CHRIS-in-AZ

Great and useful information, thank you. I just shocked it with Trichlor tonight too. Seems like a battle using clorine pucks and shock made with trichlor and dichlor and elevating CYA levels. I'll be backflushing this weekend and Ill make sure to drain a little extra. The guy at the pool store also said that it's a good idea to completely drain and refill every 2 years too. Seems like a waste when my water isnt that bad. Ill be buying the test kit this weekend and I'll post my results. I know the water is very hard here. I always get a serious white ring around the tile and usually go through 6 earthstones each summer trying to keep it clean.

Yeah I went to Leslies today to get the kit and they dont have that one they had the cheaper one so Im going to order my test kit online, but I had my water tested for the heck of it test results as follows : Free Available Chlorine 5.0, Total available chlorine 5.0, Cyanuric acid 99ppm, Total alkalinity 110, PH 7.6, Iron Copper OK, Total dissolved solids 1100, Phosphates 500ppb Every time I go in they push that Phosfree on me Iver never gotten it down and it cost a fortune so I dont worry about that so much. But as far as the other results what do you think? He said tests great water is perfect but does have chlorine odor to me thanks

I second the pool mist cooler too. I live in Arizona and when its was 115 degrees my pool was getting up to 95, not very pleasant at all. So I ordered one last summer and my pool hasn't been over 89 degrees all summer. It screws into the return and looks pretty neat too. I have 4 returns and they included a plug to plug one up so I push more pressure through it and I may even order a second one I would love to cool the pool down to 84 degrees when its 118 outside. They definately work and I'd recommend it over the Glacier pool cooler, its just to expensive.

Thanks for all the useful info, Im going to reduce my time by 2 hours and see how things look and I will have to get a Taylor K-2006 I usually only check my Chlorine and PH and my pool seems to smell like chlorine and burns my eyes so I guess something may be off.

Thanks, also it's only my wife and I that use the pool no kids and we swim 4 or 5 day a week if that helps.

Ok here's the scoop. I have a 3 year old, 17,000 gallon, clorine pool with a 1.5hp 1 speed motor and a sand filter with Zeosand. I live in Arizona where the temps can be 114 degrees and my electric bill on a 1600 sq ft home is 400 dollars in the summer. I know a huge chunk of it is my workhorse A.C. but I know a good portion of it is my pool too. I was told by the pool company to run it 1 hour for every 10 degrees outside so I currently run it 11 hours starting at 7pm until 6am every single day. The pool is crystal clear and I've never had algae and I work hard to keep chemicals in check. I've never been brave enough to try running it less for fear of a "green pool". Iv'e had people tell me they run theirs every other day, Ive had people say they run theirs only on weekends and they say they do just fine. I'm not brave enough to try that yet.So does anyone know the right amount of time that would keep it clean yet help my electric bill too, I run it at night because thats my electric companies "off peak". I run would hate to see what running it "on peak" would cost. I know alot of people would say to run during the day beacause the sun is out and it needs to circulate, that's not possible as Arizona'a electric bills in summer are ridiculously high enough. I even go out after a storm sometimes and run it a couple hours too I'm just curious what days do people run theres and how long, what is going to be optimal days and times to run and not break the bank too, thank you.

I have a simple question, is it possible to install a variable switch like a dimmer to to my pool motors on off switch to cut the power in half? There is a big push in Arizona to install 2 speed pool pumps saying they could reduce my bill 40 percent. I have a 3 year old Hayward 1.5 hp on a 17000 gallon pool. I typically run it 9 or 10 hours a night after hours so I save on my electric bill which when including AC is 400 dollars a month and my house is only 1600 sq ft. Ive heard I could run it 15 hours on half speed and have clean water and save money, is this true? Ive got dimmers on ceiling fans and they are motors too so it's kind of the same concept.

TRUST ME on this one! It's the ZEOSAND. I had the same problem too, Two years ago I replaced my sand with Zeo and backflushed it once, started it up and BOOM! clouds came out of my jets like nothing I'd ever seen. The only thing that remedied the problem was filling the pool up very full and backflushing it 6 times. Zeosand has some very fine particles that if not flushed out will keep the Zeo from beggining to filter correctly, An experienced pool guy should of known this. So I'd recommend shut it off, fill it up and start backflushing a few times that will clean the filter media and make it ready to clean the pool effectively. You may want to add a small amount of claryfier and shock it well, to much claryfier can clog Zeosand so be careful. Then let it run 48 hours you should begin to see a big difference. Then maybe backflush it one more time. You will be happy with Zeosand when you finally get it clear it works better than sand and I'm happy with the clarity.

Old post but figure Id share my experiences with Zeo 2 years ago I scooped all my silica out with a cup and a shop vac and replace with Zeosand. Started is up and backflushed once. Started it up on filter and boom! clouds stared coming out of my jets. So I filled and backflushed 5 times and ran for 48 hours to clear it back up, when it got clear it was astoundingly clear, with the light on at night I dont see fine particles in the water its way better than it was and better than my brothers cartridge filter pool. Just remember you may have to fill and backflush several times but when all is said and done it keeps the water crystal clear and after a storm it cleans the water faster too I love it and would do it again.

Thanks Fireman for the advice. I think I may give the slotted ones a shot and if presure goes to high than maybe do 1 bigger one to lessen the backflow, btw are the openings in those things adjustable so that you can make them flow more or are they fixed its hard to tell from the pictures online,Your right there probably is no backflow now, my pressures are very low. Thanks for all your useful info.

Thanks fireman. Thats another concern of mine also. Is the backpressure bad for the pool equipment and plumbing? Will I cause a major problem down the road? Also I do like those slotted eyeballs what would you guess the opening is equal to? Like around 1/2 inch or so or more. I like eyeballs because sometimes my pool vac gets stuck by the stairs and I can give a little nozzle adjustment and it prevents that from occuring.

I have a 15 x 32 pool 3 to 6 feet deep with a 1 1/2 horsepower pump. It has 4 returns and when it was new it had 1 inch adjustable eyeballs all around. Now Im in need of replacing them, (kids broke 1 lost another) and I was thinking because I live where its very windy if I would be able to go with 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch eyballs instead to give me a little more water pushing power to circle water to skimmer or should I remain with 1 inchers. To me it seems like 1 inch is to big for 4 returns but Id sure like some advice what size/style is best. Thank you.