[PA318Guy]

Pulled the cover and put the weights away yesterday.

Algea is mostly just lying on the bottom:

Thank God for the loader!

Started the motor up, put the strainers in and hit it with 3 bags of Shock-It! 4 in 1 and added three 3" chlorine tablets to each strainer:

After a few hours:

 

[MARK (LI)]

C'mon in ...the water's fine! 😬

 

[PA318Guy]

Will take a few days yet to get it completely blue. At least one or two vacuumings will be needed. Too hot today so that will happen Monday or Tuesday.

 

[bontai Joe]

I thought it was SUPPOSED to be John Deere green

 

[PA318Guy]

I thought it was SUPPOSED to be John Deere green

Nope, from what I learned after I got here though, the previous owner must have thought that too! The neighbors always tell me that he seldom ever had it "blue" like it should be.

 

[Steve Urquell]

That'd be awesome here. It's hot and muggy. Alteady been 94F.

 

[FTWingRiders]

Looking good! And got seat time for a bonus! Opened ours up just over a week ago, took a couple days with the aqua robot and some chems, then turned the heater on last Thursday when we hit 80+ for the last few days. It’s already 79 degrees and the son had friends over swimming yesterday. The earliest by far, but he’s graduating in 2 weeks so wanted to make sure it’s ready for the party!

 

[PA318Guy]

Nice Pool Forest! How do you like the aquabot?

 

[FTWingRiders]

Thanks! I love it… not cheap, but I never have to hand vac, which I hate.. even when it’s first opened I use it, oh I gotta be on top of it to empty the basket, but I was out there power washing stuff anyway. By the end of the day it’s clean, and I’m not beat by fighting with the pole and hose. I can even control it with an app on my phone that lets me remote drive it, and has a timer so it runs every morning at 8am, as long as it’s in the water. I take it out once a week, as recommended, to let it dry and empty the basket, but otherwise I never have to worry about it. Best investment, besides going with the salt, I’ve made for it. The pool pretty much takes care of itself for the most part.

 

[bontai Joe]

Thanks! I love it… not cheap, but I never have to hand vac, which I hate.. even when it’s first opened I use it, oh I gotta be on top of it to empty the basket, but I was out there power washing stuff anyway. By the end of the day it’s clean, and I’m not beat by fighting with the pole and hose. I can even control it with an app on my phone that lets me remote drive it, and has a timer so it runs every morning at 8am, as long as it’s in the water. I take it out once a week, as recommended, to let it dry and empty the basket, but otherwise I never have to worry about it. Best investment, besides going with the salt, I’ve made for it. The pool pretty much takes care of itself for the most part.

"going with the salt"?? Is your pool a salt water pool?

 

[FTWingRiders]

"going with the salt"?? Is your pool a salt water pool?

They call it a salt generation system, but realistically what it does is uses a salt generator to regulate the chlorine to where’s its just the minimum PPM. you need to keep the salt to about 3000 PPM.. It does it automatically, (within realistic expectations.. you do need to monitor and make adjustments). Much nicer than a standard chlorine system since the water doesn’t have the harshness and the minimum chlorine helps the wife’s hair from turning color! Lol! Plus I like that you can swim, get out, and not feel you need a shower right away.

 

[Newsman]

Water temp 59°, big improvement over last yr. Grandson taking the first plunge. Grand-pops followed but grandma was no show with photos so guess it didn't happen.

And for some reason, Fen kept finding quarters on pool bottom.
MikeC

 

[PA318Guy]

What a difference a few days makes, should be ready to vacuum tomorrow if it isn't raining:

 

[bontai Joe]

You went from John Deere green to New Holland blue.

 

[PA318Guy]

Well, sort of got pulled into other work for a while but finally got the steps in and vacuumed the pool, have to put some water back in to filter though as I do the vacuuming of the algea on the "Waste" setting and send it out to the ditch, so my filters don't have to try to clean all the junk.

 

[steddy]

You guys really keep your pools nice!
I started setting our little Intex type pool up a couple weeks ago. Picked it up last year for free off Marketplace, needed a new pump which I obtained locally for $25 or so. I put probably 10” of water in it, just enough to tell where I needed to add shims under the legs to make the top “level within 1 inch.” Then threw some chlorine tablets in the floaty dispensey thingy.
Today I finally got back to it. It’s been in the high 60’s since I set it up, so really no big loss yet. Problem is tree junk has been falling in. Spent some time with the skimmer and the cordless vacuum that came with the free pool. Vacuum works pretty good, believe it or not.
While vacuuming I continued filling it. I’ll get the pump/filter hooked up after lunch, then fill it the rest of the way.
I installed a valve on the sprinkler manifold last fall so it makes it easier to fill. The fill line doubles as the “solar heater,” after it’s full and I reconfigure it in line with the pump. It kind of works. I might throw a couple bucks at it this year to improve it. I have like $50 into the whole setup, including stuff I bought to change the manifold. Takes well under 2 hours to fill the 15 or 16’ diameter 42” deep pool, right around 4,000 gallons I think.

 

[PA318Guy]

You guys really keep your pools nice!
I started setting our little Intex type pool up a couple weeks ago. Picked it up last year for free off Marketplace, needed a new pump which I obtained locally for $25 or so. I put probably 10” of water in it, just enough to tell where I needed to add shims under the legs to make the top “level within 1 inch.” Then threw some chlorine tablets in the floaty dispensey thingy.
Today I finally got back to it. It’s been in the high 60’s since I set it up, so really no big loss yet. Problem is tree junk has been falling in. Spent some time with the skimmer and the cordless vacuum that came with the free pool. Vacuum works pretty good, believe it or not.
While vacuuming I continued filling it. I’ll get the pump/filter hooked up after lunch, then fill it the rest of the way.
I installed a valve on the sprinkler manifold last fall so it makes it easier to fill. The fill line doubles as the “solar heater,” after it’s full and I reconfigure it in line with the pump. It kind of works. I might throw a couple bucks at it this year to improve it. I have like $50 into the whole setup, including stuff I bought to change the manifold. Takes well under 2 hours to fill the 15 or 16’ diameter 42” deep pool, right around 4,000 gallons I think.

Thanks, I grew up maintaining pools, this is the smallest one I've ever maintained. They are a bit of work but nice when you want to relax and cool off on a hot summer day. Doesn't matter the size though, they are just for enjoyment. Not too sure how much long mine will last, was put in in the late 60's and the material holding the vinyl is starting to fail.

 

[bontai Joe]

I bought a swimming pool last year at the closeout price of $25 from a Big Lot store. They sell at huge discounts if you time your purchase just right. We shipped it to family in the Philippines and they are having a blast with it. I don't know how long it will last before someone pokes a hole in it, but they got more than $25 worth of fun already out of it.