Help, I think the pool store gave me bad advice about cloudy pool

[nukeswife]

Hello everyone,
I'm new here, so I have had time to set up my signature.
We bought our house last year, best we can tell our pool is about 3 years old.
24' above ground (about 15,000 gal)
The sand filter that came with it was bad so we got a Hayward Xtreme CC1500 with 1.5hp pump

So far this year things were going great, just this last weekend the pool started to get cloudy. My husband tests the water so I can't give you numbers, but that's not really my question.

He was told by the pool store that the chemicals were fine, but the phosphates were high and was give some Phosfloc to put in. He did that, and well as of 24 hours laters the pool doesn't really look like anything is settling out (he ran the filter without the cartridge in it like they said for 1.5 hours after adding the Phosfloc and it's been sitting with the pump off for 24 hours now)

What worries me is the whole vacuum to waste thing. He told them we have a cartridge filter, you can't really vacuum to waste.
So if this stuff even works, how the heck do we get the flock out of the pool?

I'm going to show him the TF100 kit so we can order it later today and start on the right path to keeping our pool.
We do us the pucks and I don't have any idea how many we've used this year since opening the pool the last week of March (we're in SW TN) because we have a chlorinator on the filter. If I had to guess I'd say we have used between 15-20 pucks since opening the pool.

 

[chiefwej]

It sounds like you have already have an idea what is recommended here at TFP. If you really want a Trouble Free Pool, you need to stay away from pool stores. They only provide, inaccurate testing, bad advice, and very expensive "magic potions". We believe in accurate, pool owner testing, educated pool owner equipped with correct information, and knowing exactly what you put in your pool and why. To get started you need a good test kit, there are only two we recommend, and of those the TF100 is the best. While waiting for your test kit do some reading in Pool School. It's the button at the upper right of this page. Welcome to TFP. There are experts here that will see to it that all your questions get answered and if you follow their advice you will have a Trouble Free Pool.

 

[domct203]

Welcome!

................What worries me is the whole vacuum to waste thing. He told them we have a cartridge filter, you can't really vacuum to waste.
So if this stuff even works, how the heck do we get the flock out of the pool?

Typical pool store, they never listen.....

Can you post pictures of you pump & plumbing? If you're handy you can install a T fitting & a couple of valves on the return line from the pump and divert the water flow out the T fitting "to waste" instead of returning to the pool. You will have to remove your cartridge filter of course.

We do us the pucks and I don't have any idea how many we've used this year since opening the pool the last week of March (we're in SW TN) because we have a chlorinator on the filter. If I had to guess I'd say we have used between 15-20 pucks since opening the pool.

The best thing you can do for your pool, and your sanity, is STOP using pucks. Read through "Pool School", and TFPC. You should learn the "BBB" method, using nothing but liquid chlorine (bleach) as a sanitizer.

Dom

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello and welcome to TFP! Golden rule - Avoid the pool store for testing, advice, or products. You simply won’t get the advice/service you deserve and you will waste money on products your pool doesn’t need. Do not add anything to your pool other than what is advocated by the TFP site or its experts. You’ll have a happier pool, spend less time maintaining your pool, and probably save some $$ in the process. The following are short articles from this site that you will see linked in my signature below: Pool School, Recommended Levels (for YOUR pool), PoolMath Calculator, SLAM, and the Chlorine/CYA Chart.

If you are on a cartridge filter now, then you have to remove it and hose it off with a pressure nozzle. That's how I clean mine. As for the pucks/tablets, they have finally caught-up to you in that they have a major side effect - they raise your CYA (Cyanuric Acid) level way too high, effecting how much chlorine you need, and how well it works. Not good. You should take those out immediately, and again, don't add any more pool store products to your water.

Order the proper test kit right away as noted above (and in my link below) so you can check yourself. That's the only way to really maintain your pool properly. Let us know if you have any more questions.

 

[TomBorg]

Has anything settled out? Since you have an above-ground pool, you can start a siphon with your vacuum hose, and vacuum that way. It won't be a strong vacuum, but at least you can get out most of the gunk that settled on the floor.

 

[nukeswife]

It's now been 31 hours and it doesn't appear that anything has settled out.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Has Leslie's now combined their silly Phosfree with some sort of floculant?

 

[nukeswife]

YippeeSkippy. Leslie pools is about an hour from me, so this was from a local mom and pop pool store, so I'm not sure.
I'm back to report that it's now sat nearly 51.5 hours with the pump not running and still nothing has settled. I ordered my TF100 test kit last night and picked up a bunch of jugs of bleach, a couple huge bags of baking soda and some borax, so that my husband and I are stocked up to start following TFPC. We spent a couple hours reading stuff from Pool School last night and plan to do more tonight. We were hoping to be able to swim this weekend, but if not, so be it. We just want to figure this out and then get our pool on track.

I'm waiting for my husband to get home so we can get our plan together. Since we have no way to test CYA yet, is it a good idea to just do a purge of some of the water and then refill to get started?

 

[Bama Rambler]

You can remove the drain plug on the filter if you don't have an easy way to pump to waste and let the water out that way. You can hook a backwash hose to it if you have one, but it won't really hurt anything to run on the ground.

If you think you've used about 15 tablets since you opened then you've added about 50 ppm CYA. If it was zero when you started then you're ok for now, however, if there was already some in there, you're getting pretty high. enough to be a problem trying to SLAM Process the pool

 

[nukeswife]

Thanks Bama Rambler. That's what we were thinking, or we could plug the return port on the pool and detach the return hose I guess to let the water run out that way to waste.

 

[chiefwej]

Add the details of your pool and equipment to your signature. Look at mine or others for guidance. It will help us answer any questions you have. Your test kit will be there shortly. Until it arrives just add half a jug of bleach each day, and keep studying Pool School. It may look difficult or confusing now, but it will all make sense with a bit of reading, re reading and study. There will always be someone here ready and able to answer any questions you have.

FYI: you can disregard phosphates as a problem. Pool store like to say it's algae food. But if you maintain your pool the TFP way, there will never be any algae alive to eat it, so no problem. Stay away from pool stores and get your guidance here. You will spend less and have a Trouble Free Pool.

 

[nukeswife]

Sorry about that I thought I did set up my signature. I'll go check that now.

 

[nukeswife]

Ok, signature should be working now.

 

[kimkats]

nukeswife! You have already turned the corner to a clear pool------ordering a good test kit!

We love to watch pools clear. See about taking and adding pics for us to watch it clear with you. You can use photobucket.

Kim

 

[nukeswife]

Not not the best picture since its sideways, but here's what it looks like now. We've added 2 jugs(121oz) of bleach so far and have been running the filter for about 24 hours now. It will take some work, but it looks much better than it did when I first posted this. We did figure out how to vacuum to waste and took the pool down to almost below the skimmer by doing that, and then refilled with city water.

 

[kimkats]

Pics are going to be VERY important to you so you can see the slight changes as they happen. Without pics you are going to think nothing is happening when in fact it is-----color change and clearer. Take a pic of your ladder so you can watch the steps come into view.

THANKS for the pic!

Kim

 

[nukeswife]

I'm going to go take another one. It is clearer this morning. We're getting there slowly. I'm sure one our TF100 gets here things will move along better, we're kind of flying blind right now.New pics added. We can actually see the pattern on the bottom of the pool! Thanks to all that have been giving us great advice

 

[kimkats]

I see it!!!!!!!! You are doing it! SWEET!

Just think how fast it will go with your test kit!

Kim

 

[nukeswife]

It's looking even better this evening. I'm so excited. I can't wait for that test kit so we can get accurate numbers.

 

[nukeswife]

I didn't want to start a new thread since you've all been so helpful and following along. We got our TF100 kit today and tested for the first time this evening. Here's our numbers

FC: 9ppm
pH: 7.5
TA: 90
CC: 0
TC: 9
CYA: 65 (it was between the 60 and 70 lines so we went with 65) My husband and I each did the test to verify results

The Pool is still slightly cloudy, but no where near as bad as it was just two days ago, is quite a bit better than it was 3 days ago. I'll add a couple pictures to show you all what it looks like today.