Long story short. Pool sat uncovered and untreated for 2 years. Part of a deal I inherited with a relationship with my partner. I grew tired of looking at a swamp and breeding mosquitoes so offered to fix the pool up. Most people who know nothing about pools go to a pool supply store and that is exactly what I did. They asked me to bring in a water bottle full of the pool water so they could test it. I did. Then I received what looked like a contract about what I needed to purchase, when to put it in the water, etc. All the chemicals totaled well over $400. I started to think this is not a project I should have signed up for.
As with everything now in my life, I check the internet before making commitments. I'm glad I did. 2 months ago I started reading pool care forums and feel I have a decent education now about at least the elementals to having a nice pool.
I won't bore you with what the pool store tests told me. But this is what I did.
Repaired electrical damage for pool equipment that had been sabotaged. It was all computer controlled with remotes. Now its all manual. It was the scope of my abilities. Maybe someday I will pay the pool tech the $1200 he wanted to sort it out, or I will educate myself on how to do it.
Put in 24 pounds of shock, the basic granule stuff, I think it was chlor brite or something like that. If I had to do it over, I would consider pouring in gallons of sodium HChl.
In 24 hours the water went from swamp fluorescent forest green to cloudy turquoise that looked like blue milk. 48 hours later it was still the same. Thats when I started reading online. Cloudy pools is a popular subject. What I learned that I put into practice was check the filter.
I pulled the filter apart. Kind of a pain but I would get used to it. Basically unscrew a dozen clamp like parts and the lid pops off. There's the filter cartridges. The biggest one was so heavy it took everything I had to get it out and over to the lawn. There was at least a half an inch layer of green clay like material encasing both filters. I used a high pressure garden hose nozzle and rinsed them down. They turned white after a while.
I put it all back together turned everything on 24/7. After 5 days the water became less cloudy and today i tried the quarter test. At the deep end I could clearly see heads. Comments were made that the water has never been this clear.
Sounds like a success story. But here are my issues.
PH fluctuates between 7.6 and +8
Alk is being raised slowly currently at 60 (baking soda)
CH 160
TC 18
FC 18
CYA 130
Im in S California, I can't drain and refill. Have considered Bio Active but the reviews are all over the map.
The MA drops my ALK. Its like a yo yo.
Im using S HypC may use CHypC to bump up the CH
Want to get everything dialed in before tackling the SWCG.
Need a borate test kit and a salinity tester. I dumped in 24 lbs of Borax because I liked what I read. No doubt it is driving my PH up.
Am I on the right track? Everyone wants to get in the water and I am the bad guy because my chems are not right.
Any input would be appreciated.
I am using a Taylor 2005 kit.
As with everything now in my life, I check the internet before making commitments. I'm glad I did. 2 months ago I started reading pool care forums and feel I have a decent education now about at least the elementals to having a nice pool.
I won't bore you with what the pool store tests told me. But this is what I did.
Repaired electrical damage for pool equipment that had been sabotaged. It was all computer controlled with remotes. Now its all manual. It was the scope of my abilities. Maybe someday I will pay the pool tech the $1200 he wanted to sort it out, or I will educate myself on how to do it.
Put in 24 pounds of shock, the basic granule stuff, I think it was chlor brite or something like that. If I had to do it over, I would consider pouring in gallons of sodium HChl.
In 24 hours the water went from swamp fluorescent forest green to cloudy turquoise that looked like blue milk. 48 hours later it was still the same. Thats when I started reading online. Cloudy pools is a popular subject. What I learned that I put into practice was check the filter.
I pulled the filter apart. Kind of a pain but I would get used to it. Basically unscrew a dozen clamp like parts and the lid pops off. There's the filter cartridges. The biggest one was so heavy it took everything I had to get it out and over to the lawn. There was at least a half an inch layer of green clay like material encasing both filters. I used a high pressure garden hose nozzle and rinsed them down. They turned white after a while.
I put it all back together turned everything on 24/7. After 5 days the water became less cloudy and today i tried the quarter test. At the deep end I could clearly see heads. Comments were made that the water has never been this clear.
Sounds like a success story. But here are my issues.
PH fluctuates between 7.6 and +8
Alk is being raised slowly currently at 60 (baking soda)
CH 160
TC 18
FC 18
CYA 130
Im in S California, I can't drain and refill. Have considered Bio Active but the reviews are all over the map.
The MA drops my ALK. Its like a yo yo.
Im using S HypC may use CHypC to bump up the CH
Want to get everything dialed in before tackling the SWCG.
Need a borate test kit and a salinity tester. I dumped in 24 lbs of Borax because I liked what I read. No doubt it is driving my PH up.
Am I on the right track? Everyone wants to get in the water and I am the bad guy because my chems are not right.
Any input would be appreciated.
I am using a Taylor 2005 kit.