Been Lurking, Going to Try, Wish Me Luck!

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Pool Amateur said:
Clarifier can have side affects that can cause more problems from what I have read, it can be a real useful tool also, but is usually saved for later rather than sooner. Not trying to kill your idea just want you to know why it is not often a first try thing. I think the emphasis of this site is education and know what the chemicals will do to your pool, before your put them in, or at least as much as possible so you do not go from bad to worse or in your case, fairly good to worse. Glad to see you are getting progress.
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Did not take the Pool Store Guy's advice and buy it. I'm not committed to it, I am working to use time to clear it up.

I'm guessing that it will need it at the end, but we'll see, as long as the pool is getting clearer, we're good. With full floor visibility expected tomorrow, the pool will be safe to use, that's step one. I'm hoping to have a real testing kit in a few days and get the rest done. So far it's 100% chlorine/filtering, so we'll see how clear this gets.
 
Yeah the pushing the test kit seems cultish. I think its passion on the part of the community due to exprience. Its like any work you may do. Tools and proper use of the tools is 80% of the job. Once you have the kit and use it in conjunction with pool math you'll understand in a few weeks.
 
It's all in how you take it. I'd take the test kit comments as...geez, I can't believe this many people I don't know at all REALLY want me to have clear pool water, and they aren't getting one red cent to spend their time giving me this great advice! Wow, what a great place!!

Sometimes faith has to come before believing. Have faith in TFP then you will become a believer. You do not, nor will you likely ever, need clarifier, phosphate reducer and various other potions from the pool store. But again, until you experience this, you just have to have faith, you can believe us later. But you also have to follow the methodology exclusively or you will not see the intended results. Pool store recommendations and ours don't mix (i.e. oil & water). Best of "luck"! Though you won't need it.

Just for perspective, there's nearly a million posts here...and over 1200 people online with the site at this moment. How bad can it be?

Once you have the test kit and become proficient at using it, the thrill (ok, maybe overstated a bit) of adding chemicals and getting the expected result, is pretty cool.
 
Alex_H said:
I'm guessing that it will need it at the end, but we'll see, as long as the pool is getting clearer, we're good. With full floor visibility expected tomorrow, the pool will be safe to use, that's step one. I'm hoping to have a real testing kit in a few days and get the rest done. So far it's 100% chlorine/filtering, so we'll see how clear this gets.
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Hi Alex,

It's wonderful to hear that the pool is even clearer today. Keep doing what you're doing. As far as the clarifier, you probably won't need any at the end either. That's not one of the items on our method Bleach, Borax, Baking Soda. I personally took back 3 bottles of clarifier myself after I 1st arrived here because it was Not needed. But of course what you do or don't decide to put in your pool is ultimately your decision.

To elaborate on your comment above about the full floor visibility. Yes as you are aware, one should not swim until they can see the entire floor, BUT until you are certain of where the levels are of all the chemicals in there, I wouldn't consider it necessarily "Safe" to swim in just yet. It's probably very close, BUT (LOL you know what your waiting on to check for yourself). I'm not even going to say it lol, But we know, you know.

Anyway it sounds like you are well on your way to having a clear pool, just keep on brushing/vacuuming it often, and now that you are able to see more down there be sure and brush the area where the pool floor and wall come together, and the lights, jets, ladders, steps, etc. and that will all help speed up the process too. Then once you are sure the levels are safe to get in the water you can give all those things a good scrubbing, and be able to get behind and under them if possible. Have a wonderful day!




The pool you swam in that you said the water felt weird, we call that around these parts "Chemical Soup." and Yes, it feels much different then the water of a pool not loaded down with chemicals.
 
Regarding my reaction to the Test Kit Comments, the cult like was the increasingly shrill and crazed comments about "how have you not gotten your test kit yet," the test kit people insisted was critical on Friday and I said that I thought I should order it at 4:44 PM on Friday. Over the course of the weekend, it became increasingly crazy like I was rejecting their deity or something, while I kept saying "it's the weekend, I cannot get this magically mail order only test kit."

It was a turn off. Had the "bleach, bleach, and more bleach" approach not been rapidly clearing up my pool, much better than the pool store: shock, algaecide, shock, come back for more stuff to buy, I'd have left over it.

In terms of safety, I could take a water supply to a pool store and get a "safe to swim test." I'd settle right now for, "safe to have people on the pool deck, they can't fall in, disappear, and never be seen again." :)

Yup, excited for this working. Don't know that I'll commit 100% to the TFP/BBB method, but I'm liking it as the basis of a clean pool. Certainly better than the pool store's ABC Approach (Tablets Constantly, Shock Weekly, Algaecide Weekly). More comfortable water quality would be the biggest difference,
 

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Crackerjack4u said:
Knowing what I know now, I tend to think the pool store ABC approach actually stands for (ALL BAD CHEMICALS), but that just my opinion, lol and I'm sticking to it. :)
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Other Florida Pool owners have mentioned that they still use Tablets. The sheer length of our swim season, amount of rain we get, and other issues make it clear that just like gardening, a few things are different in Florida.

If I cut back on my chemical use by 98% instead of 100% use, I'll call it a big win, even if the forum calls it heresy. :)
 
The thing with the Tablets/Pucks is they are fine to use for short periods of time (like vacations, or times you can't check for a couple days, etc.), but they tend to raise your CYA levels up with long term use eventually to unmanageable levels (it may not happen this year, next year, or for the next 5 yrs, but your CYA level will most always get too high from the Pucks, and eventually sometime down the line, cause you trouble.

Once that CYA level gets too high you have one option to remedying the problem and that is to drain a large % of your water out, and refill with new water. It is something that there will be no other option than to do that because you won't be able to afford the amount bleach that will be needed, yet you'll still be getting algae blooms. So yeah, like I said what anyone puts in their pool is entirely their choice.

But for me, and my pool, it's not worth the almost certain, inevitable, outcome. I'd rather add my liquid bleach, only use pucks at vacation time, and enjoy not having algae blooming constantly because the chlorine can't keep up with the high CYA level, or having no choice but to drain and refill. Have a nice day.

EDIT: I agree being able to cut chemical use is as you said a "Big win" indeed. :)
 
Crackerjack4u said:
Once that CYA level gets too high you have one option to remedying the problem and that is to drain a large % of your water out, and refill with new water. It is something that there will be no other option than to do that because you won't be able to afford the amount bleach that will be needed, yet you'll still be getting algae blooms. So yeah, like I said what anyone puts in their pool is entirely their choice.
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Hence the South Florida comment... Our annual rainfall is more than my pool's deepest part... :) We all lose a ton of water to overflowing pools over the course of summer (usually). South Florida's just a freaky climate. So our water gets turned over with overflows, draining water during storms, and refilled with rain.

Oh, saw my main drain for the first time in two weeks... very happy with this...
 
LOL yeah I've been there several times and you are right about the rainfall. The rain replenishing the water does certainly help keep the CYA level down, and help prevent the issue from occurring. I'm glad to hear your pool is continuing to get clearer. It will be there before you know it. So just keep on keeping on, and have a nice night. :)
 
I'll eat my hat. Pool looked crystal clear today, I can see the floor throughout the pool, the drains are fully visible. Another 24 hours and the thing will be in the best condition since the initial fill, my wife is amazed.

I'm tempted to cancel my Test Kit and refuse shipment... just to torture everyone... :)

It'll arrive tomorrow, going to research the overnight chlorine thing, that seems like the next step. I also prefer swimming in a pool with a pH of 7.2-7.4 (on the strips/pool store, test kit arrives tomorrow), but the pool stores want me to keep it 7.4-7.6.

I figured since I wasn't paying the pool guy $75/mo, it wasn't a big deal to spend more on the chemicals, etc., replacement of filters more regularly, etc. But now I want a "trouble free pool" and I will take some of that money I was spending on garbage and use it to get a SWG to get a "lower maintenance pool" as well.

What do people think of those non-chemical UV pool cleaners? I thought about putting one in series with the SWG to see if it can help keep things even clearer.
 
On the subject of pH: It's your pool now, not the pool $tores so make it the way you like it.

On the subject of UV: Most folks around here, me included, think they are not useful in a residential pool setting. The UV needs to see the water to do any good. They are very undersized for pool volumes. And I've read they actually increase Cl loss.

ChemGeek has a lot of technical info about them. Do a search with UV and ChemGeek if you want very detailed explanation.
 

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