A little help for a newbie

[S10_8399]

Hi All! I'm a newbie here and to pools (as of last summer). This is a great site with a lot of knowledgeable people. I'm glad I found it.

Currently I believe I'm close to getting my pool cleared back up. We came back from vacation a week ago to find a green film on the bottom and after shock, brushing, cleaning filter, etc. I'm at a bit of a cloudy state with the water. I can see the liner design in the bottom of the pool but it's cloudy.

I have a 28' round pool 4.5' deep. I believe it to be 20,700 gallons. I don't have one of the test kits and am still using the test strips. I know a test kit is widely recommended here and I will get one eventually but don't have one to use at this time.

After the last shock last night, I tested this AM and here are the numbers from the test strip.

FC 10
PH 6.8
TA 40ppm

What do I need to add to have crystal clear water and a suitable pool for my daughters 11th birthday pool party next Saturday? Any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks!
Chris

 

[Bama Rambler]

Welcome to TFP.

As long as you're not talking about tomorrow it's possible the have it clear by then.

What kind of filter do you have?

 

[S10_8399]

Lol. It's 1 week from tomorrow.

I have a cartridge style filter and am going to try to pick up a new cartridge today.

 

[Bama Rambler]

That's a step in the right direction.

Cleaning your cartridge pretty often will help a little too. And keep that pump running 24 hours a day.

 

[S10_8399]

So should I add anything or just change cartridge and keep pump running?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Just change the cartridge and keep the pump running. I wouldn't add anything yet.

 

[Steve456]

Hello Chris,

Your pH is too low.

When we first purchased a house with a pool we did not realize that the FC level that must be maintained is dependent on the CYA level. Please see pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock . Your chlorine level may or may not be sufficiently high to shock the pool and kill the algae.

We were all newbies once!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Your pH is too low.

Good catch Steve. Don't know how I missed that.
You need to be in there swimming and splashing around a lot. Or you could add a little Borax. I don't trust the strips but they have your TA low too. Baking soda will fix that too.

Learn to use the Pool Calc if you haven't already.

 

[S10_8399]

Thank you both. Looks like I'll be picking up some borax and some baking soda. Pool Calc shows 110 oz of borax and 116 oz of baking soda. That sure does seam like a lot.

 

[heikejohn]

Don't forget to test your CYA level (Stabilizer)
Your chlorine level might or might not be high enough for your CYA.