Above Ground Pool?

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freezkat

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This pool of ours is a point of contention at our house. I seem to be the only one who knows how to take care of it. Summer in Minnesota is 3 weeks away. I should have opened the pool a month ago but know I am faced with a septuptley filthy pool. I have my PH right. I have added a couple gallons of liquid bleach, HTH super-clarifier and have been running the sand filter (back-washed 3 time so far). Plus I have what is called a pool rover. Its a mobile filter unit. It fills up pretty quick with dead algae.

I know you folks are heading into Autumn but do you have any experience with this?
 
I used to live in Ohio and had above ground pools. Funny, had a wife and two kids and I was the only one able to clean the pool as well :angry: .


Anyway, I found after shocking with clorine I would vacuume directly to waste until the water level went down some than refilled and did it again. Took only a few times and it was clean. No clogged filter, easy as.

Cheers,
Bud
 
I own a house where the pool was installed by an idiot.
One of those "Why the hell did they do that?" installations.

Apart from all the drama it's kinda nice drinking a beer in the pool in summer.
 
Black spotted algae is harder to clean off than green algae. Even when 'dead' it still takes a good deal of elbow grease to remove.
Sand filters themselves can grow a heap of gunk in them as well as what you are sucking up from the pool.
Overdosing chlorine/bleach/sodium hypochlorite, pH control, vacuuming and back washing - sounds like all the right things, add a dash more perseverance and more backwashing until the pool clears.
 
Why do many in the USA let there pools go green, whats the reason for not keeping it clean all year round ?

Is it a pipe freezing issue or ?

Most here just run them as normal but reduce chemical inputs and chlorine generation etc.
 
yes it is a freezing issue. we could ice skate on it in winter.
my pool wouldn't turn green, it was just dirty really.
 
Why do many in the USA let there pools go green, whats the reason for not keeping it clean all year round ?

Is it a pipe freezing issue or ?

Most here just run them as normal but reduce chemical inputs and chlorine generation etc.

Because in the winter the pool freezes and can become an ice rink. pretty hard to get the chems through the ice.

The pools actually need to be winterised to prevent the pipes from bursting.

edit: OK perhaps not all over the US, but certainly in the norther states, like Minnesota and such.
 
Ok, I can see how that's a Drama.

I don't think there is anywhere in OZ a pool might freeze over ?
Maybe one way up in the snowy mountains but no where "urban" I think.

Sounds like a lot of running the pumps and back washing to clear them.
 
We moved into a place with a green pool this year.

Basic steps to fix it are:

Add acid to get pH right.
Super shock with a few bottles of liquid chlorine and filter for 24-48 hours.
If it's still green, add more chlorine, repeat filtering.
Once the water is clear, there will probably be gunk on the floor.
Top up pool to the top and vacuum to waste.
If there's any spots on the walls, scrub with a brush and filter some more.
Then vacuum to waste again and it should be right.

Then you just need to keep the pH, chlorine and alkalinity in balance.

Other poolies, that sound about right?
 
I also use slow release chorine tabs, and some time a clarifier
 
Back in my day, I too had a green pool at the beginning of spring. Scooped out what I could, used a soft broom to scrub down the floor and sides, then ran the pump without the internal filter in it, just using a pool sock in the skimmer box. Without the inner filter (a large paper cartridge one) the pump got a great circulation going. The pool sock in the skimmer box caught large amounts of algae - just kept cleaning this sock until I was satisfied I had most of the shit out. Then all the usual additives and the paper cartridge back in the filter for normal usage.
 
The problem with most pools that go green is the level of

phosphate

in the water

phosphate comes from rain , bird shit , grass clippings etc , and of coarse domestic water

phosphate is food for algae

pool shops carry phosphate remover , about $20 a bottle

one bottle will remove the phosphate

pool shops will check your water for phosphate

takes about a week to work
 
Thank You gents for your support.

I could have opened the pool in March. We had a very warm Winter. That gave the bugs and algae a head start. It just wasn't that warm. To swim that is. I didn't have the cash to open the pool.
Yes getting the Ph straight was the first issue.

I didn't have enough Ph+ to begin with. (is that the percarb you fellas talk about/)

I got that right then it was 3 bottles of bleach, filled up the chlorine floaters, shocked it with hypochlorite and a lot of skimming, scrubbing and back-washing. It looks like a hotel pool now. Smells right too. You can always tell by the clean sweet smell that its spot on, good to go.

Cheers
Bob
 
Good to hear, now get swimming.

My pool looks crystal clear and oh so inviting right now. If only there wasn't ice on my windscreen this morning when I left for work. Can't wait for Summer.
 
Good to hear, now get swimming.

My pool looks crystal clear and oh so inviting right now. If only there wasn't ice on my windscreen this morning when I left for work. Can't wait for Summer.

Maybe a good time to reactivate the thread on crash chilling hot cubes in the backyard swimming pool! :rolleyes:
 
For about four years I managed pool service busness and shop. The Quick and easy way is


Session 1.
1) Balance Ph (not manditory but it does work a bit better)
2) Use some sort of algacide. My personal choice is one that contains Bezaconium Cloride.
3) Use between 500g and 1kg of calcium based pool chlorine. Depending on pool size but this realy does not matter to much.
4) Brush down the wall and floor.
5) Run pump and filter for 24 to 48 hours.

Session 2.
The pool should be looking milky white to clear at this point.

1) Scoup pool while you back flush filter.
2) If you can vacume pool to waste. Checking water levels.
3) Shock pool again
4) Add clarifier. My personal choice is the sticky blue stuff cannot remmember what it was called.

By this point the pool should be clean if not repeat session 2 leaving out the Clarifier.

Sesssion 3

1) Scoup pool
2) Vacume pool to waste.
3) Top up water
4) Shock pool with Chlorine & balace the other chemicals. I would only worry about PH, Chlorine and salt (if you have a salt water system) in an above ground pool.


Session 4
1) Drink beer
2) Profit?


Cheers
Rurik
 

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