Post your pool info -- pool size, type, pump size, filter size type -- and we can give some beginning doses.
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Post your pool info -- pool size, type, pump size, filter size type -- and we can give some beginning doses.
Ben's comment above, where he says the air is literally yellow fogged with pollen right now, is a good reminder that you don't need trees anywhere near your pool to be a beneficiary of the yellow haze. In our area, when the spruce, fir, and pine trees pop everything gets covered in yellow. The pool surface is like a magnet for pollen.
We've never had the pool thawed this early. In past years it was the end of March/beginning of April before all the ice was gone, and the end of April before the water got warm enough to support algae growth. We're a month early this year. I want to get the equipment hooked up to make cleaning the pool possible because I just do not want to deal with the mess created by stagnant water.
Adding bleach and stirring it in with the skimmer net works fine for a little while but in the absence of a proper chemical balance it's a less than ideal solution. Right now I have no CYA, the pH is at the bottom acceptable value and I'm not entirely convinced it's an accurate reading, the TA is only 40. Must get water balanced!
We have cheap electric rates at night. Running my 2-speed pump on low doesn't even make a dent in the bill. I agree with Ben: having a pool open and needing to maintain it long before you can use it will get old fast but the alternative is watching it get greener by the day. I'd rather not.
We haven't even taken the cover off yet... Being that last fall was our first ever close up of a swimming pool, it's kinda like a trial & error situation for us. I'm hoping we did everything properly and won't have a huge nasty mess. But after reading on here about the fact we didn't have much of a freeze & algae may be a huge problem if we don't start now.... We've made up our mines to be brave, hope for the best and get the cover off this weekend, then go from there. I will definitely keep you all posted on our experience. And I am certain I will be on this forum a million times through out the spring/summer looking for advice and tips!
:eek::eek::eek::cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheila2e
Pooooool Forum is the place to be . . . sung to the tune of Green Acres.
:)
Greeeeeeen water is no place for me.
or
Cleeeeeear water is the life I seek.
Sheila, Hi and welcome!
Ben, Lisa and Janet are all in Southern climates, you are more like me, in NJ. I would hold off till early to mid-April, when you are pretty sure you are past the last snow. I've opened to blooms in the last couple of years, but being a mod here, I'm pretty fearless about hammering it with liquid chlorine and getting the algae dead in 24-48 hours. I think you should wait.
Hey guys, you can always 'open' the pool, without uncovering it!
That way, it remains low maintenance, but you can circulate some bleach (to keep the blooms away!), and then turn the pump off for a couple of days.
Ok Once a gain, I am a newbie when it comes to maintaining a poool. I had on growing up but I have never been responsible for it. lol
@PoolDoc, Soooo How do I "open" it w/out uncovering it? & Our pool is about 14,000 gal (I believe) So how much bleach would I use and how often?
You can hook up your equipment and go ahead and start circulating the water while the cover is on. If you need to add bleach, you can do so slowly through the skimmer with the return jet eyeball aimed down while your cover is on the pool. You wouldn't want to shock the pool with the cover on, however, as the fumes could damage the cover.
I no longer cover my pool in the winter, but back when I used to do so, I would do what I explained above. By doing so, I could keep a little chlorine in there and keep the pH in range so algae didn't get started but by having the cover on, it kept the debris from the trees, pollen, etc out so I didn't have to do a lot of cleaning for weeks while it was still too cold to swim.
Is your water clear? Do you have test kit? If not, get a Taylor K-2006. (You can order it from the Amazon link in my signature below.) If you don't have a kit, for now, pick up a cheap OTO kit somewhere (red and yellow drops) and test the chlorine and pH and post the numbers.
In your pool, each quart of 6% bleach will add about 1ppm of chlorine. Let's wait until we see some numbers before we advise how much bleach to add.
One last question, what kind of filter do you have?