sms wrote, on Fri, 30 May 2014 17:42:32 -0700:

I highly recommend adding borate. It's enabled me to drastically reduce
the pump run time while maintaining a clear pool with optimal ph level
and optimal chlorine level.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/4655-So-you-want-to-add-borates-to-your-pool-Why-and-How

Hi SMS,
I was wondering where you were lately.

You had turned me on to the 12% HASA liquid chlorine deal a few years
ago, which has, unfortunately, gotten more complicated lately than
just printing a coupon off their web site.

I don't know if you've been there, but, now, you pay, in the end,
about $3.85 for a gallon of liquid chlorine, but the 'deal' is
complicated because you first buy 6 gallons, and then you get 2
gallons free with a printable coupon; but then you get a card
marked off, which says "buy 11, get the next one free".

I can never do the math anymore, but the pool guys told me it
turns out to something like $3.85 per gallon. You know when
you get confused when you're buying something that they made
it confusing on purpose.

Anyway, my biggest problem was that I didn't have enough
water to fill the pool in one shot!
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5454/1...1bb9e146_b.jpg

In fact, it took about three weeks to fill the pool to the level
that the skimmers could work without the pumps sucking air:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2897/1...309bd6e3_b.jpg

That I needed tons of chlorine, which was just being burnt off
by the sun, until I figured out the trick to adding POWDERED
(not granular!) cyanuric acid such that a dozen pounds of the
cya powder dissolved in the pool water in just one application!
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3799/1...6f8fb243_b.jpg

Those 'clouds' in that picture above are *in* the water, not
above the water. It's a beautiful sight to see as anyone who
has waited eons for granules of CYA to dissolve will appreciate.

My *biggest* problem is that this Craftsman 1/2 HP pump wouldn't
pump water except at a dribble!
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3791/1...9729f003_b.jpg

I'm sure there is something wrong with it, as I spent more
time priming it than it did pumping. It wouldn't develop a head
of more than about a foot, which seems dismal for a half horsepower.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2930/1...d92c725c_b.jpg

Does anyone know what goes wrong with such a pump which makes
it almost useless since it can only pump level (i.e., it couldn't
bring water *out* of the pool, so I had to hand carry the water
out from the deep end!
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3734/1...05700dc5_b.jpg

I don't want to do *that* ever again, so I should figure out
how to figure out what is wrong with the 1/2HP Craftsman pump!
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5466/1...13d4a257_b.jpg