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Water here has loads of metals and other stuff. Metals like calcium et al will make your CYA (stabilizer) ineffective, hence you end up constantly chasing your tail trying to keep up.
Actually calcium is not a metal. It's essentially dissolved rock. It's a mineral. That's what leaves a ring around your pool and even your toilet bowl.
Calcium typically doesn't make your CYA ineffective. The pool store does that by telling you to use all kinds of junk you don't need. Too much stabilizer will make your chlorine ineffective though. Using those pucks too much adds CYA. Each puck will add about 2 to 3 parts per million (ppm) depending on how large your pool is. CYA makes your chlorine last longer in direct sunlight. It buffers the chlorine so the sun won't destroy your chlorine so quickly. Too much CYA and it buffers your chlorine so much, it won't work at all.
Reduce the CYA to 40 or 50 ppm and your chlorine demand will come back to normal levels. I spend about $30.00 per month to maintain my pool during the summer. Much less in winter.
If you have too much CYA and/or too much calcium, the only practical way to reduce either of those is to do a partial drain and refill.
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Originally Posted by JLC58
Ha HA; Leslies is big on telling people that the pool water is worn out.
I've never had to change pool water in the 20 yrs I've had one. Yeah, that cracked me up. Water has been on earth for billions of years and mother nature does a wonderful job of keeping it clean. Only humans would figure that water gets "old". That's a complete falsehood spewed out by many pool supply companies to sell you and I lots of chemicals that just aren't needed to keep your pool water clean. Water just doesn't "get old". It may get dirty or polluted by man, but it doesn't get old. EVER.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reklaw
Thanks for all the good advice! The pump I rented came with a hose about the same size of a fire hose. I don't have a sewer drain in the yard --- that I could find --- so I tried to drain it in the side yard first . The ground quickly became saturated so I switch to draining in the bathtub but the flow was too much for the drain. I was told by Mesa that it's illegal to drain in the road. So I'm tired and defeated -- returned the pump Home Depot.
There really isn't any reason that you "must" drain your pool for the winter. Just keep up the regular cleaning of the pool, keep the water in check and enjoy the view for the winter. It doesn't freeze here so you don't "have to" empty your pool.
The only 2 reasons to drain your water is if the CYA or the calcium is out of hand and you can even do that in small increments if that's easier for you.
Just sayin'
absolutely No need to drain your pool..i live in MA cold winters, snow...had a pool for 8 yrs and never never had to drain my pool. Actually the Cold helps stabilize the water better when its not moving. Every spring when i open my pool the water is crystal clear.
the only thing being in AZ you would probably want to add a couple gallons of Shock now and then thru winter..
id go see a better pool place, the person giving you this knowledge is not reliable and there gonna start ripping you off on chemicals you will not need also.
(imo if you pool is crystal clear, its fine, just think you go swimming in the ocean and lakes an there not treated, im sure your pool water is alot better)
Total dissolved solids get way, way out of hand if you don't drain and refill periodically. The entire volume of a pool in AZ evaporates more than once in a year doubling the TDS. The pool starts to feel "yucky", you get salt deposits on everything. Your hair matts as it drys out. Drain and refill makes it feel new again. Some parts of town are worse than others - mainly the new west valley burbs where water tends to come from wells.
Mav - I know what you mean, but strictly speaking calcium is a metal. If you see elemental calcium it looks gray and silvery. You are talking about salts. Calcium carbonate and calcium sulfate are the calcium salts one finds in abundance in AZ water supplies. They get left behind as water evaporates and their concentration increases dramatically over the years. Aside from giving the water a "hard" feel, both will readily precipitate (deposit themselves on the plaster) if the pH gets high. This will give your pool a sandpapery feel at minimum and commonly leads to blotchy patches and an acid wash.
I maintain my own pool, but have the water tested monthly at the pool store. I was recently told that my pool needed draining too. That the stabilizer was no longer doing its job. They didn't try to sell me anything, just told me to drain my pool in November, refill, then adjust the chemicals. They said the water in Glendale is a problem. The water in my pool is only 3 years old. I recall when we filled the first time, I spent over $300 on start-up chemicals.
Frankly, I wouldn't really mind draining the pool and starting "Fresh", but here's the thing: I'm in one of those pockets of homes in the NW Glendale/Arrowhead area that are on big lots and we have septics with leach fields and are not connected to city sewer at all, therefore have nowhere to drain the old water into, except our yard, and I'm afraid of the water running over into the leach fields and flooding our septic, not to mention killing my plants and trees! We don't have 'curbs' with sewer drainage ports either. My pool is almost 30,000 gallons, so this is no small issue to drain and refill. I read on one of those pool sites that you can correct anything with chemicals, but I'm so confused at this point I don't know what to do, and it all started sounding like greek to me.
I emailed that company here who clarifies pool water via reverse osmosis ($650 quote), but found out that they still have to drain at least 1/3rd of the water - so still an issue. Any ideas on how to deal with my situation??? I've not seen any neighbors drain their pools (that I know of) and they have same water as me.
I maintain my own pool, but have the water tested monthly at the pool store. I was recently told that my pool needed draining too. That the stabilizer was no longer doing its job. They didn't try to sell me anything, just told me to drain my pool in November, refill, then adjust the chemicals. They said the water in Glendale is a problem. The water in my pool is only 3 years old. I recall when we filled the first time, I spent over $300 on start-up chemicals.
Frankly, I wouldn't really mind draining the pool and starting "Fresh", but here's the thing: I'm in one of those pockets of homes in the NW Glendale/Arrowhead area that are on big lots and we have septics with leach fields and are not connected to city sewer at all, therefore have nowhere to drain the old water into, except our yard, and I'm afraid of the water running over into the leach fields and flooding our septic, not to mention killing my plants and trees! We don't have 'curbs' with sewer drainage ports either. My pool is almost 30,000 gallons, so this is no small issue to drain and refill. I read on one of those pool sites that you can correct anything with chemicals, but I'm so confused at this point I don't know what to do, and it all started sounding like greek to me.
I emailed that company here who clarifies pool water via reverse osmosis ($650 quote), but found out that they still have to drain at least 1/3rd of the water - so still an issue. Any ideas on how to deal with my situation??? I've not seen any neighbors drain their pools (that I know of) and they have same water as me.
First of all, don't believe anything a pool store tells you. Their sole job is to sell you a LOT of chemicals you DON"T NEED. It's those chemicals that made your pool so that it requires a refill but you do have options.
The only reason your stabilizer is no longer doing it's job is because there is too much of it in your pool. It's hindering the chlorine's ability to sanitize your pool. You need to figure out how to REMOVE some of your stabilizer and it doesn't require draining your pool.
Simply backwash a little every day. Add more fresh water and soon your stabilizer will be back to the proper amounts but it takes a little work on your part. Do the chemical tests every day YOURSELF, stop using the pucks in your pool. Those are what raises your stabilizer. They contain stabilizer (Cyanuric acid) but the pool stores don't tell you that. It's the pucks that cause much of the problems with pools. Stop using the pucks and use either liquid chlorine or a SWG and most of your problems will go away in short order once you get your CYA (stabilizer) under control.
Also, the pool stores love to tell you to shock your pool a couple of times a month. That's rarely necessary when you keep the stabilizer and chlorine at the correct levels. Shocking your pool unfortunately adds either a lot of calcium or a lot of CYA to you water. Only shock your pool if you drop the ball and allow and algae bloom to start.
My pool has been sparkling clear since last year when I stopped doing what the pool store said. I did some research and found that keeping a pool clean and clear is actually a very easy thing to do as long as you keep the chemicals at a specified level which means paying attention to your pool at least every couple of days. Preferably every day but it only takes about 2 minutes.
As I said, my pool is spotless and it's like that every day for the last year without using the pucks, without all the harsh chemicals the pool stores push on you and without a lot of costs.
Simply put, I keep my pool clean and clear with only liquid chlorine, just a small amount of Muriatic acid, a very small amount of DA in my sand filter and about once a month I do just a couple of ounces of clarifier. That's it. No shocking, no draining, no hassle. The pool store hates me because I only buy a little liquid chlorine once in a while. I spend about $35.00 to $40.00 per month to keep my pool in good shape.
If you'd like some help with your pool, just PM me and I'd be happy to point you in the right direction.
There is no reason to drain the pool.. the water evaporates quickly and your constantly adding new water to it. Leslies told me the same thing to drain it.. They also sold me a ton of un needed chemicals. Three years later never had a problem as long as the chlorine tabs are in there, little fresh and clear once and while which works good, some acid for the ph when needed, and run the filter to clear things up. I also crush up some of the tabs from the bucket to powder if it needs a good cleaning and it works the same is shock since its basically the same thing. Just alittle more work, but saves me from going to the pool store to buy 4 dollar bags. Just make sure you crush it up good so you dont have chunks on the bottom sitting there. They can damage the bottom. Liquid chorine works good to like the last post stated, but i only buy if I have a serious allage problem.
A lot of good advice (notice how it can differ pretty dramatically) but back to the OP. You NEED to find your clean out. They have a tendency to get buried over time. We had that problem so we just checked with our neighbors - got a general idea - and then a few pokes in the ground and VOILA. You can set up a temporary connection to your clean out (just glue some 1.5" PVC) and connect your backwash hose with a clamp. Whether you use it for draining or back flushing, you may need it for sewer clean out one day so - spend some time and find it!!
Draining & refilling works best for us here at the YAZ compound.
Wow, you have a compound!?!? Are you a Kennedy?
My CYA is getting a little high, I fear a refilling is in the future. Considering how much Epicor is nailing me every month as it is, I'm not looking forward to it.
The pool store said the chemicals were no longer affective when I took my water sample into be tested. I've been told by co-worker that you need to drain the water about every four years. I've been in the house for two years and it sat empty for a year so I assumed what the pool store was telling me was correct.
"Flock" your pool.
"Pool flock is a substance within a class of swimming pool additives known as water clarifiers. Pool flock itself is distinguished from other types of clarifiers by how it causes fine particulate matter suspended in liquids to clump up. Flock creates a condition in pool water that leads to flocculation of particulate matter, which is sometimes known as sedimentation. Flocculation aggregates, or brings together, fine matter in water or other liquids, allowing them to gain size and weight so they can settle out.
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I was told to drain my pool too!!
