Need major help

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May 29, 2016
6
Buffalo ny
This is the first time I'm opening my pool and I have hardly no experience with pools at all. I took the cover off yesterday to find that I had a green swamp underneath. I tested the water and these are the results:

FAC- 0
TAC - 0
SALT- 1500
CH- 80
CYA- 0
TA- 40
PH-7.9
PHO-600
temp- 70

I really don't know where to start, any help would be appreciated.
 
Welcome! :wave:

Those look like pool store test results. So the place to start is with your own proper test kit. Skip the article in pool school and head over to TFTestkits.net and order a TF100 with the XL option. Seriously. Right now. You won't find the right test kit in stock in any stores, so you might as well get a good one coming ASAP. The TF100 is the best value for the money.

No CYA and a green pool scare me into thinking you might have suffered from CYA breakdown over the winter, where it all turns into ammonia. That adds to your grief, but doesn't really change the solution much. The solution is what we call a SLAM Process. And to do it, you need a proper test kit and plenty of the chlorine reagents. Hence the suggestion for the TF100 with the XL option.

Start by reading the ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry so you speak our language. Then read the SLAM Process article. Then go look through some older threads written by people who have faced the same challenge as you. The newer ones are last. Just scroll through and look at the pictures, and if something intrigues you, stop and read the accompanying text. That's really about all you can do until you get some test results we trust. There probably isn't much to vacuum up since the pool was covered, so the only thing you can do poolside is brush.
 
Thanks for your response Richard. I have been perusing the site for the last couple of hours and I am becoming a little more familiar with the lingo. I did buy the Leslie's dpd deluxe kit, will this kit suffice for now? If so 8 will post the results as soon as I hear if the test kit will do what I need it to do.
 
Thanks for your response Richard. I have been perusing the site for the last couple of hours and I am becoming a little more familiar with the lingo. I did buy the Leslie's dpd deluxe kit, will this kit suffice for now? If so 8 will post the results as soon as I hear if the test kit will do what I need it to do.
Sadly, no. Most likely what you have is the Taylor K-2005. It's almost a K-2006. All you need to make it one is the FAS-DPD test. With it, you can measure FC accurately from 0-50 and as precise as .2 ppm. TFTestkits.net

If you haven't broken the plastic on the other kit and can return it, then ordering a full TF100 will probably work out about the same and give you more of the reagents you use the most of.
 
Unfortunately I did open the test kit. I did order the fas-dpd test kit. What should I do in the meantime?
should I start to shock the pool first? I did buy a bunch of bleach and used the pool math calculator to determine how much I should use. I would just like to started before I get the test kit. Thanks

- - - Updated - - -

Unfortunately I did open the test kit. I did order the fas-dpd test kit. What should I do in the meantime?
should I start to shock the pool first? I did buy a bunch of bleach and used the pool math calculator to determine how much I should use. I would just like to started before I get the test kit. Thanks
 
Unfortunately I did open the test kit. I did order the fas-dpd test kit. What should I do in the meantime?
should I start to shock the pool first? I did buy a bunch of bleach and used the pool math calculator to determine how much I should use. I would just like to started before I get the test kit. Thanks

- - - Updated - - -

Unfortunately I did open the test kit. I did order the fas-dpd test kit. What should I do in the meantime?
should I start to shock the pool first? I did buy a bunch of bleach and used the pool math calculator to determine how much I should use. I would just like to started before I get the test kit. Thanks
Start by measuring what you can with the test kit you have. If you can get CH and CYA readings and either or both point to the need for some water replacement, you can start that. Post up some results.

If the CYA really and truly is zero, you could get that up to 30ish, but you probably ought to hold off just in case you're one of the unfortunate ones who has had all his CYA decompose into ammonia. You'd be making a bad situation worse and be unanle to tell without the FAS-DPD test.

If pH or TA need work, you can start that after any water replacement.

You won't be able to SLAM without the proper chlorine test. The best you can do is to add about 5 FC per day... about 1.5 jugs of standard 8.25% bleach or its equivalent if you have stronger stuff. Colorblock testers can't read high enough accurately and if it's the pink DPD chlorine test, it will bleach out and read falsely low.
 
Sorry, the Leslie's kit doesn't really tell me how to test for ch. I know I'm limited by the kit that I have. I'm trying to learn as much as possible by reading the posts and the pool school. Thanks for taking the time to help a seriously uneducated newbie
 

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