Sand Filter/NEW pool Owner

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Meinyon

Meinyon

0
Jul 1, 2015
17
Tulsa, OK
Hi all. I NEED HELP!!! I inherited a pool with a house I purchased. I've been trying to get it up and going myself and this is proving to be an impossible task. First the water is pretty much BLACK (I'm told that is black algae (sp)) I was told to pour algaecide (sp) and let the water "circulate". The only problem is that the filter system was not covered and the settings on the arm have been faded by the sun and it seems to be an older sand system and I cannot locate what the settings should be.
attachment.php
attachment.php
attachment.php


I would love some help. As I said I'm totally new to this. Cannot afford the "professionals" and I've asked a few installers that do this on the side for help they have made many appointments and never showed up nor called. It is very frustrating .:confused: I wanted to have a 4th party but that isn't going to happen. I'm in Tulsa, OK.
Any help with be helpful!!!

thank you to whomever started this forum
 

Attachments

  • Overall Pic.jpg
    Overall Pic.jpg
    98.4 KB · Views: 248
  • Filter Top.jpg
    Filter Top.jpg
    66.8 KB · Views: 247
  • Filter Brand.jpg
    Filter Brand.jpg
    67.8 KB · Views: 248
You were told wrong about the algaecide. It won't help, and may hurt. What you need is chlorine.

You need to get things running first so you have circulation. Rinse, waste and backwash will result in water coming out of the clear fitting on the filter. Recirculate and filter will move water from the skimmer to the pool return. On closed, water won't go anywhere. If your pressure gauge works, you'll probably be able to narrow down which is which. If it doesn't work, get a new one.

Check out the article Defeating Algae for more information
 
thank you yippee $21.95 for something that could possibly cause more damage. I went and purchased a new gauge and that helped. It is now on circulate and doing so. I have to purchase a new scrub brush and then I will start the waste and backwash today after work. I've read a couple threads on here do you recommend BLEACH and use that? My pool is 30 ft round 4 1/2foot deep I tried changing my signature with as much info as I had.
thank you for a least getting me started somewhere.

JohnT said:
You were told wrong about the algaecide. It won't help, and may hurt. What you need is chlorine.

You need to get things running first so you have circulation. Rinse, waste and backwash will result in water coming out of the clear fitting on the filter. Recirculate and filter will move water from the skimmer to the pool return. On closed, water won't go anywhere. If your pressure gauge works, you'll probably be able to narrow down which is which. If it doesn't work, get a new one.

Check out the article Defeating Algae for more information
Click to expand...
 
Okay. I calculate 23,800 for 4-1/2 foot WATER depth, 21,100 for 4 feet of water. Your signature says 30,000 and I wanted to make sure you didn't use that incorrect volume to calculate any additions!

And yes, use bleach!!!

Sorry it took me so long to respond. TFP has been weirding out today for me.
 
.
NO need to apologize!!!

The reason I wanted to clarify your volume is because with a 30,000 gallon pool, 1 gallon of 8.25% bleach would increase your FC by about 2.7ppm. With a 21,100 gallon pool, 1 gallon of 8.25% bleach would increase your FC by 4.0ppm. That is a significant difference, especially during a slam.

If you are curious how I came up with your volume, here's how. A cubic foot of water contains 7.48 gallons. The volume of a round pool is (pi x radius squared x depth) cubic feet. 7.48gal/cu ft x pool cu ft= pool volume in gallons.
 
Did you figure out your multi-port positions? Filter, recirculate, rinse, backwash, waste, winter/closed? We can be more specific about those if you need more help. Record them on a piece of paper until you're positive of which is which. Then mark them with a sharpie for future reference.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
I went to a pool store who had one like.mine up and running took a picture of it and it matched. I bought a new gauge as well. Now I am circulating the water. Is that correct with one Gal of bleach?

Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk
 
Now that you have your mechanics running, it's time to start talking about testing methods. At TFP, pool store test results are not trusted. We really can only help with pool chemistry if you purchase a reliable test kit.

I use the Taylor K-2006C. Many on the forum use a hybrid version of the Taylor kit called the TF-100. Either way you go, you need one of these kits. It's an outlay of $70 bucks or more, (prices vary with time), but it will pay for itself over and over again. Just think if you had bought 3 bottles of useless algaecide from your store. Kit paid for!

Here is TFP's link about test kits: Pool School - Test Kits Compared
 
Great! Don't buy one at the pool store unless they have a FAS-DPD test. Only maybe 1% of pool stores nationwide sell them. (It would hurt their business...) You probably have to get it online. If you are in a hurry, go with the fastest delivery date!

If your pool water is black, it will take a while to fix. While you're waiting for your kit, check liquid chlorine/bleach prices at every store you go to. (Big box hardware, Aldi, Walmart, etc.) Look for two things.

1) % strength. The strength should be listed on the bottle. If not, you don't want it. Make a note of %, bottle size (ounces), and cost. You can calculate effective cost that way. Don't get too bogged down by the math if it's not your thing. 1 gallon of 6% at $2.99 is not as good a deal as 1 gallon of 12.5% at $3.99.

2) Look for a code on the box or bottle. It may have a "bottled on" date, or it may have a 5 digit code like 15142 which would be the 142nd day of 2015. Chlorine loses it's strength over time or when exposed to heat/sunlight.

You want the freshest, and least cost per effective ounce you can get.


Hope that wasn't too much info...
 
Not at all informative for sure. I will order my test kit. So what besides looking for chlorine /bleach should I just let the water circulate while I'm waiting for my test kit?

Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk
 
You want your multiport valve set to "Filter". Circulate (or recirculate, however it may be labeled) bypasses the filter and just dumps the dirty water back into the pool.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply