Reasons why pool drains might not be working?

[Cropduster172]

Why liquid chlorine? Why not 1-3 bags of shock in powdered form? How do you chlorinate your pool or is it saltwater? I use a simple floater and 3" chlorine pucks. I'll never install a chlorinator again. Went through 3 before I learned my lesson.

 

[burbguy82]

so it might be time to replace the media.

possible, especially if it has not been cleaned well on a regular basis

"diver"
to check the drains........seems silly to me, you had a really deep deep end on your pool?

 

[Cropduster172]

possible, especially if it has not been cleaned well on a regular basis

"diver"
to check the drains........seems silly to me, you had a really deep deep end on your pool?

I wonder how much that would cost.
Or a snorkel mask and a garden hose and DIY.

 

[RhondaHonda]

Why liquid chlorine? Why not 1-3 bags of shock in powdered form? How do you chlorinate your pool or is it saltwater? I use a simple floater and 3" chlorine pucks. I'll never install a chlorinator again. Went through 3 before I learned my lesson.

I use a half gallon a day of liquid chlorine. I may convert to salt at some point. The liquid only adds chlorine and a bit of salt. The pucks have CYA binding them which when continuously added to the pool raise the level so high that the chlorine becomes ineffective. Then you have to shock or fight the algae. I used a ton of pucks when using the puck chlorinator. My pool is in the sun all day and 30,000 gallons. Handling the liquid is a pain but ends with a great looking pool with no pool store visits.

 

[KrisZ]

Make sure your filter is clean before you add the chlorine. Back flush it until the water is not dirty anymore, then add chlorine and let the filter do its job.

 

[Cropduster172]

I use a half gallon a day of liquid chlorine. I may convert to salt at some point. The liquid only adds chlorine and a bit of salt. The pucks have CYA binding them which when continuously added to the pool raise the level so high that the chlorine becomes ineffective. Then you have to shock or fight the algae. I used a ton of pucks when using the puck chlorinator. My pool is in the sun all day and 30,000 gallons. Handling the liquid is a pain but ends with a great looking pool with no pool store visits.

Good point about the CYA. I go through about a puck a week but the pool is about 11,000 gallons. By the time the CYA level starts to get up there, it's within 1-2 weeks of closing time early October so it's never an issue. I've never had an algae problem. I only shock after heavy rains cause overflow or ducks and birds use it as a toilet.

 

[RhondaHonda]

C

Good point about the CYA. I go through about a puck a week but the pool is about 11,000 gallons. By the time the CYA level starts to get up there, it's within 1-2 weeks of closing time early October so it's never an issue. I've never had an algae problem. I only shock after heavy rains cause overflow or ducks and birds use it as a toilet.

I load 8 or 9 pucks in the feeder if I’m going to be gone for a week or so and it uses most of them to keep the chlorine in check. The price of pucks is way up from what I remember too. With a shorter season and not a lot of chlorine demand you can get away with pucks, as you found out.

 

[thastinger]

I get my liquid 12.5% chlorine at Menards if you have one. If the pool is green and water above 60 degrees it will take some gallons to get it cleared up. Troublefreepool is a great site. I bought a test kit and have had a crystal clear pool other than liquid chlorine, mjriatic acid and some cyanuric acid each year. Do one reading there and get a decent test kit. The pool stores aren’t your friend and my water is much better when when I had a pool service and I save a fortune.

Ours is 18 years old now and has been salt since day 1. The only chemicals I have ever added to the pool is shock when first taking the cover off in the spring.
Have replaced the T-15 cell once.

 

[KrisZ]

Ours is 18 years old now and has been salt since day 1. The only chemicals I have ever added to the pool is shock when first taking the cover off in the spring.
Have replaced the T-15 cell once.

Liquid chlorine is shock. In fact it’s way better and acts faster than the granulated shock because it doesn’t add CYA to the water.

All these shocks, treatments, algae outs etc. complicate more things than they solve for because they oftentimes throw off the chemical balance of the pool.

 

[Owen Lucas]

possible, especially if it has not been cleaned well on a regular basis

"diver"
to check the drains........seems silly to me, you had a really deep deep end on your pool?

I wonder how much that would cost.
Or a snorkel mask and a garden hose and DIY.

The pool is a standard center step 16x32 with the deep end being enough for a spring board, from my research its possibly 7.5 - 9 feet deep.

I found the information from the previous pool diver and gave him a call. He looked up his notes and said one of the drains was leaking so it was plugged and "propped up" the PVC pipe and then recommended the lines be pressure tested. This was 3 years ago so I'll have him come out and check the liner and the drains again. I just want to have a total assessment of the pool as right now its condition is unknown to me.

He charges $400 for the dive and inspection with $100 travel time. Not a bad gig, the other guy was $200 but I'm paying a premium for this guy since he is familiar with the pool and he did the work before.

I use a half gallon a day of liquid chlorine. I may convert to salt at some point. The liquid only adds chlorine and a bit of salt. The pucks have CYA binding them which when continuously added to the pool raise the level so high that the chlorine becomes ineffective. Then you have to shock or fight the algae. I used a ton of pucks when using the puck chlorinator. My pool is in the sun all day and 30,000 gallons. Handling the liquid is a pain but ends with a great looking pool with no pool store visits.

Good point about the CYA. I go through about a puck a week but the pool is about 11,000 gallons. By the time the CYA level starts to get up there, it's within 1-2 weeks of closing time early October so it's never an issue. I've never had an algae problem. I only shock after heavy rains cause overflow or ducks and birds use it as a toilet.

I load 8 or 9 pucks in the feeder if I’m going to be gone for a week or so and it uses most of them to keep the chlorine in check. The price of pucks is way up from what I remember too. With a shorter season and not a lot of chlorine demand you can get away with pucks, as you found out.

I was not aware of CYA. The chlorinator has 4 pucks in it now and they barely were used up. I'd rather dump a half gallon of chlorine each day and rely on the chlorinator when away rather than risk overloading with CYA. Thanks for this info.

I shocked the pool yesterday with a bucket of blue powder I found lol. OH MAN be careful when opening a bucket of chlorine granules...whoaaa! Next time I'll stand back and hold my breath!

Make sure your filter is clean before you add the chlorine. Back flush it until the water is not dirty anymore, then add chlorine and let the filter do its job.

I back washed it twice yesterday, and will do another round today.

Liquid chlorine is shock. In fact it’s way better and acts faster than the granulated shock because it doesn’t add CYA to the water.

All these shocks, treatments, algae outs etc. complicate more things than they solve for because they oftentimes throw off the chemical balance of the pool.

I'm going to focus on liquid rather than the tablets (except for vacations) to keep things simple. Pool chemistry is not a side hobby I want to learn but I have no choice now.

 

[thastinger]

Liquid chlorine is shock. In fact it’s way better and acts faster than the granulated shock because it doesn’t add CYA to the water.

All these shocks, treatments, algae outs etc. complicate more things than they solve for because they oftentimes throw off the chemical balance of the pool.

At 1 whole pound a year for me, I have not had any issues over the 18 years I've done it.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Why liquid chlorine? Why not 1-3 bags of shock in powdered form? How do you chlorinate your pool or is it saltwater? I use a simple floater and 3" chlorine pucks. I'll never install a chlorinator again. Went through 3 before I learned my lesson.

I had a gallon of liquid and added a few scoops of shock. The pool went from a cloudy green to a cloudy blue overnight with the pump running. This is not a salt water pool. I'll add more liquid today and see what happens.

Oddly a lot of this happened when I added algae killer, the pool was actually crystal clear and then it turned green, from the algae killer? Could be a coincidence though.

 

[Cropduster172]

C

I load 8 or 9 pucks in the feeder if I’m going to be gone for a week or so and it uses most of them to keep the chlorine in check. The price of pucks is way up from what I remember too. With a shorter season and not a lot of chlorine demand you can get away with pucks, as you found out.

I've lucked out with price. I found 40-50lb buckets on clearance at Sam's club or Costco. I got a 40lb bucket about a month ago at Costco on sale for $120. It used to be $80-$90 2 years ago.

 

[4WD]

Back to the suction issue - I put a water hose inlet T’d into the suction for when it’s hard to prime - once the pump ramps up I close the 3/4” valve …
Made things allot simpler …
I have the bottom suction plugged bcs the Kreepy runs best like that …

 

[Cropduster172]

Back to the suction issue - I put a water hose inlet T’d into the suction for when it’s hard to prime - once the pump ramps up I close the 3/4” valve …
Made things allot simpler …
I have the bottom suction plugged bcs the Kreepy runs best like that …

The risk with that is if your water level drops below your skimmers, the pump will cavitate and burn out.

 

[4WD]

The risk with that is if your water level drops below your skimmers, the pump will cavitate and burn out.

Ran it like that for 25 years - we don’t run automatic cycles …
On second pump …

 

[Owen Lucas]

Update:

Pool diver came out and said the drains had to be plugged because of leakage issues in the past. Not sure where the leak was exactly but he said it could be anywhere along the PVC line and would require a leak detection company to pinpoint the source of the leak with specialized equipment and potentially cut into the concrete for access to repair.

He said it's common after a few years for the drains to stop working and running the filter on the skimmer is sufficient. He realigned the jets so that the pool gets better circulation down into the deep end and up to the shallow end. This way we wouldn't have a cold spot on the deep end if we ran the heater.

The diver found one leak in the liner and patched it. Otherwise he said the pools in good shape but also had another interesting piece of information:

A swimming pool is a giant still, water evaporates off and any chemicals / pollutants that don't get filtered out, become more and more concentrated. We have arsenic in our water here and it is possible the pool water has much higher concentrations of As than straight out of the well after it has been topped up multiple times over the years. I'll get the water tested. Maybe a full drain and refill with treated city water via water truck is in order.

Anyway, I got the pool clean before the diver arrived and am running just off of chlorine pucks for now:

The diver found 1 leak and placed a patch on it with what appeared to be a chemical similar to PVC glue.

Tiem for a new gage, it appears to stay at 10 psi even when off.