1st time pool owner

[Weasel0303]

Just bought our first house and it has a pool!!

Need all the help I can get, I've never maintained a pool.

1st test from pool store:

Tc: 9.9
Fc: 9.9
Cc: 0
Ph: 7.8
Ta: 150
Ch: 200
Cya: 60

Added muriatic acid, super water clarifier and calcium hardness, per pool store advice.

Just got my Taylor k-2006 today and results are (if I used the kit correctly):

Fc: 11.2
Cc: 1
Ph: 7.4
Ta: 90
Ch: 200
Cya: 110

I'm in over my head. I keep reading thru pool school and trying to understand everything. Water is clear but I'm getting a lot of dirt (have pool cage) that I have to vacuum out daily. Also has a lot of white residue when I brush the pool and black dots are starting to appear.

From what I've read May have to get CH up to get rid of white residue or the gel coat is going bad!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Charlie_R]

Welcome to TFP!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your first order of business will be to reduce your CYA, by drain and fill. PoolMath will tell you how much you need to drain.

 

[boon4376]

If you really need to vacuum that frequently, you may have a hole in your filter media. When you vacuum, it may just temporarily look clean while the dirt is suspended in the water, but it will eventually settle to the floor again. When my DE filter had a dime sized hole in the grid I had a similar issue.

 

[Charlie_R]

You will probably see this from several of us: Pool School until you go and think about . Then come back and ask questions about what you are having difficulty with. You will find many folks here very much willing to help out, and most often the advice will be spot on.

We don't normally advocate the use of "magic" potions from the pool stores, this includes clarifiers, algaecides, floc, etc. More often than not, problems with the pool are chemical imbalance related. That is why you have that great little test kit. So you KNOW what your pool needs, and Pool School will help you understand the why.

 

[Weasel0303]

Thanks for the advice, I figured that was coming. There is a chlorinator hooked up and a bucket of Trichlor in the garage. I think the previous owners stopped the pool service and loaded it up with tablets once they accepted the offer. It took approx a month to close and they had already moved to their new house when they listed the house. I will test cya again and then start draining. Only positive is I can fix the light once it's drained, lol.

I'm on a well, when I go to fill should I fill with water that goes thru the aerator and softener or untreated?

Thanks for everyone's help, I'm gonna need it. I got a lot more reading to do. I thought I was done with school but now I'm in pool school.

 

[duraleigh]

Refilling some of your pool will quickly overwhelm your softener. You don't want to do that.

Can you test that well for iron? If the iron is excessive in your pool, you will be adding one more problem that you don't need right now.