the chlorine level if the water temp is high enough, and if so, what temp is that (generally speaking)?
- Is it a good idea open the cover and brush the pool occasionally over the winter, or is that too much effort?
I really enjoyed reading this thread; thanks for bumping it up to the top level. You've started a new topic, so you might get more attention to your question if you had started a new thread...
Anyway, here's my $0.02: According to weather.com, Charleston average temperatures are very similar to Houston. (Houston is a few degrees warmer during the day, but average nightly temperatures are nearly identical.) In Houston, nobody really closes our pools. While we probably aren't swimming in them during the cold months, we leave them open and maintain them just like we do the rest of the year. But with little to no bather load, shorter days, and colder water temperatures, chlorine consumption is much lower and the typical pool chemistry stays much more balanced. In Nov-Feb in previous winters, I bet I spent about 10 minutes every other week maintaining my pool. And since it was open, I had a beautiful, sparkly body of water to look at throughout the winter.
So that's my long preamble to my question. Why bother closing it? Why not leave it open all year long? You don't have to be swimming in it to enjoy its beauty.
Anyway, here's my $0.02: According to weather.com, Charleston average temperatures are very similar to Houston. (Houston is a few degrees warmer during the day, but average nightly temperatures are nearly identical.) In Houston, nobody really closes our pools. While we probably aren't swimming in them during the cold months, we leave them open and maintain them just like we do the rest of the year. But with little to no bather load, shorter days, and colder water temperatures, chlorine consumption is much lower and the typical pool chemistry stays much more balanced. In Nov-Feb in previous winters, I bet I spent about 10 minutes every other week maintaining my pool. And since it was open, I had a beautiful, sparkly body of water to look at throughout the winter.
So that's my long preamble to my question. Why bother closing it? Why not leave it open all year long? You don't have to be swimming in it to enjoy its beauty.
Thanks. I have no good reason for the putting the question here, and should probably be baby slapped.
That's the information I was looking for! Thank you.
Mostly it's to reduce the time and cost of maintenance. The timer is broken, so it can only be on 24/7, or off. Also, the pool was built underneath an enormous oak tree which ejects an incredible amount of organic material in and around the pool. The cover is mesh which is supposedly lighter than a solid cover, so if I wanted to I could reopen the pool before having visitors or a party, assuming it wasn't an unsightly green.
