thinking of emptying pool

[Dirk]

Thank you for taking my comments as they were intended. Our neighbors already hate us 'cause we have a pool and they don't!!

Are we talking about a sewer clean out? One that leads to your city's sewer system? The same system your toilets flow to?

If so, then I'd be pretty surprised if your house doesn't already have a clean out. They're pretty standard. It's what "roto-rooter" guys use to clear your sewer line when it backs up. They can be hard to spot though, if you do have one. Sometimes they're half poking out of a stucco wall, opposite a sink on the other side of the wall. Sometimes they're buried in the yard, or in the lawn. Do you have a crawl space? You can sometimes see where your sewer line runs to the street from under there. Or sometimes there's a marking or tell tale in the street where your house connects to the sewer.

Google "sewer clean out" and click the "Images" button and you'll get some ideas of what to look for.

If you have one and find it, maybe you can just run your pump's hose into that? But check with your city first!!

 

[Mr Bruce]

new pool water:

salt 2000.
CH=225
pH=8.2
FC=0
I didn't think I needed to measure anything else and didn't have to measure pH. I added a gallon of chlorine, 60 oz of acid, and now pool math says if I want to get from 2000 to 2700 salt i need to add 84 lbs of salt?

The amount of salt blows me away. I'm glad I didn't add any before checking! I wonder if salt ultimately continues to sink to the bottom. It was added 3 yrs ago and there was maybe 7 inches of water left in pool after drain. I would've thought it would've been very well mixed in and would not have sunk at the bottom and if anything the calcium would've sunk to the bottom in parts, but CH was same as faucet water. Salt is so high! Or did I measure it wrong from my tap? I can't imagine it'd be that high and was confident about that test.

84 lbs of salt, is that right? dump in and then brush? I'm still trying to get the CYA dissolved as well. thx!

2000 out of the tap sounds high. Is this a 1766 or strips?

80 lbs is only 2 bags. I put your # in and got the same, that's about right. If the 2000 number is correct.

 

[Arizonarob]

Thank you for taking my comments as they were intended. Our neighbors already hate us 'cause we have a pool and they don't!!

Are we talking about a sewer clean out? One that leads to your city's sewer system? The same system your toilets flow to?

If so, then I'd be pretty surprised if your house doesn't already have a clean out. They're pretty standard. It's what "roto-rooter" guys use to clear your sewer line when it backs up. They can be hard to spot though, if you do have one. Sometimes they're half poking out of a stucco wall, opposite a sink on the other side of the wall. Sometimes they're buried in the yard, or in the lawn. Do you have a crawl space? You can sometimes see where your sewer line runs to the street from under there. Or sometimes there's a marking or tell tale in the street where your house connects to the sewer.

Google "sewer clean out" and click the "Images" button and you'll get some ideas of what to look for.

If you have one and find it, maybe you can just run your pump's hose into that? But check with your city first!!

I remember her saying something about her house being built in 78, so she may not have the front yard jobber, but it’s probably in the house somewhere.

I’d definitely look into finding it, and if it’s in the house, I would definitely add one outside for just the ease of clean outs, and pool emptying when needed.

 

[Phillbo]

The cell calls for 2700-3400 ppm of salt. If the current 2000 ppm is accurate I'd throw in at least 3 more bags. I prefer to run mine closer to the high range to remove the risk of not generating chlorine do to the level being too low.

Have you added salt or is your tap water that salty?


Must have added salt. I looked at the City Water Report and Sodium was listed at 25-264ppm.

 

[Dirk]

The cell calls for 2700-3400 ppm of salt. If the current 2000 ppm is accurate I'd throw in at least 3 more bags. I prefer to run mine closer to the high range to remove the risk of not generating chlorine do to the level being too low.

Have you added salt or is your tap water that salty?


Must have added salt. I looked at the City Water Report and Sodium was listed at 25-264ppm.

OK, that sounds more like it. City water just can't be 2000. There's some sort of testing error going on. Which needs to be sorted out before you go adding too much salt or too little, of anything, and start your water/SWG problems all over again...

We've dialed in your volume. Now we need to sort out your reagents (expiration dates, etc), how you store them, and how you're using them. Pool School has some great info, including extra tips, for all the tests. Videos, too.

 

[outdoorsgal]

Thank you for taking my comments as they were intended. Our neighbors already hate us 'cause we have a pool and they don't!!

Are we talking about a sewer clean out? One that leads to your city's sewer system? The same system your toilets flow to?

If so, then I'd be pretty surprised if your house doesn't already have a clean out. They're pretty standard. It's what "roto-rooter" guys use to clear your sewer line when it backs up. They can be hard to spot though, if you do have one. Sometimes they're half poking out of a stucco wall, opposite a sink on the other side of the wall. Sometimes they're buried in the yard, or in the lawn. Do you have a crawl space? You can sometimes see where your sewer line runs to the street from under there. Or sometimes there's a marking or tell tale in the street where your house connects to the sewer.

Google "sewer clean out" and click the "Images" button and you'll get some ideas of what to look for.

If you have one and find it, maybe you can just run your pump's hose into that? But check with your city first!!

I read some of the city's drain rules. It seems to say in older home the clean out can be in the house wall and it's risky to clean out there due to high chance of backing up into the walls. My friend told me we have a cleanout on the back wall near the sink. I would be nervous to dump it there and like the city suggests would have to do the garden hose method. I thought we used to have a cleanout in the front yard but we had an oliander tree that was here when we moved in that grew through the sewer. We had to get the whole sewer line replaced. We had a friend of a friend do it who was a licensed electrician, but not a plumber. I wonder if he took it out or buried it. We've been contemplating this clean out for years. I remember when the bathtubs were backing up from the sewer lines being blocked I thought a plumber went into the toilet with a snake but I could be wrong. I'm thinking of calling plumbers to see if they could find the clean out with a snake or if we'd need to dig up the front yard which has landscape fabric and small pebbles so the landscape fabric will start fraying once we do that but we need to figure this out. As far as running it to a friend's that's an idea if I paid them but I think what runs through the sewer is calculated and Jan-March is when they calculate your base sewer rate for the whole year so I'd want to check with the water dept, too. I'd rather get our own clean out out front but I can imagine it'll be expensive. My neighbor has one. We have children with special needs and often times I start these projects or contemplations and never finish as so many other things are hanging over our heads. I'm putting this one on my 24 page word doc of things to do.

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2000 out of the tap sounds high. Is this a 1766 or strips?

80 lbs is only 2 bags. I put your # in and got the same, that's about right. If the 2000 number is correct.

i posted tap water previously. out of the tap is:
pH= 8.2
TA=130
CH=225
salt=800

When I wrote "new water" I meant "new fresh pool water." Those posts u r looking at r from the pool. Tap is from my kitchen sink

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The cell calls for 2700-3400 ppm of salt. If the current 2000 ppm is accurate I'd throw in at least 3 more bags. I prefer to run mine closer to the high range to remove the risk of not generating chlorine do to the level being too low.

Have you added salt or is your tap water that salty?


Must have added salt. I looked at the City Water Report and Sodium was listed at 25-264ppm.

I did not add salt, but there was a good 7 inches of water left in my pool after drain. I don;t know how the water would be that salty. I meausered 2 xs. I use the number when it turns an immediate brick red color and doesn't change much at all anymore

 

[Phillbo]

Add 3 bags, wait a few days and retest.

You can use bleach to sanitize while you are dialing in your salt level.

 

[outdoorsgal]

OK, that sounds more like it. City water just can't be 2000. There's some sort of testing error going on. Which needs to be sorted out before you go adding too much salt or too little, of anything, and start your water/SWG problems all over again...

We've dialed in your volume. Now we need to sort out your reagents (expiration dates, etc), how you store them, and how you're using them. Pool School has some great info, including extra tips, for all the tests. Videos, too.

I looked for how to store reagents and couldn't find it but will look again later. We do allow the house to get to 90 if we're on vacay or gone for a while. We typically store the reagents in the kitchen area and keep our house around 83 most of the time in the summer. I'll check the dates. The salt test has gotta be almost 3 years old. A lot of the regeants from TFP Taylor kit don't have expiration dates but ones I've bought since in larger bottles do.

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Add 3 bags, wait a few days and retest.

You can use bleach to sanitize while you are dialing in your salt level.

Does it take a few days to mix in? If so my CYA may be higher, too, and Im going to wait to add more. It's at 50 and I'm good with that although I know TFP recommends min of 70 so I'm going to have to stretch myself. I'm worried about adding too much for sure, especially hearing that my regeants might not be working. i'm going to start slow. thx for the confidence, though, that so many folks think I need a good 2 bags!

 

[Dirk]

Call your friend who replaced the line to see if he remembers putting a new clean out in, and where it is.

But you're right, pumping 14000 gallons into a clean out could easily backup into the house if things go wrong. No advice for that.

My city won't allow use of the sewer for the pool drain because of the salt.

The sewer/water/billing thing is about water use, not sewer use. They calculate the sewer usage based on how much water you use, based on the water meter. They figure what goes in, must come out. They use the winter months because they figure that's when most stop watering their garden (which is water that doesn't flow into the sewer system). It's a bit fairer to the consumer that way.

So it doesn't matter what you pump into the sewer, or when you do it. They can't measure that. It's the filling that affects your sewer bill. So filling a pool outside of their "calculation months" won't affect the sewer rate portion of your bill, just the water portion of it. Filling your pool within those calculation months will drive up your sewer bill for a year. Some municipalities give you a break on the sewer bill for filling your pool, if you can prove that water isn't going to end up in your sewer. My city doesn't, and I don't expect yours will if they're gonna tell you you must use the sewer clean out. They'll want their dough for that!

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The salt test has gotta be almost 3 years old.

I'd start there!

 

[outdoorsgal]

The cell calls for 2700-3400 ppm of salt. If the current 2000 ppm is accurate I'd throw in at least 3 more bags. I prefer to run mine closer to the high range to remove the risk of not generating chlorine do to the level being too low.

Have you added salt or is your tap water that salty?


Must have added salt. I looked at the City Water Report and Sodium was listed at 25-264ppm.

how often do u empty your pool? my hope is to empty is as least as possible which is why I want the lesser end. City water will add to it with time, too. Then if I have too much salt and need to dump in the street I won't be able to possibly from what I'm hearing here.

 

[Dirk]

Both salt and CYA take a day or two to mix in. Be patient. Don't over dose. No worries, if you do, you can always just drain your pool. It's easy!

 

[cfherrman]

I messed up, plug 14000 into pool math and work your way up

 

[Phillbo]

how often do u empty your pool? my hope is to empty is as least as possible which is why I want the lesser end. City water will add to it with time, too. Then if I have too much salt and need to dump in the street I won't be able to possibly from what I'm hearing here.

I emptied mine last about 9 years ago and only due to a back yard remodel that was going to prevent me from being able to run the pump for a long period of time. I decided to empty instead of creating a swamp. Maintain your numbers and you can go a long time with just adding water to offset evaporation.

Not sure about Phx but in Scottsdale you NEVER want to fill a pool in February. That's the month they use your water bill to calculate your sewer usage.

 

[outdoorsgal]

Sodium Choride test k-1766 expired. just ordered a new one. r-0718 exp 9/17 and r-0630exp 5-18. with this, it's not going to come in until tuesday. Do I add 2 bags of salt in the meantime? i'll check other regeants in a bit

 

[triptyx]

Let's go slow and hold off on adding anything else that can't be easily removed.

For now, use bleach daily to keep the pool clean and let's get some fresh tests done before adding more salt.

 

[outdoorsgal]

Let's go slow and hold off on adding anything else that can't be easily removed.

For now, use bleach daily to keep the pool clean and let's get some fresh tests done before adding more salt.

ok, so far I added a bag of salt. the panel said zero salt. regeants won't come in until tues unfortunately so I'd better make sure i have enough chlorine!

I'm going to order everything that doesn't have a date on it and anything expired. One regeant I don't recall ever using is r-07065. What is that one for? should I just throw it out? Never came with a date from TF test kits 3 yrs ago

 

[outdoorsgal]

I emptied mine last about 9 years ago and only due to a back yard remodel that was going to prevent me from being able to run the pump for a long period of time. I decided to empty instead of creating a swamp. Maintain your numbers and you can go a long time with just adding water to offset evaporation.

Not sure about Phx but in Scottsdale you NEVER want to fill a pool in February. That's the month they use your water bill to calculate your sewer usage.

maybe since you have a DE filter that offsets the salt that's getting added by the city? that's pretty incredible. Do u have a water softener? You have salt so how do u keep it from getting all the build up? daily checks/weekly checks? I couldn't manage the salt cell that kept getting calcium. Maybe it's due to not cleaning it well? That's my husband's job so I don't always get to check so I may check more and see what happens. even, then, we let it sit past it's 10 min recommendation so that's still amazing to me. 9 years?!! What's your CH at? How r your water lines?

 

[Phillbo]

Everything is fine... I actually have to add a little salt towards the end of the summer... Not sure where it goes but it does drop. Probably from the pump downs I have to do when we get a real heavy monsoon rain. My pool has a tendency to flood. I pump it down a couple inches in expectation of the storms.

 

[proavia]

Reference the Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart

You stated you added enough stabilizer get CYA to 50. Once the CYA is added, just consider it in there and dose accordingly. You need to add bleach to dose FC to a target of 6-8 -- and never let it fall below 4. Remember, you're pool is a NON - SWG pool until AFTER your salt level is correct and the SWG is functioning correctly.

You also need to keep the pH in check - letting it get above 7.8 is bad.

Please provide a current
FC
CC
pH
TA

It's all about the test results... stay on top if it or you will be working double time to correct it.


And just to keep everyone happy, how about pics of all your hard work.... pool, pool equipment -- and a pic of the brick just for Dirk!!

 

[outdoorsgal]

Everything is fine... I actually have to add a little salt towards the end of the summer... Not sure where it goes but it does drop. Probably from the pump downs I have to do when we get a real heavy monsoon rain. My pool has a tendency to flood. I pump it down a couple inches in expectation of the storms.

that's gotta be really great for your water levels?! I imagine rain water would be better than city water, at least as far as calcium and salt... Do you have a clean out? I couldn't imagine with my situation (no clean out) needing to get a permit every time i had to pump out a couple of inches. I guess in that scenario I'd try to see if I could pump it down the clean out that goes through my house-that seems too risky to me for a full pool drain, though. Plus I have salt water and not tons of land otherwise watering the grass a bit would be ok. Interesting that your pool floods. Mind doesn't and we're both in the East Valley. Is your pool the kind that looks like it has no edges -zero something or other or do you have typical (or what I know to be typical) tiles?