vaccuming and adding chemicals - New Pool Owner

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tam26
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Posts: 2
Joined: Thu 31 Jul, 2008 22:46
Location: Mamou, LA

vaccuming and adding chemicals - New Pool Owner

Postby tam26 » Thu 31 Jul, 2008 23:28

Hello, I'm new to this site and really hope to get some help. I have a 33' round above ground pool .. we had a pool guy coming once a week to take care of the pool - but his last visit to clean was Memorial Day weekend, I was out of town and thought he had been coming like normal and 3 weeks went by, went to get in the pool and found BUGS, millions of them swimming like water bugs - and a yellow, greenish colored water. JERK.... can't get ahold of him now...and I have no idea about these pools.. I have been trying to handle this pool since then. I immediatly purchased a automatic cleaner - just plug it into the filter hole and it starts creeping around sucking up the debrie. I have followed local pool companies advise, and spent about $800 so far in chemicals and this vaccum...some days the pool gets right... chemicals are perfect... water is blue, and then the bugs return, pool turns green or yellow, and I have to start the whole process again.. it's really starting to be a hassle. And expensive one......... I have to backwash daily and millions of those bugs come out.. stink like dead fish - it's gross.. backwash, rinse, and then back to filter. I add the chemicals like they tell me, but I haven't a CLUE what all this stuff really means.. For instance, today I added 10 of the 3" chlorine tabs - my readings say there is not any clorine .. pool people said add tabs - and shock 12 scoops .. and Swimtron 9 oz ( I think that is what they called it)it's a blue aglecide. Anyway, am I supposed to leave the vaccum going after I put all these chemicals or am I suppose to leave it off overnight or something to let it all settle? If I unplug vaccum - the the filter just filters the pool like normal.. My filter stays on 24/7, but the vaccum is always plugged to it.. is this causing my water to be staginent? Should I leave that thing plugged in all the time or let the pump filter on it's own and turn the vaccum on every once in awhile? It's not electrical just uses the suctin power I suppose of the sand filter???? Note... I live in S. Louisiana, across from Rice fields.. it's very dusty here, crop dusters, etc... not sure if that is affectng or causing these creepy bugs.. when I scoop them out .. they jump like fish out of water.. HELP please... what do I do to fix all this stuff... ??


Guest

Re: vaccuming and adding chemicals - New Pool Owner

Postby Guest » Fri 01 Aug, 2008 02:52

Difficult to tell you everything you need to know all at once. I'll give it a start and will try to answer your particular questions.

1. It's important to be able to measure the chemical balance of your pool. This includes FC (free chlorine), TC (total chlorine), pH, TA (total akalinity), hardness level and CYA (cyanuric acid). Not all test kits can do that. The pool store can test for you and give you those numbers.

2. The cleaner you can run as often as you want. Most allow some water to be pulled in through the skimmer which will keep the surface clear.

3. The chlorine tabs add chlorine slowly and also add CYA. You may or may not want that extra CYA. They are acidic and will lower your pH. If your pH is high that can be a good thing. If your pH is low, it can be very bad.

4. The scoops of "shock" can be different types of chlorine. Some contain CYA, some contain calcium. Either way you want to know what is going into your pool as too much CYA is not good.

5. The swimtron I haven't heard of. Maybe Swimtrine? Sounds like a copper based algaecide. They do work but added copper to a pool is not a good idea in my opinion.

6. Most bugs don't do well in a balanced chlorine pool. Some areas have bugs at different times of the year. Here in So. Cal. we get June bugs in June as you might expect. They die in the water and the skimmer takes them out. You might investigate the bugs you have there and see if there is anything in particular you can do about them.

7. I like to use liquid chlorine. It keeps the algae away and can be used to shock the pool and kill existing algae. It is usually cheaper than using powdered "shock" and doesn't add CYA to the pool.

8. I'll stop so your head doesn't start to spin. I'll check back and see if you have any questions and I"m sure someone else will join in to help.

Best of luck,

Tim

tam26 wrote:Hello, I'm new to this site and really hope to get some help. I have a 33' round above ground pool .. we had a pool guy coming once a week to take care of the pool - but his last visit to clean was Memorial Day weekend, I was out of town and thought he had been coming like normal and 3 weeks went by, went to get in the pool and found BUGS, millions of them swimming like water bugs - and a yellow, greenish colored water. JERK.... can't get ahold of him now...and I have no idea about these pools.. I have been trying to handle this pool since then. I immediatly purchased a automatic cleaner - just plug it into the filter hole and it starts creeping around sucking up the debrie. I have followed local pool companies advise, and spent about $800 so far in chemicals and this vaccum...some days the pool gets right... chemicals are perfect... water is blue, and then the bugs return, pool turns green or yellow, and I have to start the whole process again.. it's really starting to be a hassle. And expensive one......... I have to backwash daily and millions of those bugs come out.. stink like dead fish - it's gross.. backwash, rinse, and then back to filter. I add the chemicals like they tell me, but I haven't a CLUE what all this stuff really means.. For instance, today I added 10 of the 3" chlorine tabs - my readings say there is not any clorine .. pool people said add tabs - and shock 12 scoops .. and Swimtron 9 oz ( I think that is what they called it)it's a blue aglecide. Anyway, am I supposed to leave the vaccum going after I put all these chemicals or am I suppose to leave it off overnight or something to let it all settle? If I unplug vaccum - the the filter just filters the pool like normal.. My filter stays on 24/7, but the vaccum is always plugged to it.. is this causing my water to be staginent? Should I leave that thing plugged in all the time or let the pump filter on it's own and turn the vaccum on every once in awhile? It's not electrical just uses the suctin power I suppose of the sand filter???? Note... I live in S. Louisiana, across from Rice fields.. it's very dusty here, crop dusters, etc... not sure if that is affectng or causing these creepy bugs.. when I scoop them out .. they jump like fish out of water.. HELP please... what do I do to fix all this stuff... ??
tam26
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu 31 Jul, 2008 22:46
Location: Mamou, LA

Postby tam26 » Fri 01 Aug, 2008 19:32

Thanks.. I do have the pool water tested at the pool place.. I don't have my own test kit.. so I rely on them to tell me - I take the sample in once a week.. however, only one time has the water been good. every other time, I'm purchasing this or that to add to the stupid pool.. I don't understand how a pool man can come once a week and the pool stay clear - and I work on it daily and it' not clear --the bugs come and go - once day they are millions of them the next day - they are dead.. then they are on the bottom or floating.. I have to backwash daily to clear them out of the pump. And no one seems to know what they are.. my guess from reading is back swimmers - as they don't bite.. look alot lke a piece of rice though - with wings, that swim and stink like fish.. - so who knows what it is...
I don't understand your answer in #4 -- what do you mean scoops of shock?? I use one kind of shock - which is called .. Super Shock It - by Backyard Escape? And then the 3" chlorine tablets... and I have a little Clarifier left in a bottle.. 3rd bottle of that stuff this summer.. also, the Swimtrine Plus is what they gave me for the algae ... used 1/2 bottle yesterday of that stuff.. Pool is still cloudy today - can't see the bottom. I left the filter run all day - no vaccum ... and just hooked the vaccum up again a few minutes ago... so now what???
Guest

Postby Guest » Fri 01 Aug, 2008 21:15

Good luck with the bugs, don't know what to tell you on those.

About the shock: Shock is something you do to the pool by raising the chlorine level. They do sell products called Shock (many different kinds). They do the same thing that adding several gallons of liquid chlorine does but they normally cost more and contain products other than chlorine.

The one you list I believe is cal hypo (calcium hypochlorite). It is a strong chlorine but also contains calcium. Every time you add some you add calcium to your pool. The water hardness level goes up over time because of it.

I'm guessing you don't really care about all this, just want the water clear and swimable. I certainly understand that.

How does a pool man keep the pool clear only coming once a week? Simple. They are able to test all aspects of the chemical balance of the pool. They can then add only what is needed. They know if the CYA is too high they need to get it down. They know how much chlorine needs to be in the water at all times to prevent algae.

Not sure how pools are managed where you are but here in So. Cal. liquid chlorine is used often with chlorine tabs in a floater to maintain chlorine levels.

If you can get a complete listing of your chemical balance from the pool store and resist buying anything. Post the numbers here and it will be easier to help.

I mentioned the CYA level and it's very important to know it. For example, if your CYA is 100 or above, you will probably always be fighting algae. If your CYA were 0 or 10 or so, you would go through chlorine very fast and would probably be fighting algae.

With a cloudy pool you may have dead algae that needs to filter out. Clarifiers can speed up that process. Type of filter makes a difference in how quickly a pool will clear.

There isn't any quick fix for a pool to go from swamp to clear. It takes time and maintaining the chemical balance.



tam26 wrote:Thanks.. I do have the pool water tested at the pool place.. I don't have my own test kit.. so I rely on them to tell me - I take the sample in once a week.. however, only one time has the water been good. every other time, I'm purchasing this or that to add to the stupid pool.. I don't understand how a pool man can come once a week and the pool stay clear - and I work on it daily and it' not clear --the bugs come and go - once day they are millions of them the next day - they are dead.. then they are on the bottom or floating.. I have to backwash daily to clear them out of the pump. And no one seems to know what they are.. my guess from reading is back swimmers - as they don't bite.. look alot lke a piece of rice though - with wings, that swim and stink like fish.. - so who knows what it is...
I don't understand your answer in #4 -- what do you mean scoops of shock?? I use one kind of shock - which is called .. Super Shock It - by Backyard Escape? And then the 3" chlorine tablets... and I have a little Clarifier left in a bottle.. 3rd bottle of that stuff this summer.. also, the Swimtrine Plus is what they gave me for the algae ... used 1/2 bottle yesterday of that stuff.. Pool is still cloudy today - can't see the bottom. I left the filter run all day - no vaccum ... and just hooked the vaccum up again a few minutes ago... so now what???
Phyllis
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Posts: 1
Joined: Tue 23 Jun, 2009 22:38
My Pool: 15,000 gal. intex above ground with sand pump
should i turn pump off after adding acid to the pool?
Location: Louisiana

Vaccuming and adding chemicals - New Pool Owner

Postby Phyllis » Tue 23 Jun, 2009 23:04

I need help I brought my pool water in and it was ok except the chlorine was high right now I.m following there intructions but for got to ask when I put the acid in the pool do I turn the sand pump off or leave it running ?
Denali
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Posts: 257
Joined: Tue 29 Apr, 2008 17:14

Vaccuming and adding chemicals - New Pool Owner

Postby Denali » Wed 24 Jun, 2009 13:40

Phyllis wrote:I need help I brought my pool water in and it was ok except the chlorine was high right now I.m following there intructions but for got to ask when I put the acid in the pool do I turn the sand pump off or leave it running ?


Hi,

You want to leave the equipment running when adding it. You want the acid to be able to mix with the water and not just sit on the bottom.

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