Chemical Help / Checklist

[Stigy]

After watching my pool guy have a very easy time managing my pool for 2 years I wanted to start doing it myself so I really understood what was going on (& help keep costs down).

Just a bit of background. I have a 10,000 gallon pool with cartridge filters & an electric heat pump located in Phoenix AZ.

I know the summers out here can be a bit challenging on pool care with the temperature & the sun but I figured why not take on a little challnege for myself.

In terms of chemicals I currently have a big bucket of Clorox chlorine tabs from Costco & the Clorox shock packets (both were handed down to me by a neighbor moving out).

Since I wanted to get a baseline I took a water sample to Leslie's & this was their attached report. His first recommendation was to lower the number of chrloine tabs I float from 3 to 1 (he said pool guys float 3 because they only come once a week) and floating 1 would help with chrloine numbers. He also mentioned that my CYA was high because of the Costco tabs (& their high concentration of CYA). I did notice that these chrloine tabs do seem to last less time than the ones my pool guy uses.

He sold me on some metal removal chemical (because we back up to state land and have lots of pollen falling into the pool on a daily basis). He said to use that & shock after the sun goes down, do a filter cleaning and I should see some improvement. Also recommended a drain & refill over the winter.

So my question is what chemicals (& other products) should I have (should I switch from tabs to liquid chlorine) in order to maintain my pool given the test results attached.

Please let me know if you have any questions & thanks in advance for your help here!

 

[Donldson]

He also mentioned that my CYA was high because of the Costco tabs (& their high concentration of CYA).

Trichlor is trichlor, doesn't matter if you get the cheap ones from Costco or the expensive ones he's trying to sell you on, they add exactly the same amount of CYA per amount of chlorine.

And that should tell you all you need to know about pool stores. They test your water to sell you stuff, they tell you lies to sell you stuff, they give you advice to sell you stuff. How did he try saying that organic pollen adds metals to the water?

The best thing you can do is to remove the pool store from your care routine entirely. Testing your own water so you know you are working with accurate data is the first step, pool store testing isn't worth what you pay for it.
Test Kits Compared

 

[Stigy]

Trichlor is trichlor, doesn't matter if you get the cheap ones from Costco or the expensive ones he's trying to sell you on, they add exactly the same amount of CYA per amount of chlorine.

And that should tell you all you need to know about pool stores. They test your water to sell you stuff, they tell you lies to sell you stuff, they give you advice to sell you stuff. How did he try saying that organic pollen adds metals to the water?

The best thing you can do is to remove the pool store from your care routine entirely. Testing your own water so you know you are working with accurate data is the first step, pool store testing isn't worth what you pay for it.
Test Kits Compared

This is kind of what I figured but I wanted to make sure I wasn't just thinking the worst of them.

Is there any reason why my chrloine tabs would appear to be dissolving faster than the ones my pool guys was using or could it just be coincidence that it's starting to creep into the 110s here in Phoenix?

 

[drsipe]

Do yourself a favor, stay out of the pool store as much as you can, and get yourself a proper test kit. Stop using the chlorine pucks for your full time chlorine addition (they are fine when your CYA is low and you go away). Start using liquid chlorine (Walmart $5.47 per gallon), and read Pool Care Basics.

It may seem like a lot in the beginning, but it gets much easier.

Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared

What pool test kit should I buy? Why not use test strips? Our recommended test kits will pay for themselves in no time!

www.troublefreepool.com

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Stigy]

Do yourself a favor, stay out of the pool store as much as you can, and get yourself a proper test kit. Stop using the chlorine pucks for your full time chlorine addition (they are fine when your CYA is low and you go away). Start using liquid chlorine (Walmart $5.47 per gallon), and read Pool Care Basics.

It may seem like a lot in the beginning, but it gets much easier.

Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared

What pool test kit should I buy? Why not use test strips? Our recommended test kits will pay for themselves in no time!

www.troublefreepool.com

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

I'll go read the basics & come back with any questions.

Thanks so much!

 

[Stigy]

Do yourself a favor, stay out of the pool store as much as you can, and get yourself a proper test kit. Stop using the chlorine pucks for your full time chlorine addition (they are fine when your CYA is low and you go away). Start using liquid chlorine (Walmart $5.47 per gallon), and read Pool Care Basics.

It may seem like a lot in the beginning, but it gets much easier.

Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared

What pool test kit should I buy? Why not use test strips? Our recommended test kits will pay for themselves in no time!

www.troublefreepool.com

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

Alright I am all read up on the guide - that was extremely insightful. So my plan tonight / tomorrow is -

• Shock my pool & let the filter run overnight.
• Then I will grab some liquid chlorine & some test strips / a test kit and check my numbers for a few days.
• Clean my filters to ensure that I am starting the switch to liquid chlorine with as clean of a slate as possible.
• I will avoid the pool store and just test myself and come back here if I have any questions - everyone has been so super helpful so far.

Anything else missing from this or this is a good place to start given my test results from the pool store (even if they are not 10000% accurate)?

I know that at some point in the near future I will need to drain some water out to lower my CYA, but not sure how super urgent it is (or can wait until the heat dies down here in AZ). My goal for the rest of the pool season is to keep the chlorine numbers as in-check as possible and then do a drain / refill when time & situation permits.

 

[drsipe]

Anything else missing from this or this is a good place to start given my test results from the pool store (even if they are not 10000% accurate)?

Until you get your test kit, you should add about 5 ppm of liquid chlorine per day. This will prevent the pool from getting worse.

Once you get your kit and you can confirm your test results, and if your CYA is high, partial drain and refill is the only option for CYA reduction. The choice of when to do that is always up to you, but to keep the pool algae free will require much more chlorine as the charts below illustrate. Again the choice is always yours.




Download the "pool math" app, this will help you determine the amount of chlorine and other chemicals and what their effects on your pool will be. It also allows you to track all your test results.

You have already found the secret to having a great pool, TFP is great. I'm a three year veteran. For many years I went to the pool store 3-4 times per month with a water sample and each time, they sold me "something" I needed, and each time I had to return with another problem, and no matter what I put in my pool, the last two months of the swimming season, I suffered with algae. They gave me all kinds of reasons that it was either the weather (too much rain, too little rain, water too hot), or something I did or didn't do. Since I switched to the TFP method, I have not shocked my pool, and I have never seen any algae. The methods are not maintenance free but it is trouble free.