New to the forum

[Sheila2e]

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?

[Watermom]

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?

[Sheila2e]

We haven't even taken the winter cover (we also have a solar cover), so I have no clue what state the water is in yet. :/ We have test strips & the traditional dropper type test kit.

Hayward 110 SwimPro Element, Hayward 2.0 HP PowerPro- is this what you need to know?

I don't know if this helps any either, but we have an ET automatic chlorinator... we don't have/use one of those floating things w/ the chlorine tablets.

[aylad]

What she needs to know is if you have a sand, DE, or cartridge filter?

Janet

[AnnaK]

Sheila, whichever way you go, full open or just have the pump functional to add chemicals now and then, be sure you add enough water to the pool to reach halfway up the skimmer frame, otherwise your pump won't have any water to draw in.

[Sheila2e]

Ok, spent most of the day trying to get water off the winter cover. We finally got it off, power washed the winter cover. And the water is crystal clear! Yay! So far no algae, or slimey walls. Just a few dead flies, a slug, a worm. Oh & one of those creepy swimming bugs. So far looks like I just have to fill the pool & vacuum it! I am so excited... But now my question is.... Is there any way to avoid those creepy swimming bugs?

[PoolDoc]

Is there any way to avoid those creepy swimming bugs?

Sure!

Just move your pool into the desert, OR take all of the water out of it.

Seriously -- not really. Those waterbugs can fly, and do!