# Pool Maintenance



## Perdita (May 23, 2013)

Hi,
anyone with pool cleaning knowledge available for advice please?

I am taking over the pool cleaning of 2 pools in Spain this summer. One pool I have already done and is looking good. The second pool I will start on next week and I have instructions from previous pool cleaner on what to do.

My question:
The pool is approx. 100 cubic metres of water and has not been cleaned since last August. It is located in Roses, Catalonia. It has had no chemicals added since last year. 2 weeks ago I added 5 litres of "mantamiento hiverno" - winterisation and 5 litres of anti-algicide and set the filter to 3 times 2 hours daily, in an attempt to give the pool cleaning a kickstart before I start on it properly next week.
Does anyone know if this was a mistake and whether this will have messed up the water completely? I have until July to get it right and will do chemical testing etc. from next week, when I get back to Spain.

Any advice much appreciated.
Perdita


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## Cazzy (Nov 23, 2008)

Winteriser should only be used when the water temperature is under 15 degrees, or it is a waste of money.


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## stevelin (Apr 25, 2009)

best to shock it and anti- algicide and run pump for 12 hours straight


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## Perdita (May 23, 2013)

stevelin said:


> best to shock it and anti- algicide and run pump for 12 hours straight


Thanks, I plan to chlor shock it and anti algicide it and let pump run for 24 hours straight, next week, when I get back to Spain.

But I wanted to know if adding the winterisation 2 weeks ago will have negatively affected the water or will make no difference. (Water temperature is below 15 degrees at the moment anyway).


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## silverfox1 (Apr 24, 2013)

Use your testing kit, if the pH, Alkalinity and chlorine levels are within the tolerances, there is no problem. If they aren't, just adjust them.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Our pool began to develop an unhealthy greenish hue and looked as if it were breeding everry kind of disease from Legionaire's to cholera.
I tried vacuuming but the dirt was spewed back into the pool via the jets.
So I enlisted the services of a professional pool maintenance company.
It turned out the almost all the sand in the filter had vanished - the sand clearly hadn't been changed in ten years or more. We had the sand filter replaced with glass which apparently is the norm in the U.S. and is more efficient and environmentally friendly.
The filter is now doing its job but there is so much muck in the pool that I was advised to vacuum to waste as well as adding floc, chlorine and algaecide. I've been doing this for five days now and there is still clumps of dirt each morning. Will it ever go completely, I wonder?
I turned off the pump in November and on again in April so I guess a lot of dirt has accumulated.
One question: when vacuuming to waste should the valves on the pipes be in the same position as when vacuuming with filtration? That is to say, Limpia Fondo open, skimmer closed and Fondo open?


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## silverfox1 (Apr 24, 2013)

Sounds like you've overdone the floc, it will go eventually.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> One question: when vacuuming to waste should the valves on the pipes be in the same position as when vacuuming with filtration? That is to say, Limpia Fondo open, skimmer closed and Fondo open?


No. You only need the Limpia fondo ( hoover point ) open when cleaning , then all The suction is through the hose. . 
The bottom drain ( Fondo) should be shut as well as the skimmers. 
At the moment the way you are doing it the pump suction will take the path of least resistance, the bottom drain, & you will only get partial suction on the cleaning head.


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

mrypg9 said:


> Our pool began to develop an unhealthy greenish hue and looked as if it were breeding everry kind of disease from Legionaire's to cholera.
> I tried vacuuming but the dirt was spewed back into the pool via the jets.
> So I enlisted the services of a professional pool maintenance company.
> It turned out the almost all the sand in the filter had vanished - the sand clearly hadn't been changed in ten years or more. We had the sand filter replaced with glass which apparently is the norm in the U.S. and is more efficient and environmentally friendly.
> ...


When we have the Sahara rain, and the water goes murky, because its so fine, i normally vacuum to waste, add a pack of the Mercadona flocculante tablets into the pump filter basket, and leave the pump on overnight and the next morning its back to sparkling. I had my sand changed to glass a couple of years ago, and I've had no problems since then, it's normally sparkling.

I don't use the vacuum port in my pool at all, I normally use the skimmer port, but as Gus says you only need 1 port open to get the most suction.


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## olivefarmer (Oct 16, 2012)

My pool vacuum came with a gadget that you use once for that pool . Skimmers closed, vacuum open fully and then balance with the drain open slightly. Presumably this is to not have so much suction it rips the tiles off or too little and it can't climb the walls or pick up dead octopus.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Thanks, all of you. Gus, I'm now going out to follow your instructions,
Mary


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