New Pool owner and I am struggling

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brianmack5

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Jul 13, 2015
22
Livingston/La
Hey everybody,
I have been reading on this forum all day. I am having a very hard time. I have a 20,000 gallon liner chlorine pool.
I am having a metal, PH, and a ta problem. The local pool store is telling me that I should not do anything to fix the ph and ta until I fix the metal problem. Well this has been going on for 2 weeks. Everything I have read says that low ph can be very damaging to the liner and other hardware in the pool. I really do not know what to do. I have done everything the pool place says, but am still at the same place I was 2 weeks ago.
Here are the reading:
FAC 0
TAC 0
CH 200
CYA 30
TA 0
PH 6.5
COPPER 1
IRON 0
PHOSPHATES 400


again I am a brand new pool owner, purchased a house with a pool. I am really having a hard time, plus my 3 kids are wanting to swim in our brand new pool and I will not let them.
 
No! No! You gave good information. The minute I saw "Phosphates 400" that told me you were getting your numbers from a pool store. So you beat us all to the punch here and went ahead and ordered the MOST recommended pool test kit. GOOD JOB! :goodjob:

Now, lets see what's going on here.... HOW are you adding chlorine to your pool? A Salt Water Chlorine Generator (SWG), or something that adds it via pucks, or with liquid bleach???? SOmetimes how you add the chlorine makes problems worse or better. So we need that bit of info please?

How does the pool look?? What equipment does that pool have (Sand Filter? DE Filter? Cartridge Filter??)
Have you put anything else into the pool???
 
Welcome to TFP! We can definitely help you get your pool straightened out.

Don't let them swim. The pool is unsanitary because there is no chlorine, there is risk of person to person virus, bacteria and disease transmission. PH is too low to be safe for swimming also.

Do you know why there is no chlorine in the pool?
How does the water look?
How did that much copper get in the pool? Algaecide? Well water?

Read the Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Add your pool info to your signature as shown here, Pool School - Getting Started
 
brianmack5 said:
I just ordered my TF-100 test kit. It seems there should not be much confidence placed in the pool stores. I apologize for the amount of information I gave in the introduction portion. I am just in panic mode right now.
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No worries man! Let us know when you have some numbers and we'll be glad to help you out. Welcome to the forum.
 
Sorry for the delay, I do not get on the computer once I leave work. I am going to give ya'll a bit more information. I am using a Hayward cl-200 in line chlorinator. I am using 3" pucks in it. I have been keeping 4 or 5 in it for the last month and cannot get a chlorine reading. The water looks great, I have not idea how the metals are getting in the pool. When we moved in in late May There were a good many leaves in the pool, so I attributed it to that. I have a sand filter also. I have put 2 bottles of metal free in the pool, It was recommended by the pool store.? I drained about 18" out of the pool thinking that may help, but it did nothing. It is not using well water, I am getting city water. I am friends with the person I bought the house from, and he told me last year he replaced everything from the sand on up. I know he was using a bleach and baking soda method to keep his pool water good. I was scared to use that tactic. I guess I should just sit back and wait until the metals are gone?

I just found out that my wife poured some algaecide in it about a month ago. Could that have caused the metals?
 
Yes, many algaecides contain copper. Copper can really only come from your source water, algaecide, well water or a copper ionizer. It will never go away unless you drain and refill the pool.

I believe the reason that you cannot get a FC reading is because there is algae in the pool consuming the chlorine as fast as it gets in the pool. It is likely that your CYA is too high from using pucks, shock and powdered chlorine. Once CYA level gets high, above 60-80ppm the pool requires much more chlorine, Chlorine CYA Chart.

Once you get the TF100 lets see what you CYA level is and go from there. You might need a partial drain and refill to reduce CYA also. You will need to Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain your pool to get rid of the algae.
 
brianmack5 said:
... I went from freaking out about this pool to being excited about my test kit coming in so I can fix the problems!!!
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And you will look cool doing it! When I have people over and they come when I am testing, they think I'm a scientist, when all I did was buy a TF100 (and stay at a Holiday Inn.)
 

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I just got my TF-100 in!!! Here are the results I have gotten. If something doesn't look right don't judge me. This is my first time.
my chlorine is 5
my ph is below 6.8
my cya is 80
I think my ta is 0. the water was red from the moment I added the 2 solutions.

Is there anything else needed?
 
We need to raise your ph to 7.2 and start a slam. Use the pool calc in my signature.

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With low TA, I'd add Borax. Then we need to get the Fc up

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You are below your min fc , click on the link in my signature, you need to keep that chlorine above 6 all the time.
 
Brian, with your CYA at 80, you
Should pull those pucks put and quit using them. You do not want your CYA any higher. You need to switch to bleach as your chlorine source as that adds ONLY chlorine. I think you can let the pucks dry out and save them for later, although with a CYA that high, it will be much later. I'm not sure how that works since I don't use them, but others can chime in.


[emoji176] Lisa P.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
brianmack5 said:
I just want to say I have spent a great deal of time reading on this forum, and the knowledge that is available here is amazing. I went from freaking out about this pool to being excited about my test kit coming in so I can fix the problems!!!
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That is awesome!! Welcome to the group.

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brianmack5 said:
Lisa, that was going to be my next question! I guess I just wasted $70.00 at the pool store.

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I don't know if anybody has told ya'll, but you people are amazing!!!!!
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You are a joy too. You make me smile because I can feel your excitement. Hang on for the ride and soon you will understand why your friend used bleach. You are going to have a lot of money for pool toys. The kids will thank you.
 

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