Rain's Effect on Pool Chemicals and Balance

[MarkThomasAZ]

This is our 2nd summer in Scottsdale. Last summer we really didn't get much rain and I had a pool pro maintaining our pool.
This summer I took over the job and have had pretty good results.
This summer we are having a real monsoon season (in fact it is raining now).
Question: With all of this rain what do I need to watch for? What effect will the rain have on the pool water normally?
Any "special needs"? Thanks for your responses.
MarkThomasAZ

 

[newdude]

Question: With all of this rain what do I need to watch for? What

Mixing. If you are mixing every couple of hours, the rain can only affect you by its %. 1 inch is 1-2% for most folks and almost undetectable if it drops you FC from 7 to 6.9xxx

Those who have the pool off for 12+hours may see 0 FC cold water festering on top before the pump kicks on the next time.

If it’s a prolonged storm, set your timer to kick on for 20 minutes every 3 hours or so. If it pops up out of the blue, manually turn the pump on at you earliest convenience.

 

[kimkats]

A good, strong rain will push my pH up a bit as well as adding too much water to the pool making me drain some of my purrfect water out to be mixed in with now so purrfect water.

 

[MarkThomasAZ]

Mixing. If you are mixing every couple of hours, the rain can only affect you by its %. 1 inch is 1-2% for most folks and almost undetectable if it drops you FC from 7 to 6.9xxx

Those who have the pool off for 12+hours may see 0 FC cold water festering on top before the pump kicks on the next time.

If it’s a prolonged storm, set your timer to kick on for 20 minutes every 3 hours or so. If it pops up out of the blue, manually turn the pump on at you earliest convenience.

Two birds one stone....with solar electrical panels (no electricity cost) to power the house and a variable speed pump I am running a slow drain line at low R.P.M.s and draining and mixing at the same time.
My CYA was high to begin with so I was going to change out some water this weekend anyway. So I am draining and mixing at the same time And yes it is still raining hard!

 

[zea3]

Enjoy the rain while it lasts! We have had at least 1 hard rain every day for the last 3 weeks. My yard is a swamp! Finally supposed to dry out next week.

 

[MarkThomasAZ]

Enjoy the rain while it lasts! We have had at least 1 hard rain every day for the last 3 weeks. My yard is a swamp! Finally supposed to dry out next week.

Yes this is my first real monsoon season here in AZ the rain is sooooo gooooddddd. Still raining too

 

[Sunnydaze]

Yes this is my first real monsoon season here in AZ the rain is sooooo gooooddddd. Still raining too

This is my first monsoon season with a pool. Just the other day i was saying how rare it would have to be to overfill a pool with rain here. Well last night we got 1.25 inches in just over an hour (and lots of hail) and it's been raining all morning. The water line is about an inch from the top of the tile now. I'm going to go buy a submersible pump from harbor freight just in case!

 

[newdude]

I'm going to go buy a submersible pump from harbor freight just in case

It’s like a shop vac. You don’t know when you will need it until you need it. It will sit there collecting dust, but when the time comes it is worth it’s weight in gold.

 

[mknauss]

Capture as much of that rain water as possible. It has zero CH and zero TA. Try to not drain it off the pool. Evaporation will take care of any higher water levels quickly.

 

[zea3]

If you do need to drain, set up the sump in the bottom of the deep end. As long as the main pump is off the fresh water will be at the top of the pool.

 

[Sunnydaze]

It’s like a shop vac. You don’t know when you will need it until you need it. It will sit there collecting dust, but when the time comes it is worth it’s weight in gold.

I am one who doesn't like to rent or borrow tools or other things i need so i end up buying all kinds of stuff for one time use and it may never get used again but i know it's there if i ever do need it. In fact, i have two shop vacs and rarely use them. But one is big and one is small... variety is good right? At least thats what i tell my girlfriend.

 

[MarkThomasAZ]

Capture as much of that rain water as possible. It has zero CH and zero TA. Try to not drain it off the pool. Evaporation will take care of any higher water levels quickly.

Wow good to know I have a feeling I am going to get more opportunities to catch rain the next couple days we are having record breaking rainfall

 

[Sunnydaze]

Wow good to know I have a feeling I am going to get more opportunities to catch rain the next couple days we are having record breaking rainfall

This is the most rain I've seen in a long time. I'm loving it. Not to mention the temperatures! My pool water reached the bottom of the deck this morning.