new to forum, new pool owner

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feethanddooth

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May 27, 2011
6
the rundown,

bought house in sept has pool.
pool wasnt used last year.
have had water tested at a leslies and am in the process of adding all chemicals required.
when i took the cover off, i could see the bottom clearly but there was sediment on the bottom.
pump and filter are working fine and after beginning to vaccum today all that sediment has been stirred up.
now, pool water is not clear.

the question,
how long will i have to run my pump to clean the water? it takes aprx 4 hours for the water to completely cycle through the filter. should i just keep it going until the water is clear?

thats it for now. thanks for any help in advance
 
First off.. get yourself a good pool test kit ordered and on it's way. Then get yourself settled and read through all of the pool school information.

Most here have found that pool stores are not reliable in testing or recommending chemicals. After all... they want to sell you something every time you walk in the door whether you need something or not. Often times they will sell you something that has you running back in for something else and the cycle begins for the summer.

Once you begin getting your pool water stable, you will find that it's a process of testing and balancing along the way not just adding what the pool store recommends and then going back when you have a problem. That's what they'd like for you to do, but you're going to spend a lot of money that way. Also, having a good test kit at home allows you to figure out what you need to do w/o running to the store all the time for another water test.

Until we have accurate levels, it's hard to tell you what you need to do first to get your pool balanced and sparkly. You can start with a measurement from the pool store, but don't use it as your main source of testing... just to get a basis to go on until you get your own testing kit in your hands. If you go to two different pool stores with the same water sample you will likely get two different results. You can find information on recommended pool test kits in the pool school section of this site.

As far as your water not being clear after you stirred up the stuff on the bottom... that is normal. Anything that settles is going to make your water look cloudy or dirty until you get it treated and/or filtered out. Could be dirt/sediment, could be algae, could be iron/metals in your water. When I've got something other than sparkling water I run my pump until I get the water cleared and my chlorine levels stabilized.

Get your test kit ordered and let us know what your initial water test indicated and what you've already done to it. That helps in determining what should be done next.
 
here are the levels according to local leslies. this is before any chems were added.

FAC-0
TAC-0
TOTAL BROMINE-X
PH-7.2
TOTAL ALKALINITY-40
CALC HARDNESS-90
CYANURIC ACID-25
TDS-450
COPPER/IRON-X
PHOSPHATES-0
SALT-X

i guessed the pool was around 7000 gallons but ends up it is more like 5000. going off the 7000 gallon number here is what they told me to add and what i have already done,

1. add 2lbs chlor-brite
2. wait 4 hours add 4lbs alkalinity up
3. next day add 12lbs hardness plus

all while running the filter. sadly i notice the pump cover had a crack in it and was leaking water.needed to replace it so i wasnt able to get a test kit. will do so next weekend though.

so, do these seem like the right steps? with the new filter cover it is clearing all the debris much faster. so hope hope hope for swimming water on monday.
 
I would raise alkalinity first, especially if you are going to be using dichlor or trichlor. You definately want to raise TA. Keep in mind that grocery store baking soda is the exact same chemical as in alkalinity up for about 1/3 or less as much money.

Chlor-brite is dichlor, which raises CYA and lowers PH. 2 lbs is kind of extreme, I guess they rounded up from 1.25 lbs. Your CYA level is a little low, so doing this once won't hurt but you wouldn't want to use any more dichlor after that.

Do you have a vinyl liner pool? If so there is no point in adding calcium.
 
pretty sure pool is vinyl lined.

didnt know about the baking soda and alkalinity up likeness. pays to read the label :)

everything is already added and now the filter is working to clear out debris. have to wait and see how everything takes now.

i really appreciate the help
 
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