roger888

Clair Don't you think that the fact that the thread is so long and so full of rants carries a certain implication?? Are Archant not quite understanding this? What part of "we think this is crap" don't they understand? I have respected your contribution to this forum for quite some time. Surely you cannot now become an uncritical apologist for this pagaille.

Those of us who know Archant will understand that their sole motivation is making money (and keeping it). There's nothing wrong with that per se. However, they need to understand that the key to making money in a sustainable way is to deal honestly and openly with their stakeholders and not treat them like idiots. This is about treating us like idiots. The perpetual pop-up box was bad enough. But you -- Archant -- have now just shredded what little brand and reputational credibility you had. Do you really feel you need to do this?? Do you really think this is going to make you more money?? You are deluded. The web doesn't work like this. I'm off somewhere else, and I imagine many of your other readers will do the same. Tough.

This is dreadful. Sorry. Fix it or I'm not coming back.

I use the Scuba+ for all my measurements. It's a bit difficult to do controlled tests, because I top up the CYA from time to time to keep it broadly in the 50-70ppm range. Since posting yesterday, I've found this (rather technical) thread by Chem Geek on the TFP site, which suggests that there are a number of degradation pathways. http://www.troublefreepool.com/degradation-of-cyanuric-acid-cya-t8880.html

Another chemistry question for the experts, please: what factors govern the persistence or degradation of cyanuric acid? I manage our pool using (more or less) just liquid chlor and crystalline CYA. From all the warnings about the danger of CYA build-up from prolonged galette usage, I assumed that CYA was itself pretty stable. But mine seems to drift down by perhaps 10ppm per week. Is this normal?

Nick I have some sympathy with where you're coming from. I'm from south London too, probably around the same age, and we all no doubt took risks we shouldn't have. Perhaps we were hardier then (a peck of dirt and all that). But... there are too many instances of people catching bugs from badly-maintained pools and ending up in hospital. If you're maintaining a facility for family, friends or guests it's your responsibility to ensure it doesn't pose a risk to them. Basically, it's just as simple and no more expensive to get it right, once you understand what you're doing. This is my second full year of pool owning, and I'm more than happy to acknowledge the invaluable information I've picked up from this board. Thanks again to all who contribute.

Great. Keep CCL under 0.5ppm, FCL 40% CYA. Bingo. That's a good rule of thumb. Thanks.

Thanks. Most helpful. For future reference can you give a simple rule of thumb relating FCL, TCL, CYA and active equivalence (assuming that you're not going to drink the stuff!)?

As of this morning, I have: FCL: 10.76 TCL: 10.9 PH: 7.87 CYA: 35

Yes, I'm assuming by this point that TCL is equal to or only slightly above FCL, in other words that CCL is low or zero. So would there be any risk in using the pool at, say, FCL = 10, 6, 5?

At what point during or after a shock process is it safe to use the pool again? Once the shock is complete, and FCL is coming back down from around 12-14 ppm, at what FCL level is it safe for the pool to be used?

Now that makes a lot of sense. I've never seen that explained before. (And yes, I remember moles from my chemistry days at school!) Many thanks

Why is it that one adds sodium bicarbonate to increase total alkalinity: but that one tests total alkalinity by measuring calcium carbonate? It's the bicarb which provides the buffering capacity to resists pH bounce etc. But CaCO3 is chalk. Confused.

Thanks for the advice. I think I need to take this slowly! I already have a subscription to Canal+ and CanalSat, principally for the sports channels. However, I subscribed via Orange (although I pay Canal+ separately), so I don't have a Canal+ decoder, only the regular Orange box (a Samsung SHD85). Le Cube, which Canal+ offer with their higher-end packages, appears to come with an external hard disk. Their regular decoder doesn't. There seem to be two options. One is to get a Sagem DTR 94160S. If I did, would it simply replace my Orange decoder? And without the connection via Orange, how would my Canal+ subscription be authenticated? The other option would seem to be to ask Canal+ for a Cube with external hard disk. Again, how would this work? Does anyone have experience of this box? I'm beginning to feel the Orange triple-play was not a good idea, and has locked me into a less-than-ideal configuration. But I'm reluctant to start unpicking it until I'm confident of the alternative. Advice gratefully received as ever!

I have an Orange triple-play set-up (telephone, internet, TV) including an Orange decoder for the French satellite channels (free ones plus those I subscribe to). One of the things I miss about my UK setup is the Sky+ box: one of the simplest and best boxes for programming and recording to hard drive. As far as I can see, neither Orange nor any other provider offers an equivalent. Am I missing something? I've read a lot here about the Humax PVR but it's still not clear to me that it's what I'm looking for. For example, presumably it does not replace the existing decoder. How does it link to the decoder? Does it have its own programme guide? Can you select forthcoming programmes for recording? Can it record independently of what the TV is showing? etc Just to be clear: I am only interested in receiving French channels via satellite and being able to record them to disk. This is not a query about how to receive Sky or British TV channels in France. Grateful for any advice

Our water main crosses our neighbour's land subject to a 'servitude'. The neighbour accidentally damaged the pipe during some building works. He had it repaired. But he claims that I should carry the cost of the repair. The terms of the servitude clearly state that all maintenance and repair of the water main is my responsibility. However, my question is whether this is still the case if the damage has been caused by the neighbour -- albeit accidentally -- in the first place.

Thanks for the comments and advice. Much appreciated. The situation is improving, but slowly. To answer your various questions: On TA, my Aquachek is consistently showing high levels. The last nine are high error, high error, high error, 127, high error, high error, 189, 159, 157. Having said that, my Aquatest test strip today showed ~80. I should add that all test strips are fresh and within date (November 2011). I have to say that if there is this wide variation in readings between different test methods using strips then it really does seem to make sense to invest in better equipment. Incidentally, I noticed while playing around that simply holding my thumb over the Aquachek lamp gave a Cl reading of 2.0. Green fingers? In another test, I dipped an Aquachek strip as directed, and got a reading of 7.8. I then re-dipped the same strip, and got a reading of 10.0 off it. How reliable are these strips and meters supposed to be? There seems to be far too much variation for effective calibration. Andrew: yes, the zeolite was well backwashed and rinsed after filling. It's been done again a few times as pressure rose after filtering muck out of the pool. The water is now beginning to hold chlorine, despite low CYA. Approx 8 hours after another 5 litres of javel, and a day of hot sunshine, I still had 1.8ppm. Ph is also high, but I'm not worrying about that at the moment. Having said all that, I have realised today that there is still more muck and organic matter on the floor of the pool (which, if you remember, I still can't see) than I thought. The surface appearance is clean and turquoise, but I suspect that lurking beneath is a different matter. In the circumstances, I am going to suspend Cl choc for a while, and concentrate on physical methods of muck removal. It doesn't seem to make sense to keep chucking in javel to oxidise stuff which should be removed first. I'll keep you posted.

Hi That's very helpful. Thanks. Yes, I'm using 20 litre eau de javel bidons from the brico, 9.6% disponsible chlor. The main message I take is that shocking requires not only elevation to 10ppm Cl, but sustaining it at that level. The fact that my Cl level drops rapidly is presumably not just to solar burn off but to the fact that it's still oxidising residual algae/bacteria/muck. And hence the water's going pale milky green. (Update: she who has better colour vision than I says the colour is eau de nil). The point about Cu is well made. If I had high Cu, there'd be no algae/no green. So ignore for now. Hence next steps: More Cl in the morning, filter filter. Measure Cl. Probably more Cl next day etc etc. Keep Cl at 10ppm. etc I'll let you know how I get on.

Since successfully emptying my filter of sand and replacing it with zeolite, I've been trying to get the pool cleaned up and ready to go. The water temperature here is 18 degrees, and it won't be long before we want to be in it. My problem is that the water stubbornly refuses to budge from a milky pale green colour. It's an in-ground pool, irregular shape but volume approximately 80-100 cu m. So far, I've got most of the muck out with net, vacuum brush etc. It's a bit difficult to tell how much is left because I can't see the bottom. I've been filtering 8 hours or so each day for more than a week. The pump is a Hayward SP1622 powered by a Hanning 1250w motor. From what I can find (these models are obsolete) that's about a 1.5hp pump, with a design flow rate of a bit less than 20 cu m/hour. I should be getting total turnover in about 4-5 hours. The water seems pretty clean, but a pint glass sample reveals some very fine floating particulate matter. I've shocked twice, once with 5 litres eau de javel, once with commercial stabilised chlor choc to get some stabiliser into the water. But the water remains a milky pale green colour. At this stage, I'm not focussing on getting the sanitation right. I simply want to get the water clean and clear before I start putting other chemicals in. (At the back of my mind also is that if I need to empty and refill, I particularly don't want to have wasted time and money putting chemicals in.) Readings taken today, 4 or 5 hours after shocking: TDS: 331 according to my Hach electronic meter, 0-500 according to Aquachek strips Total chlorine: 1 (Aquachek) Free chlorine: 0.5 Aquachek, 0.75 Aquachek Trutest PH: very variable results. 7.1 and high error on two Trutest readings, 6.2 on Aquachek strips Total alkalinity: again variable. 52 and 239 Trutest, 40 Aquachek strips Cyanuric acid: 0-30 Aquachek strips In each case, I've taken two readings within a few minutes of each other. The TDS, chlorine and cyanuric acid are to be expected, given what I've done so far. I don't understand the high variation on PH and TA. One possible clue. I've read that excess copper can turn water green. The previous owner was obviously in the habit of using copper sulphate for algae control, because he left me the (very small) remains of a 3kg tub of Blue Crystal copper sulphate. So at least 2.5 kg has been chucked in the water over the last few years, possibly more. But I don't want to jump to conclusions if there's a simpler explanation. An alternative possible clue. It's a concrete pool (I assume). The walls and floor are painted white. A stiff brush on the walls pulls off milky paint colour. Am I simply seeing fine paint powder clouding the water? Any advice? Keep filtering? Is there a simple test for excess copper, or should I get the water tested? If it's paint, do I need to drain and repaint? What with? All comments and guidance welcomed by a novice!

Having recently removed the sand from my filter for the first time, I thought it might be helpful to share my experience. The background: I have a Triton filter (old style) which was already installed when I bought the house. So... first remove the lid. It's a 6-inch diameter domed plastic piece with an octagonal flange. The previous owner had helpfully left the wrench for removing it. On closer inspection, though, I discovered that one of its two handles had been snapped off. The reason soon became clear: the lid was solid, tight, virtually welded in position. It wouldn't budge. In due course, the inevitable happened. After increasingly violent hammering at the wrench with a rubber mallet, the other handle snapped off. No wrench. Lid still obstinately stuck. Ordered new wrench over the internet. In the meantime, bought a strap wrench and tried that. No joy. Waited a week.... Finally, using the new wrench AND the strap wrench AND a mallet the lid eventually shifted a millimetre... and another millimetre... until at last it was off. A triumph. Next... remove the sand. I set off for the local tool hire depot. Despite following the signs to it on the ZI, there was no sign of it. After driving up and down for a while I accosted a likely local who pointed at a derelict-looking shed and said, in effect, that it used to be there but had closed down. Back to the Pages Jaunes. The next day, however, I was in temporary possession of an industrial wet-and-dry vacuum cleaner. Perfect. It sucked out the sand pretty easily, although it took two or three hours. The trickiest part of the operation was manoeuvring the nozzle and an arm and a torch to see what I was doing (it's dark in there) through a 6in hole. A few tips... Wet sand has a tendency to clog solid in the vacuum cleaner tube, so take it easy. Listen to the motor, which will start to strain if it clogs. Second, sand is heavy, and wet sand is even heavier. Take it easy and empty the tub out frequently. Third, be careful of the laterals at the bottom. To begin with, it's impossible to see where they are because they're covered with a foot or two of sand. Once one of the laterals starts getting exposed, you'll know where they are and will be more confident about manoeuvring round them. I left the final few pounds of sand stuck round the sides and the bottom overnight. By the morning it had all dried out and it was easy to brush to the bottom and suck out. Next... carefully pour in zeolite (thanks, Andrew). Next... replace the lid, having carefully cleaned out the thread. Except I couldn't. The O-ring which seals the lid to the body was broken. Couldn't buy one anywhere. Ordered a new one over the internet. Waited a few days. Finally the package arrived... containing the wrong order. Instead of my O-ring, they'd sent me some test strips intended for someone in the north of France. My O-ring had gone to him. Emailed, telephoned. In fact the supplier was very helpful, and sent a pre-paid postage label so I could send my parcel to the other guy. With luck, he'll send me mine. In the meantime, back in the UK, I located another O-ring (I'll probably end up with two now). In a couple of days time, I should be able to replace the lid and fire up the filter. I'll let you know. The moral of the tale? Removing the sand from the filter is simple. It's all the other stuff that's difficult.

Andrew PMd you

Hi. This is a task I shall be tackling shortly. Are these 'sand siphons' readily available for day rental? If so, where should I go to hire one? Or is it simply that you have one to rent, Andrew?

Cat Thanks. That explains the €22,90 as you say, but it doesn't explain the other charges from FT. However, I think I've answered my own query in the meantime. I had thought that the triple formula included a telephone line. But I think it only includes telephone via internet. I also have a conventional fixed line which was installed at the same time and I think I'm receiving a separate line charge for that. This wasn't explained to me at the time.... But caveat emptor etc    

I recently signed up for the France Telecom/Orange internet+TV+telephone account. All works perfectly. My phone line works, my livebox was delivered and works and when I get a TV I'll be able to set up the decoder. But I don't understand what I'm being charged. The offer is priced at €19,90 per month TTC for the first three months, then €29,90 per month thereafter. I'm paying by direct debit. I'm receiving a bill every two months from France Telecom with a line charge of €16,00 per month. I can see factures for these on mon espace client. And I'm also being charged direct debits from FT Internet Orange (€39,92 in January and €22,90 in February). So far I've had no joy in getting an explanation from FT. Can anyone explain what's going on?