Virgin above-ground SWG pool owner needs advice

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grammytheyeti

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Apr 8, 2012
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Hello all - I'm VERY new and this is my first post. I am also the proud owner of my first pool and it was installed and filled 10 days ago. It's an above ground pool SWG. Hubby set it all up with the initial chemicals that came with the pool but keeping it up is my responsibility. I've been all over this site to learn. It's an 18x33, 48" water, so about 14,019 gals. We live in S. Texas. We have a lot of trees and the pool gets direct sun only in the middle of the day. By 5:30pm it's 60% shaded. Water temp now is 77-82.

I don't have a drop test kit yet and know we need to get one but it's Easter Sunday and it will probably have to wait until tomorrow. I'm using strips for now and the pump is running 24/7. After initially being clear, the water is a cloudy light green but no slime yet.

My strips tell me:
pH - normal range
TA - normal range
FC - 0 yesterday until I added 96oz of plain bleach around noon, then it went to normal. This morning we are back to near 0. Should I do this again?
CYA - near 0. Yesterday I tried to dissolve 2-1 lb bags of conditioner (from the company) but it wouldn't dissolve very well and ended up in a pile at the bottom of the pool. Hubby flipped out about eating a hole in the liner and sucked it all up with the vaccum and into the sand filter. Then last night I tried dissolving 1 more lb of conditioner and put it in the skimmer. Two hours later, the CYA level was on the low end of normal. This morning, the CYAs are back to near 0.
Salt – strips don’t cover that. But I've not added any. Should I? If so, how and how much? Just dump it in around the edges?

Also to the keepers of the forum posts, would it be possible to have a forum section just for SWG pools? I hate it when people ask things that have already been answered a gazillion times, but with 103 pages of posts just in the "Just Getting Started" section, I'd be here for days to get an answer all the while feeling a slight anxiety as the pool gets greener and greener during my search.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Put another gallon of bleach in it before it gets away from you and your SWG can "catch up". You shoudl add as much salt as required to produce the ppm your model requires---there is some variance. Pour it around the edges, run the pump, and brush it to stir it in and dissolve it. See pool school for recommended levels of CYA for your SWG pool. CYA will not register properly for up to a week, especially if it has been vacuumed directly to the filter. automatic-chlorinators-swg-liquidator-etc-f21.html-------there's you a good section to browse!

WELCOME!
 
Using http://www.poolcalculator.com/ shows your pool to be about 17800 gallon. to achieve shock value of 10 ppm you would need 3 gallons or 2 (182 oz) jugs.

Or oval 15700 gallons

Get a proper test kit ASAP, (see my signature), a pool store reading would be better than nothing till it arrives.

Take time to read POOL SCHOOL! Lots of great information there.

http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool

Would help if you put all pool info in your signature. pump size ect.
Welcome to the forum :)
 
Test strips can be wildly wrong when measuring CYA levels. Use the Pool Calculator to figure out what your expected CYA level is based on what you added and go with that until it has been a week since you added CYA and you have a better test kit to measure the CYA level with. Your husband was correct, you do not want to leave CYA sitting in a pile on the liner.

The SWG is not going to be able to produce enough chlorine to keep up until the CYA level gets a little higher. The recommended level for CYA is between 70 and 80. My rough calculation shows you added enough to raise the CYA level to somewhere around 20 to 25. Until you get the CYA level up you will want to add some extra chlorine manually each evening.

There is a SWG specific section of the site, here. However, it tends to focus more on hardware problems. The best place to start is the article on water balance for SWGs in Pool School, here.
 
Thanks everyone! It's been a month and the bleach into the pool along with a package of Activate & Clarinate -Family Leisure brand- stopped the green. We are to put in one of each every two weeks but that's $60 a month! The CYAs caught up and we're at 70 now and the SWG is set at 3,000ppm as recommended by the mfg. Over the course of the month, we've had to add 3-40lb bags of salt crystals to get the salt level up until the SWG started to do its thing. The green stopped and cleared right up and all seems to be fine now. I did purchase a pool kit from Leslie for proper drop tests.

Question, the floor feels fine but the walls feel slimey or slick. Normal due to salt (soft water)? Water has a slight salt taste to it too - much like sweat - which I believe is normal. Today water is just a tiny cloudy but we are near the 2 week point again for adding the store-bought outrageously expensive chemicals. I really want to get away from this and just do my own.
 
There is something of a wording/judgement question with "slime" feelings. Clean perfect vinyl can feel a little slimy underwater to some people. But truly slimy indicates a problem, usually FC levels too low or possibly too little brushing.

Stop using the Activate & Clarinate. Keep your levels balanced as we recommend and the most you might be adding regularly is a little acid to maintain the PH.
 
If your water is cloudy, you really need to do an overnight chlorine test and see what amount of chlorine is lost. You shouldn't lose any from sundown to sun up, if you do, you need to stay at shock level until you don't lose any overnight, you have clear water, and your CC is .5 or less... then let your swg do all the work at maintaining your beautiful pool water. :)
 
Re: Water Balance for SWGs

iggy said:
I add a a few cups of acid about every 7-10 days and my numbers are all great!

FC 5
TC 5
Alk 90
pH 7.6
CA 250
CYA 70-80%
A few oz's of clarifier every few weeks during swimming season and all is great.
Click to expand...

What "acid" do you speak of? I've got my SWG set at 3 (3,000ppm) and it's doing fine but I get a bit of a cloudy look when I'm near the mfg's recommended time to add Activate and Clarinate - Family Leisure brand. This is $60 a month and I'm looking to get away from that. Water tastes slight salty but TC and FC are 0 or near 0. All other numbers are fine and I can't seem to get the chlorines right. Thoughts?
 
Can't get Chlorine right in my new SWG.

Today's tests:
FC 0
TC 0
pH 7.5
TA 7
CH 4
CYA 70
SWG is set at 3 (3,000 ppm)
Have added 4-40 lb bags of salt total over course of 8 weeks pool ownership.

Will go ahead and add 1 pkg Activate and 1 bottle Clairinate - Family Leisure brand- as recommended by the mfg to keep it clear, but this is $60 a month. Want to get away from this.
 
Re: Can't get Chlorine right in my new SWG.

Will go ahead and add 1 pkg Activate and 1 bottle Clairinate - Family Leisure brand- as recommended by the mfg to keep it clear, but this is $60 a month.
Click to expand...
Then stop using it. Chlorine is all you need to keep your pool crystal clear. I suggest you read "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School. Then, you need to put some bleach in your pool NOW! enough to get to around 8ppm. I suspect you need to shock the pool but won't know for sure until you complete an OCLT (Pool School) and report the results. What does your water look like?
 

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I have a 96oz bleach I can add this evening and will skip the Activate & Clairinate - thanks. One thing, when I went to Pool School at Family Leisure (gives you a 10% discount on pool products - whoopteedoo) they explained that the PermaSalt system I have on this pool is not the same as a SWG. Can you confirm or is that hooey?

I've read the ABC's several times and have the Pool Calculator in my favorites. The water looks fine; inviting in fact, and with the temp already at 92, I'll be getting my suit on later. :)

We are off to Lowe's for more decking and I'll pick up the MA.

Thanks!
 
Perma salt is not a SWG, it is an ionizer system that adds copper to the water. The water balance for copper systems is very different from that for SWG systems.

We very much do not recommend using any system that adds copper to the water.
 
Well, $5,600 later, it's too late for that. So I have a PermaSalt system that is not the same as a SWG. OK...
I'll get with Family Leisure to ask about the proper water balance and use what I've learned here to keep it clean & clear.

Thanks
 
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