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Pool Maintenance

pool maintenance
What maintenance is required if I do NOT open my Anthony gunnite 25,000 gal pool? Can it harm the pool?

Due to illness in the family, I am not able to open my inground pool this summer in Northern New Jersey. Is there anything I should do for maintenance? Can it damage the pool by not opening and circulating the water?

I used to work for the only Anthony dealer here in southern Ontario, so I reckon I can help.
If the pool was closed correctly and equipment winterized properly , it’ll be fine. There are only 2 things to consider. What type of winter cover if any and the water underneath it.
If the cover is a poly tarp and water bag, just make sure all the bags are ok. Drain off as much water as you can from the top of the cover, as well as remove debris, if possible. The water is the bigger issue of the two. If the level gets up to your tile line before freeze over, it may crack some tiles. Check the water under the cover for Cl content. If it’s 0 then add a shock and re cover.
If the cover is what we call a “safety cover”, like a trampoline, then just do a pump out down to the returns again. Keeping the water clear in this case is difficult. It will likely go green, if it hasn’t already. Safety covers are porous and let a lot of stuff in. You best bet, is liquid chlorine a few times this summer, followed by a dose right at ice in. Break a hole in the ice if you have to. The results in spring will be worth it.
The Marbalite finnish won’t get hurt any more than in a normal operating cycle with the exception of the steps where you may notice more spider webbing (hairline cracks) or spalding (coin sized wafers of marbalite disloged). Normal, it will happen eventually in any Marbalite pool that has to be drained for winterizing. Californians and Floridians are lucky in that respect.
The pool walls may become more stained than usual, but that’s going to be two winters of staining, and to be expected. It WILL come clean next spring, just a little more work.
Hope all this helps. I miss working on Anthony DE filters, they are, in my opinion the best out there. Unfortunately the Dealer I worked for, went under, there are only 3 guys in Ontario left that know the pools or the systems and we rarely get to see one anymore. Most have been retrofitted with Hayward or worse junk.

Pool Chemicals Grocery

pool chemicals grocery
If no pool shock, what else will help?

I have an above ground pool that holds about 6000 gallons of water. Im having problems with my car and I live in teh country so I have a problem getting to the store for chemicals. I just cleaned and filled my pool and just as I was filling it the rain started coming down hard and now its already green. Is there anything that I can buy at the local grocery store or hardware store that can help?

Can I put non-chlorine bleach in it? Will that help and is it safe? (bleach for clothes) Any advice would be great. Especailly since my biggest problem is green water! every 3 days or so it starts turning green. Then when I do get to shock it, the water turns cloudy white or blueish white.

so again big question..Can I put bleach (for the laundry) in my pool?

Yes you can and it’s perfectly safe. I’m sorry that David answered the question as he did because baking soda is a perfectly fine chemical to use for increasing the alkalinity of the pool. In fact it’s the exact same thing that the pool store sells, except the baking soda is purer and far less expensive.

1 gallon of household bleach (non scented) will add approximately 8ppm of chlorine to your pool. Depending on the levels of the other chemistry in the water (alkalinity, hardness, pH) you may need to add more. I would recommend going with a gallon and a half first thing in 6,000 gallons of algae laden water.

When you can take a sample of pool water to your local pool store and have them test for the following:
Total chlorine
Free chlorine
Combined chlorine
pH
Alkalinity
Hardness
Cyanuric acid
Total dissolved solids
Metals
Phosphates

Bring the results back without purchasing anything from them at this time and send me the results at robandliz1992@yahoo.com and I’ll put you on a maintenance schedule tailored for your pool that will keep it pristine for the rest of the season.

But for now, go ahead and add in the gallon and a half of bleach while the filter is running. Brush the sides and bottom of the pool if you have a pool brush, if not don’t worry about it. This chlorine addition is an emergency measure only and will burn out of the pool in less than 24 hours so you will need to add more tonight.

14. The Quiet Revolution in Plastics