The pool is OPEN!

I returned home after a harrowing few days on the West Coast to find the pool filled and ready for opening.

Tested the water, 60 F. pH 7.5, FC 0.5, CC 0, TA 50. Didn't bother with CYA, it's near zero. Lots of tree debris on the bottom, those flowers from birch trees that disintegrate into tiny little brown specks. First order of business was to vacuum but first first was to make sure the new pump works. It does. I vacuumed. Ahhhhh . . . I LOVE doing this by hand.

I use an inline chlorinator with trichlor at the beginning of the season so I filled it and poured in some bleach as well. Not sure how much, it doesn't really matter at this point. I just wanted to get the FC up there over 0.5. The water was clean but not really clear. Not cloudy or anything, just not sparkly, probably because I had stirred up those tree bracts while vacuuming and brushing.

We ran the pump all night on low speed and this morning the water was much clearer. This is always so gratifying when things work well. We spent a little time this afternoon cleaning the wedding cake steps and getting them seated and then . . . ready for action!!!!

The dogs had been panting at the gate, up and down the stairs on one end and the ramp on the other. When we built the deck we put stairs and a ramp just in case we get a dog that can't do stairs anymore. I kept telling them, "No, not yet. Not time yet," but they knew it was going to be time really REALLY soon.

And then it was! Both shepherds got to dive in and retrieve their Wubbas and Frisbees and fire hoses several times before we made them get out. 60 F really is still pretty cold water, even for dogs with an undercoat which protects them like feathers do a duck.

We've never opened this early. It's very cold when a dog shakes himself while standing right next to you. I'm not going in there until the end of May, I bet, but they'll start their swim exercises RIGHT NOW.

Lucky dogs! I'm ready to swim!!!!

Is it too uncool to say woot!

'Woot' is how we felt after everything was connected, tested, and running smoothly. There was just one leaky o-ring on one of the pipes to the pump. No mice had built condos anywhere–I would have been hugely surprised if they had because I stuff aluminum foil in the openings and then cover them with metal fly screen held with zip ties. The liner has a bit of a grunge line, I'll wipe that when I get to it. The new pump is great, very quiet with plenty of suction for vacuuming.

We got a 0 - 30 PSI gauge this year which is much more informative than the previous (less costly) 0 - 60 one. It says the filter needs to be backwashed. The old gauge showed 2 PSI on low and 8 PSI on high. This one indicates 6 and 18.

I'm ready to go swimming too, Watermom. The ambient temp is going to be in the high 80s today but that water at 60 F is just too chilly, darn it.