Long story... well, long:
Purchased a house this year with a pool. Kids are pool fanatics and it seemed worth it since we previously spent so much on memberships and the like. If we vacationed at the beach, the kids would stay in the hotel pool all day anyway. Pool is a 21,000 gallon concrete IGP, DE filter.
I was totally overwhelmed at the start. I was scrambling to get a "pool guy" out to the house to open and get me started. I was calling all the people I know that owned a pool for advice. Now that I found this site it is actually amazing how little they actually know and some have owned their pools for years! The service technicians came out, opened the pool and left saying the cleaning technician would be out in a day or two. I was a bit concerned as the pool was filled with leaves and other plant debris. Then it rained for 4 days straight and no pool cleaning or chlorine addition other than 4-5 floaters. Also, I inquired about a chlorinator (I know better now) and the guy looked at me and said, "sure if you want to spend the $400-$500 but you can just put the tabs in the skimmer basket like everyone else. Suffice it to say that I was concerned right from the start. Once I found this site it was like a breath of fresh air and I now feel so much better and ready to take control myself.
I have been cleaning (brushing, skimming, etc) and adding chlorine most days although we are not fully moved in so I can go 2 days or more without getting over there. I was using cal-hypo that was left in the shed to just keep the algae away (I was an avid aquariumist (?) years ago so I understood or rather had appropriate fear of algae). I will try to post before and after pics if possible. However, things are actually way better then they should be considering and I feel very lucky. It is funny as I read more, especially the "don'ts" I am constantly going "oh sh.. I was doing that! Or oops, I was not doing that".
So as of today my biggest concerns are getting over the fear of the equipment (pump, filter, plumbing, etc.) and the discoloration of the pool surface. I am not sure if these are stains that can be removed or if the pool is due for a resurfacing. Otherwise I now feel like I can handle it. I will be purchasing a supply of liquid chlorine this week and remove the floaters from the water. I have been testing but so much has changed and I now understand it much better that I will wait until this weekend to do a full batch.
Thank you for all the information and I feel like this will be a regular stop whenever I get online. There is still so much to read and re-read.
My last test (5/24/17 1900)
-CYA 50
-FC 5
-CH 400+ ( I have to redo this one for sure)
-pH 7.6
-TA 70 (also need to redo)
Several days early on the FC was essentially 0 even with the 5 floaters in the water. Not sure why, the water has remained clear for over a week and I brought the FC level up to 20 a few times just to be sure since I wouldn't be there everyday (now I know that this is probably why my CH is rather high). For anyone else that feels intimidated I just would like to share how totally overwhelmed I felt and this is coming from someone with a chemistry and pharmacy background so all the terminology at least makes sense to me.
Start:
Now:
Purchased a house this year with a pool. Kids are pool fanatics and it seemed worth it since we previously spent so much on memberships and the like. If we vacationed at the beach, the kids would stay in the hotel pool all day anyway. Pool is a 21,000 gallon concrete IGP, DE filter.
I was totally overwhelmed at the start. I was scrambling to get a "pool guy" out to the house to open and get me started. I was calling all the people I know that owned a pool for advice. Now that I found this site it is actually amazing how little they actually know and some have owned their pools for years! The service technicians came out, opened the pool and left saying the cleaning technician would be out in a day or two. I was a bit concerned as the pool was filled with leaves and other plant debris. Then it rained for 4 days straight and no pool cleaning or chlorine addition other than 4-5 floaters. Also, I inquired about a chlorinator (I know better now) and the guy looked at me and said, "sure if you want to spend the $400-$500 but you can just put the tabs in the skimmer basket like everyone else. Suffice it to say that I was concerned right from the start. Once I found this site it was like a breath of fresh air and I now feel so much better and ready to take control myself.
I have been cleaning (brushing, skimming, etc) and adding chlorine most days although we are not fully moved in so I can go 2 days or more without getting over there. I was using cal-hypo that was left in the shed to just keep the algae away (I was an avid aquariumist (?) years ago so I understood or rather had appropriate fear of algae). I will try to post before and after pics if possible. However, things are actually way better then they should be considering and I feel very lucky. It is funny as I read more, especially the "don'ts" I am constantly going "oh sh.. I was doing that! Or oops, I was not doing that".
So as of today my biggest concerns are getting over the fear of the equipment (pump, filter, plumbing, etc.) and the discoloration of the pool surface. I am not sure if these are stains that can be removed or if the pool is due for a resurfacing. Otherwise I now feel like I can handle it. I will be purchasing a supply of liquid chlorine this week and remove the floaters from the water. I have been testing but so much has changed and I now understand it much better that I will wait until this weekend to do a full batch.
Thank you for all the information and I feel like this will be a regular stop whenever I get online. There is still so much to read and re-read.
My last test (5/24/17 1900)
-CYA 50
-FC 5
-CH 400+ ( I have to redo this one for sure)
-pH 7.6
-TA 70 (also need to redo)
Several days early on the FC was essentially 0 even with the 5 floaters in the water. Not sure why, the water has remained clear for over a week and I brought the FC level up to 20 a few times just to be sure since I wouldn't be there everyday (now I know that this is probably why my CH is rather high). For anyone else that feels intimidated I just would like to share how totally overwhelmed I felt and this is coming from someone with a chemistry and pharmacy background so all the terminology at least makes sense to me.
Start:
Now:
