We purchased a home in AZ not too long ago with a pool. We kept the pool service because the guy who was doing it was very good and they do fountains as well. But, they promoted our pool guy to a supervisor which is great he deserved it. So, now we get a different guy all the time and we have no clue what they are doing.
It appears they haven't backwashed the pump in 2 months. No charges for DE on the invoice. We've got a small problem with mustard algae for a while now and occasionally they will add algaecide to the pool. For the most part, they haven't been trying to get rid of it at all. From May - Sept. they added 1-gallon (@ $11.95 per gallon) algaecide in June and 1 in July.
Last week we tested the chlorine levels a few hours after the pool guy left the test came back orange. Too high. We tested it 5 days later and it was still orange.
This week they decide oh you have yellow algae so we added 6 gallons of liquid chlorine plus algaecide. That is 768 oz. of liquid chlorine and who knows how much algaecide. We tested the pool water about 8 hours later and the test came back orange again.
To me our pool is sizable. I'm told it's 15,000 gallons. Does adding 6 gallons of liquid chlorine seem like a lot to be adding? We've only ever been charged for 4 gallons in a single month and now it's 6. We are charged $5.95 per gallon.
I saw somewhere that when you add shock and algaecide to the pool you should run the pump for 24 hours. And you should make sure the jets are not just moving the water at the surface but are also directing the water down towards the bottom of the pool especially in the deep end as well. This is to ensure there aren't any dead spots since the chemicals have to make contact with the algae to kill it. Is this accurate?
Please answer the questions in red. Would you get a new pool service or stay will the same one? Company suggestions are welcome.
PS We tried managing the water in our spa ourselves to no avail.
Can you tell I'm frustrated? I haven't been able to exercise (swim) for a week because the chlorine is high. They did finally get the hot tub levels correct.
unhappy swimmer in AZ
It appears they haven't backwashed the pump in 2 months. No charges for DE on the invoice. We've got a small problem with mustard algae for a while now and occasionally they will add algaecide to the pool. For the most part, they haven't been trying to get rid of it at all. From May - Sept. they added 1-gallon (@ $11.95 per gallon) algaecide in June and 1 in July.
Last week we tested the chlorine levels a few hours after the pool guy left the test came back orange. Too high. We tested it 5 days later and it was still orange.
This week they decide oh you have yellow algae so we added 6 gallons of liquid chlorine plus algaecide. That is 768 oz. of liquid chlorine and who knows how much algaecide. We tested the pool water about 8 hours later and the test came back orange again.
To me our pool is sizable. I'm told it's 15,000 gallons. Does adding 6 gallons of liquid chlorine seem like a lot to be adding? We've only ever been charged for 4 gallons in a single month and now it's 6. We are charged $5.95 per gallon.
I saw somewhere that when you add shock and algaecide to the pool you should run the pump for 24 hours. And you should make sure the jets are not just moving the water at the surface but are also directing the water down towards the bottom of the pool especially in the deep end as well. This is to ensure there aren't any dead spots since the chemicals have to make contact with the algae to kill it. Is this accurate?
Please answer the questions in red. Would you get a new pool service or stay will the same one? Company suggestions are welcome.
PS We tried managing the water in our spa ourselves to no avail.
Can you tell I'm frustrated? I haven't been able to exercise (swim) for a week because the chlorine is high. They did finally get the hot tub levels correct.
unhappy swimmer in AZ