First pool, should I shock?

[illegalALIEN]

So we bought the kids a little intex easy set pool this summer and boy has it been an experience. We setup and used it the first weekend then came back to it 2 weeks later and it had slippery walls and the water looked a bit foggy. A few days later is had green stains on the liner bottom and walls. I drained and scrubbed it down with soap and water and attached our sand filter to it. Now I've had it running for a week with the filter pumping 2 hours in the AM and another 2 hours in the PM. I went to check the water today and its crystal clear.

I finally bought a little test kit from home depot along with some liquid chlorine today so I came home and tested the water and it showed: FC - 0, pH - 8.2 so I quickly used the pool calculator to find out I should add 7.3oz of my 10% liquid chlorine to raise my FC to 4. Now the reason I ask if I should shock the pool is because even though my water is crystal clear when I went to pour in the chlorine I decided to touch the inside of the liner and it felt slippery again like when I had algae and my water turned cloudy. I quickly brushed the inside of the pool walls and bottom but it still feels some what very slippery. Do I need to chock the pool in order to get rid of this diehard algae? Do I even have algae?

Attached are images I just took of the pool just a minute ago if that helps and my pool and equipment info are in my signature. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[woodyp]

You said you added chlorine, but didn't mention anything about lowering your PH. Have you added any CYA (stabilizer)? Take a read through pool school and welcome to the forum.

 

[duraleigh]

You can approach managing that pool water a couple of different ways....can you tell us how many gallons it holds?

 

[crek31]

I would take it a bit above target for your CYA level. But you haven't told us if you have ever added CYA. CYA is cyanuric acid and acts as a "sunscreen" for the sanitizing chlorine (bleach). If you just put in bleach it will be "eaten" very quickly by the organics that are in every pool (from swimmers, etc) and sunlight. CYA will allow the bleach to not be eaten as quickly by sunlight, thus allowing it to work longer on the organics. SO ..... after this last fresh fill, can you tell exactly what you have added to the water?

If you have only added the 10% chlorine, you need to add CYA. With my starter intex, I found that going to a spa store and buying CYA (as close to 100% cyanuric acid as possible) in powder form worked best. There are other options, but I like the precision of adding the CYA completely separately from other chems so I got it all done at once and knew exactly what my target FC should be from the start. Use the pool calculator to see how much CYA powder to add to get your gallons to about 30. Put that amount of CYA powder in a regular cotton sock, tie it, and then hang it with string in front of the return jet. It will slowly dissolve into the water - you can speed that process by squeezing the bag periodically.

After that, you will know you have a CYA of 30 (you might want higher depending on where you live and how much full sun your pool gets - post your location and someone will advise) and will know your FC target zone. Then it is just a matter of adding the chlorine to keep your FC in range -- probably once a day or maybe twice if a lot of swimmers or splashing.

You also need to address your pH. Again, look to the pool calculator to see how much a) muriatic acid or b) pH down powder you would want to add to get your pH lower. Failure to do this, as I understand it, can jeopardize your nice sand filter, so don't completely ignore pH.

If you stick with this site, you will have a short learning curve and then have complete confidence that your kids' pool will be safe and ready for swimming with no notice -- makes playdates very fun to not have to wonder if the water is good or not. I would urge you to buy the test kit from TFTest kits. It might seem expensive given that your pool cost relatively little compared to some other pools. But your water needs the same attention as the water in fancy pools. I can tell you that my first intex was similar to yours and I was a complete newbie. With TFP, the right test kit, and ten minutes per day, I had sparkly water all season and it was a completely relaxing endeavor. I found out early that draining and refilling, although possible given the small amount of water, was not a good option because I wanted to hoard my warm water and not start over with cold water.

Sorry for the long post - been interrupted several times and have gotten off point. Summary -
1. If you have only added chlorine, add CYA per pool calculator AND keep your chlorine level up
2. If you have already added something other than chlorine, post back with what and how much and wait for advice
3. Address your high pH
4. Invest in the TFTest Kit - I would be stunned if you regretted it. To buy it, go to duraleigh's signature block in his response above, and just click on the blue link - great customer service and product!
5. To address slimey walls, I would indeed either shock or at least raise my FC a bit above target to see how it goes - then either shock or see if all goes back to good. But this step is hard to do without a proper test kit that tests for Free Chlorine (FC) and Combined Chlorine/chloramines (CC - I always forget what it stands for).

 

[crek31]

I would add that if getting a TFTest Kit is completely out of the question, don't despair. You will be able to manage that pool without it, just not as efficiently - so post back your plan going forward and let us help you with what you have to work with.

 

[illegalALIEN]

You said you added chlorine, but didn't mention anything about lowering your PH. Have you added any CYA (stabilizer)? Take a read through pool school and welcome to the forum.

I have not added anything to lower the pH yet I was on my way back to home depot to purchase some muriatic acid or some shock powder they had. Which would be better recommended? I have not added CYA.

You can approach managing that pool water a couple of different ways....can you tell us how many gallons it holds?

Our pool is the 10' x 30" so it hold approximately 1,475-1,500 gallons.

I would take it a bit above target for your CYA level. But you haven't told us if you have ever added CYA. CYA is cyanuric acid and acts as a "sunscreen" for the sanitizing chlorine (bleach). If you just put in bleach it will be "eaten" very quickly by the organics that are in every pool (from swimmers, etc) and sunlight. CYA will allow the bleach to not be eaten as quickly by sunlight, thus allowing it to work longer on the organics. SO ..... after this last fresh fill, can you tell exactly what you have added to the water?

If you have only added the 10% chlorine, you need to add CYA. With my starter intex, I found that going to a spa store and buying CYA (as close to 100% cyanuric acid as possible) in powder form worked best. There are other options, but I like the precision of adding the CYA completely separately from other chems so I got it all done at once and knew exactly what my target FC should be from the start. Use the pool calculator to see how much CYA powder to add to get your gallons to about 30. Put that amount of CYA powder in a regular cotton sock, tie it, and then hang it with string in front of the return jet. It will slowly dissolve into the water - you can speed that process by squeezing the bag periodically.

After that, you will know you have a CYA of 30 (you might want higher depending on where you live and how much full sun your pool gets - post your location and someone will advise) and will know your FC target zone. Then it is just a matter of adding the chlorine to keep your FC in range -- probably once a day or maybe twice if a lot of swimmers or splashing.

You also need to address your pH. Again, look to the pool calculator to see how much a) muriatic acid or b) pH down powder you would want to add to get your pH lower. Failure to do this, as I understand it, can jeopardize your nice sand filter, so don't completely ignore pH.

If you stick with this site, you will have a short learning curve and then have complete confidence that your kids' pool will be safe and ready for swimming with no notice -- makes playdates very fun to not have to wonder if the water is good or not. I would urge you to buy the test kit from TFTest kits. It might seem expensive given that your pool cost relatively little compared to some other pools. But your water needs the same attention as the water in fancy pools. I can tell you that my first intex was similar to yours and I was a complete newbie. With TFP, the right test kit, and ten minutes per day, I had sparkly water all season and it was a completely relaxing endeavor. I found out early that draining and refilling, although possible given the small amount of water, was not a good option because I wanted to hoard my warm water and not start over with cold water.

Sorry for the long post - been interrupted several times and have gotten off point. Summary -
1. If you have only added chlorine, add CYA per pool calculator AND keep your chlorine level up
2. If you have already added something other than chlorine, post back with what and how much and wait for advice
3. Address your high pH
4. Invest in the TFTest Kit - I would be stunned if you regretted it. To buy it, go to duraleigh's signature block in his response above, and just click on the blue link - great customer service and product!
5. To address slimey walls, I would indeed either shock or at least raise my FC a bit above target to see how it goes - then either shock or see if all goes back to good. But this step is hard to do without a proper test kit that tests for Free Chlorine (FC) and Combined Chlorine/chloramines (CC - I always forget what it stands for).

Thanks for the in depth response. I will pick up some CYA along with the muriatic acid when I go to the store. Oh and I live in Las Vegas, NV btw.

I would add that if getting a TFTest Kit is completely out of the question, don't despair. You will be able to manage that pool without it, just not as efficiently - so post back your plan going forward and let us help you with what you have to work with.

I was looking into purchasing a TF-100 very soon but seen the one at Home Depot for $15 and got it for in the mean time.

 

[illegalALIEN]

Is instant conditioner liquid from leslies an acceptable CYA? or should I stick with the BBB and use Borax?

 

[Isaac-1]

Please post the ingredient list, it is not on the web page, and unfortuneately some companies are known to change things up from time to time and not change the name of the product much or any at all

Ike

 

[crek31]

I committed a cardinal sin here and suggested you "shock" your pool -- what we mean around here is to super-chlorinate your pool by adding extra bleach/chlorine to a specific concentration based upon your CYA level. Please don't buy a powder product called "shock" and add it to your pool -- sorry if I misled you and hope this clarification helps a bit. So, add extra bleach . . .

I'm not sure about the product you asked about - I agree you'd need to tell us more about the ingredients.

 

[crek31]

Is instant conditioner liquid from leslies an acceptable CYA? or should I stick with the BBB and use Borax?

Borax is not what we mean when we say CYA. CYA is cyanuric acid and is a "conditioner" for the chlorine (think sunscreen). The leslie's "instant conditioner" might be fine - I know there is a liquid cya although I've never used it. If it is in fact cyanuric acid (very high % required - high 90s I think), I'm sure it is fine. Post the ingredients if you can . . .

I have gleaned from this site that liquid cya would show up right away in a test, and of course also mixes in easier than powder. Powdered cya takes about a week to show up on a test. But . . . if you add the right amount per the pool calculator, to get to 40 (given Las Vegas I'd guess you could go to 40), you can assume it is there right away and add Chlorine to your target FC based on a CYA of 40 even if it does not yet register on the test.

 

[duraleigh]

Sorry I am late to respond. I would take care of a pool that size in a VERY simple way.

My reasoning behind suggesting this is if it gets away from you in any fashion, you can drain the whole pool and start over pretty cheaply.

So....

1. Purchase an OTO comparator block test that will test ONLY pH and Chlorine...probably about 8-10 bucks.[attachment=0:b8niy4u0]OTO_comparator.jpg[/attachment:b8niy4u0]

2. each Day put in 12 oz of bleach into the pool. Either in the evening or very early morning if you are going to use it.

Just before you swim, test for CL....if it's zero, put in 8 oz of bleach and go swimming. If it's more than zero, go swimming.

3. About twice weekly, check the pH. If it's 8.0 or over, post back and we'll tell you how to lower it.

 

[Isaac-1]

Like Dave says it is easy to dump and refill a pool that size if things get too bad, the little OTO test will likely work for what you need to do, I would change one thing though, and that is to say you need to add some CYA stabilizer, the cheapest and easiet way given the size of your pool is to buy a 1 pound bag of dichlor shock, and slowly add about 1/10th of it at a time over about a week. Testing about an hour after each time you dose it to maintain a safe chlorine level of above 3, but less then 5 ppm on the OTO Chlorine test kit. Then swich to bleach as Dave suggest, the Dichlor "shock" will add chlorine and will also add CYA stabilizer as well as lower the pH a little. You don't want to over use it, in fact you may want to limit your inital dose to less than the full pound, say .8 pounds would be perfect. This will save you from buying a larger container of straight CYA stabilizer when you would only need a fraction of it.

Ike

p.s. you can save that extra .2 pounds and use it in a month or so after you have some water splash out.

 

[illegalALIEN]

Sorry I am late to respond. I would take care of a pool that size in a VERY simple way.

My reasoning behind suggesting this is if it gets away from you in any fashion, you can drain the whole pool and start over pretty cheaply.

So....

1. Purchase an OTO comparator block test that will test ONLY pH and Chlorine...probably about 8-10 bucks.[attachment=0:3up4y43r]OTO_comparator.jpg[/attachment:3up4y43r]

2. each Day put in 12 oz of bleach into the pool. Either in the evening or very early morning if you are going to use it.

Just before you swim, test for CL....if it's zero, put in 8 oz of bleach and go swimming. If it's more than zero, go swimming.

3. About twice weekly, check the pH. If it's 8.0 or over, post back and we'll tell you how to lower it.

This is actually the test kit I purchased from Home Depot:

Would this be good enough for my pool until I get some extra cash to purchase a TF100?

 

[illegalALIEN]

I'm ordering some powder CYA (100% Cyanuric Acid) from amazon. I will get the appropriate amount according to the pool calculator and get it up to 40. From all the reviews it appears the liquid version is going to show immediate results in testing but is more expensive than the powder version however it's a pour it and forget it, but a pool this size is not worth the premium of the liquid so I'll stick with powder.

My question to you guys now is what about the slippery/slimey surface. Is this algae? should I shock the pool (using my liquid chlorine and not powder shock thanks crek31) or is this caused by something else?

 

[Bama Rambler]

A slimy surface usually means algae. I'd bring it to shock level until it cleared.

 

[Isaac-1]

To answer your other question, that test kit will be fine for you with a seasonal pool, the only down side to it is you will not be able to accurately tell your chlorine level while shocking and there is no test for your current CYA level, again not a big concern as if it gets too wacky you can easily dump and refill.

 

[crek31]

Duraleigh is a complete pro at this stuff, so my advice is not intended to override his. What I wrote and what he wrote are just different approaches and which approach you pick will depend on which of these considerations are most important to you: how much the pool endeavor will cost (test kit, cya, primarily being the differences in his approach versus mine); how important a pool instantly ready is to you (is it okay to dump and refill the morning of a play date if things get wacky when you are planning a swim). When I was in your shoes, I had little kids and seldom left the yard. For me it was all about having clear, warm water so that any time the weather and our schedules cooperated, we could go out and swim. Or invite friends over to swim without a bunch of notice or planning. For me a huge factor was not wanting to sacrifice my warm water for new water from the hose. Maybe in Las Vegas that is less a consideration than it was for me. Any way, for me spending the money on the test kit was worth it, even though I really only used three tests (FAS/DPD to check FC and CC; CYA; pH). For me knowing my CYA and FC/CC with precision was completely worth it. That is also why I sprung for powder CYA as opposed to some other options (dichlor) for adding CYA -- dichlor adds CYA and chlorine simultaneously so it takes multiple applications to yield the end result of enough cya because to add it all at once would be adding too much chlorine.

So, duraleigh is surely right for a lot of families for how to manage these small intex pools. But for me that approach left too much guess work; so I adopted the approach I would for a large pool in terms of wanting to KNOW my CYA, FC/CC, pH at all times so it was really quick to plug numbers in to the pool calculator and know I'd have good water. If in fact the costs of the powder cya and test kit are big factors, you will indeed be able to manage that pool the way duraleigh suggests. If the monetary factor is not the prevailing consideration for you and you align more with the needs my family had (less risk of drain/refill), you can consider doing it the way people with larger pools do - test kit and cya. You still won't have to worry about a lot of the test results the bigger/permanent pool people do (like calcium).

So -- I just wanted to clarify why some of us seem to be giving such different advice. Duraleigh is directly responsible for me having an awesome first summer with my blow up Intex three years ago -- I am in no position to argue with his approach. I just refined it for my family's needs over the years, and perhaps I jumped in too quickly with my approach.

Don't give up posting questions - tell us how you want to proceed and the advice will be there for whichever route you go.

 

[illegalALIEN]

Working with this sub-par test kit is making it a bit difficult and more of a guessing game with my shock process of the pool, but I have to say that the pool still looks very clear and the slimy/slippery algae on the pool surface is beginning to go away. Thanks again to everyone for their advise and if I encounter any issues I'll be back. Otherwise, I'm definitely picking up a lifetime membership here to the TFP and ordering a tf-100 test kit this payday. Thanks again!

 

[duraleigh]

Nice post, Illegal, thanks!

So -- I just wanted to clarify why some of us seem to be giving such different advice. Duraleigh is directly responsible for me having an awesome first summer with my blow up Intex three years ago -- I am in no position to argue with his approach. I just refined it for my family's needs over the years, and perhaps I jumped in too quickly with my approach.

and I should've explained what my intent was. crek's approach is a darn good one and I should have acknowledged that you could manage a smaller pool from two different perspectives......and both will work. :lol:

 

[illegalALIEN]

Thanks to everyone here I just won my first battle with algae and have learned how to properly shock my pool. I will always remember shocking is not a bag of powder you buy at the store, but a process that involves lots and lots of chlorine, a sock with cya (conditioner) by the return, brushing, vacuuming and lots of persistence.

My next question is that since I have not lost much chlorine since the last pour I did approximately 24-36 hours ago should I try lowering it to the recommended 4-5 or is it safe to swim with it at approx 12-15? Thanks again to everyone at TFP for the great help and support.