opening up the pool for the summer

[toni]

We have recently bought a maison secondaire with a small pool. When we took posession of the house the water was a bit green but as it was the autumn we added the 'overwintering' solution and left it  be. What is the proceedure for preparing the pool for summer use and how long does this generally take before it is safe to swim in?

[Poolguy]

Toni

"safe to swim in"

This is the question and is a matter of your standards. By French standards if

you can see the bottom... then go on , dive in.

Me I come from a tradition where the water needs to be tested, and be .... well

pure, clean, or at least sanitary, and you can’t tell that just by looking.

What that will mean in your case as you have used a winterising product (probably

Benzilammoniate) in your pool is to dump about half to two thirds of your water

and refill. Even if you had not I would bet that the previous owner has not

changed the water for a while so I would bet that it is loaded with stabilizer.

Certainly it seems that the existing sanitisation system does not work... your

pool went green.

No wait... I'm getting ahead of my self. You didn't say whether you had a

salt/chlorination system or manual dosing system, or even something else. So until

this is known what to do after the water change we must reserve for the moment,

until you respond with the spec.

Suffice it to say, that I guess you're new to pools and could use some 'low

down' on how they work. I'd be happy to oblige but I need some information

about your pool first.

Andrew

[toni]

Hello Poolguy,

 

The pool has a' manual' chlorination system i.e. you put a chlorine tab into the basket at the side of the pool- you see i really am a pool novice i don't even know the correct names for things! As far as i know the pool had been taken care of until about June and would have had a partial  water change then as it was prepared for the summer. Between that and Oct when we took over, the care was i think a bit more haphazard and so the water was a bit green at that stage. Not having the time or the knowledge to sort out anything at that stage we threw in the overwintering stuff covered the pool and I'm afraid, left it.!!

 As you say any advice in relation to this particular problem or general info for novices like me would be appreciated.

[Baz]

You may find this site helps and  advices on chemicals and your pool water. In time you will find it easy to maintain once you learn the techniques.

http://www.poolstore.co.uk/ishop/691/shopscr4.html

Baz

[toni]

Thanks Baz i had a look at that site and it does appear to be really useful, i hope you are right about it being easy when i get the hang of it!

[Poolguy]

Toni

If the pool is green that is not nearly as catastrophic as it looks- it can be

cleaned up with a 'Choc' treatment and vacuuming. What is more problematic is

if there is an overload of Stabilizer and/or TDS (total dissolved solids). The

first one, stabilizer or cyanuric acid is a companion to chlorine in the

gallettes to hold it in the water long enough to do its job in between doses. Its

not very efficient and it has an unfortunate consequence of building up to a

point where it prevents Chlorine from working at all. The TDS are a built up of

all of 'other stuff' you've thrown in and which falls in from the environment,

it can become quite a cocktail.

The only remedy for both of these problems is to dilute the concentration. This

means jettison half or more of the water and refill. Do this a few times and

you're as good as back to the start again.

Now to prevent this situation from reoccurring you'll need to get acquainted

with regular testing and dosing with just enough to keep the levels right. That

is both with pH and Chlorine levels, as both are vital for water balance. It

not enough to throw a couple of gallettes in the basket every so often an hope

for the best. You must be more careful than that as everyone who is using the

pool is relying on you to be well informed and vigilant.

If all that is too much for you then I suggest and automatic pool controller

which will keep the water perfectly balance all the times without any

intervention from you.

Let me know if I can help you further, PM me if you want a more detailed chat.

Andrew

[toni]

Hello Poolguy,

 

Thanks for all the info. Is there any way of finding out how much 'TDS' there is in the water?

[Poolguy]

Yes Toni

You can test for both Cyanuric acid and TDS but the first one is more

common as its relatively simple, it does not require a Lab.

If you let me know where you are I can arrange to call in on one of

many 'rounds' and test for you. This will give you the best indication

of the 'health' of your water, not completely mind but its a good start.

After that you can make some decisions on what to do next and your water treatment regime generally.

Andrew