First post, but I've been lurking for a bit.
We purchased an Intex Pool (in sig) in Early 2014.
Added an Intex SWG about a month later.
Never had any problems, but the only testing that I was doing was with HTH test strips.
Covered the pool when not in use, to avoid evaporating that we were experiencing.
We put on a winter cover in October or so.
I January we uncovered it and went swimming. The water was beautiful. clear.
In Spring my daughter and her friends uncovered it again and went swimming.
They didn't cover it back up for a couple of days.
My neighbors trees and wind and the pool being uncovered (then getting covered without vacuuming) were not a good combination.
Come June, I uncovered the pool, to find a huge amount of leaves and sand stuff on the bottom of the pool.
I vacuumed it up over 3 days, using my home made, ghetto tool:
big V8 bottle with the bottom cut out, with a window screen material placed inside, placed over the water outlet (pool outlet/ pump line inlet).
I replaced my tool with a Zodiac Cyclone and proper Intex skimmer hose adapter since then
The kids had left old, sun damaged pool noodles in the pool, so there were a ton of microscopic (to me) noodle pieces in the water along with other solids.
I got tired of cleaning the paper filter every hour or so, so I bought a sand filter.
I don't have readings from that time, but did the mistake of listening to Leslie's reps who were selling me things that might have helped some, and made things worse.
(like adding soda ash, when all I had to do was aerate the water as my TA was high)
I finally ordered the Taylor K-2006-Salt kit.
I did a comparison:
Test Strips:
(Tap Water)
TH 400
FC 0
PH 7.2-7.5
TA 120-180
CYA 0-30
(Pool Water)
Salt 2500-3000 (added a bag to bring it up to 3400)
TH 400
FC 1-2
PH 7.5
TA 180
CYA 0-30
Copper .1-.2
K2006 Test Kit:
(Tap Water)
TH 425
FC 1.5
CC 0
PH 7.8
TA 150
CYA 0-30
(Pool Water)
Salt 4200 (after I added a bag )
TH 450
FC 4
CC .5
PH 7.4
TA 190
CYA <30
I was still using the stuff from Leslie's (conditioners, soda ash, dry muratic acid...)
Then I found links to this site (but still hadn't read through pool school yet), so I did things out of order.
Started a new log of pool tests:
8/7/15 @ 18:53
Salt: 21 drops (4200 ppm)
CYA 80-90 (Hard to say when that dot really disappears, I can still see it)
PH 7.8
FC .4ppm (very light pink, even adding 6 drops of the powder)
CC 0
TA 210
CH 475
Started adding a qt or liquid muratic acid (by far better and easier to use than that powdered, expensive stuff from Leslie's)
It would drop the PH.
I found that if I took the short hose that connects to the skimmer adapter and placed it on the water inlet and tied it up and let it splash in, I could raise the PH to 7.6-7.8 in about two days. I did this over and over until yesterday.
I added two bottles of Clorox and went to the Dodger game. I forgot to test my FC reading last night when I got home.
Beer will do that to you. No I wasn't driving
This morning I went out and took the following readings:
Salt: 20 drops (4000 ppm, the 19th drop is sort of blue, but the 20th is definitely blue, no changes after more drops are added)
CYA 80-90 (Hard to say when that dot really disappears, I can still see it) Test strip shows 30-50.
PH 7.5 (a shade in between 7.4 and 7.6)
FC 6.8 (I haven't seen it that pink in a while)
CC .6
TA 100
CH 450
Copper .2 (Intex Test strip)
The salt and Ch dropped a bit because during the previous procedures, I would backflush 50-100 gallons to clean the sand filter.
I bought two different hose threaded water filters and stacked them in series and fill with that water.
I don't have test readings for that water, but I do remember the CH was 300.
So I started to read through he pool school (I wish I would have done this at the beginning), and will plan to do the OCLT tonight, then know where I am at regarding needing to Slam and getting the pool to proper specs.
Any tips before I do so? (Sorry for the War & Peace novel)
Thanks,
David
We purchased an Intex Pool (in sig) in Early 2014.
Added an Intex SWG about a month later.
Never had any problems, but the only testing that I was doing was with HTH test strips.
Covered the pool when not in use, to avoid evaporating that we were experiencing.
We put on a winter cover in October or so.
I January we uncovered it and went swimming. The water was beautiful. clear.
In Spring my daughter and her friends uncovered it again and went swimming.
They didn't cover it back up for a couple of days.
My neighbors trees and wind and the pool being uncovered (then getting covered without vacuuming) were not a good combination.
Come June, I uncovered the pool, to find a huge amount of leaves and sand stuff on the bottom of the pool.
I vacuumed it up over 3 days, using my home made, ghetto tool:
big V8 bottle with the bottom cut out, with a window screen material placed inside, placed over the water outlet (pool outlet/ pump line inlet).
I replaced my tool with a Zodiac Cyclone and proper Intex skimmer hose adapter since then
The kids had left old, sun damaged pool noodles in the pool, so there were a ton of microscopic (to me) noodle pieces in the water along with other solids.
I got tired of cleaning the paper filter every hour or so, so I bought a sand filter.
I don't have readings from that time, but did the mistake of listening to Leslie's reps who were selling me things that might have helped some, and made things worse.
(like adding soda ash, when all I had to do was aerate the water as my TA was high)
I finally ordered the Taylor K-2006-Salt kit.
I did a comparison:
Test Strips:
(Tap Water)
TH 400
FC 0
PH 7.2-7.5
TA 120-180
CYA 0-30
(Pool Water)
Salt 2500-3000 (added a bag to bring it up to 3400)
TH 400
FC 1-2
PH 7.5
TA 180
CYA 0-30
Copper .1-.2
K2006 Test Kit:
(Tap Water)
TH 425
FC 1.5
CC 0
PH 7.8
TA 150
CYA 0-30
(Pool Water)
Salt 4200 (after I added a bag )
TH 450
FC 4
CC .5
PH 7.4
TA 190
CYA <30
I was still using the stuff from Leslie's (conditioners, soda ash, dry muratic acid...)
Then I found links to this site (but still hadn't read through pool school yet), so I did things out of order.
Started a new log of pool tests:
8/7/15 @ 18:53
Salt: 21 drops (4200 ppm)
CYA 80-90 (Hard to say when that dot really disappears, I can still see it)
PH 7.8
FC .4ppm (very light pink, even adding 6 drops of the powder)
CC 0
TA 210
CH 475
Started adding a qt or liquid muratic acid (by far better and easier to use than that powdered, expensive stuff from Leslie's)
It would drop the PH.
I found that if I took the short hose that connects to the skimmer adapter and placed it on the water inlet and tied it up and let it splash in, I could raise the PH to 7.6-7.8 in about two days. I did this over and over until yesterday.
I added two bottles of Clorox and went to the Dodger game. I forgot to test my FC reading last night when I got home.
Beer will do that to you. No I wasn't driving
This morning I went out and took the following readings:
Salt: 20 drops (4000 ppm, the 19th drop is sort of blue, but the 20th is definitely blue, no changes after more drops are added)
CYA 80-90 (Hard to say when that dot really disappears, I can still see it) Test strip shows 30-50.
PH 7.5 (a shade in between 7.4 and 7.6)
FC 6.8 (I haven't seen it that pink in a while)
CC .6
TA 100
CH 450
Copper .2 (Intex Test strip)
The salt and Ch dropped a bit because during the previous procedures, I would backflush 50-100 gallons to clean the sand filter.
I bought two different hose threaded water filters and stacked them in series and fill with that water.
I don't have test readings for that water, but I do remember the CH was 300.
So I started to read through he pool school (I wish I would have done this at the beginning), and will plan to do the OCLT tonight, then know where I am at regarding needing to Slam and getting the pool to proper specs.
Any tips before I do so? (Sorry for the War & Peace novel)
Thanks,
David