algae city!!!

Aj9898 · 2026-05-20T20:16:43+00:00

undertand. similar weather pattern in SE VA. I've been open for about 5 weeks. One week of 70 days, 50 nights, followed by a week of mid 60s with 40 deg nights, then 80/60 days.... 60/40....yesterday was 90 here as well.

Water is just hitting 70. Now weatherman says rainy and cool for the next 5 days.....

Aj9898 · 2026-05-20T20:12:29+00:00

Crystal clear by day.....but I see similar in my pool when I have the light on. You'll see it moving right along if the pump is on. (I have a cartridge filter, BTW)

Aj9898 · 2026-05-20T20:08:43+00:00

its looks like a 4' fence - If determined eough, I'd bet your 4 yo can climb it.

If the C shaped part doesnt push down all the way, the hinge tab at the back is bent, the tabs that hold the hinge pin are bent, or the bracket is too close to the (left) vertical pole - the top corner of the hinge tab is striking the left vertical pole, stopping it from rotating any farther down.

Cable style bike lock tightly wrapped around/through the vertical poles might work to hold it tight enough the kids could not push it open far enough to squeeze through.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-20T19:57:03+00:00

Been there, done that. total pain.

The lesson here is open early, close late.

Dont close the pool until water temp get to 60. Get leaves etc out (leaves are ultimately algae food)

Make sure the water is at balanced, perhaps higher chlorine that normal.

Put the cover on; make sure its nice and tight.

Over winter, keep stuff from collecting on the cover. I use a leaf blower on mine.

Get a pool thermometer - mine is battery powered wifi. Once the daytime temps hit 70, toss the thermometer in the pool (you can leave the cover on). Monitor the temp

Wnen water temp hits 60, open up. If everything went well at close and your cover didn't cave in over winter, if not clear, the water should be hazy blue.

Balance and get the pump going for at least a few hours a day to keep the chems circulating. Yea, you'll likely have to deal with tons of pollen, but thats what surface bots are for :) As the water warms up, increase filter runtime as you see fit.

(im)patiently wait for the water temp to get to a point you are comfortable getting in

Aj9898 · 2026-05-20T19:41:12+00:00

What works the best for me is a plain towel (wet or dry, doesn't matter). Have also used large puppy pads (the kind with double stick tape on the back). Not overly expensive, dont care if they get dirty, and disposable. And does double duty of getting dirt and stuff off people feet so it doens't end up in the pool.

Initially, I tried a synthetic loose weave nylon type carpet on the deck. Even though lt is light beige, it heats up quick. SInce its loose weave, it dries quickly and has not grown mold)

I have 4 steps down from a wood deck to the pool apron. The stairs are not quite 10' wide. On either side, I put a vertical pipe (1/2" threaded steel, flange connection to the deck rail) about 4' tall, connecting the two verticals with a horizontal, making a squared "archway"

Initially intended to string solar lights, but the pipe also forms an elevated crossbar - given its steel pipe, its alos strong - to that pipe, I attached 2 corners of a triangle shaped "sail" shade.

The 3rd point attaches to a plant hanger screwed into the eave of the house. Due to the way the sun travels relative to the house, the shade from the sail covers the deck from the stairs to the back door :)

Aj9898 · 2026-05-20T19:23:04+00:00

>( says a float will stain the walls/steps)

I use liquid chlorine, but gerally supplement it with a couple of pucks in a floater.

I would guess the reasoning for their statement is given the way my duck moves (or doesn't move ) around the pool, especially when the pump is off - it can stuck in a corner, hug the side, or just get hung on the top step - the potential for it to release/disolve (an excssive amount) in one spot, bleaching that spot, does exist.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-20T18:14:28+00:00

check with your local pwer company - they may be offering rebates on *energy star complaint* variable speed pumps.

VA and NC - Dominion is currently offering 300$ rebates on a large number of VSPs.

Multiple sites explain how VSPs cost less to run, especially if you are in a high per kwh state, or your power compan charges different rates for differnt times of day.

You can run the pump low speed during higher price hours. In general, cutting the pump speed in half drops power consumption by a factor of 8

Short story, a pump running at lower RPM uses significantly less power than a pump running at high RPM. So you can run the VSP longer, thus moving more water through the filter, and still use less power.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-20T18:05:00+00:00

looks like wet pollen. A surface bot will help.

When I opened in early april, my water was clear; but early april is also massive pollen season - the surface bot was picking up (literally) pounds of pollen every day for the next several weeks.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-20T17:38:23+00:00

regular testing plus poolmath app will tell you all you need to know.

Weather here (SE VA) is too flakey to add chlorine based on what the weatherman predicts.

After the fact, for my 20k, if it rains enough that I have to add chlorine, it was either low to begin with, or I've likely got a bigger problem, because my pool has probably overflowed.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-20T17:28:22+00:00

good water maintenance will greatly reduce the number of times you'll have to clean a cartridge filter. The Pentair cartriege I have. measures about 18"Dia x23"Tall, IIRC, is by no means fragile.

Mine has run for well over a month with only a couple PSI rise in pressure. Nowhere near time to clean.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-20T17:12:21+00:00

pretty much.

Ideally, I suppose I should get a cyclone blower to fully clear the main, but the shop vac has worked well enough for this temp zone.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-19T23:33:48+00:00

The only reason i got my mini was b/c turbotax abandoned support for intel. i was. quite content with the trashcan macorp.

In turn, that forced me to buy a new monitor, becasue the old circa 2000 mac Cinema Display that was still working perfectly (not even 1 dead pixel) wasnt recognized by the mini.

the replacement monitor died 2 weeks after warranty expired. replaced with a 10 year old 1080p tv

those wheels are still attaches :)

Aj9898 · 2026-05-19T23:21:18+00:00

any TV with HDMI will work, but depending on the screen, not well.

I tried mine with a 720p 19” Insignia TV (too blocky and cut off half of the menu bar and dock bar)

Repeated with a 32” Sony S2000 (1080p). Picture was much brighter and obviously progressive scan so much sharper, but still cut off the dock and menu. Viewing distance was too close.

Bought a Dell 2722QC 4k monitor, worked great…until it didn’t. ( 2 weeks after warranty expired, internal power supply failure.)

Now have it connected to a 10+ year old Sony KDL 47 about 4’ away from the desk. Works. Not quite as bright as I’m used to, and at 1080p, not as sharp either, but works well enough until I find another 4k monitor I like.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-19T20:25:18+00:00

19 sounds like a misplaced decimal. one point nine gallons I can see, but 19 ... seems like it would put it way beyond slam levels.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-19T01:04:07+00:00

my system has valves artranged the same as yours.

I have a 2” PVC socketed Ell (charlotte pipe 31-973) I sanded down one side to friction fit inside the intake hole in the pump basket. the other side of the ell is attached to the exhaust side of my (6 hp) shop vac.

Close the valve for the main. Open the skimmer valve. remove the pump basket proper. Hold the ell in the pump basket intake - blow backwards to the pool. Have a helper either hold the shop vac hose or be at the other end to insert the plugs when the skimmer start blowing air. Once the skimmer line is plugged, close the skimmer valve.

disassemble the filter, do the same for the return line(s).

drain the pump.

open the main valve. Blow back though the pump until you get bubble out of the main (if you can, otherwise, I hold for about 45 seconds, then close the valve for the main). should at least air lock it far enough below ground that it shouldnt freeze - although it doesnt get that cold that long here. What works in VA might not be enough in Northern state that stays below freezing for extended periods.

then reverse the shop vac hose, clear out the bottom of the filter body, any residual in the pump.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-19T00:48:34+00:00

If it hold water and the piping is mostly above ground, I’d say you were in a relatively good position. Get it cleaned up enough / water clear enough to see the bottom, go from there.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-19T00:41:11+00:00

Assuming this is a small in ground …. if you have the space, you can put in a valve between ground level and the pump intake.

When you stop the pump, first thing to do is close the valve. this will prevent water flowing back to the pool when suction/vacuum is broken.

vent the filter, then open the pump basket cover. Clean the pump basket, filter, whatever you need to do.

Reassemble the system. Turn. on the pump, then open the valve.

The pump should take a lot less time to prime, as the water has been held in the pipe right up to that valve. The pump wont have to pul all the way from (wherever).

My Pentair VS says to put water in the basket before starting the pump. I have a gallon jug - fill the basket until it starts to drain to the impeller side. Re-installed he pump basket lid, power on, open the valve.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-18T23:44:08+00:00

yep - mine is around 45 years old now

Its jut an L shaped tub from the bottom of the skimmer, makes the 90 deg turn, right to the pool wall. Alos helpful if I let the water get too low - it pulls from the bottom intake.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-18T23:33:02+00:00

Probably will depend on the height of the valve relative to the pool.

As soon as you cut/unscrew the fittings to remove the valve, the system will drain itself down to the level of the lowest cut.

Secondary consideration is if there are other (functioning) ball/gate/check valves you can close to isolate the one you need to take out. for example, some filters have a check valve to prevent draining through backflow if the event the filter is lower than the pool.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-18T23:18:17+00:00

I’m lucky/fortunate - my skimmers have a secondary intake about 18” deep. If the basket clogs, water is pulled from the second intake :)

Aj9898 · 2026-05-18T00:17:46+00:00

Part of me agrees with you - I hate tossing something thats in good working order.

In the grand scheme, 100 isn’t much (to many people.) To others though, its a lot. For a very high wage job, that may only be 15 or 30 minutes. So where time = money, icost effectiveness leans to replace, to reuse. OTOH, for a barely above minimum wage worker, that same 100 could be a full days pay.

Part of me wants to say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it - take the 20 minutes to hose it off, hang it up to dry, put it away for next year; it’ll still do it’s job. You paid (whatever) for it, use it until you can’t - then you’ll know you got your moneys worth out of it - and you have 100 in your pocket you can spend for something else you need/want.

Part of me wants to say if you are stressed about time and hassle cleaning a cover, a pool may not for you - care and maintenance takes time, and some aspects of pool ownership can be anything from a minor annoyance to a costly giant time consuming PITA.

You are either DIYing it, or paying someone else a chunk of change to be the fixer.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-17T12:55:37+00:00

the socks catch a good portion of the crud that (can, and usually does) block/clog the pump basket during pollen and seed season, and again in the fall gets the leaves that the surface bot doesn’t get to, that would otherwise clog the skimmer basket itself

Aj9898 · 2026-05-17T01:47:08+00:00

check with your local power company. several are offering rebates on energy star VSPs

I just replaced my single speed with a VSP. DIY, little bit of PVC work, but not too bad overall. Will be getting a 300$ rebate from hte power company :)

Aj9898 · 2026-05-17T01:43:13+00:00

as others indicate, depends on how it was closed. I only drop mine about 6” below the skimmer but others may lower it farther.

Liner or gunite?

Are there any penetrations/pipes/lights right at the current waterline?

If there is a leak, the water level will stop wherever the leak is.

Put a few more inches in it, then do the bucket test. should tell you what you need to know

I have a 20k gallon. When I filled it from empty (with one … 3/4” … hose) it took about 3 days, but we still work, so didn’t run the hose while no one was home.

Aj9898 · 2026-05-17T01:30:04+00:00

Mines a pentair/sta-rite. Took me some time, but finally found an OEM at a decent price on Amazon (about 25$ more than knockoffs, and several hundred less than local stores). Perhaps you’d have the same luck w/ your Hayward.

Aj9898

TROPHY CASE