Pool Forum?

[Bonibelle]

I remember cleaning my fish tanks with DE filters years ago and it worked wonderfully (at least the fish thought so). Who better to decide than a fish?  I blew down my DE last night in about 15 mins, as Vinny said. I think it is easy and my pool is always crystal clear with minimal chlorine.

My friend has actually been filtering that pool using a brand new sand filter for about 2 weeks. They have used gallons of bleach, a box of shock, 10 lbs of pH increaser, and algaecide..and who knows what else. The cover containing a winter's worth of leaves and debris fell into the pool when they opened. To top it off, it was never properly winterized.   ..Today they called for reinforcements..a pool company. I can't wait to hear what they said!

[Bonibelle]

Chris H, I see you're on , any tips for my neighbors?

[Vinny]

Here's a link on a MSDS sheet for DE.

http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:Zo1umU4k79sJ:www.hasapool.com/msds/114.pdf+why+is+Diatomaceous+earth+considered+hazardous&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

[Vinny]

Here's a link for a pool forum. It apparently was started by some people on poolforum due to the owner not being around and the fear of it stop working.

http://www.troublefreepools.com/

[hotubinn]

How often do you need to backwash? I do it about once a month and it takes about 15 minutes. This year I have a lot of "stuff" in the water  when I opened and I already changed the DE once and will probably change it again this weekend but I am anticipating only once a month after that.

haven't done the conversion yet, but hear backwashing is greatly reduced when using zeobrite.  will let you know how it goes, changing over this weekend.

[Chris_H]

Chris H, I see you're on , any tips for my neighbors?

Quite frankly, I have no idea what your neighbor needs.  All you posted was a photo of a cloudy pool.  I would need to know the chemical readings (Calcium, Alk, PH, Chlorine) and the type of filter (including model #) and the gallons of the pool before I could give any advice.  

The first thing I would do is put in 3 pounds of Tri-Chlor Shock, 10 ounces of Poly-60 algaecide, and some flocculant in the skimmer.  Make sure they are running the filter 24 hours, and backwashing, vacuming, and brushing regularly.

Sound random thoughts and responses from some previous posts.

 I don't think I would do well on that poolforum.com site because I can't stand liquid shock because of the mess it involves.  Nothing like a few pounds of Cal Hypo or Tri-Chlor to clear up a pool.

I have heard that the glass filter media can damage the sand filters over time.  

I don't like cartridge filters either.  Common sense, a Hotspring Vanguard has 150 square feet of filtration for 400 gallons.  Most pool cartridge filters are under 100 square feet for pools with sometimes over 10,000 gallons.  Do the math.

[drewstar]

I remember cleaning my fish tanks with DE filters years ago and it worked wonderfully (at least the fish thought so). Who better to decide than a fish?  I blew down my DE last night in about 15 mins, as Vinny said. I think it is easy and my pool is always crystal clear with minimal chlorine.

My friend has actually been filtering that pool using a brand new sand filter for about 2 weeks. They have used gallons of bleach, a box of shock, 10 lbs of pH increaser, and algaecide..and who knows what else. The cover containing a winter's worth of leaves and debris fell into the pool when they opened. To top it off, it was never properly winterized.   ..Today they called for reinforcements..a pool company. I can't wait to hear what they said!

I can't imagine pool water getting that bad.  Was it left unattened, uncovered and untreated for several months?

I would dump the water if looked like that.

[Bonibelle]

I'm with you Drew, but they wouldn't dump it. They didn't winterize the pool and when they pulled the winter cover off, all of the crud, leaves and debris went into the water. The picture is basically bleached sludge, leaves and funk. There is a swamp maple tree that hangs over the pool so probably 80% of the leaves that fell last fall are on the bottom of the pool.

The pool company that came yesterday suggested even more shock, and to let the debris settle to the bottom. My neighbor kept stirring it up, thinking the filter could pull it all out...but all they ended up with was clogged up filter media (sand).

On another note, Chris, I was thanking you when I uncovered my pool this year. The coping that holds that beaded liner in place (you gave me the link last year) worked great. In spite of all the ice we had, the liner stayed right where it belonged!

[drewstar]

always winterize your pool...

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

always winterize your pool...

Is this so you can ice skate on it? That must be so knarly cool to have your own skating rink in your backyard!