It's GOOD to find a Site With GREAT Ppl

[onebaddog]

Just a note to thank everyone on here for frank honest advice.
I started lurking last fall as half way thru the summer i would always start picking up light alge on my ladder, around the skimmer, etc. & would burn thru a gallon of chlorine in less that 5 days.
Used the Silly Strips, as i call em now
Sort of had an idea of what i needed to do after reading your posts
WELL
Bought a K-2006
Chimed in with my plan of attack, got tips to fine tune it from u good folks
A gallon of Chlorine has lasted me almost 2 weeks
I can adjust the CL in my pool by .5ppl
Ph is as stable as a rock
My sister-in law was amazed one nite as she was sitting on the deck, she said if i didn"t know there was water in this thing i would think it was empty, i can see the screw heads on ur main drain, how did you get this thing so clean!!!!
I just laughed & said i had some good help
Again, Thanks for ALL of your help.
Mike

[CarlD]

"SILLY STRIPS" !

Mike, that is a GREAT name for them! I usually come up with the "catchy" names around here but I think this one's a gem!

"OneBadDog calls them 'Silly Strips'!" Yep, that's a keeper!

CarlD

[Watermom]

You are most welcome. I can't imagine how you can go 2 weeks on one gallon of bleach. I'm curious ----what size is your pool and what is your CYA reading? Hope you have a great summer.

[CarlD]

He stopped testing with "Silly Strips", Lisa! :)

[onebaddog]

Hi everyone
Should have given ya a little background
24' round, 6' deep in cntr with main drain, 13,500 + gallons
CYA = 50
CL = i target 5ppm, grand kid ain't potty trained quite yet, and i know the lil swimmers don"t work too well when they weigh more than him......
Ph = 7.5

I should have mentioned that i an using 12.5% chlorine instead of bleach, i bought 4 cases when i opened as i had to get sand for the filter also & the pool supply is a straight shot about a mile north of the house.

Also i had the solar cover on for the first week i used that gallon, on a daily basis without the solar cover i only loose 1.5 to 2ppm or free chlorine on a full sun day, our pool is in full sun from 7am to 8PM, which takes 11oz of chlorine to give me 1ppm back, so on the average i am adding at the most 22oz a nite to stay at 5ppm

I made it thru the whirrly birds & now i am getting attacked by cotton wood fuzz balls so i am having to skim & empty the skimmer basket & filter basket 2 X's a day. After these are done flying maintance is a piece of cake. why is it that all of that stuff seems to land in the pool when there is a lot of open space all around..

Again thanks for your help,

[Watermom]

I have the same problem with the whirly birds. We call them helicopters. But, they weren't as bad this year as they are most years for some reason. I think it is because last year I had two of my trees trimmed way back (cut from 70ft tall down to 30 ft tall) so they haven't grown in as full this year as they usually do.

[CarlD]

First I had the birds. Not whirly-birds or helicopters (maple seeds) but the birds using my pool as a latrine. A statue on a horse doesn't get hit as much as my pool did. They hit the solar cover for a while but have now given up.
Then there was the pollen. Like yellow spackle on EVERYTHING!
Now there's some kind of seed pod that looks like a bug that's 1/2" long, 1/8" across and reddish brown. Looks like some kind of beetle larvae but it's a seed, of some sort, probably an evergreen. And there are thousands of them.

And it all adds to my chlorine demand.....

Carl

[Watermom]

I had the same problem with the birds. It is the mother birds cleaning out the baby birds mess from the nest. They carry it in their mouth and dropped it on my pool --- rails, solar cover, etc. YUCK, YUCK, YUCK!!! But, it is lessening now. I guess the babies are moving out of the nests.

[CarlD]

Best argument for turning them into chicken salad yet!

[aylad]

But they make fantastic mosquito control!!!!! :)
Janet

[CarlD]

So do frogs!

[Manslick]

I pulled the skimmer basket and dumped the junk and dropped it back in.
Looked down and saw two little frog hands sticking out between the basket and the skimmer deck. I pulled out the basket and this little horned frog appeared on the skimmer deck.
One tough little frog because I vacuumed the pool in between.
So I popped him into the yard.

Nice to hear your stories, obd.

[madwil]

Glad we all could help, onebaddog!
I'm amazed at 1 gal a week- but thinking about it, I don't use much more; I add 1 1/2 gal every 3 days, of regular bleach, so only a little more than you since you're using the strong stuff! (they don't sell it here, that I can find...)

[CarlD]

If I had one gal a week my wife would kill me! :)

Carl

[onebaddog]

Hi everyone, just wanted to check back in and let you know how everything thru winter & re-opening yesterday, 5-14-12. i used the BBB method all of last year & NEVER had any sort of problem whatever, NOTHING..... NADA
Closed per you instructions using only Polyquat ~ forgive my spelling
Numbers when i closed as follows,
Ch ~ 6
Ph ~ 7.6
Alk ~ 130
Cya ~ 50
The only thing i did beyond what you suggested was hang a old tupperware container with 3-2"dia chlorine tabs, drilled 12 or 16, 1/8" dia holes so water could flow thru it, just in case we had a bad winter.
Had a mild winter & when i opened yesterday it was CRYSTAL, i mean you could see the phillips head screws in the main drain, clear, minimal debris on the bottom, nothing 3 mins of brushing to the main drain didn't cure, brought water up to the correct level & tested the water after & hour or so of the filter running & numbers as follows.
Ch ~ 4
Ph 7.4
Alk ~ 120
Cya ~ 50
Checked the water again this morning & numbers were exactly the same as yesterday.
ANYONE that DOUBTS you guys & girls is NUTS, Spend the money, get a Taylor test kit, A MUST HAVE
If you want a pool for all to enjoy, PLEASE READ & FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS THESE FOLKS GIVE YOU. 5 mins a day is WELL worth it.

I still love going into the pool store & watch the sales ppl sell them everything they DON'T need.

THANK YOU AGAIN for your help,
Mike

[Watermom]

Hey Mike! Good to see you back again this year! And, thanks for the testimonial. Glad you had an easy opening. Hope you have a great swim season.

[aylad]

Just wanted to add my thanks for the kind words--we still have a few folks around here who are on the fence and not quite ready to give up the pool store, so maybe your experience will help tip them to our side.

Happy swimming, and hope to see you around here some this summer!!

Janet