I've upped my ph and added the gallon of bleach and have ran the filter all night. It does slowly look better each day but what is the opinion of adding sink & sweep to it now? I know it's more work though. We have a chance of rain coming thursday and cooler temps..only 70 saturday, so i do have time to let it filter if i dont add it but how long can it take with these cheap paper filters? My hubby isn't keen on the idea of dumping the water so i'm trying not to.
Newbie battling algae in intex frame pool
- Thread starter NwTnMom
- Start date
For clarification, pH is measuring 7.5 with a water kit. My HTH strips are expired...grr..so they aren't measuring even close to correct but some aquachem 3 way strips show
TC 10+
FC10+
CYA 50+ (but less than the 100 reading)
TC 10+
FC10+
CYA 50+ (but less than the 100 reading)
You don't need those pool store products to get your pool clear. Sink & Sweep isn't on the list of products we use around here 
Yeah i've noticed that. LOL But It's just something that I have on hand...as well as two new canisters of 1" tablets. Oh well...
If you are going to clear the pool (as opposed to draining and refilling), stick with bleach and don't be tempted by the gimmicky products with catchy names and mystery/unnecessary/potentially harmful compositions. Use bleach to keep it at shock level - that means testing and adding bleach throughout the day as much as possible. After the algae is dead, which will only happen if you stay vigilant with your bleach additions, it will take a while to get the dead stuff filtered out. For me, the best way to trap stuff with the Intex equipment was to put a sock over the return. Just a regular calf-high cotton sock rubber-banded onto the return. It sort of acts as a second filter and tends to catch some of the finer stuff that can get through the Intex filters.
Until you are done shocking, nothing should be added to your pool except Chlorine. Sink & Sweep is a flocculant . If you still have something growing in the pool whatever drops to the bottom will be will be just a fraction of what's in the water and what will continue to grow in it.NwTnMom said:
People sometimes forget, myself included, that besides clearing up the water we are also disinfecting it. Swimming in slightly sub-par water is usually safe with just family members but why risk it. Clear water is not necessarily safe water. Keep testing and keep bringing your Chlorine back up to 20. Worry about the water clarity once the water is properly disinfected. The OCLT insures that nothing is growing in the water and that the Chlorine is free to disinfect any pathogens introduced by swimmers. The need for clarity is pretty self explanatory. Besides looking pretty, we need to see the bottom to insure the safety of the swimmers in case someone gets in trouble.
Don't worry, keep those tablets dry and out of the sun and they will last. They can be used next year when you need to bring up your CYA level. They contain Chlorine and CYA. You don't need any more CYA now. Also some tablets contain copper. You don't need copper in a pool and it can cause staining. If you drain your pool for the winter, they also can be used next year with minimal risk. Once I knew what was what with pool chemicals, I was able to use up all my stuff from the pool store. Well all except the Algaecide. Didn't need it and it was an Algaecide that was worthless.NwTnMom said:
The beauty of the BBB system goes beyond just keeping water clear and safe. It's cheap.
A good test kit more than pays for itself. Besides saving you from coming back from the pool store with bottles of stuff that doesn't work, it saves you time, gas, electricity, frustration and lost swimming time. Last year, not counting electricity, I spent 70% less on chemicals than the past pool store years.Great idea about the sock! I will go find one today and put that on. I do believe all the algae is dead but i will continue to keep my chlorine level up and see where it stand tomorrow morning. I know i'm seeing further into the water today so that's an improvement. By the way, I did use baking soda and borax last year...just didn't know about straight bleach vs the tablets. Honestly, i had a hard time with those and had to replace them VERY often. I'm guessing my CYA level was off and of course last year, i knew nothing about that. I'm so glad I found this forum! So is algaecide not needed? I'm sorry...i've read a lot on here and it's a lot to remember. I didn't use any last year and never had any growth but i guess the closing kit i got from In The Swim wasn't enough to handle it.
Numbers are holding steady since yesterday. I posted yesterdays numbers for the morning and only had to add a cup of bleach last night to get my chock level back up (that's guess work with diluting the water as I was told earlier and also using a brand new pack of 3way strips). After taking the reading an hr later and again this morning, i have passed the OCLT. The sock was doing great yesterday however it blew off last night and it's somewhere in the bottom of the pool, which i still can't see. I am at the minimum water line and need to add some more water currently as well.
Glad to hear you're making progress. Keep shocking til it's clear, and verify that OCLT result once you get your test kit. Strips are not accurate enough.
Ok, my mad scientist kit arrived. YAY!! My readings are:
FC 10ppm
CC 1.0
TC 11.0
CYA 80ppm
pH 7.2
CH 40
TA 160
Pool is still a big bowl of milk although I can see a BIT further into the water each day. So, where do I go from here?
FC 10ppm
CC 1.0
TC 11.0
CYA 80ppm
pH 7.2
CH 40
TA 160
Pool is still a big bowl of milk although I can see a BIT further into the water each day. So, where do I go from here?
aa62579
0
If you are confident in your new CYA level, your shock level is actually 31ppm (according to chlorine/cya chart) or 21ppm (according to pool calculator) and you never want to let it fall below 6ppm.
If it only took you a day to drain and 7 hours to fill back up, that would certainly be my choice now. It should fix your water and your CYA problems.
If it only took you a day to drain and 7 hours to fill back up, that would certainly be my choice now. It should fix your water and your CYA problems.
I'm tempted however, we've just discovered 4 pinholes in our well tank. I dont know if it'd be smart to run it for that long with the holes in it.