spring prep and a new pool owner

[mogwai]

Been a couple of days since i posted, but wanted to update. Thanks again for the help.

+ Dunno how long to clean / kill it all -- I've quit making predictions on that; too many variables! But, if the WATER is clear now, you should be able to get the pool all cleaned up in a week.

+ Nylon brush is fine; vacuuming the debris is fine AS LONG AS THE CHLORINE IS HIGH when you do it!

Been brushing and keeping the chlorine above 15...this morning the water is super clear with some sediment at the bottom of the pool which i'll vacuum out tonight, but making great headway!

+ I'd recommend starting the stabilizer AFTER the algae is gone, but if you buy dichlor, you can begin chlorinating with dichlor now -- just don't over do it.

I suspect i'll begin adding stabilizer this weekend but I absolutely forgot to order from Amazon. I have a Leslie Pools by me and I wonder if their Stabilizer will work. Because of our hard water I am leaning toward using unstabilized Chlorine but would appreciate feedback.

If the Leslie Pools stabilizer will work, are they any special instructions you suggest?

+ Hayward C1200 will work well up to 40 GPM / 19,000 gallons.

if your cartridge doesn't have the pleat ties . . . you got one of the low grade cartridges. My understanding is that Unicel or Filbur are OK, and of course the Hayward OEM is fine. Pleatco or no-name or private label . . . not so much.

New filter has the pleats and pleat ties

+ Don't plan on using your softener to fill the pool, unless you've talked to your water treatment guy about it. Have you ever worked with a softner before? You'll end up doing a LOT of regenerating that way!

Never worked with a softener before. The original reason for considering a softener was to help our washing machine and dishwasher...also the faucets. I have enough room in my well house and well filtration to run a faucet before the softener as we only wanted the softener for the main house. I would still have access to unsoftened water for the pool and the gardens.

I'll ask you about the CAL reduction process once I get the pool chemicals right in the next few days unless this is something I need to absolutely do while stabilizing the chemicals?