Pool Hoses / Fittings Leaking

[crokett]

Chris,

You can get a bottle of filter cleaner for 10ish bucks from a pool store. You can also get a slightly better filter from them. 2 Wally World specials are cheap but are intended for single use. Yo can et 2-3 cleanings out of them before you have to toss them. The pool store filters should last at least a season. Assuming you are cleaning once per week it is cheaper to get the cleaner and clean your filters. I have 4 and always have at least 2 are clean.

Steve, how much are you paying for bleach and where? I was at Costco yesterday and bought > 4 gallons for $0.12 per ounce. I will hit up Wallyworld to see how much it is there.

[ssmith1627]

Walmart has 174 oz. bottles for $2.24. That's a tenth of what you listed below. Did you just have a decimal place off ?

Target sold it in 192 oz bottles I believe but very similar per oz. cost.

Now that my pool isn't eating through chlorine so fast, this really seems to be a minimal cost each week going forward. How much do you put in now ? A gallon a week or two ?

Steve

[crokett]

There is a 1c difference in my price and yours, per oz. I just happened to be at Costco yesterday and knew I would need a lot. Otherwise not a big enough savings to go out of my way for it.

You will have to find out what your maintenance level is. For my water volume, 7 oz of bleach will change the chlorine level 1ppm. You can use the pool calculator to figure your dosage rate if you haven't already. Right now I am using much more than normal because of the colored water and I am killing off the start of an algae bloom. Last summer I was adding about 30oz every 2-3 days - I have trees around so a lot of crap gets in my pool.

[ssmith1627]

I don't have any trees nearby but the pool gets a lot of sunlight......the sun is probably on the pool by 10am and is on it until late in the afternoon when the house begins to block it. So I may require some because of that -- hopefully not too bad with the right CYA level.

If I was adding even 10 oz. per day......how easy is that ? $0.15 per day ? The other chemicals won't be a major cost at all -- I have baking soda and borax to last the summer now I'm sure.

How is this muriatic acid sold ? I couldn't see that at HD today. The CYA doesn't sound like anything I'll have to touch unless I change out some large qty of water.

I'll continue testing chlorine twice a day until my water clears. After that I'll probably test every day for a while out of paranoia. But Ph and TA probably once a week ? My Ph has stayed at 7.2 the past few days since I got it up to that level. I hope to get in a routine once I have clean water and get to maintenance instead of this cleanup period.

Steve

[crokett]

Muriatic acid is at one of the big boxes. It may be in the concrete section - used for etching/washing concrete. I know I got mine at HD in a gallon jug. Before you get it you might wait to see what your pH does, unless you know it is high already. Mine likes to drift low rather than go up.

[ssmith1627]

My Ph has been at 7.2 for a few days. I guess I'm just thinking ahead in case I did need to raise it. But you're right -- right now I don't really need the stuff or need any CYA.

Please let this pool clear up. I'm going nuts waiting.

My filter seems to run for about 12 hours now without needing backwashing. I can't go a day though. I backwash in the morning and when I come home at night the pressure is up and the water flow is already half of what it was. You can hear the motor/pump straining.

I guess that's a good sign though. It's taking SOMETHING out of the water. If the chlorine is up there so nothing new can be festering in there, it's got to clear up at some point, right ?

Steve

[ssmith1627]

Got the FAS/DPD chrlorine test today. Bad news, my chlorine was low and the combined chlorine reading was 1.0. The good news -- I have an accurate test now for each that I understand and trust and I know why my pool isn't clear yet. Haven't had those levels high enough consistently to get all the work done.

To me that's part of the good news though. If I'd tested today and my chlorine was 13 or something and my CC was near zero, I would've been very frustrated. I would've still had cloudy water and not known the reason or what to try next. At least now I know what needs doing and I can get started. Already added the recommended chlorine from the Pool Calculator to get me up to about 18. That's what it recommends with my CYA reading.

I think the pool is a tiny bit clearer than yesterday but I'm hoping with this now I can really knock out what's in there in a couple of days. Wish me luck.

Steve