Anka

There's not really any need to dissolve sodium bicarb. You can just dump it in dry. Set your pump to recirculate if you have that option. You might have to break up some clumps with a brush—just push them around a little and they'll dissolve. Or dissolve it in a bucket of water and pour it in. Either way, try to broadcast it across the surface; that way it'll get mixed more quickly. That's going to be quite a bit of bicarb—about 10 pounds? I would do this in two steps. Add half the amount, let it mix in for several hours, test. Add more if needed.

Yes, it's okay to vacuum with a skimmer sock inside the skimmer basket. Depending on the amount of debris in your pool you may want to check the sock part-way through the vacuuming and change it or clean it so suction is not impeded by its contents.

Not fatal, no. Anything can be fixed. I would urge you to buy a good test kit, either a Taylor K-2006 or a TF-100. A good test kit will save you big chunks of money and time.

Congratulations on the new house and pool! To give the most effective advice I have some questions for you: 1. Are you able to tell how the water looks right now? 2. What sanitizer do you plan to use, i.e., chlorine (liquid such as household bleach or 10%, pucks, granules) or a Baquacil-type substance? 3. Do you have a test kit? If so, which one? You may wish to do some reading at Pool School which will give you a lot of excellent information. Can't help with the plumbing question, I'm sorry.

Excellent question: Where does the CYA go? We don't know. There have been many reports of CYA having disappeared over winter, especially in closed pools. There are some thoughts that it may be consumed by bacteria or algae but no-one seems to know for sure. I end the season with about 60ppm CYA. When I close I bring the FC level to 20 ppm, shut off the pump and disconnect the plumbing. The pool is not covered over winter. By the end of December it's frozen solid and won't be fully thawed until the end of March/first week of April. At that time there is no measurable amount of chlorine or CYA in the water. Where the CYA goes nobody knows. This is why I can afford to use trichlor pucks at the beginning of the season and have to add stabilizer granules early on. It's important to carefully monitor the CYA level and stop adding it (in any form) once the target level has been reached. My target is 50 ppm; SWCG pools should be operated at 60 ppm. Overdosing with CYA does mean a partial drain and refill for most pools. If you're interested in the relationship between chlorine and CYA there's an excellent thread here.

No. I have a water season which goes from the end of March to the end of December and a swim season from the end of May to the end of September. Between December and March the pool is frozen solid. I test and treat the water from the end of March to the end of November.

new2me, these folks are in the UK being ripped off by a vendor who deals in the UK. They're not looking to save a 'buck'—they work with pounds sterling, and I'm sure when they initiated the purchase they thought they were working with a reputable dealer. We've all been defrauded at some time or other, it happens even in North America.

I use a 25 ml volumetric pipette for dilution tests, i.e., testing the strength of the liquid chlorine I buy. For daily water testing I use the graduated cylinders which came with my test kit. Once you get the hang of placing the meniscus, or at least place it consistently, the accuracy provided is close enough.

Things we learned in kindergarten: * If it sounds too good to be true, it is. * You get what you pay for. It reads chlorine to "above 3 ppm". What kind of chlorine: free? combined? What is your normal chlorine level now? If mine were to test at 0.2 ppm I would scramble for the bleach bottles. I run my pool at between 3 and 5 ppm and have to be able to test for those levels. This device would not be useful to me. Moreover, electronic testers require frequent calibration. Will they include standardizing solutions? Or do you have to make your own? For 20 bucks? Um . . .

I just recently bought a pint of CYA reagent from amatoind.com. The reagent was $6-something and the shipping was $5-something. Those little refills available through the vendor where I bought my TF-100 kit aren't useful to me. Those of us who utilize a combination of pucks and bleach need to test for CYA more frequently and it makes sense to buy in larger quantities. Amatoind is a good company to work with: Personal e-mails from Mary to keep one informed of order status and the shipping slip comes with a handwritten note from her saying thank-you for the order. Prices are reasonable and the selection of items and quantities offered is perfect for my needs. As to how long do pucks last? I'm on my third season of a large bucket of trichlor and have not noticed any degradation of product or effectiveness. Yesterday's CYA test came in at 40 ppm. I'll probably run another 2 weeks on the pucks and then switch to liquid chlorine. I test CYA weekly during the first few weeks of the season.

I would get some stabilizer and add 1/2 the amount recommended by the Pool Calculator for your water volume. Since all of your other chems are balanced I would then put the pucks in the chlorinator and let them maintain the chlorine while adding CYA. Do you have enough CYA testing reagent to keep track of the levels? Conversely, you can add the stabilizer now and just go with bleach, and keep the pucks for when you're out of town and not able to maintain the pool. I use mine at the beginning of the season until I have the CYA level I want and then go with just bleach, holding the pucks until I need to run the chlorinator unattended.

Oh, come on. Laugh. He works hard to put this forum out there. Indulge him. Her?

That's very hard to estimate because it depends on so many factors: Water temperature—is it steady, i.e., a heated pool which affects the rate of algae growth? Swimmer load? Anticipated maintenance and attention paid to the pool—infrequent pool care will require more chemicals? Type of sanitation system used: Chlorine? Saltwater chlorine generator? Baquacil? Trichlor/dichlor tablets? Type of pool: Vinyl? Fiberglass? Plaster/concrete/other? Environment: Trees? Agricultural dust? Grass clippings? From my own experience with a 13,000 above-ground pool, unheated, used daily by three large dogs and several adults, we go through approximately $75 in bleach per season. Our pool is open from April through October. The rest of the chemicals consist of baking soda or borax and some muriatic acid in quantities too small to track.

Hi Michael, Yeah, that was a lot of bleach. According to the Pool Calculator you raised the FC by at least 39 ppm. That'll kill those green buggers, eh? Do you have a test kit? If not, the Taylor K-2006 is excellent, well worth the money, and refills come in a variety of quantities which makes the K-2006 economical in the long run. Another good kit is TF-TestKits which has a slightly lower start-up cost but refills are smaller. A good test kit in combination with the Pool Calculator will take the guess work out of chemical additions and subsequent balancing of the water. Both of these kits test for CYA (stabilizer), a value which is critical to the correct FC level for your system. Spend a little time playing with the Pool Calculator, it's pretty self-explanatory. As to your DE filter, it's my understanding DE filters don't get backwashed. Instead, you take out the cartridge and clean it or replace it. You might pick up a package of skimmer socks, they'll help hugely in catching dead algae and other debris before it gets into the filter medium. You put a skimmer sock inside the skimmer basket, folding it over the outside where it's held by the elastic on top of the 'sock'. Change that frequently and rise it out, they're good to reuse several times. Keep your pump running, brush the bottom frequently, clean the DE cartridge as needed. I know, it's a pain in the behind and it'll take a few days to get the water cleaned up. The FC will drop fairly quickly depending on how much algae was in there to start with and you may actually have to continue shocking, but how much additional bleach you'll need will depend on the CYA. If you have a pool store nearby you could take a sample in and have them check for that. Of course, they'll tell you the sky is falling and will want to sell you a number of expensive potions and powders. Try to resist. In the end, all you'll really need is bleach, baking soda or 20 Mule Team borax, maybe some muriatic acid, maybe stabilizer. If you do have the water tested, or if you have a test kit, please post your numbers. Anka

We add salt to our water for the "feel", approximately 1800 ppm. Yes, it does feel silky and smooth. But it's not why I would buy a SWG. To us, adding a cup or two of liquid chlorine each day is no trouble. We're in the pool each day, we test the water each day, we check and empty the skimmer basket each day. Adding chlorine is just part of our five-minutes-a-day pool maintenance routine, it's not a big expense in time or money in any way. We like messing with the pool.