help with salt pool

[MKT]

I have been asked if i can clean up a friends pool a bit whilst they are stuck in the Uk with family problems.. I owe them a favour bigtime so would like to oblige but need advice. I have experience with my own chlorine pool where i have always doen everything manually and used prevention rather than cure to keep it clean and nice but this one is a salt pool and in a right old state. The main problems are

• the ph is an incredible 9.5 despite there being an 'automatic' regulator (a system called 'basic plus') linked up to a tub of something called aquamoins which says it lowers the ph. I normally use ph minus in powder form but am unsure if this will work the same in a salt pool
• the skimmers etc are in an awful blackened state inside and out - i clean mine with a bit of desalgine on a sponge but is it ok to use desalgine in a salt pool?
• the water line is very black and thick in places. I usually use desalgine on a sponge again to clean mine, but as above, is it ok in a salt pool and also this line is way worse than i ever let mine get, so i may need something stronger.any suggestions? can i use one of the purpose made water line nettoyant products available in the shops?
• how do i know if it actually needs more salt? i took a ph and chlorine test today adn chlorine was non-existant but perhasp this is normal for a salt pool? excuse the stupid question but where do i actually put the salt anwyay? in the water? in the skimmer?

I (and they) woudl be so grateful for any help or advice you could give. I suspect the 'automatic' system isnt set up properly and i have found the instructions for that, but need the answers to the other questions first really.

Thanks

Maria

[Poolguy]

Maria

No need to panic... its all doable. But you have a lot of work ahead of you.

Firstly, a salt pool is in no way automatic, at the best, in perfect condition you might be able to regard it as semi- automatic. But the good news is that it too is a chlorinated pool and so the same rules apply a with your own pool.

Secondly, the pH is at a critically high level, I am curious to know which tester registered that figure.Nevertheless, you must fix this first which you can do buy buying 5 litres of hydrochloric acid which you can get at the Brico; You should buy 2 of these in fact the first goes straight into the pool and the second into the tub of aquamoin. In both cases half fill a bucket of water and add the acid(1/2 at a time), pour the dilute mix into the pool walking briskly forward, pouring away from the liner. The second 5 litres goes into the tub marked aquamoin which you should first half fill with water. If this treatment doesn't get the pH down to the 7's then keep doing it till it arrives there.

Third, I suspect that the pool is green or at least very cloudy, in which case you'll need to choc it with at least 5kg of chlor choc, if its powder then you can pour it into the pool keeping it away from the liner, if its pastels then put them into the skimmer box.

Then you'll need to get the electrolyser going, first test for salt with a salt indicator strip, (Brico again), you should have between 3,500 and 6,000ppm, the correct amount should be written on the front of the salinator (box on the wall with wires coming out). As for the salt, buy it at the pool shop nearest, dissolve it in a bucket or put it in the skimmer or straight into the pool at the return jets , as you like.

Look next at the electolyser plates, which is a clear tube in the pumphouse, you should be able to see some plates inside with wires attached. If they are all white then they need to be de-calcified. For that you had better call me and I'll talk you through it. If they are clean then check that they are making chlorine at the dial on the box on the wall.

Any product safe for chlorine direct pool is safe for salt pools, however I recommend bio cleaning agents such as Jep wash liner cleaner. The other products available are inconsistant to my mind with a health pool as they contribute to the TDS and other such problems.

If you need more specific help then PM me

Andrew

[MKT]

Thank you so very much for your help, More information than i dared hope for. The only worry is that this 'basic plus' thing booklet says never use anything other than liquid ph minus  and not acide chlorydrique . presumably this means not into the actual tube of the system but is it still ok to add manually to the pool?

 

I did  a big cleanup up there yesterday for hours and it is looking much better although i dont think the waterline will ever completely come clean. I have also deduced that the 'automatic' injector for the ph minus isnt working and probably hasnt been for some time. When you turn it off and on again the cog thing tries to go round but seems to get stuck. it can be turned manually and when it is, some ph minus does get sucked up the tube so i assume this malfunction is how coems the ph has gotten so high. In answer to your question, the machineitslef  reads 9.5 but i aslo did a test myself manually and it went bright pink (off the scale of my measuring kit!).

 

I did note also that the water level was way too low, and i put loads in yesterday. Given that we have had heavy rain recently one wonders how low it did actually get and as well as the skimmers not working properly (some appeared to be turned off) the evaporation must have been adding to the problem of ph i assume.

 

Can you confirm that if there should be a chlorine reading for the pool if all is well? The salt indicator is lit so i am off to buy some today for that and also some salt test strips as you suggest but i did wonder if i am supposed to test for chlorine too. Miraculously, the water is clear and not cloudy. I cannot understand this but it is defintiely so! There is no justice.

 

One final thing, and a bit of a long shot. next to the pool is a deep deep hole(at least as deep as the pool), with some stagnant water in the bottom. This hole is formed by a peice of plastic pipe, about a foot in diameter and we cannot think what is is possibly for but it must be conencted to the pool in some way as it is adjacent to the skimmers, set into the deck. I did do a backwash yesterday and peered into the hole but nothing seememd to be changing in there so i am clueless as to what it might be? i wondered if it was for the salt but it doesnt look as if it connects to anythign else. I realise you may think 'how the hell do i know', and i understand, but i cnat ask the owners themselves as their probelms are too seriosu to be bothering them with this. i am grateful for any hypothesis you may have as to what this amy be.

 

I am so very grateful for your help so far, thankyou again

Maria

[Poolguy]

Well

I am pretty sure that, from what you have described that whole system is on the

Fritz.... Possibly for the poubelle.

If the pH peristaltic pump doesn't turn then its had it, and the controller as

well I suspect. Aquamion is hydrochloric acid, but if they called it that then

you would just buy that at the Brico for 1 euro a litre instead of 3.5 euro a

litre in their fancy drum. But if the pump doesn’t work then there is nothing to

be gained by offering it more very expensive aquamion, just pour acid in the

pool as needs.

You said that the water level was below the skimmers, and so if the bottom

drain was not turned on giving the pump, filter and salinator some water to

work with then they too, are probably gonners. Sometimes the pump will cut off

if it gets too hot from pumping air and so can be brought back but the

Salinator will not be so lucky. If that is run without water for any period of

time then it will not work again... ever.

All of that is bad news but even worse news to me is that the pool is clear? I

am immediately suspicious, as if there has been no chlorine for some time and

the pH is that high then I am sure that someone has put peroxide in the pool.

That would explain a lot, but it also means that you cannot use this water for

a salt chlorinated pool. You will have to change the whole lot to be able to

control it again. Or else continue to operate a peroxide pool, but that will

cost quite a bit each week.

On a brighter note, the 'hole in the ground' near the skimmer is no real

mystery, I would be reasonably certain that who ever built the pool discovered

a source, or at least a high water table when they dug the hole and so that is

there to try to relieve the hydrostatic pressure and stop the pool from

'popping ' out the ground which it will not do (stop it that is).

In all, your friend has a cot case I am sad to say, but it can be renovated and

brought back to the land of the living. I must emphasis though its not easy and

its not cheap.... once a pool has been let go, the road back is very long and

arduous and you must pay the boatman.

Andrew

[MKT]

Thanks again Andrew.

PH keeps rising, even though i can temporarily reduce it its always back up the next day. Will do what you say and add the acid on a regular basis if necesary.  Pool nice and clean now, it was dirtier than it looked once i started cleaning. Thanks for the info re the balck hole - i will ignore it! i dont think anyones put anything in it actually, it has been totally neglected.

I took a salt reading and it was zilch, so added 4 sacks of salt whcih got it up to 3.5/l which is what it said was minimum on the front of the unit. A further 3 bags have got it up to 4.5. The pump is working fine. The skimmers were off anyway as they had a robot in there (completely useless) and all the suction was being routed through that.

The salt light is still lit on front of the machine which i distrust. the electolyser thign LOOKS as if its working, i mean the light comes on to say it is, and it reverses its polarity each time and you can see there is water in it and a sort of dull black plate thing but i am still not getting any sort of chlorine reading. Is there a way to test if it is working? what are my/their options if it isnt working? The machine is only two years old but I suspect it was left on all winter and it says all over the instructions not to do that.

 

Many thanks

Maria

 

 

 

[Poolguy]

Maria

Sorry for the delay, I'm on holidays at the moment and little time to spend on the net.

If you PM me your contact details then we can chat on the phone and propose a sustainable olution for your friends swimming pool.

FOr the time being though buy a waqter analysis kit from the Brico using DPD1 and Phenol red tabs to get accurate readings, then test the water for chlorine, only that way will you have any idea if you equipment has any effect or not.

Andrew