Need help please

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Imxelite

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Jun 11, 2014
49
Philly, PA
Hi,

I have read some of the FAQ and I have ordered a test kit that will be here by end of week. However, I added shock to my pool last night to help get the process going. I"m going to take you through the events of the pool over the last week.

Last Monday - Had pool company open the pool after 1 1/2 year of being closed. (Just purchased the house and the pool had been sitting).
Pool was dark green so the pool person added 8lbs of shock to help clear it up and removed most of the leaves and other debris in the pool.

Friday - Pool is now cloudy and I went to pool store to get a reading. The pool store said my PH was over 8.4 and instructed me to add 2lb of acid to the pool.

Saturday - I added 2 lbs of acid and 3 hours later added another 4 lbs of shock.

Sunday - Went to pool store and got another test:

Free Available Chlorine - FAC - Result - 0
Total available Chlorine - TAC - Result - 0
Calcium Hardness - CH - Result 170
Cyanuric Acid - CYA - Result 0
Total Alkalinity - TA - Result 100
PH - Result 7.8
Total Dissolved Solids - 450
Phosphates - PHO - 0

I measure my pool which is a free form but still a little confused on how to tell the gallons in the pool. My measurements are 35 ft x 15th - 4.5 ft deep in shallow end and 8ft in deep end.

The pool store suggested I buy 2 gallons of instant pool conditioner and 1 gallon of pool first aid. Now I have no idea what either does but I know at $110 for all three I wanted to know you all thoughts before I used it. The pool store person said something about me needing to raise my CYA.


Pool.jpg
 
Welcome! :wave:

Congratulations on the purchase of a test kit. I hope you ordered one of the recommended ones.

The pool first aid is good stuff if you have an oil spill of some sort - a bottle of tanning lotion, a salad, some oily marinaded meats on the way to the grill. It's not usually needed day to day, though

The instant conditioner - liquid gold by the price of it - is also good stuff, if you need CYA and you're in a hurry.

Now the bad news: I see a puck floater in the pool. I see pounds of powdered chlorine shock has been added. I don't see the corresponding CH level I would expect if it was Cal-hypo shock. These all tell me that the zero CYA number is probably wrong. It's the hardest test and the one the pool stores are most often wrong about.

Therefore, I wouldn't add any of those expensive chemicals until after you have run your own tests, lest you overdose the pool and end up draining out a bunch of water and losing those pricey pool chemicals with it.

I know you want to do something to speed things along so hopefully the water will be clear before summer is over, but adding those chemicals is not necessarily the best thing to do.

What you can do is brush and vacuum as much as possible, and add a couple jugs of Chlorox every day. That will get your pool around shock level for zero CYA - in the off-chance that is a correct reading - and at least stall the algae growth until you can attack it in an orderly way.
 
Welcome. You have come to the right place.

You are at the point where it is going to start feeling like you are drinking from the fire hose with all you have to learn. Don't despair, it isn't really that hard and there are plenty of knowledgeable people here to help.


First off, you need to take control of your pool and stop using pool store testing. Is sounds like you already don't trust the pool store advice.

Step one is to order one of the :lookhere: recommended test kits.
I recommend the TF-100 with the XL option and get a Speedstir while you are at it. This will be the best $100 you ever spent on your pool.
edit: I see you ordered a kit. Hopefully it is either the TF-100 or the k-2006

To help save you some of that money back right away I can say that you don't need the Pool First Aid. This is what we refer to on TFP as snake oil. It will not solve your problems and may create new ones.

Also, the instant pool conditioner is no better than the granular stuff, which is way cheaper. BTW, this is Cyanuric Acid aka CYA aka Conditioner aka stabilizer. It acts as sunblock for your chlorine, which is important since in a balanced residential pool the majority of chlorine loss is caused by sunlight. You can get granular CYA at the pool store, but you may find it is cheaper to get it at Walmart or a hardware store with a pool section. Some CYA is necessary to keep your chlorine from being eaten up by the sun, but too much can render chlorine less effective. Since Chlorine tabs and granular chlorine add CYA, and it doesn't get used up, this is why we recommend liquid chlorine aka bleach for chlorinating.

Regarding pool size, the volume will depend on how much is deep vs shallow along with the slope.
If we assume its 1/2 deep and 1/2 shallow that would be an average depth of 6.25' so 35 x 15 x 6.25 = 3281 cubic feet = 25,000 gallons,

You added acid, which is fine, but long term we don't recommend dry acid. It adds sulfates to the pool which can build up and cause problems. Instead use muriatic acid which can be purchased at pool stores or hardware stores.

Have you read any of Pool School? To get an understanding of pool chemistry:
:lookhere: What is TFPC?
:lookhere: ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry
:lookhere: Recommended Pool Chemicals
:lookhere: Basic Pool Care Schedule
:lookhere: How to Chlorinate Your Pool
:lookhere: Chlorine CYA Chart
:lookhere: Recommended Levels
:lookhere: PoolMath



When your new test kit comes in, you need to :lookhere: SLAM Your Pool.
This involves maintaining a shock level of FC in your pool for an extended period to knock out the algae without letting it recover.
 
Thanks for the replies. I know you all see the puck floater in the pool but it is empty (It was in the pool already and I just had an automatic feeder installed on the filter, which I have not used yet). The only two things that were added to the pool was power powder plus shock by the pool store and the dry acid. I ordered the TF-100 test kit but didn't order the speedstir or XL option (I'm assuming that's a bad thing). I'm going to return the chemicals I purchased today.

Also if I should add Clorox every day until my test comes do you know how much, 1 gallon or more? I will try and find CYA at my local walmart or hardware store.
 
Imxelite said:
Thanks for the replies. I know you all see the puck floater in the pool but it is empty (It was in the pool already and I just had an automatic feeder installed on the filter, which I have not used yet). The only two things that were added to the pool was power powder plus shock by the pool store and the dry acid. I ordered the TF-100 test kit but didn't order the speedstir or XL option (I'm assuming that's a bad thing). I'm going to return the chemicals I purchased today.

Also if I should add Clorox every day until my test comes do you know how much, 1 gallon or more? I will try and find CYA at my local walmart or hardware store.
Click to expand...
Add two jugs of Chlorox every day. That will get your pool around shock level (10) for zero CYA - in the off-chance that is a correct reading - and at least stall the algae growth until you can attack it in an orderly way.
 
Have you been doing the Bleach addition as recommended? Doing the FC check first immediately followed by the CC. Those and the pH test should pretty much be done daily. TA maybe weekly. Ch maybe less often than TA. CYA should be checked when you have a major change in your water situation i.e. heavy rains or substantial backwashing. Maybe monthly.
Have you done all the suggested reading so you pretty much know the lingo?
Using pool math and the estimated 25,000 gal capacity of your pool, you should immediately pour Pour 25 oz of muriatic acid to get your pH down to 7.6. And then 377 ozs of 8.25% Bleach in your pool with the pump running. You're looking for a 10FC level, test about an hour after and pour in an additional amount of bleach to get it back to 10 (I'm assuming you will be losing a lot of chlorine often until your pool starts to clear up). Keep doing that at least twice a day. That's called slamming While you're slamming, you will want to raise your CYA up to 30. to try to keep the sun from burning up your chlorine.
 

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You very well might have to go back more than once. You got unscented right? I use Walmart's great value 8.25%. Buying bleach anywhere but a store that has fast turnover of the bleach stock is usually not a good thing to do. Especially, stay away from dollar stores. Gallons sounds like it might be 6% That generally isn't cost effective.
 
Yes, that's a good sign! Go for it!!!

- - - Updated - - -

BTW, since you didn't order the XL option, it would be a good idea to order a refill -the biggest you can find- now to get it in time before you run out. And the speedstir is worth it's weight in gold--just saying.
 
Wouldn't it be better to just dump the water and start from scratch. I saw another posting of a guy trying to clear up his pool after trying to clear it up for 32 days, why not dump and fill and start from there. cheaper and easier. No?
 

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