My Aunt Went to Florida & All I Got Was This Lousy Baquacil

[TinaU2]

So long story short I inherited a house with a pool. I have abosolutely ZERO experience with pools. It is an above ground oval, 15 x 24, sand filter. If I miss any other details please let me know and I will provide.

So, of course I wish I found this forum PRIOR to making the conversion but I think better late than never. Pool was Baquacil turned a beautiful swamp green, off to the pool store, bought expensive baquacil products, dumped expensive products into the pool to no avail. Back to the pool store....convert to chlorine? OK sounds. Good? What the heck do I know, my preference would be to hire a full time pool boy but yeah....nosy neighbors that JUST would not fly.

Pool store recommends Re-Fresh, gives me a dosing schedule.

Short timeline, filter running 24/7

Thursday night: 4 scoops of Re-Fresh into the pool
Friday night: 4 scoops of Re-Fresh into the pool
Friday night: found this forum. YAY! read for about 2 hours last night about conversions.
Saturday (today): 3 scoops scheduled (haven't put them in yet)
Recommended test kit ordered!

Now, the pool has gone from green to a milky blue....okay maybe a little clearer today not much.

Please help me with next steps.
1) i don't have a test kit (yet) but can go get the cheapy one today or swing into the pool store for a test
2) What am I missing?
3) I've been backwashing here and there. haven't vacuumed since Thursday

attached is a picture. At least the flowers look good *sigh* ok no picture attached says file too big. I will work on shrinking it? whatever, first the pool and now my images. what next?

I look forward to hearing your excellent advice. thanks so much.

*pool boy wanted inquire within

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

You can simply start doing the conversion according to our instructions at this point if you want to. Our approach will cost a bit less and is much more likely to fully complete the conversion process than what the pool store has you doing, though it may end up taking a little bit longer.

There is no substitute for a top quality test kit. I recommend ordering the TF-100 from TFTestKits.net right away. However, if you can get a simple chlorine/PH tester locally that will be enough for the next couple of days while your full test kit is being shipped.

The first step is to adjust the PH to between 7.2 and 7.4.

 

[TinaU2]

Thank you Jason. Test kit ordered (the one you recommended). I've read your instructions however, I have this large bucket of Re-Fresh ($70) so this is where my confusion begins. It's bought and paid for so shouldn't I just keep using it? I'm not sure if the Re-Fresh would dovetail with your suggested method.

I'm going to bring a sample to the pool store this morning and will post my results when I get back home.

Regardless thanks again and it's so weird how I love reading/viewing the pictures of the pools going from swamps to pristine bodies of water.

 

[JasonLion]

Can you tell us what the active ingredient in Refresh is? There are a couple of different products with that name. The most common one seems to be 68% Calcium Hypochlorite, but I am not sure if that is what you have or not.

Assuming it is cal-hypo, you need to keep in mind that cal-hypo adds calcium to the pool. Depending on what your current CH level is, that may or may not be a good thing.

 

[TinaU2]

The Re-Fresh is 68% Calcium Hypochlorite.

I will post the pool store results this afternoon.

Thanks!

 

[TinaU2]

okay back from the pool store

pH level is 8.2

any other relevant levels i should post/

again. thanks,

oops posting from my sister's computer, this is from TinaU2 Fixed. JasonLion

 

[JasonLion]

You should post the full set of test results.

As I said, the first step is to lower the PH down to between 7.2 and 7.4.

Then, depending on your TA and CH levels, you can add either Re-Fresh or bleach to bring the FC level up to 15.

 

[TinaU2]

okay of course I forgot my print out from the pool store on my sisters counter but I called her and got them over the phone so I believe they're accurate (hard to hear with the fans and a/c blowing, major heat wave here)

Free Available Chlorine 0.3
Total Chlorine 3.1
Combined Chlorine 2.8
Total Alkalinity 122
pH 8.2
calcium hardness 177
Cyanuric Acid 9
copper 0
iron 0
total dissolved solids 0
Saturation index 0.66

 

[JasonLion]

Thanks.

Those numbers are fairly good. All you need to do is to get the PH down.

 

[TinaU2]

no, THANK YOU. And how does one get the pH down?

I've seen pH decreaser, should I buy?

ahhh, or muriatic acid, okay I remember that from reading pool school.

 

[duraleigh]

Tina,

Muriatic is a overall a little better but you could do either. You can get muriatic at Lowe's and most paint stores. If you've not handled it before, get the pH down.

Since you already know where the pool store is, see if they'll get you crdit for the re-fresh and then get the pH-down from them. You'll still have a credit there but you'll use it for some other stuff in time.

 

[TinaU2]

pH down at Job Lot is $9.99 I believe, I was there this afternoon with my sis, she was buying pH increaser.

hmm, ok interesting, the pool store may offer me a credit on the Re-fresh? I will certainly ask and pick up the pH down. Fortunately pool store is about a 2 minute drive away.

and no I've never handled that sort of acid before so I'll forego it, I have acrylic nails, wouldn't want them to dissolve.

Thanks.

 

[another one]

Look at the concentration on your Muriatic Acid - mine from Home Depot was 14%, not the 31% used as the default in the pool calculator. I'm having a very hard time finding anything above 14% here. One of the hardware stores had some kwickclean (I think that was the brand) that didn't list the percentage at all, but the store guy said it was 10%. I'm going to try a concrete place next week.