Any one have an old pool?

[toldozer]

This thing NEVER gets clean. Bought the house in 21 and it hadn't been used in about 12 years.  Year 1 I replaced the pump.  Just replaced the sand filter 2 months ago.  It's been harder and harder to get clean each year.  Put 26 pounds of shock in yesterday (recommended by pool stores balance reading). Didn't phase it.  Anyone have any advice other than fill it in?

[LinvilleGorge]

Get some actual water tests done to figure out exactly what you need. If the water is beyond salvage you can always pump and refill it rather than simply filling it in.

[toldozer]

57 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Get some actual water tests done to figure out exactly what you need. If the water is beyond salvage you can always pump and refill it rather than simply filling it in.

The pool store is a water test.  It looks slightly better today.  I really just need to drain it but 50k gallons of water is expensive

Edited April 21, 2023 by toldozer

[LinvilleGorge]

18 minutes ago, toldozer said:

The pool store is a water test.  It looks slightly better today.  I really just need to drain it but 50k gallons of water is expensive

Filling it in ain't gonna be cheap either and then you don't have a pool.

[Cullenator]

My in-laws filled one in and later admitted it was one of the worst mistakes they made when it came to the house.

[toldozer]

I'm not actually going to fill it in guys. If I drained it I'd be refilling it with water.  Or maybe tequila and sour mix

[Happy Panther]

On 4/20/2023 at 12:01 PM, toldozer said:

This thing NEVER gets clean. Bought the house in 21 and it hadn't been used in about 12 years.  Year 1 I replaced the pump.  Just replaced the sand filter 2 months ago.  It's been harder and harder to get clean each year.  Put 26 pounds of shock in yesterday (recommended by pool stores balance reading). Didn't phase it.  Anyone have any advice other than fill it in?

We put in a pool two years ago and unfortunately I was never going to start the project without accepting that I would pay for maintenance. Since I'm guessing you don't want to pay $275/mo to keep things pretty and you don't mind doing things yourself, I would hire someone to get your pool up to equilibrium and then give you a maintenance plan. Most companies want your repeatable business but there are companies that will do this. We use NEW LOOK SERVICES.

Secondly, or maybe prior to that, check out https://www.reddit.com/r/pools/. There are posts from people all the time with your exact same issue and they are usually really helpful. 

But I would fill as a last resort unless you are certain you will never use it.

[toldozer]

1 hour ago, Happy Panther said:

We put in a pool two years ago and unfortunately I was never going to start the project without accepting that I would pay for maintenance. Since I'm guessing you don't want to pay $275/mo to keep things pretty and you don't mind doing things yourself, I would hire someone to get your pool up to equilibrium and then give you a maintenance plan. Most companies want your repeatable business but there are companies that will do this. We use NEW LOOK SERVICES.

Secondly, or maybe prior to that, check out https://www.reddit.com/r/pools/. There are posts from people all the time with your exact same issue and they are usually really helpful. 

But I would fill as a last resort unless you are certain you will never use it.

I would love to pay some one to deal with it. All these companies want to deal with your pool. No one wants to deal with a 42 year Old pool. I have had a company coming out for going on 6 weeks to get it clear and they were skimping on chemicals because they didn't charge me enough for the green to clean (really a black to clean lol). The reason it was so bad is because I hired a company last year to maintain it for 2 months while we were out of town and they did jack poo. I'll check out new look. I want to hire the company that's supposed to be cleaning it to maintain it because the girl is really nice, I'm just worried that once we get it clear she'll skimp on chemicals maintaining it and I'll be back at square 1

Edited April 21, 2023 by toldozer

[Happy Panther]

2 hours ago, toldozer said:

I would love to pay some one to deal with it. All these companies want to deal with your pool. No one wants to deal with a 42 year Old pool. I have had a company coming out for going on 6 weeks to get it clear and they were skimping on chemicals because they didn't charge me enough for the green to clean (really a black to clean lol). The reason it was so bad is because I hired a company last year to maintain it for 2 months while we were out of town and they did jack poo. I'll check out new look. I want to hire the company that's supposed to be cleaning it to maintain it because the girl is really nice, I'm just worried that once we get it clear she'll skimp on chemicals maintaining it and I'll be back at square 1

Yeah give them a call. The owner is pretty hands on so hopefully they will be up front.

[Anybodyhome]

I had a 16x32 in-ground when I lived in Greensboro years ago. Was my daily stress reliever when I got home from work and spent an hour or so just vacuuming and cleaning the leaves during the season (Easter thru Halloween).

After Halloween, I'd drain it just below the skimmer line, around 12-18", and drain the water from all the lines so they wouldn't freeze. I had a cover as well. There came a time when I had to replace the liner and drained the pool and when it came time to fill it up, I called Greensboro FD and offered them a donation in exchange for the water. They came and hooked their hose to the hydrant and were done in short order.

I had a DE filter, learned how to test water myself and did the chemicals myself. There are many variables- how much sun, shade, what kind of stuff is falling into the water. But, if you have the time, I'd recommend just paying someone to get it back to being right and take over yourself.

Couple of my neighbors now have pools and they have a pool company come out and do the annual opening and closing of the pool while they take care of it themselves during the season.

[toldozer]

For reference this is were I was at on March 1st vs today.

[Porn Shop Clerk]

Lots of things to know.  Get a good test kit:

https://www.amazon.com/Taylor-Complete-Pool-Spa-Test/dp/B0002IXIHM/ref=sr_1_15?crid=1MOKZ1ERUC62J&keywords=pool+test+kit&qid=1682267616&sprefix=pool+test+kit%2Caps%2C158&sr=8-15

Make sure you keep your PH between 7.4 and 7.6.  Use baking soda to get your alkalinity right. (Different materials require different alkalinities I think.  Vinyl vs concrete. Use borax to raise your PH and muriatic acid to lower it.  You can find charts online.  Keep an eye on your CYA.  CYA is the biggest culprit in green pools.  It buffers your chlorine and makes it last longer in the sun and wind, but the higher it goes, the higher level of chlorine you need.  I use tablets until CYA reaches around 50, then I switch to either liquid or calcium hypochlorite depending on which is cheaper at the time. There are charts for CYA, etc, and a website I use to do my calculations for how much of each I need.  I always undercut their numbers a little, because it's easier to add than take away.

 

Website: https://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html

Also if you want to clear it up over the course of 24 to 48 hours, you can look into using a flocculent. Floc will cause all the particulate in the pool to sink to the floor where you just vacuum it up.  If you get your PH adjusted correctly (about 7.8 I think) it works like magic. I just let my sand filter run for 3-4 days and it clears up once you get the parameters set correctly.

 

PH: 7.4-7.6

Alkalinity: 80-110

Cya: 30-60

Free Chlorine: 2-5

And that's how you keep your pool looking nice without spending a fugton on chemicals.  Borax, Baking Soda, Bleach, Muriatic Acid.  Don't buy the overpriced PH UP bullshit they'll sell you in pool shops.

[Porn Shop Clerk]

Also CYA has a half life of like 6 or 8 months so the only way to lower it quickly is to replace a large amount of water.  If you get it to around 50-60 and stick with that, it will have dissipated by the time you reopen your pool the next year.  You can also add a buffering agent when you open, but I prefer to just use tabs at the beginning of the season, they're easier to work with and add CYA themselves. I maintain a 30k gallon pool, and it can be very frustrating.

 

If you want that water sparkling tomorrow, try a flocculent, but the filter will clear it up in a few days once you get the water parameters set. The nice thing about a large pool is those numbers don't fluctuate drastically once you have them established.

[toldozer]

21 minutes ago, Porn Shop Clerk said:

Also CYA has a half life of like 6 or 8 months so the only way to lower it quickly is to replace a large amount of water.  If you get it to around 50-60 and stick with that, it will have dissipated by the time you reopen your pool the next year.  You can also add a buffering agent when you open, but I prefer to just use tabs at the beginning of the season, they're easier to work with and add CYA themselves. I maintain a 30k gallon pool, and it can be very frustrating.

 

If you want that water sparkling tomorrow, try a flocculent, but the filter will clear it up in a few days once you get the water parameters set. The nice thing about a large pool is those numbers don't fluctuate drastically once you have them established.

Leslies pool supply test says my water is good to go now but still cloudy as fug.  I will probably have to floc it like you said but that's already been done once at the beginning of this 6 week process