Roseville Pool Service

You need to turn the pump on and off manually, unless you have a pool controller with an automatic freeze protection function. We cannot set the timer to cover this condition without running the pump excessive time and wasting your electric bill.

If you have a manual timer for your pool pump, you need to turn the pump on and off manually. We cannot set the timer to cover this condition without running the pump an excessive amount of time, raising your electric bill.

If you have an intelligent controller or intelligent pump, they typically have an automatic freeze protection and will turn the pump on automatically when needed, so you do not need to worry about it.

You should try to keep the water level within the skimmer opening to facilitate skimming of the pool surface. Some pools have a drainage pipe to automatically drain excess water during rains. Sometimes, the drainage pipe gets plugged up and the pool water level gets too high and you need to drain water manually as needed. For pools without the drainage pipe, you need to drain water manually as needed.

If you have a built in automatic water fill, and you need to drain water, we recommend that you shut off the water supply to the automatic water fill. We experienced several instances where water was draining and filling at the same time, wasting important and expensive base chemicals.

Single speed pumps: 4 hours in winter, 6 hours in spring and fall and 8 hours in summer. These times are for average pool size and average pump flow rate. We will set the timers to run these hours, unless the timer control is inside of your house. In that case you need to set it. If you specifically request us to set it for less time than these recommendations, we will do it but, your pool condition may suffer and may require expensive clean up if algae develops.

Dual speed pumps: We recommend to run the pump in high speed mode for 2 to 3 hours to allow for sufficient sweep cleaning and for skimming of the pool surface. After that run the pump in low speed mode for a double of remaining time recommended for single speed pump. For example, in summer if you run the pump 2 hours in high speed mode, set the timer to run additional 12 hours in low speed mode.

Variable speed pumps: Use the same recommendation as for the dual speed pump above. With these pumps you can find the ideal high speed and low speed setting to accomplish sufficient flows and to maximize energy savings.

In the summer the filter pump should run as much as possible during the day. Running the pump only at night when temperatures are high, is conductive for algae to develop.

There is an option to find out more accurately how long the pump should be running - not an average time - depending on your actual flow rate and your pool volume. That requires installation of a flow meter in your piping - approx. cost $100 - $150.

To drain or not to drain?

There are 2 ways to clean a pool full of green algae:

This includes draining entire pool, followed by acid or chlorine washing, and then refilling pool with water and chemically balancing pool water.

We recommend this only in extreme and unusual cases, because there are many risks associated with this method. We only recommend this if, for example, we find that there is unusually high amount of combined chlorine present in the pool water or total dissolved solids are too high.

There are risks and extra costs associated with this method. Structural damage may result if there is high enough water table under the pool - this risk is higher in rainy season. Pool water also needs to be drained legally, either by obtaining town or county permit to drain it to the street or by draining it to your main sewer clean-out. In this case, care has to be taken not to overwhelm the sewage pipes and flood the house. Even if the cost may be approximately the same as cleaning the pool without draining, you need to account for the cost of water required to fill the pool. Another disadvantage is that if there is an underlying problem which caused the algae to develop, like a filter problem or insufficient flow, you will not find the cause of it, algae will return and your money was wasted.

The advantage of this method is that it is faster, one or two days, and if your pool surface is stained and needs to be acid washed anyway, you are able to accomplish it at the same time.

This includes clearing algae by chemicals, filtering and cleaning pool without draining.

Takes 2 - 5 days (on average 3 days) depending on your pool equipment and severity of algae.

Test chemicals and adjust Alkalinity, Ph, Calcium hardness and Conditioner (Cyanuric Acid) and adjust chemicals to be in balance. Test for combined chlorine and if very high (over 5 PPM) do not continue, draining is preferred because the cost of chemicals will be too high. Shock the pool with liquid chlorine, amount depends on pool volume, water temperature and algae severity - typically 4 gallons. Add algaecide to pool water - we found Algatec (polymer algaecide) works the best.

Remove any debris from bottom of pool you can. Brush pool swim outs, steps and sides thoroughly.

Clean filter and inspect for any possible tears. Start filter pump and set it to run continuously. Make note of clean filter pressure.

You should see improvement in water color and clarity. Test chemicals and adjust as necessary to be in balance. Add liquid chlorine to keep chlorine level 10 - 20PPM.

If it is clear enough to see return jets, put about 2 cups of DE powder into the skimmer and watch return jets. If you see DE powder coming out of return jets, it means that your filter is bypassing dirt and returning it back to the pool. In this case stop, take apart the filter, find cause of it and fix it before continuing. Without good filtration you will not be successful.

Remove any remaining debris from the pool. Brush pool again.

If filter pressure is 10# or more over the clean filter pressure that you noted, clean filter cartridges or backwash DE or Sand filter, depending on your filter type.

In most cases your pool will be crystal clear.

If not repeat Second day instructions.

If it is clear, wait until chlorine level is normal (3-5PPM) before swimming.

Enjoy your clean pool and maintain chemicals, equipment, brushing and removing debris on a weekly basis.

If you live in our service area, we would be happy to assist you.

After a large pool party the chlorine levels are depleted, pool water starts to get slightly cloudy and if you do nothing about it, the cloudiness increases and in a couple days your pool water turns green. The longer you wait in contacting us, the more expensive the treatment is in chemicals and labor that it takes to return your pool again to pristine condition.

It is important that immediately after the pool party you turn on your filter pump and have your sweep running and let it run overnight. This may be all that is required to take care of it, primarily if you have a salt chlorinator or chlorine tab dispenser by the equipment. Ideally, right after the party, in addition to turning the filter pump on, you should add one or two gallons of liquid chlorine to the pool water. If you plan ahead you can ask us beforehand to leave you a couple gallons of chlorine for this purpose. Check the pool the next day and if it is still cloudy keep running the filter pump and sweep. If the condition does not improve by the end of the first day, it is important to contact us immediately so that we can take care of it before it becomes a lot more expensive to clear the pool water.

The information above also applies to pools used by young children. It does not take many children to trash the pool if they are not reminded to take frequent bathroom breaks. This is a sensitive subject and embarrassing for us and for the parents to bring up. In addition to the chlorine depletion described above, the free chlorine combines with organic matter into so called combined chlorine. A large amount of combined chlorine could demonstrate itself by a strong chlorine smell and could irritate eyes and ears. Combined chlorine does not have any benefit and contrary to what you may think needs to be destroyed by heavily shocking the pool. Please, if applicable, try to educate children about this in a tactful way.