ummm Can anyone help me ? :)

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C

coachj

0
Oct 23, 2010
9
Arizona
HI! I am new to this site, looks awesome and I cannot wait to learn more from the pool school.
I have read just enough to get me into trouble ;) .
I had a tester that had the 3 standard things , ph, cl and acid.... All those tested ok but my pool is green. I went out and bought a 6 thingie tester , heres my results (let me mention that I put apx 5 gallons of bleach in last night to try and get rid of the green)
my pool is 18000 gallons , plaster , no salt .

TH 250ppm
TC 3
FC 10
PH 6.4
TA 7.2
STABILIZER 0

Can anyone tell me how to get rid of the green, Ive tried running the Aerator.
Thank you so much!
I saw someones post that introduced themself, I don't know if thats customary so I will go ahead and do it too lol. You will probably hear from me often !
My name is Janet, I am a sports girl . I coach basketball, hence my log in name coachj. I love football, tennis, swimming just about any sport. I have been working on this green in my pool for weeks now and I am frustrated!
 
Hi Janet, Welcome to TFP! I think we need to recheck your results. TC= FC+CC, thus FC cannot be more than TC. TH is total hardness, which takes into account more than just calcium, and we need to know what your calcium level is. If that is your true pH it is way too low and needs to come up. I don't think it is possible to have TA of 7.2.

I recommend a better test kit, such as a Taylor K2006 or a TF 100. They are both FAS/DPD kits that will allow you to test very high levels of chlorine, which is what you will need to clear your pool.

Can you tell us a little more about the history of your pool? What have you been using to sanitizer your water? Do you use any powdered shock or chlorine tablets? What type and size filter do you have? What horsepower pump do you have?

If you can run your tests again and post them here we will try and help you get your pool cleaned up!
 
Thanks for your reply. The quick answer is... I don't know lol. I dont know the filter size. I bought this house new 9 years ago, put the pool in right away. I wasnt the one taking care of it, I am now tho! I had a pool guy drain the pool last may and its been fine til the last month. I bought these aqua chem strips , where do I get the tester you suggested? that makes sense about the fc and tc hmm. I will retest it now
 
There's a link in my sig to the TF-100 test kit. It's the best value in kits.

You can start learning by reading pool school. Chemical balance is a good place to begin. Some reading and learning is all it takes to have a trouble free pool. We're always here to help with problems.

Once you get a test kit post a set of test results and we'll help you get it cleared up.
pH
FC
CC
TA
CH
CYA
 
Go in and edit your profile to give us any specifics on your pool you can. In ground, liner, above ground, shape, gallons capacity and such. You can add a sig line like you see on the bottom of our posts here. that way, it shows up every time you post without having to add it to the members for quick reference---and quicker help!
 
The blue type in my post is a clickable link to the tf testkits website. Even though they are not known for accurate testing, take a sample of pool water to a pool store and ask them to test it. Make sure they test the CYA level. If you are using test strips then the CYA test is probably wrong. If you were using powdered shock or chlorine pucks then your CYA may be very high.

Once you post another current set of test results we can guide you to how much chlorine you will need to use to complete the shock process.

At the top right corner of each page is a white oval with Pool School written on it. Click on that and go to the threads on how to shock your pool, and turning a swamp into an oasis. Read those pages to get an overview of what needs to be done.
 
Good advice without knowing the test results, Sal. If you cannot find 12.5% chlorine, Home Depot has 10% chlorine. You can start with that. If you buy 6 boxes (2 gallons in each box) or more, you should be able to get it at 10% discount.
 
Thank you all SOOO much
I just tested again using the strips I have for now. I will go to Leslies and get the other testing kit. ( I bought some algae stuff last night and put it in)
Meanwhile here are the results
TH 250
TC 10
FC10
BROMINE( no idea what this is ) 20
PH 6.8
TA 120
ST100

I am going to look at the pump while its light out so I will add info to my profile. I cannot thank you all enough!
 

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Janet...be warned that the local leslie store usually tries to sell you a lesser kit than what we recommend. If you can find the is Leslies FAS-DPD test kit you should be fine, but the Leslie's DPD testkit is NOT the same as the FAS-DPD. Main difference being that the FAS-DPD kit can test up to 50ppm FC vs 10ppm with the DPD.

If your stabilizer number is really 100, your pool is overstabilized and will require a partial drain and fill. Also, if your FC is 10 or above, you PH reading of 6.8 is likely even lower given FC level above 10 ppm tend to cause PH readings to read falsely high.

Tftestkits.net is owned by the owner of TFP and we all really enjoy Dave's customer service, icluding this website, but if you feel uncomfortable with this kit, the Taylor k2006 (also a Fas-DPD based kit) is another option.
 
The test kit will pay for itself in terms of not wasting money on chemicals you may not need but are "poolstored" into buying. CYA like salt and calcium primarly comes down with dilution and does not wear off or get used up like chlorine. There are some cases where CYA can overgo a conversion to amonia, but that would be hard to make happen on it's own. :shock:

If your CYA is really 100, you FC shock level is somewhere upwards of 35ppm FC...an extremly difficult tak to maintain such an FC level. Possible, sure, but not trouble free.
 
wont it wear off on its own? lol It seems like its impossible to be too stable
Click to expand...
Both good questions. It doesn't wear off hardly at all. (some from dilution but that's about it)

The biggest issue, though, is that while it protects the chlorine from the sun, when it gets up as high as yours apparently is, it masks the effectiveness of the chlorine leaving the pool vulnerable to algae. Striking the right balance of CYA is really one of the prime issues with getting your pool in order, but once there, you will probably not have to mess with it again. :lol:

EDIT: yeah CYA and stabilizer are the same product...also called Cyanuric acid.
 
What % of the water needs to be drained to be effective in lowering the cya?
It is the algae I am fighting and sheesh I have poured so much bleach and algae stuff in it. 60% super algacide.
Did I raise the cya by putting all the stuff in it?
 
A 50% drain refill will lower CYA by...you guessed it 50%

Agaecide may be a good preventative, but has a hard time getting rid of an algae bloom.

Chlorine kills algae, but if your CYA is too high it requires much more chlorine than lets say at a CYA level of 30ppm.

Stabilizer or Stabilized Chlorine (Trichlor/Dichlor) add to CYA levels, liquid chlorine does not.

Given you have a green mess on your hands, it would be really helpful if you could take a read through pool school to see where these concepts are explained. Again the link/button is on the top right of this page or here. After reading through there if you still have more questions, fire away. But your situation is one that we see all season and can be easily dealt with just plain old bleach and reliable test results (something test strips just do not do a good job of accomplishing).
 

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