Question: OK pool guy, I have one for you, 2.5 years ago I bought a house with this beautiful pool that has a jacuzzi in a cave under a concrete rock water fall and a slide around the back side, the pool had been empty in the Las Vegas sun for two years. There are numerous cracks in the pool “which is pebble stone” that have consumed about 6 thousand gallons a month since it was filled before we bought the house. “I was hoping to pressure wash it before the initial filling” for the first two years the pH was high and required heavy doses of acid, this year the pH is low and I am going through Chlorine tabs like a kid in a candy store looking for a sugar high and I cant get rid of the algae that seems to grow mainly on the south walls of the pool. I have talked to some pool pros who tell me that I need to drain the pool and put fresh water in it. I would like to do that and re coat or repair the cracks but I have heard horror stories of pools floating.
I am a do it my self-er. Mainly because when I have other people do work I am usually disappointed in the work and I find a real self satisfaction in doing it my self, plus I learn stuff to help other people later.
So, What can I do to fix the cracks? re surface? Will the pool float after leaking in to the ground for that long? or should I just live with it and get rid of the algae problem?
Yes I have shocked the pool. Not nearly enough and completely wrong I find after reading your post. LOL but the algae problem just started this season and I don’t know what changed. Is it true that you should drain and refill the pool every two years?
Thank you in advance for all your help.
Total Dissolved Solids
Pools do need to be drained and refilled, however only when your TDS (total dissolved solids) measurement gets too high. We’d estimate every 5-10 years for that.
The pool is not likely to float due to the water leaking. That water is probably long gone, unless your pool is in a low spot. If you do empty the pool you want to empty, get your repairs etc done and get new water back into the pool. In our Michigan market we look to drain and refill the same day wherever possible. If you do the pebble repair, you start refilling as soon as the pebble is in, as it usually needs to cure underwater.
Long term it is better to repair the pool than not. If it is pebble it’s a pretty heavy duty repair. It would include grinding down where the cracks are – v them out to create a larger section that you can repack with the pebble material vs. just doing a scratch coat on top of a crack.
Water chemistry if you leave the water in the pool:
Now, the water chemistry – the reason you’d be doing through a lot of chlorine is because your conditioner or stabilizer level is probably low. The stabilizer acts as an “anchor” for the chlorine molecules. If you just pour chlorine in a pool as soon as sunlight hits it, poof, It’s gone. If it has something to adhere to, the conditioner, then it can bounce around the pool until it is needed to be used. I would get your chemical levels tested at a pool place if possible where they can give you a digital reading. Get the TDS checked also. Then start with the conditioner, there is a great product on the market by Natural Chemistry called Instant Conditioner – that will get your conditioner level up quickly. The other conditioners/stabilizers come in a granular form and you usually put them in a sock for slow dissolving into your pool, either way is fine, but one is much faster. Conditioner should be between 30-60ppm. With the chlorine use you explain I’d think it’s much lower.
The next step will then be to shock your pool with liquid chlorine. 1 case per 10,000 gallons is a good start. You can repeat the process every day until it clears up and you should be able to get rid of the algae. Other than a high chlorine reading for a few days, you could still swim (just be sure bathers rinse off when exiting the pool). If you still have some algae, you can use a strong algae product such as algae crush. The other treatment for algae that won’t go away is to treat with a phosphate remover, phosphates are the food source for the algae, so eliminate the food source, eliminate the algae.
Once those are under control, I would also make sure your alkalinity, pH, and calcium hardness are in the proper ranges. Treat them in that order. I’d wait until after shocking, as anything you do with the chlorine will cause some fluctuations in the pH level, so doing it after the algae treatment would make sense.
If you decide to drain and refill the pool, once the pool is full check the range on all your levels. Make sure that you adjust the stablilizer as fresh water usually doesn’t have any at all. Then adjust alkalinity, pH, and calcium hardness, and start maintaining with your chlorine as usual.
Follow Up Question:
How do you add your chlorine to the pool on a regular basis? Do you have an automatic chlorinator?
Yes I have an automatic chlorinator “plastic tube with an regulated input line at the bottom and an output line at the top” that I have set at 1.5 usually but since my algae problem in is set to three and I also put a floater in the pool. The tabs are dissolving but the chlorine level does not come up.
Note from the Pool Guy: You will want to test your chlorine level in the pool, which should read between 1-3ppm for normal maintenance levels. If your chlorinator has a dial that reads 1-10 that is how “open” the line is while chlorine is being produced and added to the pool, not necessarily the number that you will find in the pool. So double check this on your water chemistry test, after adjusting your stabilizer. You should see the number consistently in the correct range when you get the production “dialed in” and the stabilizer is doing it’s job.
The cracks in my pool are pretty extensive, as there are a lot of them ranging in size from large at the bottom of the pool near the drain to smaller ones that when they aren’t growing algae you can’t even see them. This would take much longer than a day to repair them all. I know there is probably a plastic liner under the pebble stone so If I repair the larger ones at the bottom near the drain “where obviously there would be a hole in the liner for the drain” that might solve my problem, right?
Note from the Pool Guy: Some cracks can be surface cracks that wouldn’t allow water to escape from the pool in a typical gunite situation. Depending on the construction method used, you wouldn’t have a plastic liner under the pebble. Usually the gunite shell is shot, and then the pebble installed over the concrete, so it’s the combination of those elements that make the pool able to hold water. There is a hold in the bottom of the pool, which is typically a main drain fitting made of rigid plastic that allows the water to run through the drain and into your equipment pad. The seal around the main drain is water tight because it is put in place while the gunite process and pebble are happening, so you have concrete right up to the plastic forming the seal. If you have cracks anywhere in the pool, deep end, shallow end, or by the drain that are large enough to allow water through and have compromised your gunite surface, they would all need to be repaired to eliminate your leaking. *A pin-sized hole is enough to drain a swimming pool. Though it may happen slowly, that’s all it takes.
What product or brand do you recommend for the repair?
Note from the Pool Guy: In the case of a pebble repair, you will want to match the surface as closely to what was installed as you can. There are so many types of finishes and colors, that the color and style combination may be very specific and unique to your pool. If you can visit a pool supply store and find out what they have you may be able to take some pebble samples to get the look matched as close as you can. The pebble is usually mixed on site with a combination of the concrete mix, dye, and pebble which comes in various sizes and colors, as well as metallic flakes, crushed sea-shells etc. to give some of the decorative finishes. Even with a close eye, you are working with a material that has it’s own unique characteristics, and even using the exact same products two days in a row can result in different color variations which is why most gunite pool finishes are all done in one large batch. If you are worried about the look and continuity, you would be best served by hiring a professional pool company to redo the entire pool surface, which is definitely not a do-it-yourself task. You may find even with the pebble repair that it’s more than you bargain for. If you do attempt it though, we’d love some before and after photos and what you think of the process.
One other element we didn’t talk about is your filter. What type is it, and when is the last time it was maintained. For example, a sand filter should have it’s sand replaced every 3-5 years. A de filter should be taken apart and cleaned every 2 years or so, and a cartridge needs to be cleaned typically at least once per season and replaced when it shows signs of wear, clogging, or your pool just won’t seem to clear up.
Best of luck!