Hi Everyone,
I’m new to the group, so I thought I’d better introduce
myself before I lay my sorrows on Ya’ll. My name is Arlee Tripaldi (
everyone calls me Trip). Live in No. Carolina. Just purchased a home
with a 20′ x 40′ I.G. pool, 24,800 gallons, Vinyl liner, Haywood
Super Pump, Haywood Sand Filter. First time pool owner.
The house had been vacant for about 14 months. The
couple went thru a nasty divorce. The wife had the hubby arrested
for assault and while He was sitting in jail, She sold His ocean
going fishing boat, 4×4 pick-up, the pool cover, even cut the pump
and motor off the pool filter and sold them. Before I made an offer
on this home, I visited the pool co. that installed the pool.The
owner of the pool company assured me that we would be swimming
within 3-4 days after I started to work on cleaning up the pool.
(Right).
4/18 He came out to look at the pool and sold me the pump and
fittings that I needed.
4/24 He sold me 25# granular chlorine 99%, told me to just scatter
it out over the surface of the pool. Then run the filter for 24
hours and the water would clear up so that I could see the bottom to
vacuum it properly. (not).
5/1 He says the that there must be pine needles and other trash on
the bottom that killed the chlorine, so he advised shocking it again
with another 25# of granular chlorine 99%, then use a leaf rake to
clean bottom of pool. Did so, water still green, chlorine died again.
5/5 Went to pool company in the next county. They tell me that you
never put granulated chlorine in a vinyl lined pool without first
deluting it. (great). They sell me 50# 3′ chlorine pucks and tell me
to shock pool again, then keep 2 & 1/2 pucks in the skimmer basket
at all times to maintain chlor. level. Then make a slurry with 4
cups of Sparkle-up, add slowly to skimmer basket, when filter
pressure rises 8-10 # backflush. Repeat until water clears up. Also
add 5 ounces of Polysheen Blue every 36 hours while running filter
continuously. went thru 4 cycles with the Sparkle-up. (water still
green.
At this point I’m beginning to think these people are just chemical
salesmen on commission, So I use a leaf net to try to clean the
bottom that I can’t see. Results, 1 wheelbarrow overflowing with
pine needles.
5/9 Go back to pool company in the next county. They recommend more
Sparkle-up. 4 cycles. (water still green).
5/13 $30 worth of Burn-out, 6# stabilizer 100, more Sparkle-up.
(water still green) (Way do I have the feeling that I’m getting
hosed).
5/18 More Sparkle-up (water still green).
5/20 Now they say that the only other thing it could possibly be is
the filter sand. 50# filter sand, let filter run overnight.(water
still green).
5/24 29# bal pac 100
2# bal pac 200
5# bal pac 300
They assured me water would be swimable within 48 hours. (water
still green).
Filter has been running 24/7 since I installed it. (water still
green). $1190 spent so far and haven’t got my toe wet.
Sorry that this posting is so long, But, I wanted to give you a
clear picture of what I have been thru. The pool readings are as
follows:
Total Bomine 5
Free Chlorine 1.5
ph 7.8
Total Alkalinity 180
Any assistance you can give me will be very welcome. My 14 year old
Grand-daughter come to visit for a week from Tenn. last week, very
disappointed that pool wasn’t ready. I’m about ready to throw
myself in the pool, but the waters too green.
Thanks in advance.
Arlee
Heritagesofttailrider
This swimming pool is going to drive me to drink !!!!!!!!!
August 27th, 2006 · 1 Comment
Tags: chemicals
1 response so far ↓
1 Charmaine Jacobson // Aug 27, 2006 at 7:59 pm
We, too, bought a house with a swimming pool. Before we bought we
had it inspected and he said it was fine, but would need to be
painted soon. He suggested going to a local pool company for
chemicals. BIG MISTAKE!!!
So, we went to local pool company with some water to test and
instructions on opening. They sold us a whole boat load of
chemicals, and we went through the same summer of green water you
went through. Here’s what we finally figured out:
1. When you open, the first thing you do get get out as much stuff
as possible. If you have pine needles, you’ll need to try to fish
out as many as you can. Then vacuum to waste the entire pool. No,
you can’t see the bottom. So, just be systematic and do it anyway.
Don’t put in any chemicals until after this. Otherwise you’re
pumping them out into the yard.
2. We adjust the PH with soda ash and shock with about what the
shock says to use, maybe a bit more. We also get the tabs of
chlorine into the simmer basket. We start pretty heavy on chlorine
until it’s clear, usually 5-6 tabs.
3. We put in super algicide and that helps with the green quite a
bit.
4. MOST IMPORTANT: We add Cyanuratic Acid stabilizer. We
discovered this late in the first summer and it made all of the
difference. Our chlorine use went WAY down and we can clear up in
about a week from startup even if we start late. I will note that
the pool supply dealer did not tell us about this. I think they
like the idea of selling all that chlorine that then gets eaten up
by the sun.
We buy nearly all of our supplies mail order. There are apparently
two types of pool supply dealers. I get the impression some have
great dealers in their area that have reasonable prices on chemicals
(that they buy and ship in quantity) and give good advice. Our
local dealer will charge you DOUBLE the going rate for all chemicals
and often triple price for everything else. I priced replacement
tiles and they wanted $25 a square foot (going rate around $8 per
square foot). They test your water and give you a long list of
thing you need, most of which is nonsense.
Charles
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