Another season has passed and the pool seemed to be pretty steady. The water was clear. I continued to keep the leaves and debris cleaned, on a daily basis, and the chemical levels checked and adjusted as needed.
But then, one day, I noticed something of great alarm. And…to be honest, a matter of personal pride. I had never had algae in my pool. And yet, there is was. Unmistakable. Some green on the sides of the pool. It popped up in several spots all at once.
In a panic, I brushed the algae and shocked the pool the kill the biological invaders. But deep down, I was worried. How did that happen? With a clean pool and chlorine levels high and phosphate levels low, it shouldn’t have happened. What was wrong?
I started watching the pool walls closely. Sure enough. A few days later after the shock had worn off, there it was again. I had to repeat my triage, but it felt like I wasn’t really addressing the cause. I was just blasting the results of something, but what?
And then another problem cropped up. It seemed unrelated at the time. The robotic cleaner that vacuums the bottom of the pool was barely moving. It seemed like it was broken or something. It wasn’t moving energetically across the bottom on the pool like it usually did.
Then, the third problem showed up. My grandchildren were visiting and wanted me to turn on the hot tub as the water was a bit chilly for them. I went to turn on the heater and it wouldn’t turn on. The error that flashed on the screen was “No Flow”. I knew that was ridiculous as there was obviously flow. I checked the main pump and filter and confirmed that there was flow and that it registered a pressure in the right range.
Now pressured by my grandchildren’s immediate need, I tried to figure out a quick solution. Maybe it was a defective flow detector. Could I bypass that? It turns out that I could. The flow detector triggered a pressure switch that would let the heater ignite. I managed to bend a piece of plastic and position it on top of the switch that would keep it down even though it “thought” there was not enough pressure. The heater kicked on and the day was saved. But still, deep down, I was worried. What was going on? All these problems. Were they related? Did one cause another?
I began researching similar issues on pool owner forums, looking for some clues as to what was happening. Why was I getting algae when my pool was clean? Why was my vacuum not moving? Why would my heater not turn on? I ran across someone who had posted something similar, but he said his issue was that his filter was clogged. Mine wasn’t clogged. The pressure gauge said it was operating at a normal pressure. AND THEN…I read a post where someone said that their pressure gauge was faulty and he described all these problems he was having from the lower water flow due to a clogged filter.
AHA! I had been trusting the reading on the pressure gauge. I had never questioned it. I never presumed that it would provide faulty information. It was an easy test. Just order another pressure gauge and replace it. Sure enough. My old pressure gauge had been steadily reporting the same pressure for 9 months. But the new one showed that the actual pressure was dangerously high.
Now that I understood the actual problem, there was some work to do, but I could see all the solutions cascading out of that. I replaced the filters. The pressure immediately dropped down to the normal operating range. The water heater stopped reporting “No Flow” and I was able to remove my piece of plastic jury-rigging the thing. The vacuum started scooting around the pool like it used to. And, the algae disappeared due to the improved water circulation and improved filtration.
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Once again, my pool was teaching me lessons about recovery. I had been dutifully doing all the prescribed maintenance steps. Things should be fine. There should be no problems. But problems showed up nevertheless. I tried to address the symptoms, the problems, to make them go away. I believed what I was seeing was true. I assumed it was true, but it turned out to be a lie. I ended up doubting things that were actually doing their jobs and reporting accurately. But I didn’t doubt or test the one thing that was actually the problem. The incorrect information it was providing was causing this whole string of problems. I was focused on the end results I wanted (no algae) but I didn’t understand the role of all the operating parts and how they contributed to that result. When I finally understood how to read these symptoms and trace it back to the cause, I was able to address the problem and restore everything to a proper working order.