Hi there,
I'm new to the pool world and I need some help to get my pool clean.
I'm renting a house that has not been lived in for about 3 years.
The pool has been minimally maintained; it is now in bathable conditions, but there's still a lot of dirt/dust.
A short background:
- I started off with shocking the pool a couple of times. I only used pool-products, like chlorine tablets (slow dissolving) or powder (fast dissolving). The greenish on the walls was gone quite quickly, but the water was turbid
- I checked pH and Chloring levels. The chlorine was relatively high of course, and I adjusted the pH (which instead was VERY low) accordingly with pH increaser.
- I also had some troubles with a particular brand of chlorine (I'm living in Spain, the brand is PQS), which I found out was a "known" issue and replaced it
- I added in the evening a product (flocculant) to condense the dirt. In the morning, I found the edges of the bottom of the pool to be fairly dark with what loos like dust/dirt, and all over the bottom there is a dark ... blanket (not as dark as the edge, but noticeable)
- I started vacuuming the bottom of the pool 1 or 2 times a day. The area where I pass the vacuum becomes immediately noticeably cleaner (seems "perfect" actually), however ... the pool becomes turbid in a matter of 5~10minutes. At that point much of the dirt has lifted off the floor, so vacuuming is not effective. In 3~4hrs the dust settles again and I try to vacuum again
Some background info:
- the pool is about 13x20feet, and the depth goes from 4.6f to 6
- when the dust settles, I am able to see the bottom of the pool and distinguish the pattern of the tiles almost everywhere (not at the edges, where the dust is relatively thick, and not at its deepest spot)
- the filtering system uses a sandbox. Not sure about the pump's power, but I can find out if it's important
- the filter runs about 4.5hrs a day regularly, however, I always turn it on a couple of hours after I vacuum and after we bathe.
So here are the questions:
a) When I vacuum, I need to move relatively slowly, as moving the vacuum fast will result in the dust being lifted off around the vacuum handle anyway. I suppose that's normal, but could you confirm?
b ) I don't see any alternative in filtering the water and get it back in the pool from the 3 eye-jets (which I suppose have a more technical name), however, is there a way to reduce the ... stirring effect, while vacuuming?
c) I repeatedly wash the sand after vacuuming, end eject the water. This causes the water level to drop and I need to top off the pool (which is annoying ... and expensive). The first time I vacuumed I could clearly see gray water being injected back in the pool from the eye-jets. While washing the sand I look at a plastic, transparent cup where I see the water getting first very opaque, then slowly clear again.
Does it mean that the sand is to be replaced? The tank containing the sand is tightly sealed (of course): before I really make an effort to open it, I'd like to know if I can judge whether the sand is to be replaced or not
Another small bit of info: I have been doing this vacuuming for about 2 months. At first it seemed to help and the dust had reduced. Then there was some construction work nearby and some "clever" guy decided that the poolside was a good place to cut tiles. Needless to say by the time I had found out why the dust had suddenly increased again, I was back to square one.
d) Am I really supposed to do this much vacuuming to get the pool cleaned? I mean, this is taking A LOT of time. I have the feeling that the filtering is highly inefficient.
Any help is appreciated, thanks.