Desperate for help...

[JasonLion]

Pool store testing is very hit or miss, sometimes they are good but more often than not they can be way off. This is one of the big advantages of having your own good quality test kit. After only a couple of tries your results will be more accurate than the pool stores.

Try putting the CYA into a sock and put that in the skimmer. The water flow will help it dissolve and the sock will keep it off the vinyl, where it could cause minor damage if it sat in one place for too long.

 

[Sissy907]

I know I need a test kit, it is supposed to go into the mail on tuesday, so I should be able to use that when it gets here but for now I am using the pool stores free service to kinda guide me until it gets here.. or else it's the crappy two part test kit I got at walmart and it doesn't measure anything over 5.0 for chlorine so that is about useless.

I added the gallon of chlorine I had and I dumped about 6 inches worth of the stabilizer into an old sock and set it in the skimmer as suggested. Oh, and I put three pucks of chlorine in a floater as well...

So, since the pool store will be closed tomorrow and probably monday, should I just go ahead and dump a gallon (or more) of chlorine in each day and check it with my crappy test kit until then, so I know at least there is 5.0 chlorine in the pool until I can get it retested on tuesday at the pool store? How's that for a run-on sentance folks?!

Alli~

Oh.. and pics will have to wait until the batteries charge. Kids ran them out taking pictures of themselves.

 

[JasonLion]

Without a good test kit shocking the pool gets tricky. Your cheap kit isn't worth much because it measures TC, which includes both FC (the number we really want to know) and CC (which is unimportant right now and commonly above zero when fighting algae). TC above 5 might mean FC is above five, which is good, or that CC was above 5, which doesn't help fight algae at all.

You risk both putting too little chlorine in the pool and letting the algae continue growing and putting too much chlorine in the pool and both wasting chlorine and possibly bleaching the liner a little.

I suggest you add enough chlorine to bring the pool up to shock level each evening. That will give the chlorine all night to work before you start losing it to sunlight. In this case shock level is about 10, which means about one gallon plus one quart of 6% bleach each evening. That risks being too little chlorine, but it can't be too much. If you are more adventurous you could also add that much in the morning, but that starts to bring in a small risk of bleaching the liner. If the pool stops looking green you can cut back to three quarts of bleach each evening.

 

[Sissy907]

Hmmm, son said it smells pretty "chloriny" right now, and there are storms on the way, which means I will have to pull the plug on the pump soon anyway, is it ok to just leave it for tonight and then start again in the morning? Sun is down and not even close to being on the pool. Think I could just hang tight and dump a gallon and a half ish in the morning. It is going to be full sun tomorrow anyway and I dont mind putting more in at night... I dont mind if the liner is slightly bleached either.. just dont wanna burn a hole in it ya know?

Cooking dinner be back in a bit..

Alli~

Thank God for holidays and weekends right? Can I get an Amen!? *giggle*

 

[JasonLion]

As long as any chemicals you have added have had a little while to mix in then it is alright to turn the circulation off. It is good to get as much circulation as you can when fighting algae, but take any precautions from storms you feel are necessary.

 

[Sissy907]

Desperate for help! -Now with photos!!

Ok, Finally got the camera charged up and have photos for all of you... Dont mind the horrible yard I am still working to get it back to its former (Pre labrador glory).

This is the yucky pool...

As you can see, its still Yuck. The pump has been running all weekend circulating, and I dumped a gallon and a half of chlorine in each night. It smells like chlorine, but still looks the same.

I'm thinking maybe I should empty it and Re- level the ground. Tho I cant dig down much farther there is a huge electrical line under there. The problem is that our yard sits at such a slope that when it rains it washes away.. even with the pool full. Any ideas what to do there?

And maybe if I started out fresh with some clean water I could get it swimable a bit faster? And then I will have my personal test kit instead of running over to the pool store, which I need to do again this morning to find out how this weekend went.. This is starting to suck specially on the really hot days when all you want is to jump in!!

Waiting for some good sound advice,


Alli

 

[JasonLion]

Draining and refilling is usually much more work than getting the current water cleaned up. A good test kit makes all the difference.

 

[duraleigh]

If water is cheap in your area, draining and refill is a good alternative.

If you do, get some bleach in there the same day it's filled so you won't have the problems you're having now.

 

[ktdave]

Sissy,

Looks like you have been getting some great advice to help with your pool, this is the BEST place for that.

I just wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU, not only to your husband who has made a sacrifice for all of us in this great country, but to YOU, also making a tremendous sacrifice being the home operator for our soldier in the field.

Hang with us here and we will help you!

 

[Sissy907]

OK.. So, went to the pool store and this is the new readings.

TC - 0
FC - 0
pH - 7.2
TA - 100 ppm
CH - 125 ppm
CYA - 20 ppm

So again, things look like they are changing. The stabilizer has come up from 0 so that makes me feel much better. Keeping my fingers crossed that my test kit comes quick, but its not coming from that far away so it should.

The reason I was thinking of emptying the pool and starting fresh was because then I could also level the pool again. Tho we may just do that later in the season I dunno yet. I want to get a lot of yard work done and part of that is fixing the eyesore of having a crappy lawn.

And water isn't just cheap.. its free (so to speak). We live on base and don't pay a water bill so it's not going to kill me to do it. Just the back breaking work of having to level the whole yard... Anyone in the area wanna come help!? *bats eyelashes*

hehe

This morning before going to the pool store I learned some new things..
1) My son is a complete brat. He was supposed to have scooped all the leaves out and been scrubbing the bottom and sides.. He hasnt been.
2) There was a metric F ton of leaves in my pool. I scooped out as much as I could and then scrubbed. Waiting for it to settle again so I can rescoop. (if I need to -which I am sure I will)
On the side closest to the house it was murky but I was able to see the bottom ever so faintly. On the side farther away from the house it was thick and green! Since we scrubbed and scooped we stirred it up substantially and I dumped in a bag of shock. I could faintly smell chlorine while I was scrubbing but it wasnt over powering. Even after I dumped the shock went in (the pool was shaded for at least an hour after shocking) it wasnt over powering.. Which I am sure means that it was used up on the algae rather quickly.
Tonight I am going to dump in more shock and let that pump work its magic.. Still worried about the stabilizer.. it doesnt seem to be disolving very fast? Maybe if I take it out of the skimmer and put it in the pump where the filter should be? I dunno. What do you guys suggest?

Alli

 

[Ras Jay]

Filter

(sans filter -that is what the pool store said- no filter til all algae is dead)

I'm new here also, but shouldn't you be running the pump with the filter all the time? And clean often?

Jay

 

[JohnT]

Re: Filter

(sans filter -that is what the pool store said- no filter til all algae is dead)

I'm new here also, but shouldn't you be running the pump with the filter all the time? And clean often?

Jay

There are two steps to clearing a green pool: Killing the algae, and removing the dead algae from the pool. Some filters are so good at removing debris that they will clog in less than an hour, which can make it very difficult to kill the algae because you lose circulation unless you can stand by the filter all day to backwash or clean it. In these cases, you can run the filter on circulate to kill the algae, then switch back to filtration to remove it. Once the algae is dead, there is no new growth, so the removal doesn't take quite as long.

 

[Sissy907]

OK, yesterday at the pool store the girl at the counter reccomended that instead of the one bag of shock I put in to add three bags of shock. I thought, uh, ok? But I did... and here are todays results,

FC - 5.0 YAY
pH - 7.4
TA - 120 ppm
CH - 75 ppm
CYA - 40 ppm YAY
Total disolved solids have gone up however (what is that btw?)
From 300 the first couple readings to 400 and today to 700...


The pool is still a bit green (but not so bad as yesterday) so I think I will reshock with triple the shock tonight and take it in for another reading tomorrow... But with all that shock last night and all I had was a 5.0 reading then it really must have tackled the algae?! Hopefully one more super shock and I should be done.. and hopefully by then I will have my test kit as well! YAY!

Questions:
Should I attempt to raise the pH even tho its in range altho the lower end of the range?
I still have some stabilizer in the sock in the skimmer, should I take it out since we are in the range or let it sit a bit since its the lowe end of the range?
The girl at the pool store reccomends I add some calcium, do I need that? In a vinyl pool?

THANKS EVERYONE!!! ITS WORKING YAY!

Alli~

 

[MikeInTN]

OK, yesterday at the pool store the girl at the counter reccomended that instead of the one bag of shock I put in to add three bags of shock. I thought, uh, ok? But I did... and here are todays results,

FC - 5.0 YAY
pH - 7.4
TA - 120 ppm
CH - 75 ppm
CYA - 40 ppm YAY
Total disolved solids have gone up however (what is that btw?)
From 300 the first couple readings to 400 and today to 700...


The pool is still a bit green (but not so bad as yesterday) so I think I will reshock with triple the shock tonight and take it in for another reading tomorrow... But with all that shock last night and all I had was a 5.0 reading then it really must have tackled the algae?! Hopefully one more super shock and I should be done.. and hopefully by then I will have my test kit as well! YAY!

Questions:
Should I attempt to raise the pH even tho its in range altho the lower end of the range?
I still have some stabilizer in the sock in the skimmer, should I take it out since we are in the range or let it sit a bit since its the lowe end of the range?
The girl at the pool store reccomends I add some calcium, do I need that? In a vinyl pool?

THANKS EVERYONE!!! ITS WORKING YAY!

Alli~

Alli,

I'd also like to add my thank you to your husband and your family for all of your service to our country. The ones back at home serve and sacrifice as well.

Your pH is fine, don't worry about it.

Go ahead and take the stabilizer out. When you get your test kit, do your own CYA test and see what it reads. Always best to have to add more than have too much.

There's no need for calcium in your pool.

Keep smiling!