Who DIY's their own pool maintenance?
 

I just bought a house with a 10k gal. pool that's always in sunlight and hired a pro to help me for the first month. He immediately suggested a drain and refill, which I did. After a filter rebuild, a DE treatment and four weekly service visits, I decided I wanted to handle this on my own going forward. Yesterday was my first chemical test since his last visit and my readings were through the roof, suggesting I might need another drain and refill. WTF?

I posted my readings on a pool BBS and the resident guru told me test strips are totally inaccurate and I need to get a fancy test kit. That's the opposite of my pool guy told me. I swim just about every day and I really want to get this right. How do you pool guys test your pools and what kits/strips do you use?

Rick-
I don't have a pool but do have an oversize spa, about 2000 gal. and do my own maintenance. The spa was just finished about two months ago and at first I was struggling to keep the water in check. After 30 days I was finally able to use the salt system and that has made the chlorine part easy. My advise is to buy a simple chemical kit from your local supplier and start there. I don't use the strips. Also when I was having problems I took an empty, clean water bottle full of spa water to the pool supply store and they tested the water for me there and hooked me up. Sold me everything I needed and within a couple of days everything was good. If it is a plaster pool be careful of draining and refilling it. Sometimes when you drain it you will introduce stress cracks to the plaster.
HTH
Pete

Thru the roof as in high ph/alkalinity? If so, I'd dump in half a gallon of muriatic acid and run the pool all day, then test again (repeating if necessary). You can get fancy "ph reducers" but muriatic acid will work just fine, and is very cheap. Oh, and the test strip are fairly accurate, but if you are still in doubt take a sample to Paddock. They will run a computer analysis on it for free.

How much DE did you use, and where did you put it? Most folks here only use that when they are back-flushing (once a month, or if your pressures start to rise). You pour it right in the filter trap. Also, do not go swimming for at least 24 hours after you shock it.

How long are you running the pump? On that pool, I'd say you need to be running it at least 8 hours a day (especially in the summer). If you are on the APS saver plan, run it at night to save on the electric bill.

Also, for your chlorine tabs, you might want to consider the ones from Paddock. They are a bit more expensive, but have stabilizers so the chlorine doesn't boil off immediately. Also, another trick is to leave them in the plastic package, but with one side slit open. This makes them last a bit longer.

I'm no expert as you know, so grain of salt, YMMV, yadda yadda. :cool:

Also, since we have such hard water here, it's probably a good idea to use a water softening/de-scaling agent every few months.

Well, the number I'm most concerned about is my cyanuric acid, since there's no trick for reducing it other than draining and refilling. I'm at 150 ppm, which is off the charts. Everything else is out of whack too, but I know I can fix that with chemicals and other tricks. I'm a little concerned with taking a jar of my pool water to a shop, since I certainly need to do something and they're gonna try to sell all of it to me. Between what I've heard from my pool guy and the other site I just signed up on, I'm having trouble deciding whom to believe.

Hmmmm, sounds like your pool guy may have added too much "stabilizer" when you drained/refilled. That concentration is a bit hard to explain otherwise. That number will slowly creep up from the trace stabilizers in chlorine tabs, but it would take years to get to that level. Looks like at least a partial drain is in your future.

If I'm at 150 ppm now, wouldn't draining it halfway down still leave me (best case scenario) with 75 ppm? WTF? How could he have screwed this up so badly. Or are my test strips really so inaccurate? It's only been a month since the drain and refill.

Yeah, but 75ppm is acceptable, especially here in the desert. You could also switch to a non-stabilized chlorine (granular/liquid) for a while until it disipates to around 50ppm (fresh water auto-fill from evap, splash out, etc.). There are plenty of pool guys that will tell you that a high CYA level by itself isn't even a concern (althouh yours is very high). The bigger issue is high total disolved solids.

Regarding your test strips, I'd probably have the free computer analysis done to confirm. If your findings are correct, there is nothing they can sell you to correct the problem anyway.

Just change to an automatic salt chlorinator. Pool life is now a breeze.

Now I understand why Wayne built his "in-pool" deck. Sheesh.

I have a pool that I DYI, I use both the strips and the multi-test kit. Once i get it dialed in, the strips are accurate for mid-week tests. But if it's way off the strips can lie to you.

In fact, I've gotten to know the pool so well that I can usually tell what it needs without testing every single time. I have a chlorine gererator so that makes it a little easier. I still have to add chlorine sometimes but not as often, but I have to add acid more often.
The only part I don't trust to the strips is salt content. I get the same exact reading every time, 3600 ppm. No matter if it has lots of salt or not very much. I figure those strips are bogus.
About once a month i take a ziplock full of water to the pool store and they run it for free so they can sell chemicals. That is a good way to double-check.

I have to add a little cynauric acid in powder form once in a while but not very often.
Iffn I were you I'd try to lower it over time instead of draining and re-filling, especially in AZ. They are fully about water in the desert. How much would a drain and re-fill cost there?

rickster..............you silly TWIT!


our water is hard. your pool guy is a MORON. drain pool about every 5 years thats it.



slap 3 tabs of chlorine in basket, 1 gallon of acid.



step away from pool and STFU and crack beers.



fire rip off pool guy.



3 tabs chlorine a week and skim off any all debris. crack beers. empty baskets. i run a barracuda and have forever. if i spend 5 minutes on my pool a week thats it.



we have hard water accept that and walk away.



sand filter cheaper than DE.

Well, the water is very cheap here, so I can drain and refill without too much pain. I'm sure it's well under $200 for the whole deal. But I need to get the water tested at the local shop first to make sure this is really necessary.

I use the test kit with the little vials and take a sample to local pool store about once a month in the summer. I installed an inline chlorinater that really helps and I use the multiple chemical tablets.

Keeping up with Ph and chlorine is pretty easy with the test kit but I rely on the pool store for the other readings.

I don't bother with backwashing the DE system because it doesn't take much longer if any to take the filter apart and wash the elements.

I've had much better luck with the higher quality, higher cost chemicals from the pool store vs the stuff you get at Home Depot or one of the low end pool stores.

The pool pump needs to run in the heat of the day. I run from about 10am to 4pm in the summer with at least 2 hours of pool cleaner time. A good brushing once a week in the summer helps too.

In the winter I back the pool pump to 4 hours and add very little chemicals.

Pool maintenance is easy. Get a good test kit, get your water tested at a place that sells chemicals for the things you can't test for using the kit, and take their recommendations. They'll tell you what to do, and in what order to do them. Once you get things where you want them, it's easy to keep them there.

JR

My newest pool maintenance problem is our lab Lola discovered the pool a couple weeks ago and now we can't keep her out of it. Here's Lola lounging in the pool:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1275234423.jpg

DE filters? sand filters? LOL i have a washable filter, looks like a giant K&N ;)

I take it out and spray it with the hose really well and stick it back in.
I have to keep reminding myself not to coat it with oil first .......

I second javadog. That is exactly what we do. I also brush the pool at least once a week because I'm in it often too. The pool store guys are very helpful and we buy chems from them if have a good price. We run the pump when sunshine is on the surface and we use algaecide occasionally. Inline chlorinator and "KN" filter, easy upkeep. Easy to keep in check.

So who makes this "K&N" type filter?

If it's too acidic, why can't you just add some baking soda?

<--Does not own a pool.

call me tuesday for our pool guy. w/a olympic size lap pool and mine to deal with we have this down to a cheap ass science.



backwash for about 3 minutes. run pool for 5 minutes. backwash 2nd time. do this once a week.



3 tabs chlorine a week buy a big ass bucket cheaper.



clear all vegetation that drops crap away from pool as best as possible.


depending on how pool situated and how storms come thru will be the unknown factor on how hammered yer pool gets w/crap during monsoons.



the worst storms ever maybe 15 minutes clean up for me.



always keep baskets clean.



drink beer.

I took a sample to the local pool supply store today. They said the numbers weren't nearly as bad as my test strips (which I bought at the same store) said, but that CYA was still pretty high. He just said there was nothing I could do about it until winter, as it's now too hot to drain and refill a plaster pool. So I'll keep an eye on things and maybe do frequent backwashing and switch to non-stabilizing chlorine tabs.

if ya need yer tile bead blasted(they drain pool about a foot and use an inner tube) yell. it will remove hard water deposits(calcium) for about 3-4 years. yell.

Pool pros use soda ash. I had pools at 3 previous homes. Once I discovered chlorine tablets in a floating dispenser, things were a lot simpler.

Agree. Pool for 10 years. Fire your pool guy.
Some of these chemical guys make it so difficult.

My own father struggled with his hot tub for years before he drained it and left it empty. Wouldn't listen to me because the 'pool guy' said....

Never drain ours; well I did once and never again.
good luck

UJO has it nailed.

I quit using my chlorine dispenser as the tabs turned into a 3 inch diameter, 10 inch long block. My pool is 27,000 gallons. And lots of sunlight and high temps, you use more tabs. Depending on the time of year, I toss in 1 to 3 tabs into a skimmer, about twice a week. I check levels about once per week. I adjust ph with muriatic acid from home depot. I don't worry about the rest, except phosphorus. Besides, the levels are pretty close.

Salt doesn't seem too reliable here. Everyone with salt ends up with black algea.

Do you have a pool cleaning robot? It has it's own pump. I pull the cleaner hose and use the system as a stirring mechanism. I turn it on, and then pour in the acid. Do not put acid in the skimmer, as it can release stuff from the pumps.

I also use a giant paper filter. Works fine. Better than sand and easier than DE. DE can create cleaner water.

Oh, I forgot a pic... cheers!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1275279028.jpg

Yes, I have the pool robot. He does very well. I did a slight backwash today, but a lot of DE came out with it, which makes me think it was too soon to do that. Still love swimming at night. Haven't turned the a/c on yet and the pool cools me off for a good hour still.

rick i have had pools in my life all my life. be it my parents or mine.


if yer blowing de out when backwashing 2 things are happening. its wayyyyyy overfilled or yer laterals inside filter are busted.


if you sweep pool today and find a bunch of clouds after brushing. yer laterals are wasted. this is common on older filters.



now if ya have laterals busted yer at corp decision time................


de more expensive but better filtering. pain inda butt to remove from filter.


sand cheaper less filtering and easy to suck out with wet dry vac.



i use sand cuz its cheap/easy to remove from filter w/wet dry vac.



since i have so many interests in life and its go go go all the time, i dont want to become a prisoner to NOTHING!


barracuda buzzes around from 12 midnite to 830 am. everyday. im nice to pool once a weekend day and run for 24 hours and then backwash twice,


in the event of haboob(monsoon-guac-ca-muggy) a storm with 100mph winds going sideways and a microburst over yer pool it sure as hell isnt gonna matter if ya have sand or de.


now since us natives like teaching lil grasshoppers our tricks to make life easy. spread de all over perimeter of house or buildings. cheap ass simple bug killing idea. bugs HATE de. under microscope they is lil salt like crystals that get in their lungs and kill them. kind of like miners lung to humans.


now if yer gonna stay in house and ya wanna upgrade cuz plaster is cracked, go to pebble tec like mine. ie. another layer over plaster. ZERO MAINT.



so for drill heres how i designed mine for anti storm zero maint or 5 minutes maint.


pebble tec

barracuda simple replace giant condom maint


caretaker pop ups(water flow pushes debris towards drain) and off steps


sand filter


had mix salt/water/electric chlorinator and they take a crap too soon. went to 3 tabs a week in basket.


i havent bought a test kit in years. if i see algae green or black i super duper shock it for a coupla days. happens usually during monsoons a coupla times from excessive dust.



drink beer step away from maint.


fill pool high now to loosen debris on tile and brush tile after 6 pack and step away.

Good advise here. Spot on!

You are making this harder than it sounds. Drain the water every 5-10 years, period. So much evaporates here that its not really needed even that much. As well I backflush every 2-4 weeks, not any more often. Then do it until the water runs clear and shut it off and enjoy.

I put 4 tabs in my pool, two in the floater and two in the bucket and thats it.

Every month or so take a water sample down to Leslies pool supplies and they check it for me FREE. Do not use those crappy self testing things, they are wildly in-accurate. Everytime they tell me its fine or close.

Now as for running the pump motor, I used to do what they say and run it 1 hour for every hour of sun. Bull Hockey. Backed it down to 6 hours and it did fine. Three years backed it down to 3 hours and its still doing fine with NO change in the readings on the water checks. I turn mine on about 6 am and run it to just before 0900 when the power gets expensive.

As well get some acid and shock flushing agent to have around just in case. If you wake up one day and its started to turn green, then hit it with the shock and acid and turn the pump on.

This is not rocket science, its hole in the back yard with water in it!

Joe A

That is the truth. I empty the skimmers a couple of times a week, brush the walls a few times a month, tabs twice a week, check the acid level and adjust every few weeks.

I never thought about your dust/sand/windstorms out there. A sand filter might be the most practical.

Well, I wouldn't be worrying about it except that my CYA level is through the roof and there's no way to correct that without a drain and refill. CYA does not evaporate and there's nothing you can add to dilute it other than more water, which I can only do if I drain the pool. I haven't added chlorine tabs in 10 days and it still has too much chlorine in it.

When I was growing up we had a pool and at my last house I had one for 13 years. Always was a DIY affair..

My Dad had his BS in Chemistry from Wayne State...his method of treating pool water was to dump in about 1/2 gallon of Chlorine every week and a 1/4 of a gallon of acid every month or so..I never saw him test the water...

That was generally what I did..except I had the Automatic Chlorinator at the Filter...just drop in 10 or so tab's once every 3 weeks...Acid once every 6 to 8 weeks.

I had a DE Filter...once every 3 to 4 months I would pull it apart and wash the Filter elements with a hose...and when done dump about 12 lbs of DE in the Skimmer...

For cleaning I had a Kreepy Crawler...with a Catch Basket on it...so I wouldn't have to constantly be opening the basket on the pump.

Never drained the water in 13 years...never really had an Algea problem either. I had one spot on the steps that used to get the crude but that was because the Pump outflow into the pool didn't push the water out, it was just a small area of still water. That was a design flaw when constructiong the pool.

As you add chemicals to the pool water the Chlorine becomes a solid in the water and the water gets harder and harder..and as time goes on it takes more and more chlorine because of that hard water to keep the water stabilized and thus algea free.

The only time I really had to work the pool was after a big windstorm..then it would take a coupla hours to get the leaves outa the bottom..For that I had one of those catch baskets with a graden hose attached...that got all the big stuff and then you could go back with the vacume on a pole..to get the dirt..

I do miss that pool...I was in it everyday in the summer. the water would stay between 80 and 85 all summer...

Here in LV the water gets above 90 in the summer..it is so hot you even need to dump ice into the pool. to bring the temp down..

One day I should describe the construction of this pool. (16 X 34..6.2 ft deep) ..the pool itself has 56 yards of Gunite with it being 18 inches thick on the bottom...the rebar in the bottom is set 4 inches on center.. The retaining walls are another 35 yards of concrete for the footings. Over 200 yards of dirt and ROCK were removed to put that pool ad garage in the yard.. There is 30 feet of 6 foot high retaining, 110 feet of 5 ft high retaining wall, and 240 feet of 3.5 ft high retaining wall that goes around the pool. The Garden Wall behind the hedge on top is 210 ft of split face CB.


All the electrical was commericial grade, has 3 pump motors..a Jandy remote..with automatic valves to turn the Spa on...The Bronze Statue was 5K, and those Lions heads are Copper..The Coping around the pool was Custom..and cost 4K., tile was 3500, The Ballaster Railing 60 Ft.. and Step material was 7K just for materials..All told that backyard with garage was about 150K back in 1990.

I basically subed out all the hardscape and garage. But I did all the planting and sprinklers...13 valves with 360 sprinkler heads..Irtrol commercial 18 station timer. The area from the garage to the driveway in the front is all Turf Block...13 pallets worth...all laid on a 4 inch bed of sand that was compacted by rain..each block leveled to create a flat surface...then dirt is used to fill the honeycomb in the block and it is hydro seeded..after a year it looks just like a lawn...but on you can drive on.

I can remember getting behind that Retaining wall behind the pool and using asphalt driveway coating to waterproof that sucker...I did it in July.when it was hot behind that wall.

That garage is 750 Sq ft..all insulated and drywalled. 220 electrial with its own subpanel and a 100 sq ft walk in Vault inside.that had a Diebold Bank vault door...the vault was 8 inch CB all cells filled with concrete and it had a 6 inch cement cap for a ceiling..rebar if I recall was 6 inches on center..

BTW the guy sitting in the chair is a relative who lives in London, was part of the IBM team that installed the FIRST COMPUTER AUTOMATED AUTOMOBILE PRODUCTION SYSTEM IN THE WORLD in 1962 for Chrysler, went to Japna and lectured the Japs how to install computeerized auto production systems in the early 60's, was part of the IBM team that went to the USSR to install their first computerized auto system...and has designed/invented the anti=theft system for Aston Martin, Jaguar and Range Rover..you can kill the whole electrical system remotely..and the SOB owes me some money..I own 5% of his comapany which owns the intellectual propery for that system.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1275344438.jpg

Is too much CYA bad? I thought it just help the chlorine residual. Pool robots are great, I got one a few months ago that will climb the walls to the water line. I should have bought it years ago. Test your make up water at the store to check alkalinity and hardness that it what you're starting with.

THe 911 is actually sitting on a Turf Block driveway...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1275347073.jpg

I think I need to test at least once a week. I live right next to the pool store, but I can't take it to them every week. I think once a month is what they expect. I want my pool chemistry to be right.

Go to different stores on different weeks. Find one by a place you are driving to and alternate if you are that worried.

The wet chemistry isn't all that bad to perform. Once you get it dialed in, it doesn't move a whole lot, at least where I am. If anything, I add a lot of muriatic acid. The alkalinity of my make up water is around 180. If you have alkalinity problems you should use Soda Ash, not baking soda (sodium bicarbonate).

Rick,

Every time you backwash, you'll lose some water. When you add fresh water to fill it back up, you'll dilute the stabilizer. Over time, the level should drop. Once you get the chemistry where you want it, it will stay there. The only thing you really need to check is the chlorine level and the quat level. Chlorine is easy, the pool store will have to do the other. Check the chlorine every day until you get a handle on how many tabs to use and how long they last. With a stabilzer level that high, they'll last a while, unless you swim a bunch or get organic matter into the pool. Take a sample into the pool store once a week.

JR