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Wolffe
07-03-2006, 01:35 AM
I'm sure this has been asked a million times, but all of the old posts are gone. I even hoped Google had cached some of the old posts, but I couldn't find what I was looking for.

I found a dead mouse in the skimmer this morning and now I'm just looking for some peace of mind. Ever since we built the pool, I've always had the thought of that dreaded day where I lift the skimmer's lid to find something floating inside... and today was the day. I found two tiny frogs last year (a few days apart) but that didn't really bother me much (although I have no idea where it came from since this is a heavily residential area) but the mouse got to me a bit. I've read about some of the things some of you have found and this just can't compare... but anyway...

The mouse completely shot my plans of enjoying this beautiful hot day in the pool after a week of rain and grey skies. The chlorine level was very low afer all the rain, so I decided I'd rather be safe than sorry and I dumped enough bleach in the pool to bump up the chlorine level to roughly 16ppm. Is that sufficient to sanitize the pool again? I'm not sure what my stabilizer level is at (ran out of those test agents), but it's fairly low. I added stabilizer granules at the start of the season and I use bleach exclusively.

Also, when can we jump back in again?

So, instead of swimming we saw Superman Returns instead -- I thought it was ok, but the plot was rather dull in my opinion.

:)

aylad
07-03-2006, 09:18 AM
If your CYA is less than 60, and the pool has been shocked to 16, you're fine to go swimming. You can jump back in once the Cl level is below 10, but I'd wear old suits until it's 5 or less (assuming a low CYA level)

Janet

Wolffe
07-03-2006, 11:27 AM
Thanks for the tips.

I checked the levels this morning and my CL looked to be around 2 already! I checked the total CL and it looked to be the same. The water looks crystal clear and it smells fine.

Is it normal for that much CL to be used that quickly? I rarely bring it up to those levels. I shocked it last night around 5:00pm and we get sunlight here till around 9:00pm or so. I have my pump running 11:00am to 11:00pm.

Perhaps my stabilizer level is far lower than I thought. I'm going to have to buy some CYA test chemicals this week.

aylad
07-04-2006, 01:41 AM
If your stabilizer is low, and you have full sun on your pool for a large amount of the day, then 14 ppm drop in Cl doesn't surprise me. However, if your CYA is higher than you think, and you're still losing that much, then I would shock it again and maintain that shock level for a couple of days before letting it come back down. Has nothing to do with the mouse--that's over and done with--but you don't want an algae invitation!

Janet

rollinrock
07-06-2006, 09:06 AM
Wait til you hear a thumping in the skimmer, open it up and find a snake in there. Dont ask me what kind it was because I took off running.

joliecharlie
07-06-2006, 10:49 PM
The very reason we don't stick our finger in the skimmer cover hole anymore. We have a rope attaced to it.. using rope, pop the cover off quickly, then slowly lean in a take a look. Just found a very water logged and dead baby snake yesterday in the skimmer sock. I decided it was time to throw that sock away and get a fresh one! Usually only have one or two a season.

ThePoolGuy
07-07-2006, 01:19 PM
Now I found my fair share of critters in the skimmers from Mice to Parrie dogs but never a snake! That would suck to pop open a lid and have that looking up at you :eek:

matt4x4
07-07-2006, 02:05 PM
Wollfe, if your chlorine got eaten up that fast, you were probably on the verge of an algae bloom, you can usually tell when that's about to happen because your beautiful clear pool will feel just a little bit slippery on the liner - the sign of an algae bloom - chlorinate immediately.

elsie
07-07-2006, 04:05 PM
Last year, in an effort to save small critters that find their way into the pool, usually during the overnight hours, I started keeping a good-sized rubber ball in the skimmer. Since then, numerous frogs have been saved (along with many bugs). More often than not, they hang onto the side or top of the floating ball until I can get them out in the morning.

Unfortunately, little tiny mice don't seem to have that same capacity; just recently several have succumbed. I always feel badly about that, but time marches on...

Wolffe
07-07-2006, 04:12 PM
Yeah, I think I'd be a wee bit nervous if I heard thumping from the skimmer! "I need an old priest and a young priest. The power of Christ compels you!" :eek:

As for the Chlorine usage... the pool walls felt fine (I checked for that too). Still, I shocked it again and the next day it dropped back down to about 1.5-2ppm again.

Yesterday I picked up some replacement CYA test chemicals and my CYA level was far below 30. I dumped some more stabilizer in and I raised my CL to 4ppm. I'll test again tonight and see where everything stands.

We've already been swimming since the mouse "incident"... I'm glad it didn't freak out my wife too much. Thank goodness she didn't find it. She found our first frog and came running into the house yelling that there was an animal in the pool! I was expecting to find a dead raccoon or something...

matt4x4
07-11-2006, 08:13 AM
Just an FYI that the walls won't feel slippery until it's way too late IMO. you can usually tell by touching the floor - there may not be anything visible yet.