Total newbie - clear water (at last) but sudden chlorine drop

[Carolyn]

Hi - we bought a house in Tyler TX last year with a 13,500 IG SW pool. It has a Jandy PureLink Water Purification System, Jandy Stealth Series Pump (Model SHPF or SHPM), Jandy cartridge filters (CL & CV Versa-Plumb series). It is dark blue gunite (is that the same as plaster?) Last summer my husband took care of the pool but he is now unable to care for it, so I'm getting a crash course in pool maintenance.

Since we "inherited" a test kit, I don't think it's one of the ones you recommend. The label on top of the blue plastic box has been obliterated, but a card inside says MultiTest 1200-V. It has Reagents 2, 3, 3B, 4 and 5 and a water sampler that looks similar to the Taylor. I would like to get one of the kits you recommend, but hate to waste what's left of the one I have.

I'm sure the pool was not closed correctly, so we had a problem with algae and cloudy water that the local pool store advised me how to fix. Last week, I finally got everything right (as far as I could tell). The water was crystal clear, the chlorine level was in the top of the range shown on the tester, pH was good. My grandchildren swam in it Saturday, and I tested it last night - no chlorine! So today, I went to the local pool store and their tests showed the following:

Free chlorine .02ppm
Total chlorine .06ppm
Combined chlorine .04ppm
pH 7.7
Hardness 220 ppm
Alkalinity (w/stavilizer correction) 101 ppm
Cyanuric Acid 29 ppm
Copper .15 ppm
Iron 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
Phosphare 500 ppb
Salt 3600

They recommended 2 lbs of GLB Super Sonic Shock, wait 2 hours then add Phos-Free, run filter 48 hours then add Stabilizer.

In the meantime, I found this group & have been reading Pool School articles and would like to follow your methods but am not confident in my understanding yet. There is an amazing (and overwhelming) amount of information here. We are having Mother's Day here, so I'd really like to get the pool in good shape this week. At this point, I'm just looking for advice about what to do right now, until I can a better understanding of the TFPool method. Help!

Thanks,
Carolyn

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Do yourself a favor and invest in one of the Recommended Test Kits. What you have is not going to cut it ... and some of the reagents go bad after a couple years, especially if not stored properly.

And forget having the pool store test your water ... wholly unreliable.

I would suggest you no do anything except add a 1/2-3/4 a bottle of bleach every day until you get your test kit.

Return that Phos-Free if you can ... that right there is a majority of the test kit cost. Free shipping from tftestkits.net btw if you add a little something (like SpeedStir).

Have you discovered Pool School yet? Start with these:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool

Please add your pool details to your signature as described HERE as it will help us help you.

 

[tim5055]

Well, here is the test kit you have. Really, here is the test kit you want. No great loss if you throw the one you have away.

Ignore the pool store employee. They are looking at making their commission for the week. But, they are usually fairly good with FC and pH tests so those are the only numbers I will make recommendations based on.

Did you buy the stuff from them? if so return it.

You need chlorine in the pool. Go into to your laundry room, grab a bottle of bleach (nor fufu smells or extra stuff, plain bleach) and pour it into the pool by a return slowly with the pump running.

Your pH is OK for now.

Then, pour a glass of wine and go on line and order the test kit you need.

 

[Defgufman]

Your ratio based on water size is approximately 11oz 8.25% regular bleach to raise your FC .5 ppm. So an addition of 66 ounces of that bleach should put you over yellow algae range at about 3.3 ppm I think and assume based off of the suspect cya reading.

 

[Carolyn]

Thanks so much for your quick replies. I'll get some liquid bleach right away & start treating as you suggest. And thanks, Tim 5055 - I ordered the test kit you suggested. Wine will follow later...

I take it you don't think I need to do anything with stabilizer or phosphates? Or are you saying I need to wait for the test kit to see what the numbers really are?

 

[jblizzle]

Forget about phosphates.
The rest you need reliable test results to know what to do.

 

[tim5055]

I take it you don't think I need to do anything with stabilizer or phosphates? Or are you saying I need to wait for the test kit to see what the numbers really are?

Stabilizer will be determined by the test you perform with your test kit. Forget the phosphates. That is an issue made up by pool stores to create something else to sell you. You have "Phosphate 500 ppb"; there are folks here who have numbers in the thousands. The pool store will tell you phosphate is algae food. My reply is that dead algae can't eat it. Regular testing and keeping your FC at the appropriate level based on the amount of CYA/Stabilizer in your pool and algae can't survive.

 

[Carolyn]

Thanks, Jason for the links. The very first one answered my question about phosphates.