Wow, this is tough!

[Coach337]

Bought an Intex 18' x 48" (6400 gallons) pool at the end of last summer. We loved it, but had a few problems keeping the water clear.

Fast forward to now, we upgraded to a more powerful sand filter pump and added the saltwater generator. Been at it a few days, but cant seem to get my water right. Multiple shock treatments and an entire jug of algaecide and still a light green color. Help!


Hardness 200
Free Chlorine 3
PH 7.5
Total Alkalinity 180
CYA 30-50
Copper .5

 

[Coach337]

Going to Pool School and reading now, just wanted to throw this on here first!

 

[Charlie_R]

Welcom to TFP!

Are those test results from strips or a pool store? You really need your own kit. TF-100 is the best bang for your buck, you can order from http://tftestkits.net/splash-page.html.

Check out Pool School, linked in the upper right of every page here. Read through that, paying special attention to the SLAM procedure.

With that copper level, you may have to partially drain to reduce it.

There will probably be several others that will add to what I've posted, but this should get you started.

 

[Beens]

I have the same size intex, except mine's not the ultra frame.

I'll second the test kit. I bought the TF-100 last year. Best thing I ever did. It's all about the test kit and pool school!

Get ready for lots of help from the forum! If you want to get it right there are a lot of people here willing to help.

Start reading the pool school articles...and if you want to dive in with us, go ahead and order that kit!

BTW, just as a note and I'm sure someone else will say it, apparently algaecide can help to prevent algae but not to get rid of it once you've got a problem! If your water is balanced you'll probably never even need it. I didn't know that last year and I was doing the same as you. I just ended up with foamy water. :-(

Now all I need is a little bleach each day and I'm sparkly.

I'll let the experts chime in for the step by step help.

 

[Casey]

What is your fill source? Well? Municipal? Lake or pond?

 

[Coach337]

Municipal

 

[Casey]

What are you testing with? Strips? Test kit?

Multiple shock treatments. Elaborate please...

Algaecide? YOU DON'T NEED IT!

Pool School my fellow Newbster... Pool School. Read it til you want to bleach the balls from your sockets because you've read too much and then read it again. There is where you will find everything you want and need to know! Those test kits we recommend are needed to perform the SLAM process (which you are in dire need of!!!).

 

[JamesW]

Have you ever used Baquacil? That kind of looks like something you would see if chlorine was added to a Baquacil pool.

 

[Richard320]

You know, with only 6000 gallons, and above ground, why not just start a siphon and drain the thing? What you've already wasted on chemicals would more than cover the cost of the water.

 

[Coach337]

Making progress. Chlorine is still off the charts though. Water has gone from green to cloudy blue. I put the suggested target ranges from Intex in parenthesis.

Copper .4 (.1 - .2)
Free Chlorine 5 (.4 - 1.5)
Combined Chlorine 5 (0)
PH 8.0 (7.4 - 7.6)
Total Alkalinirty 150 (100 - 140)
Calcium Hardness 150 (200 - 400)
CYA 60 (30 - 50)

 

[pwrstrk]

You know, with only 6000 gallons, and above ground, why not just start a siphon and drain the thing? What you've already wasted on chemicals would more than cover the cost of the water.

That's what I would have done.

 

[raidencmc]

I agree with draining it! Also I think someone mentioned somewhere that if you are filling your pool you can contact the water company and let them know so they don't charge you for water and sewer during that time. Follow the water parameters here instead of the intex ones. Also someone had mentioned the tabs I had used in the past contained copper. I wonder if that is the source of the copper?

 

[Charlie_R]

Most of your HTH branded pucks/tabs do have copper in them.

 

[Leebo]

X2 on James question......

Have you ever used baquacil? That color looks very much like the start of the baqua conversion.

 

[PoolPete]

If your CYA is really 60 then FC of 5 is the minimum you should be maintaining (Intex values are misleading). PH needs to come down as well. It might be worth having your municipal water tested for metals before doing a refill as some municipalities use nothing but big wells for their water supply.

Hang in there! Once you get things under control, pool maintenance takes only a few minutes a day.

 

[Coach337]

Have never used Baquacil. Pretty sure the excess copper came from me running too many boost cycles on the SWG.

 

[duraleigh]

Coach,

I would suggest this....

1. Drain 50% of your pool to reduce that copper level and never use anything that has copper in it again. refill.

2. read "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School

3. SLAM your pool. Follow the article EXACTLY in the How to section of Pool School.

 

[Casey]

How are you testing your water?

 

[gwc]

Some Intex SWG have an electrically charged copper electrode which produces copper ions, that is why they included the test strips. The following excerpt is from the manual:
Test pool water regularly:
Once the copper level appears to be balanced, test the pool water every week
to maintain the proper sanitizer level.
It’s very important that the free chlorine is between 0.5-3.0 ppm and copper
ion concentration is between 0.1~0.2 ppm. When the copper level is below 0.1
ppm, repeat step 6.
NOTE: A High copper ion concentration may cause blonde hair to exhibit a
green hair. To prevent this, wear a swimming cap during swimming, and wash
hair with special shampoo after using the pool.
To prevent the production of the copper ions you can disconnect the plug from the copper electrode.

 

[gwc]

Now that it is daylight I took a couple of pictures of the copper electrode on the Intex SWG that puts the copper in the pool. The unit I took the picture of is not functional and I could not unplug the wire going to the copper electrodes although it does appear to have a plug, it could be too corroded.


The copper was always a problem for my blonde headed granddaughter.