Should I Get a UV unit for My Pool

[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.

[PoolDoc]

Do the metals test first -- the problem may not be as severe as you fear.

Re the 2nd pool: keep in mind I'm talking about a small pool, 15' round or so, that can be hidden somewhere. You can transfer treated / floc-ced / settled water from the little pool to the big pool via a small sump pump and a 100' water hose! But, hopefully that won't be needed.

[norman00]

Duly noted but I don't think a second pool is in my future. I will struggle with one. Will do the metals test this weekend.
I went to the house today and the water does not seem to be dropping just based on a mark I made 24 hours earlier, so that's not much of a concern. The pH is down to 7.0 so maybe I should add some Borax? That's a question. FC is down to 27, CC is 0 and the CYA is still well over 100. But the water looks really nice and clean. Temp of the water is about 84 degrees. We finally are cleared to close this Friday so I will have daily access this weekend. Looking forward to the first swim since it was 90 today. Thanks.

[PoolDoc]

Yes, add borax when your pH is low.

BUT, with FC=27, you need to retest your pH using a 1:1 dilution of your pool water with distilled water (gallon jug from Walmart; NOT 'bottled', 'artesian', 'spring' water: DISTILLED). Adding distilled water to your pool water will not change the pH noticeably, but will dilute the chlorine. Very high chlorine levels can convert the phenol red into another indicator, with different colors, leading to invalid results.