Mamma didn't raise no POOL keeper!

[iSmile]

I pity da fool who put me in charge of taking care of this beast! I have one for the Pool Owner of the Year judges. I have gone about this new pool venture so meticulously. I researched. I studied. I interviewed. I compared. With such careful thought and consideration I cannot help but laugh at myself for this one and must have totally misplaced confidence somewhere in my subconscious. I've struggled to balance my new water and have been on here numerous times to work it out. In a nutshell, I can't keep the thing chlorinated and have questioned everything about it. I questioned my testing skills. I questioned the tests and their directions. I questioned the start-up recommendations found here on TFP. By late afternoon when I had to add even more bleach (btw, my pool care career spans a whopping 6 days) I was questioning the BBB method in general, thinking perhaps those of you who get on here and rave about it must surely be able to acquire your bleach much more conveniently than I, since I do live in such a rural area that even the nearest Walmart is a 40 minute drive, one way. Well only tonight did I bother to question MYSELF and read the ingredients list of the bags of shock I bought before the pool was put in. I guess I just thought that if it said SHOCK, it was dichlor. But I haven't been adding dichlor at all! Instead, I gradually dumped 10 pounds of hypo-cal into my already very hard water and kept getting on here asking you fine folks to help me figure out my CYA levels, since they just HAD to be there, but my crazy test just wasn't catching on! LOL

Good gravy, I do not believe this was my last act of stupidity with the pool, but I am sure floored that I carried on so long without catching that. I picked up some stabilizer (but too little, unfortunately) and have the socks floating on my ladder tonight.

 

[BoDarville]

Well, I don't think any of us were born pool keepers, but we can learn. It will take some time, but before long you will know the main differences among the several types of chlorine (CalHypo, dichlor, trichlor, liquid chlorine, bleach, LithiumHypo) and how they impact the water. A year ago, I was following the "traditional method" of pool management that involved the "one-size fits all" FC recommendation of 1-3 ppm and randomly dumping a dozen or so "magic" elixirs into the water hoping for a miracle to occur. While my pool appeared fine, I was likely a week or two away from an algae or "pink algae" (latter is a bacterium) outbreak had I not switched to BBB.

To me, BBB is about having a solid understanding of what parameters to measure in order to properly manage your pool along with knowing what chemicals/dosages are needed and their effect on the water. I have gone from my dozen chemicals down to primarily two: Bleach and muriatic acid.

The one thing I don't have an answer for is how you can purchase bleach conveniently in your location. You are talking to someone with three Sam's Clubs and three Costcos in a 7-mile radius, not to mention the Wal-Marts and big-box hardware stores. Hopefully someone will chime in with a solution applicable to your situation.

So , here are my recommendations to get you started:

• 1. If you do not already have one, purchase a good test kit - today! You need a FAS-DPD test for chlorine. See link in my signature for an evaluation of 3 good test kits, all of which include a FAS-DPD test for chlorine. Think of it as an investment, not an expense.

• 2. Read Pool School while you are waiting for your test kit.

• 3. Become familiar with the FC/CYA Chart and the Pool Calculator (click links in my sig). Forget the traditional one-size-fits-all FC recommendation of 1-3 ppm.

• 4. Add information about your pool to your signature including gallons, in-ground or above ground, manually chlorinated or SWG, filter type, pump, and any other relevant equipment.

• 5. When your test kit arrives, run a full series of tests and post them. We will go from there.

 

[joenypd]

Good luck, I'm sure you'll get everything right!

 

[iSmile]

Thank you both for the encouragement, and Bo thanks much for trying to raise me right I actually have done all those things and am laughing at how I could have missed such a detail. I'm not sure why my signature doesn't have info though. I'm using tapatalk on my phone right now, so signatures aren't showing.


Southeastern Indiana, USA
27' x 4' 17,600gal AG round
1.5 HP 1 speed pump
22" Ecco sand filter