Help for 1st Time Pool Owner

[anonapersona]

I pulled the pucks (not much left) this morning... added nothing all day... Sun beamed hard all day on my pool with no shade...
Just did another drop test... 2.0 FC, and CC is almost nothing...It didn't turn pink at all with the drops, just barely not clear so I added the other drop and instantly clear...

So here is what I need help with...
1. Must be able to swim tomorrow
2. I need to add some chlorine, right? Can't let it drop more down to 0 right? It's at 2 now with practilly nothing for CC.

Well you are not done shocking as you have not yet passed the overnight test. If the auto-chlorinator still had a part of a puck in it adding chlorine, you have no idea how much chlorine was consumed or not.

Add bleach to get back to shock level. Test in the morning.

We need an expert to weigh in on if or how to allow swimming tomorrow. Just how cloudy is the deep end? Can you see an object in the deep end or not?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

If the water is cloudy, as I said above, that is a personal decision and liability issue that you have to decide or yourself (personally I wouldn't do it, but thats me).

You need to maintain shock level, testing and adding bleach as much as hourly until the FC holds overnight. It is safe to swim UP TO shock level, and won't hurt anything or anyone if you have high FC levels. It is not sanitary to have multiple swimmers if your FC is only 2 right now, you would want to bump up your FC level anyway when having a pool party to make sure it stayed above your "min".

 

[anonapersona]

So, if they swim tomorrow, the FC probably needs to be checked frequently. With swimmers and dirt from little feet and snot from little noses, the FC will fall even faster than before and if it hits 0 you cannot be sure that it is sanitary. Don't want someone to go home with earaches or sinusitis or rashes from nasties in the pool.

It may be a good idea to empty the pool of swimmers at some point to test and add bleach to get it back to almost shock level then let it circulate for 30 minutes before letting anyone back in.

 

[J_L_D]

More Chemistry!

OK - as stateed before - took puck out yesterday = was at 2.0 FC and less than .50 CC last night

This morning - 1.5 FC and very very small amount CC ( It barely changed colors with the 5 drops, just barely not clear)

So - SHOCKING IS DONE, RIGHT ????

I'll use pool calculator and add some bleach to get around 2 or 3 ppm Chlorine, but I don't really know where it should be. I got lucky and don't have much CYA so it shouldn't take much , right? CYA less than 20

THANK YOU !!

 

[zea3]

I'll use pool calculator and add some bleach to get around 2 or 3 ppm Chlorine, but I don't really know where it should be. I got lucky and don't have much CYA so it shouldn't take much , right? CYA less than 20

THANK YOU !!

I used the last set of tests you posted and your current FC level with the pool calculator to get these recommended levels.

Your recommended range for FC is 1-4ppm. You want to keep it at 4 and possibly bump it up to 9 (just below shock level) for your party. Since you have low CYA the chlorine will burn off quickly.

You should start adding CYA to reach a level of 30ppm. You can wait until after your party to do this, but don't wait too long. Your chlorine will continue to burn off quickly until you get some stabilizer in your pool.

Checking the FC during the party is a great idea. Don't let the FC drop below 4 during the party and you should be good. If your deep end is still very cloudy make sure everyone knows to keep an eye on their children while they are in the pool.

 

[J_L_D]

Thanks... I didn't know it needed to be up at 4.0... the 1st little test kit I bought says "Ideal" at around 1.0 or 1.5...

Can I put some Tri-chlor pucks in my sanitizer to keep it up... and hopefully raise CYA a little bit?

 

[zea3]

You don't want to do anything to raise the CYA more until you can test and verify how much is in the pool. If you added enough to bring it to 30ppm, then leave the pucks out until a week has passed and you have tested to verify the CYA level. Look here to see recommended levels for all pool chemistry.

 

[J_L_D]

Quick follow up.
We did swim on the 4th ! I put some more bleach in and raised FC to around 4 or 5. It was still cloudy but nobody seemed to care, and we didn't have any youngster/floaty type swimmers. When party shut down I put some pucks in just to keep FC up and maybe raise CYA a little bit (have not re-checked CYA yet, was less than 20). On the morning of the 5th I don't recall FC, around 3-4 if I recall, and CC was ZERO. Also, I had added a maintenance dose of clarifier on the evening of the 4th, and much to my surprise the shallow end was clear on morning of the 5th. So we swam again and I added another 1/2 dose that evening. Morning of the 6th the deep end was clear also - could easily see the drain and couple other items left over from years ago, I guess.

So after 4 weeks of chemicals, filtering, backwashing, vacuuming and SCOOPING, it's finally clear !!!

Just wanted to say thank you and that in the end I got it there WITH NO POOL COMPANY HELP AT ALL ...

I think I'll use keep using the pucks I had already bought and see if it brings the CYA up any more. And it looks like I'll have to watch for the need to add Borax as PH is hovering around 7.2 or 7.3, and someone said that pucks will be working to lower it more. But paid $70 for 25 lbs I think, and I don't want to totally waste them.

Now maybe I can focus on maintaining it, when to shock, and all that goes with it. I've read a lot of the pool school already.
Question.... when I got the 0.0 CC result, I think it had a puck in...does that matter? Should I do one last overnight test (although I haven't been at shock level in 2-3 days).

 

[anonapersona]

Know that the pucks will keep for a long time. So, when the CYA is in the 30-50 range, you can hold on to them for vacation use or when CYA drops out of range. Very nice to have them for vacations. I just got back from a 2 week trip and used pucks with bleach added only every 4th or 5th day by the kids who used the pool a few times a week.

 

[zea3]

When you do the overnight test, take out the pucks first then test your water and record the FC. Test again in the morning before the sun is on the pool and record the FC and CC. If the FC drops by 1ppm or less and the CC is .5ppm or less you pass the test.

 

[Isaac-1]

I am glad you had a good time and the pool is clearing up. Now just stay on top of it and everything should go smoothly.

Ike

p.s. save the pucks for vacations, weekend trips, busy weeks, etc. If you need to raise your CYA get a $10 package and do it all at once otherwise you will find yourself wasting lots of test reagent wondering if the pucks have overshot your desired CYA