New Pool Water

BEFORE

When the weather finally cooled down enough in November to be safe for the pool, we drained all of the 5 year old stale water. I know, not very exciting to hear about, but it took up a lot of my time and energy and the end result I am pleased with.

Draining the pool took two days and way too many trips to Home Depot. Then once the water was drained, we discovered a gritty substance all over the walls and a thick layer of what appeared to be sand on the bottom of the deep end. It was calcium or mineral deposits that had to be removed either by an acid wash, which is dangerous to a novice and even a serious matter for a professional. It costs at least $100 or so for a pool our size. Or I was told I could hand sand the pool surface with a special water proof sandpaper for about $9.00. I opted to go cheap. It took me several days. The first two days I did so much sanding by hand, that my back and shoulder muscles were in serious pain, and I had to give it a rest for a few days. (Where was Tony during this? In the midst of busy season, spending 10 plus hours working a day.) This is what it looked like after all of that work.



There is a light circular discoloration on the bottom of the pool in the pictures, which is just a bit of residual calcium deposit that the pool vacuum will take care of.


Filling the pool also took a lot longer than I thought. We just used our garden hose and the pool auto filler, so it ended up taking about 3 full days, if not a bit longer. After the first night, I would only leave the pool auto filler on, for fear that the pool would over flow in the night. It wasn't a realistic fear, and I knew that, but I still stayed up that first night thinking about it.


Here is the gorgeous AFTER result.

The water is so crystal clear. It's sad that it will not stay so pretty and sparkling. I have said this before and I will probably say it again, but a pool is so much more work than I ever knew. There are just problems that you don't think of when being a novice pool owner, so consider it carefully if you go to buy one in the future.