after shocking the pool last night the pool has 5.0 chlorine. Also, even though my husband said he added 2 quarts of acid Sunday night I thought I should check since it seems I'm taking over the pool duties. needed another 2 pints, only 3 days later so what i'm thinking is he's either not measuring right, acid is getting eaten up super quickly, or it's not as powerful as it should be. the tech who came out from calpools yesterday said if the floor wasn't clean after running on full blast (returns on wall closed), call the warrantee dept. I woke up to a 7-8 sq ft area of pine needs, pods, in one corner and what looked like either dirt or algae across most of the pool floor. there were a few spots that showed triangles coming from the heads as if a few heads got stuck, which I did end up pushing a few heads back down-must have dirt stuck in them. I hesitated to brush it because I wanted them to see how it wasn't cleaning well, but reading on SLAM that brushing is important each day during and with how long it took them to get back to me last week I brushed the entire pool. seems like it was algae I was brushing mostly. In-floor won't move algae after shocking a pool, right? just dirt? went back and did a bit more brushing an hour later and there's still a fine coat of algae that got tossed around the pool and hasn't made it's way into the drain.
If your Leslies results are to be believed, your CYA is at 30. In looking at the Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart for a CYA of 30 for a non-SWG pool, normal FC level is 2-4 and shock is 12. One gallon of 10% chlorine will add 7ppm in your 14k gallon pool. If you're at 5ppm now, adding that gallon (7ppm) will result in 12ppm (shock level for CYA 30). It is safe to swim if FC is at or above minimum (2 for a CYA of 30) and at or below shock level (12 for a CYA of 30) and you can see all the way to the bottom of the pool (safety for swimmers). pH needs to be between 7.2 and 7.8. With your Leslies reported TA of 130, you will see the pH rise quicker (we can work on minimizing this pH rise AFTER you complete your SLAM). If chlorine is between the minimum and shock level for your CYA and you can see all the way to the bottom, swim away. If you're that concerned about the higher CL level, rinse off with the hose or take a shower after you get out.
If cleaner heads are staying up, leave them that way for the warranty dept to see - or at least take pics of them. I'm thinking, even if you called them right now, they wouldn't come out until next week anyway - so, brush the sidewalls and floor to help break up what algae you can. A day or two before they show up, stop brushing the floor (but continue brushing the walls). In-floor might move a little algae around - brushing will help mix more into the water, and filter will remove the dead algae. The triangles on the floor from the in-floor can be addressed when the warranty dept comes out.
this leads me to a couple of questions. first, how happy will I be to buy the mixer with the kit or should I just brush each time? I think it's free shipping if u buy more than $100 worth of items but i'm sure I can find other things to buy and I imagine people here would help me spend my money if I asked. lol. like, advising on which pumis stone to buy or what I should purchase to clean my tiles that have calcium deposits after this year (from what I understand is from not adding enough acid/and keeping levels right) or I heard of someone on this site recommending a certain brush. seems to me there should be a different brush just for corners. a round brush, like the ones I use to clean out bottles at my kitchen sink.
I love my Speedstir and wouldn't be without it. If you don't have one, it may sound gimmicky. But I haven't seen anyone here not love it once they buy one. If you can swing it, get it (and any extra magnetic stir bar for an additional $2.00 each). Also, since you have algae and will be testing frequently in the beginning, get the TF100 w/ XL option (adds the 2 reagents you will use most often). I'm sure we can help spend your money on all sorts of neat pool stuff - later. First let's get the pool clean and sparkly.
After having hung out around the pool for an hour or so, checking levels, putting in acid, brushing, with the smell of the acid and chlorine I'm first glad that I got a salt pool, second, this is where I get to bring up my question to the most friendly forum where I've been told any question is a question that should be asked. I realize that salt water pools are chlorine pools. I bought salt water in part with the thought that there are no fillers in the chlorine. I have a chlorine filter on my shower and have thought about putting one on the house. I have read that chlorine is a carcinogen and I don't like the idea of it, although after having an aquaponic system in my backyard in the past and then considering swimming with the fish in a natural swimming pool in my backyard I relented and went with "traditional" salt. We eat organic, grow our own food and have chickens. Yes, I'm one of those. A little granola. So, I realize we need chlorine and when I lived in Guatemala for a year one of the Americans there used to add a drop of bleach to her water to drink to kill parasites and nasties... Before kids when I was more able to go backpacking I brought little tablet to put into my water that I would filter out of the stream if I ran out of water to kill nasties. so, I understand the need of it and as "natural" as I am, I want the least amount possible. from reading on this site so far I am getting that the levels of CYA and chlorine are important and levels of other things, ofcourse, but also I've heard it said more than once that people keep their chlorine at 4.0. I dont' understand the science and I can guess that I'll be told if that's what the pool needs that's what the pool needs and it's about levels and maybe if it's balanced the chlorine won't effect a person as much, won't smell it...?
When your pool is finally algae free, the SWCG will allow you to keep the FC at a lower level for your measured CYA than a non-SWCG pool. This is because the SWCG is producing chlorine over the span of pump run time. If adding chlorine manually, you dose all at once at a slightly higher dose so the chlorine will last until you dose again. You WILL need to have more chlorine in the water than you have had whether you have a SWCG or not. The reason you have had continuing algae outbreaks is do to too LITTLE chlorine. The low percentage of chlorine in the pool isn't going to hurt you - even up to shock level. Having too little though can expose you to all kinds of nasty stuff (bacteria, etc.). I'll take my chances on the water being sanitary versus having bacteria and who know what else in there. I can' t stress enough, FC level is in direct relationship to CYA level - here's the chart again... Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart .
What you are actually smelling isn't the chlorine, its the breaking down (by the chlorine) - oxidizing - of the sweat, organics, algae, etc in the water - called combined chloramines. That's the CC reading from your tests. The sun's UV rays will break down the CC - and we have plenty of FREE sun rays here.
At this point I can't say that my pool isn't green because of the suggestions of our pb or leslies was wrong because my lovely hubbie did not follow their recommendations, so I don't have a baseline to see how their recommendations work. I think what I'm getting out of reading this site is that the tfp method works, it's less $, water is crystal clear, but I also want a system that is better for a person's health and lower in chlorine or/and toxic chemicals. If I can get Maybe this is best for another thread, although I know I will read other's experiences and if nothing else, proavia, I'm hoping you will be able to answer this here where I feel settled with the answer anyway, but since I haven't battled with having used the pb's recommendations yet I don't know if it was going to be a battle. they say it's easy and if we're checking the chlorine, ph, acid, brushing once a week, backwashing/cleaning the filter as needed we shouldn't have a prob. I think they said we may have to add a few chlorine tabs during the hottest part of the summer or if going away on vacay. I'd like to know first if this statement is true. Sounds like it's not otherwise if it was so easy there wouldn't be this website. second, I would like to compare how healthy this method is to the method I just mentioned, assuming folks will add to the pb's recommendations saying it's baloney and it's not that easy, which would end up meaning I need to add algaesides... If I follow their recommendation it's looking like I need to add algaesides today because pool is not 100% aglae free. It's in the filter, it's making it's way to the drain, and I think there's still some on the steps.
Your pool is green do to lack of chlorine and a consistent maintenance schedule. Maintaining a pool is easy. We can help you attain that goal. IMHO, the TFP way is much easier - and that comes after 15 years of doing it the PB and PS way. Let's worry about what to do before vacation for after the pool is healthy again (yeah, we can help with that too). You don't need algaecides, Phos-Free, granular shock or any of the other stuff the PS/PB says you do. Algaecide really doesn't rid the pool of algae, it can be more of a preventative (especially for those who close their pools in the winter - which we don't).
that's been my main hesitation: 1. I don't have a good baseline to go on as nicely said "our family" truly never followed the pb's recommendations. 2. I don't want to use a lot of chemicals. 3. the use of bleach freaks me out a bit but I think i'm over that. if anything else the use of acid seems just as bad and I'm sure it'll burn a hole in my cement way before bleach, so if everyone here is using it I doubt it will damage my pool/equipment. 4. I thought I saw something about boric acid or something on this site. I don't have enough info to know what will be recommended to me with this method. Having said that I'd like to buy the kit today once I figure out what else to fill my shopping cart with to avoid shipping fees and makes a lot of sense to dive in, because I have so much support here and you all swear by the method! thank you and I look forward to gaining more of an education on these questions that have been lingering in my mind.
If the word "BLEACH" freaks you out, don't use that word - use "CHLORINE". Chlorine and acid are NEEDED to balance your pool water to make it SAFE and SANITARY for you and your family. Don't worry about borates for now. you're a ways from even considering using them right now.
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I didn't see the 3 posts above the one I just posted as my page timed out. will read now. I have to compliment this website in the quick responses and how good the site is where it often times (not always) saves what was written and if the page times out when I refresh it my draft is still there. Nicely done! In this case it wasn't still there but I knew better to cut and paste such a long post onto a work doc just in case.
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