I need lots of help

[mel42]

I have lots of questions and need lots of help. I am not sure even where to start. I will try to be as clear as possible. We have a 30 ft above ground pool. Last year the sand filter never really worked right so when it was time to close the pool we didnt do anything to it ( we didnt cover it ). Its low, and a gross green. My husband got in it yesterday with waders on and cleaned out a ton of leaves.. we added some water to it over night and this morning he got in and vac it out. (with a hose..siphoning the water out) So this is where we are I have a new sand filter and pump.. we havent hooked either one up yet. The sand filter holds 300 pounds of sand and I think the pump is 1 or 1 1/2 hp...my pool is a gross gross green.. I am also worried that there may be a leak somewhere in the pool because the water seemed awful low. What should we do next? I really am interested in using the three bs.. I just dont know if Im smart enough to figure it all out.
Thanks for any help,
Melanie

 

[woodyp]

Welcome aboard!
Step 1: Order a good test kit recommended here to make your life easier.
Step 2: Go have some one do a water testing sample for you and post your results on this board.
Step 3: Read pool school
Step 4: RE-Read pool school
Step 5: Read shocking your pool again
Step 6: Have patience and we'll get you there.

 

[lightingguy]

Great advice so far - Read and re-read until you are comfortable. Dont feel like you have to learn it all at once, just take it step by step.

All those abbreviations in the Chemicals section are a little daunting at first. It's actually pretty straight forward.

There are 2 relationships to watch

Chlorine and CYA - chlorine keeps the pool clean, CYA protects Chlorine from sunlight. The more CYA in the pool, the more chlorine you need to keep the water clean (because the CYA holds the chlorine in reserve)

PH, TA, CH - adjusting these parameters controls how calcium in the water reacts with the surface of your pool. Since your pool is Vinyl it is not all that important - you just keep the PH in range and should be good.

So - get yourself a good test kit (TF 100 is the standard rec). Dont bother shocking the pool until you have a kit and feel comfortable with the process - the algae has reached it's mature level so it's not gonna get worse. And then when you are ready - drop the PH to 7.2 and hit it hard with chlorine.

 

[mel42]

Thanks for the answers so far... so should I go ahead and get the filter and pump running ? I just marked a spot on the liner to see if the water is actually going down.. its so green how willl I ever see a leak ?

 

[257WbyMag]

Wait until you get a set of test results, either from a pool store or from your own high quality test kit, before staring the pump. If you order a TF-100 (link in my sig) you will have your kit in 3 or 4 days. For now, start reading Pool School and buy several jugs of 6% bleach to start.