What did you do to your pool today?

[Wobblerlorri]

Stood morosely at the door to the deck and watched in rain. For the third day in a row. Pool is overflowing, chemistry is wrecked, dirt, leaves and dead algae are all over the floor. Skimmer is full of leaves and pump basket isn't much better. Air temp is 65, pool temp is 74. Too cold to swim even when it's not raining.

I hate spring.

 

[Wolfepack88]

Stood morosely at the door to the deck and watched in rain. For the third day in a row. Pool is overflowing, chemistry is wrecked, dirt, leaves and dead algae are all over the floor. Skimmer is full of leaves and pump basket isn't much better. Air temp is 65, pool temp is 74. Too cold to swim even when it's not raining.

I hate spring.

Private Wobblerlorri you need the proper motivation to square that pool away pronto. A little water isn't gonna hurt ya, you get out there an empty that skimmer basket and deploy that robot asap!!

 

[Wobblerlorri]

Sir, yes sir! Deploying Private Son Patrick to brush and vacuum pool, Private DH Mike to empty baskets, and myself to test and correct levels!

 

[jimim]

BRUSH

 

[dfwnoob]

Spent about an hour cleaning out my DE filter. I didn't fully remove the grid assembly, but I did spend a lot of time with the hose nozzle getting in there real good. I didn't want to remove the assembly for fear of something cracking or ripping an O-ring. As far as I know, it has NEVER been opened since it was new (2006). If it was, it was a looooong time ago. Absolutely FOUL. Smelled horrible, full of all sorts of garbage.. sand, tiny pebbles, pieces of nylon brush, threads and whatnot from bathing suits.

Backwashing may get large junk out, but it's entirely ineffective. I'll probably switch to just fully cleaning the filter twice a year or something. Weird how much better my spa jets work now.

 

[Paul & Crystal]

I've been slamming. Opened on the 24th to a green pool. My liquid chlorine purchased in April is weak. The brand that I have used for years with no problems has a good until date instead of a born on date. It says it is good until January 23, but it has a weak scent and barely lightened a blue cotton rag when I tested it for strength that way, also it barely registered on the drop test. So I've been slamming with 78% Cal Hypo. Grrrrrrr. I much prefer a good high strength liquid chlorine.

Passed the overnight test this morning after going through 25 pounds of Cal Hypo so surely the algae is dead. I know that sounds crazy, but the pool is large and the algae was eating it as fast as I could put it in for 2 days. The water is now a glowing light blue and very cloudy. Now I'm waiting for the chlorine level to come down to 3-5 ppm before adding CYA. I ran my slam on zero CYA at 10-12 ppm chlorine.

I hope to get back to liquid chlorine but I cant justify paying $4 plus per gallon as I have to use at least a gallon every day to maintain 3-5 ppm. I've always paid $1.99 per gallon which was reasonable but with these price hikes it is difficult. If I can't trust the potency, it becomes a no go. Even the Cal Hypo in the 25 and 50 pound bucket is much more expensive this year. I am also paying double for CYA. Grrrrrrr. It's all worth it, of course, but I must grumble.

I will be back washing the sand filter later today and hoping this cloudy water clears up after that.

It's windy here today and my pool water is 65*. Yikes!

 

[jark87]

As far as I know, it has NEVER been opened since it was new (2006).

Wow! I only disassemble the grids once every couple of years, but I pull the grid assembly out every time I clean the filter, which is usually 4-5 times per year. I hose the grids off really well, getting my spray nozzle down inside and between the grids. I rarely just backwash. I figure if I’m going to add DE either way, I’d rather get the filter as clean as I can. I also lube the o-rings every time I clean the filter. I have the process down to where I can get the whole thing done in about 30 minutes.

 

[kimkats]

HEY GIRL!!! I have wondered where you were!!!! welcome home!!!!

I know that sounds crazy, but the pool is large HUGE and the algae was eating it as fast as I could put it in for 2 days.

I fixed it for you! LOL

 

[Paul & Crystal]

HEY GIRL!!! I have wondered where you were!!!! welcome home!!!!


I fixed it for you! LOL

Kim!!!!! Hi there

I'm so happy to see you! I've just been lurking the last couple seasons as things have been going so smoothly. I graduated to that low maintenance easy peasy TFP heaven after my second year.

This year, I opened much later than usual and wow...the green monster got me! I will not be doing that again. Open will be no later than 2nd week of April.

You do not want The Beast to go green. I think I'm almost home free with it now. Held FC 12 over night.

I'm so glad I know how or can find out how to manage the situation because of TFP!!! I had to review to do the SLAM.

I hope all is well with you and yours,

Crystal

 

[Mdragger88]

I've been slamming. Opened on the 24th to a green pool. My liquid chlorine purchased in April is weak. The brand that I have used for years with no problems has a good until date instead of a born on date. It says it is good until January 23, but it has a weak scent and barely lightened a blue cotton rag when I tested it for strength that way, also it barely registered on the drop test. So I've been slamming with 78% Cal Hypo. Grrrrrrr. I much prefer a good high strength liquid chlorine.

Passed the overnight test this morning after going through 25 pounds of Cal Hypo so surely the algae is dead. I know that sounds crazy, but the pool is large and the algae was eating it as fast as I could put it in for 2 days. The water is now a glowing light blue and very cloudy. Now I'm waiting for the chlorine level to come down to 3-5 ppm before adding CYA. I ran my slam on zero CYA at 10-12 ppm chlorine.

I hope to get back to liquid chlorine but I cant justify paying $4 plus per gallon as I have to use at least a gallon every day to maintain 3-5 ppm. I've always paid $1.99 per gallon which was reasonable but with these price hikes it is difficult. If I can't trust the potency, it becomes a no go. Even the Cal Hypo in the 25 and 50 pound bucket is much more expensive this year. I am also paying double for CYA. Grrrrrrr. It's all worth it, of course, but I must grumble.

I will be back washing the sand filter later today and hoping this cloudy water clears up after that.

It's windy here today and my pool water is 65*. Yikes!

I feel like u have a slam thread somewhere but I wanna mention some things - no cya means the sun eats alot of your fc so u use more when trying to maintain slam level.
So Get that up now & continue SLAM Process because until u have passed ALL 3 end of slam criteria- u are not done

 

[Stump]

Mowing and weed eating, after vacuumed pool, DW and I had a swim. Crazy cool Oklahoma temps dropped water to 66 degrees, and we don`t mind just like a late September earlier October swim. A plus is water makes 59-year-old skin feel like 29-year-old lol.......

 

[jark87]

Crazy cool Oklahoma temps dropped water to 66 degrees,

Just a bit south of you water temp is 74°. Like you, I enjoy a nice chill when diving in, especially when ambient temp is 94°! And my skin is the same age as yours.

 

[Wolfepack88]

Mowing and weed eating, after vacuumed pool, DW and I had a swim. Crazy cool Oklahoma temps dropped water to 66 degrees, and we don`t mind just like a late September earlier October swim. A plus is water makes 59-year-old skin feel like 29-year-old lol.......

Negative Ghost rider the pattern is full, 66 degrees is a no go. Dang that will get the heart into heat preservation mode. Jeez I remember wake surfing in the Willamette River and jumped in and it was 68 or 69 and my heart immediately was racing. I was like get this boat moving asap to get me up and out of the water. I guess I won't be a navy seal ever LOL.

 

[Paul & Crystal]

I feel like u have a slam thread somewhere but I wanna mention some things - no cya means the sun eats alot of your fc so u use more when trying to maintain slam level.
So Get that up now & continue SLAM Process because until u have passed ALL 3 end of slam criteria- u are not done

I'm adding CYA today. I have zero CC and have passed the overnight twice. I knew I was going to need a backwash and I hate throwing chems down the drain. My pool does not hold CYA. It's strange. I have to top CYA off all summer to stay at 40 ppm. Things are looking pretty good this morning.!

 

[B.lu]

I gave the pool a good brushing, which I have been slacking on. Tested water. Added more rocks around edge of equipment pad. I put a couple of chlorine pucks in a floater and turned off the SWG because my CYA is still low (like barely 20) and I have a massive container of pucks from the PB. Hope you all have a lovely long weekend!

 

[Mdragger88]

I'm adding CYA today. I have zero CC and have passed the overnight twice. I knew I was going to need a backwash and I hate throwing chems down the drain. My pool does not hold CYA. It's strange. I have to top CYA off all summer to stay at 40 ppm. Things are looking pretty good this morning.!

You don’t have leak do u? An auto fill can mask a leak & allow things to get diluted.

 

[Paul & Crystal]

You don’t have leak do u? An auto fill can mask a leak & allow things to get diluted.

No leaks. No autofill. I don't know why this pool does not hold CYA. At closing last fall, it had 40 ppm. On opening is has zero. It will take at least 12 pounds to get up to 40. I just added 3 pounds as that's all I had on hand. I have a 16 pound box being delivered today. My usual supplier that sold a 25 pound box on Amazon is out of stock. With the price increase I sized down to the 16 pound box from another seller. This thing is just so big. Huge surface area, so maybe the sun and evaporation cook it off. The issue with having a normal amount of CYA for a slam on this pool is that it increases the amount of chlorine that I have to put in. Kinda a catch 22 situation I suppose. I was hoping I had some residual from last year, but nope. Anyway, things are looking great this morning.

 

[Mdragger88]

No leaks. No autofill. I don't know why this pool does not hold CYA. At closing last fall, it had 40 ppm. On opening is has zero. It will take at least 12 pounds to get up to 40. I just added 3 pounds as that's all I had on hand. I have a 16 pound box being delivered today. My usual supplier that sold a 25 pound box on Amazon is out of stock. With the price increase I sized down to the 16 pound box from another seller. This thing is just so big. Huge surface area, so maybe the sun and evaporation cook it off. The issue with having a normal amount of CYA for a slam on this pool is that it increases the amount of chlorine that I have to put in. Kinda a catch 22 situation I suppose. I was hoping I had some residual from last year, but nope. Anyway, things are looking great this morning.

Its moot after the first dose to achieve slam level - in the long run u will use less liquid chlorine to maintain because you’re not fighting w/ the sun so much.

 

[Paul & Crystal]

I had to reup chlorine at full dosage 4 times in 24 hours because the organics were eating it up every few hours. This amounted to 25 pounds of 78% Cal Hypo. Seems crazy to have to use so much, but I've been monitoring my levels very closely every 2 hours throughout the process.. Luckily, my slam is now complete after 3 days! Passed all tests and the water is moving quickly toward that TFP crystal clear that we all know and love! I'm now back to adding one gallon of 10% liquid per 24 hours to hold the 5 ppm level, which is the normal.

A couple summers ago, I had a pump go out. We had a home warranty that would replace it, but it took them 2 weeks to get it installed. The water became cloudy over that time. I was running the chems and the dolphin so avoided a green up. But, it was informative to watch the water slowly deteriorate and then come back to perfection with a 2 day slam after the pump install. At that time, even with 30-40 CYA, I used a large amount of chlorine to get right. It's a lotta watta!

I do prefer to slam at 20 CYA, but I didn't have that much on hand at the time and I didn't want to let the pool continue to fester. So I went ahead and got started. Luckily, it worked out...whew! I will keep more CYA on hand in the future for sure.

 

[blazer58]

power washed the deck, brushed, ran robot, , fired up the heater and swg, put solar cover on, water at 67, now up to 70, should be at mid 80's Monday for our first swim