Any New Englanders close to opening their pools yet?

[phorsenuf]

I have mine uncovered and been running the pump. Tomorrow I'll test the water and see what it needs. Its a lovely shade of green right now.
Anyone else getting ready?

 

[mommasita]

Not quite there, but more north. We opened up yesterday, and kids swam today. We have a heater, and had it running for the past 2 days. Water was 79 degrees. I was not brave enough yet.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

DH opened ours a couple of weeks ago, because he had the time one day, but no one has been in it yet. (RI)

 

[luvflorida]

We had our pool opened this afternoon. That's the good news. The bad news is that the pool guys couldn't get the pump working. Evidently, something is broken on the pump and someone else has to come out to fix it or replace the pump.

I'm so disappointed. This is only our second full season with the pool. I hate knowing the pool is just sitting there full of greenish water, and that it's only going to get worse before it gets better. They MIGHT be able to send someone out on Friday. If not, it's going to sit there the entire Memorial Day weekend, and get dirtier and dirtier. And, I'm going to worry about critters getting into the pool, and they won't get sucked into the skimmer because the pump isn't running, and I'm going to be scared to death to check the pool every morning to see if anything has decided to take a swim.

On second thought, I guess there really isn't any good news about the pool being opened today.

No, wait! We were afraid some of the tiles might have cracked over the winter because of water getting on them. We had a lot of rain last fall which brought the level of the pool water up, and the water started to freeze on the tiles before we could put a pump in the pool to lower the water. We tried looking under the cover with a flashlight, but it was difficult to see all the tiles. GOOD NEWS!- The tiles survived. None of them cracked or came loose. Yeah!!!!!

 

[monarchsfan16]

We had our's opened yesterday. It's surprisingly not green, but still pretty cloudy. Hopefully will be swimmable by next week (it's an inground, it takes awhile for the water to be balanced).

 

[GoofyJeff]

I have mine uncovered and been running the pump. Tomorrow I'll test the water and see what it needs. Its a lovely shade of green right now.
Anyone else getting ready?

We're in exactly the same boat...er, pool. Almost. I gotta hook up the filter pump tomorrow, test the green water, shock it, and connect the solar heater we bought at the end of last season. Probably won't be in it for a couple more weeks, though.

 

[Jetsong]

Took cover off 2 days ago to a glorious green color shocked it and started pump. Started staining decking again too. Water a little better today

 

[It's A Happy Day]

Kids were in ours last week.....


But we only have a 4ft wide by 1ft deep kiddie pool for now Hey. it was hot and it kept them busy for a couple hours!

 

[QT Pooh]

We opened ours this past weekend. It's clear blue - but cold since our heater is broken...

 

[DVC-Don]

We live up north of Albany, New York (can see Vermont on a clear day) and we have been in our pool for 2 weeks now. It's heated.

 

[aprincessmom]

Our neighbors opened theirs two weeks ago. The kids were swimming in it yesterday. And they were like popsicles when they came out

 

[The Mayor]

Took the cover off last night and got the filter running this morning

 

[phorsenuf]

Usually I dump the water, get in, scrub it down and refill it. Last year I didn't and manages to bring it back from green to clear.
However I can't remember the order I did it. Should I shock it first then check ph and alkaline or do I do ph first then alkaline and chlorine.

What order do you all do it?

 

[cassi06403]

We took the cover off a few days ago. It was the first pool opening for DH & I and nothing went wrong. The water was crystal clear!

The filter is running and we'll probably bring the water to have it tested this weekend.

I have a feeling it's gonna be too cold to go in for quite a while yet!

 

[disney1990]

Wow, I'm impressed by the people that have their pools opened already and the pools are NOT heated.

I live in the Maryland/DC area. I can't stand the cold. I don't even get into the pool until late July or August.

When I got to Florida -- in the summer -- I don't get into the pool in the evening because I get too cold.

My husband says I am the only person he knows that goes to Florida in the summer, take a sweatshirt, and WEARS it.

 

[TiggerStac]

My parents usually open theirs a week or two before now...but they are away for the long weekend, so they decided to wait. They have a heated pool, so I love the early/late swimming. They usually don't close it until around columbus day!!

 

[castleview]

I've got to get another coat of stain on the deck before we can take the cover off. I'm getting very anxious.

 

[mommasita]

We all just got out. We are having a heatwave, and loving it. Nothing like it after football practice.

phorsenuf, when DH comes home I will ask him what he does first, last, etc..He seems to be good at it, and it was all done in 3 days..I will come back and pass it on.

 

[lillygator]

as a native, I can't imagine a pool being closed....!!!


and even though we are in FL, we have a heater as well.

 

[phorsenuf]

We all just got out. We are having a heatwave, and loving it. Nothing like it after football practice.

phorsenuf, when DH comes home I will ask him what he does first, last, etc..He seems to be good at it, and it was all done in 3 days..I will come back and pass it on.

Well I decided to just bring a sample to the pool store. The ph was too low for it to be tested completely so I'm starting there. I put in some algecide then 5 gallons of shock (liquid). After its clear and I vacuum it out then I can start to raise the ph level as needed. It wasn't too too bad.
That'll teach me to just throw the cover on it in the fall and tell myself I will deal with it in the spring.