Should I Get a UV unit for My Pool

[PoolDoc]

Those numbers are fine -- no reason to panic or even stress.

Basically, you could get by for weeks just by pouring 1/2 - 1 gallon jug of bleach into the pool every evening. So, now you have a super simple fall-back plan.

[norman00]

Good to know. Thanks, I appreciate the information.

[norman00]

Things are happening and they look bad. My closing on the new house and pool has been delayed until later next week. The owner has moved out and left the pool care to the neighbor, who only turns the pool filter on in the am and off at night. We stopped over to look around this evening and the water looks a little cloudy and there is definitely something on the bottom and walls. Worse still, the water level is getting low near the top of the skimmers with no real rain in sight. And worse still, the house is on a well so no filling from the house. I managed to find a small porcelain pot to bring some water home to test as best I can. I got a CYA well over 100, FC of 36, CC of 1 and pH of 7.2. I wonder if he threw in a bunch of trichlor before leaving town (he uses it in the chlorinator) because there was some algae or something. I feel like I should do something to fix this so it doesn't become a much bigger problem before I ever get a chance to move in. My first move will be to buy some water to bring the level up. I could use some advice on what to do after that. I need some help, please.

[PoolDoc]

Order a K2006 ASAP => http://pool9.net/tk

Do a full bucket leak test, ASAP. If you have no means to fill the pool, and you have a leak . . . you have an unmanageable situation. How did he fill the pool? => www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php/11252

[norman00]

I have the test kit already and I ordered some fill water from the same local pool fill company the owner uses. They will deliver today or Monday. Talking to a relative who has been a pool owner for 20 years, he has many opinions. One is this: he always adds fill water from his well without staining on his concrete pool, he said. Of course, we don't know what is or is not in his well water. My question is this: If my pool is 32k gallons, and I need to add 500 gallons to restore the proper level, what is the risk of metal staining assuming a normal well with some metals or minerals? Seems like a pretty low percentage of new water. And is there a way to treat or filter the new water to avoid staining? Buying water isn't very desirable.

[PoolDoc]

The starting point is finding out what's in your well water. Well water from limestone strata is ideal for pools; water from shale strata is often a nightmare. It is possible to operate a pool successfully with heavily contaminated water; I've done so on large commercial pools. But it's tricky, and some staining is inevitable.

The first step is to determine whether your well water is a problem or not. Do the metals bucket test => http://pool9.net/bucket-metals

If it is a problem, and if you have the space, you may want to get a 5,000 - 10,000 Intex pool that you can use to pre-treat the water for your IG pool. Trying to treat metal contaminated water once it's IN your pool is a mess. Trying to treat it in a separate pool, dedicated to that purpose, is much, much easier.

I assume your registration address is NOT your new pool's address? (I just looked up your registation, and Googled the address). Otherwise, I'd recommend filling with surface water, which is almost always metal free. You just have to add enough chlorine to make sure the algae and critters die quickly.

[norman00]

I don't think my wife will allow a second pool (I know it's an exaggeration). I'll try the metals bucket test later this week when we hopefully close and take possession of the house/pool. And no, the house you Googled is not the new one, it's the house we're trying to sell. It's time to leave the lake for someone else. I almost never had to worry about the lake water before a swim (except when they sprayed for weed control). Thanks for the input again.