Thursday, May 26, 2011

Clean that pool

Not quite sure why cleaning this pool and keeping it in balance has become such a project, but it has. I've only been house sitting this house for a week but I didn't think pool maintenance is that complicated.

The pool immediately went green and we found there was ZERO chlorine in the water. We added the "floater" with chlorine tablets, vacuumed a few times and now added a "shocker" to make all the "green stuff" go to the bottom to be vacuumed.

I'm using a different pool maintenance guy because I think the previous was doing the minimum. Problem is as it gets warmer, rain water enters the pool and we use it more ... the more we need to stay on top of the chemical balance.   I'm also adding water from the street rather than the well.  Street water has some clorine added while the well has none

Then there's the pump, filter and maze of valves that needs to be understood to filter, back flush the filter and find a balance for the normal circulation timer.

View of pool, kitchen and patio

Pool towards front door

Pick a valve and direction

House sitting in Melaque Mexico

5 comments:

Chrissy y Keith said...

Ok, we own a pool business, so I can give you some tips. We have a huge diving pool and it has never gone green and we rarely treat it with chemicals other than a chlorine floater. The pump and filter must run 1 hour for ever 10 degrees of temp. THe filter must be clean and or backwashed depending on the type of filter. You can never treat a body of water with just chems without proper filtration and have good results. Pollon and Fertilatizer creat a perfect algey bloom in a pool. Both are airborne and so if the place is highly landscaped or close to a manure area, you have a constant bloom source. If the water has not be changed for 5 years than it is hard and will not suspend any chemicals. We are available if you need more input.

sparks_mex said...

Pool pump time may be the issue as that would mean running it 8 hours a day. Friends nearby have a similar sized small pool and say an hour a day is all theirs needs.

Like I said, a week ago there was no clorine so maybe once we get it clean it will stay that way

Steve Cotton said...

Well, there go my plans for a hot tub.

sparks_mex said...

Not nearly a hot tub Steve. Water is a little over 80 degres

Miguelito El Cojo said...

I had a pool once. Not my cup of tea.

Although an avid swimmer I decided a couple of trips to Vegas each year was cheaper and the Rio Suites has fine pools.

With a pool it's lots of money and time, the amount of each dependent on whether one uses a pool service or not. I'd listen to Chrissy and Keith.

The construction of the house finished in April 2011 and I'm pretty much settled in. As of March 2014 I'm in preparation for rain mode for this coming summer. That includes sealing and painting things and dealing with drainage issues from last year.

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