Hi TFP members,
I’ve had this pool for 5 years now, it is much older than that, but every year seems there seems to be a new challenge to get the water clear.
I switched 2yrs ago to liquid chlorine that I add daily with a couple of chlorinated pucks thrown in to keep the cya up.
Last year was the first time I opened the pool this way and it was easy peasy, took less than a week to clear my winter algae.
Not so this year, I’m on my 4th gallon of chlorine and since the first gallon which turned the water turquoise , which is usually a good sign, there has been no improvement, in fact it went back to the previous shade of green and has stayed there after two brushing and 3 more gallons. Am I following the TFP system to the letter ?, no, but it worked last year, the pool stayed clear all summer.
My suspicion is with the filter, when backwashing, the dirty water was no where near as green and dense as it usually is when opening. But the pressure gage reads the same, around 18 when filtering( it does have a stutter if you will, it waivers a bit, but always has it was new last year or the year before), then drops to 15 when it needs backwashing. Yes , it drops, it has never gone higher as one would expect if it were having to strain more to move the water through more debris.
The only thing I changed this yr, is I removed the extra pipes and detour for the ozonator that I never use as it’s valve had broken this winter. If anything, this made it easier for the pump to prime, less pipe to travel. But, back to the skimmer issue of my title, last year was difficult to get pump to prime and one of the ways I found to help was to put a hose at full pressure down the hole that goes to the pump . This is the hole farthest from the pool, right? Well this spring the hole that has suction is the one closest to the pool, which supposedly goes to the drain at the bottom of the pool? I do not understand how this works, and could it be the reason my pool is not clearing up? I am not mistaken about the switch because last year, I played with the cover over the suction hole to try and increase the suction to help prime the pump, that hole has no suction whatsoever this year.
If anyone can help me understand or trouble shoot this pool monster, I’d be ever so grateful!
jvee
I’ve had this pool for 5 years now, it is much older than that, but every year seems there seems to be a new challenge to get the water clear.
I switched 2yrs ago to liquid chlorine that I add daily with a couple of chlorinated pucks thrown in to keep the cya up.
Last year was the first time I opened the pool this way and it was easy peasy, took less than a week to clear my winter algae.
Not so this year, I’m on my 4th gallon of chlorine and since the first gallon which turned the water turquoise , which is usually a good sign, there has been no improvement, in fact it went back to the previous shade of green and has stayed there after two brushing and 3 more gallons. Am I following the TFP system to the letter ?, no, but it worked last year, the pool stayed clear all summer.
My suspicion is with the filter, when backwashing, the dirty water was no where near as green and dense as it usually is when opening. But the pressure gage reads the same, around 18 when filtering( it does have a stutter if you will, it waivers a bit, but always has it was new last year or the year before), then drops to 15 when it needs backwashing. Yes , it drops, it has never gone higher as one would expect if it were having to strain more to move the water through more debris.
The only thing I changed this yr, is I removed the extra pipes and detour for the ozonator that I never use as it’s valve had broken this winter. If anything, this made it easier for the pump to prime, less pipe to travel. But, back to the skimmer issue of my title, last year was difficult to get pump to prime and one of the ways I found to help was to put a hose at full pressure down the hole that goes to the pump . This is the hole farthest from the pool, right? Well this spring the hole that has suction is the one closest to the pool, which supposedly goes to the drain at the bottom of the pool? I do not understand how this works, and could it be the reason my pool is not clearing up? I am not mistaken about the switch because last year, I played with the cover over the suction hole to try and increase the suction to help prime the pump, that hole has no suction whatsoever this year.
If anyone can help me understand or trouble shoot this pool monster, I’d be ever so grateful!
jvee
