New guy here with a few questions.

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escher

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Jun 12, 2008
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Hi folks... I'm escher (Chris in the real world). Just turned 35, and work as an engineer in the automotive industry.

Been reading a bit through here and let me just say, I'm overwhelmed. Heres the story:


Been running Baqua in my Legacy AG pool (9K gals) for about 5 years, since it was purchased. Baqua has been a nightmare, and the pool was only clear the first half of the first season.... ever since I've been fighting cloudy or slightly green water. I had to drain it to do some maintenance so I found this site since I had been considering changing over to CL.

So, the wife and I scrubbed the entire pool today, I have replaced the filter sand and the pool is now filling.

Now heres the catch.... Hhehehehe... and no this couldn't be worse timing..

We leave for vacation Monday evening and return the following sunday (6 days).

So.... I figure the pool will be filled by Sat night, and I can add chemicals on Sunday.

This is where I need help.

Since I will be gone, I plan to put the winter cover on and run the filter 12 hours (6pm-6am) every day. What should I do to keep it clear until I can get home and properly start a maint schedule? Just Chlorinate the heck out of it before I leave, and get one of those floating chlorine dispensers? (I know JACK NOTHING about chlorine....) I understand the TA and PH as I dealt with that with Baqua...

I've read though the forums for the last few days, but I'm confused as to exactly what I need.... My plan right now is just go to the pool store and suck it up for right now since I'm very limited on time...

Thanks for the help.... normally I'm not this much of a newb, as I frequent many forums I know this post is total flame bait, thanks for tolerating me! I promise to do the research properly when I return!
 
I would try to find somebody who could put a half gallon of bleach in every day or two to maintain a reasonable chlorine level. Raising the chlorine to 15ppm before you leave would be a good start, but since you have no stabilizer, it won't last.
 
Save yourself another big hassle and a trip to the pool store. If you do go to the pool store only buy "liquid chlorine" a.k.a. "shock" NOT the bagged kind. You can also buy CYA a.k.a Stabilizer.

There is a link in my signature to the pool calculator. That will tell you where you need to be for recommended levels according to your gallonage.

You can buy liquid stabilizer for a bit more money than granular form but then you won't have to wait for it to dissolve and your bleach will be protected while you are gone. Don't bother with a floater.

Aim for 30-50 CYA range, and then dose your pool with chlorine for the appropriate shock level, 15ppm likely. Do that again the night before you leave. If you will be gone for one week, you may be okay, you may do better if you can have a neighbor add 1/2 jug of bleach mid-week, even a whole jug if you want.

Is there a reason for putting the winter cover back on? Do you have a solar cover?
 
P.S. you can also use Clorox Bleach or Wal-mart brand, 6%. It's not as strong as the pool store "liquid chlorine shock" but not all pool stores carry the liquid.

The pool calculator tells you dosage based on 6% I believe...
 
Thanks for the replies...

The winter cover is because when I was running Baqua, if I just used the solar cover it was green after every vacation, that and we have been getting crazy weather here with really high winds... I'm not opposed to trying the solar cover again though. :)
 
escher said:
Thanks for the replies...

The winter cover is because when I was running Baqua, if I just used the solar cover it was green after every vacation, that and we have been getting crazy weather here with really high winds... I'm not opposed to trying the solar cover again though. :)
Click to expand...

Me too - the winds....all the time! :roll:

The solar cover will be fine with bleach. I take empty bleach jugs, fill them with pool water and put the jugs on the top of the solar cover, spaced out, and they hold the cover perfectly in place.

Did that for 11 days last June and it didn't move.....
 
Update:

Got the granular CYA at Wallyworld, and also 8 jugs of bleach.

Used the calculator to figure out that I needed 3 jugs of bleach to start.

I added the CYA (Bottle said 4lb for 9K gal so I did that) and first 3 jugs of bleach, and I actually got it to pretty much dissolve over the course of about 36 hours by stirring it up on the bottom of the pool every few hours. I Threw in another jug of bleach this morning (the CYA wasn't dissolved yet).

Will check out the chemical balance tomorrow with the $16 walmart kit and go from there...

Only issue so far is that I think I have an air leak in the system, the pump basket doesn't want to fill completely, it fills about 3/4 and pulls water, but never completely fills.... I think my return hose must have a crack or something. Going to buy new hoses tomorrow. But, the filter IS running, its just putting some bubbles in the pool.

The best news is that the water is sparkling clear!

Thanks folks! I know its still early to pass judgement, but I already have saved about $30 on opening the pool.
 
Ok... first levels:

TA - 110
Ph 6.8 --> Low
CL - Off scale --> No doubt, because I am shocking the pool
CYA - 55-58
Hardness - Doesn't register. This is basically a vinyl pool, so I'm not sure If I should worry. Matters more for masonry pools, right?
 

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Your PH is low, you need to add Borax. Use the Pool Calculator...

Test your CYA after you get back to see what your level is, and use the CYA chlorine chart to reach your targets....

Yup, Vinyl, I'm pretty sure the hardness doesn't matter either...we'll see what the guru's say.

Good luck hope it works out this week. Try the solar/cover/jug trick, works like a charm.
 
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