Proud new owner of an above-ground SWAMP

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Hi Holly - I haven't been around to say welcome yet :)

Trust me, hit it hard today and tomorrow. I mean hard. Get a bottle of distilled water so your strips can read up to 20. They are not ideal but better than nothing and better than running back and forth to the pool store. Use a 50/50 dilution to read up to 20.

Test and add bleach as often as 1-2 hours keeping it at shock level. Does your pool store sell liquid chlorine? the 12.5% strength is often a better price than bleach and twice as strong so less jugs to haul. Some landscape centers also sell 5 gallon jugs.

If you hit it hard today and tomorrow you will see tremendous improvement - trust me. :)

about those tabs - just remember they are acidic and they lower ph/ta and they raise CYA so keep that in mind before you leave. If you want to use them while your gone post that and we'll tell you what your numbers should be before you go. The CYA in the sock - how high did you target?
 
Get a bottle of distilled water so your strips can read up to 20. They are not ideal but better than nothing and better than running back and forth to the pool store. Use a 50/50 dilution to read up to 20.
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? Please explain this a little more.

I could only fit 3 lbs of CYA in the sock. I believe the target at the time was to go from 0 to 20. My husband said the TA reading had gone down a bit. We'll see for sure when the pool store opens in about an hour!
 
New pool store numbers!

CYA: 0
Total Chlorine: 10
Free Chlorine: 9.3
pH: 7.4
TA: 68
Hardness: 98

That chlorine number is ok, right? Seeing as how I still have 0 CYA? We are going to keep adding chlorine for a while, I guess. Just bought 12 more bottles of Chlorox. I'm not surprised we haven't seen an increase in CYA, with all the vacuuming we're doing, we're adding water and sucking the stuff out quick. GAH.
 
adoptolderkids said:
Get a bottle of distilled water so your strips can read up to 20. They are not ideal but better than nothing and better than running back and forth to the pool store. Use a 50/50 dilution to read up to 20.
Click to expand...

? Please explain this a little more.
Click to expand...
Get a glass measuring cup, add 1/2 cup pool water and 1/2 cup distilled water. Stir the water then test the mixture with the strip. Read the results then multiply each result by 2.

If you don't have distilled water on hand I've found that hot tap water has 0 ppm FC so you might want try testing yours to see. Just get a cup full of it, let it cool to room temperature (freezer does this quickly), then test it with the strip or OTO drop test. If it's zero you can use it in place of distilled for at the least chlorine part of the test.

I could only fit 3 lbs of CYA in the sock. I believe the target at the time was to go from 0 to 20. My husband said the TA reading had gone down a bit. We'll see for sure when the pool store opens in about an hour!
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How much did you need to add to get to the target? Just 3lbs or more?
 
adoptolderkids said:
New pool store numbers!

CYA: 0
Total Chlorine: 10
Free Chlorine: 9.3
pH: 7.4
TA: 68
Hardness: 98

That chlorine number is ok, right? Seeing as how I still have 0 CYA? We are going to keep adding chlorine for a while, I guess. Just bought 12 more bottles of Chlorox. I'm not surprised we haven't seen an increase in CYA, with all the vacuuming we're doing, we're adding water and sucking the stuff out quick. GAH.
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Is the sock of CYA even getting smaller at all?

CC is starting to get high too so hit it hard before you leave. If the clock is ticking you might want to save your jugs of bleach for use when you get back and use some already stabilized granular chlorine to maintain your shock level until you leave for vacation. That will guarantee some CYA is in the water. For each 10 ppm FC is raised with stabilized dichlor it also raises CYA 9 ppm.
 
I calculate your shock for FC 10-11. What do you folks think about Holly shooting for 20 for today and tomorrow? CYA tests can be off as much as 15 so you could actually have 10-15 which given she added it Thursday or Friday is about right.
 
Ya if your target was 20 you probably have a little less than that and it's just not registering. I was asking so that you could use tablets while you are gone without increasing the level too much. Jesse is right if you have some Dichlor on hand a bag or two will up your CYA level into a readible range.

I don't think you need to go up to 20. 12-14 ppm on your FC should be enough the trick is just testing every hour or two to hold it there and not letting it drop down in between. Your CC is .7 so you still have a ways to go. Hang in there!

If the CYA sock is still full, manipulate it with your fingers to help it dissolve. Won't hurt ya at all.
 
"Go Holly Go!"
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You are all so sweet! Thank you so much for all the help! The support REALLY helps keep me feeling positive.

Also - when I went to buy the 12 jugs of bleach at Sam's Club, another customer asked me if I was getting it for the pool. When I said yes, he gave me a huge grin and said, "You know what you can use for pH, right?" He then shouted out, "Baking Soda!" I wanted to give him a high-five but I didn't - just a big grin and, "I know!"

If the CYA sock is still full, manipulate it with your fingers to help it dissolve. Won't hurt ya at all.
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Yep, we've been squeezing it quite regularly! It's definitely gone down some, but there's at least half a sock left.

I think a huge issue is still the amount of crud on the bottom of the pool. My husband has vacuumed up 7 filter baskets full today so far. We're going nuts on it though. We thought we had it all, but now we know better. Stupid murky water!
 
aaaaannnnnddd we're out of test strips. My husband went to Wal-mart and got the 6-way test kit, thinking it'd be more accurate. Uh, how the heck do you read the FC on it? The color code is yellow, our water turned orange. It only reads to 5. I'm ******. Should have stuck with the strips. Is this a total loss for us since we're still shocking and need to read higher numbers? Can I make do, or should I go grab some more strips? There is no way the good kit will arrive in the next couple of days - we're waiting to order it so it will be here when we get back from vacation!
 

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Someone correct me if I am wrong. I believe you can dilute one part pool water with 4 parts distilled water and then pour that into the test container and multiply your result by 4. This is not as accurate as the good kit, but it will give you a ball park. I also believe the orange just indicates it is higher than 5.
 
Yes, go ahead and use the dilution method. I have done it that way before. Dont stress out about leaving for vacation, you deserve it, so relax and enjoy your time away! If nothing else, have your dad pour two gallons of bleach in the pool each day and just run the pump long enough to mix it up good. All your effort and money will not have been wasted. You are winning the war with your swamp.
 
Well, we just ran the vacuum and pulled up at least 4 more skimmer baskets full of leaves. I think there should be something like a roomba but for pools - something with a ginormous bag on it so I don't have to stop every one time around the circumference to stop and empty the skimmer. Man. The ground around the pool is getting crazy saturated with all the vacuuming as well. Most of it is flowing over into my neighbor's backyard. I'm kinda glad she is in Florida until June 16!

Anyway, though the murk was all stirred up from the vacuuming - I had another good sign! I could see further down the length of the pole! Like, really far! The rest of the pool, not so much, but I could definitely see much more so than when I posted the photo at this time yesterday!

W00t!

The sock is now empty as well. My husband dumped in 3 gallons of bleach and I think we're done for the night. Though, we'll probably need to backwash again before we go to bed.
 
My husband said when he put the skimmer pole into the pool today, he could see the head of it down at the bottom. SWEET. I just sent him out to buy more dipsticks. I know they suck, but I like that I don't have to fumble with bottles of water and math. :) I can see if they are dark purple, and if so, I'm good. We're waiting to vacuum until later today - give the ground a bit of a rest from all the water we've been pouring into it.

I am keeping my fingers crossed though that the pool will clear up completely by the time we leave Wednesday morning. I'll be SO less stressed if it does. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm hoping!
 
Okay, I'm impatient. Just went and the some vacuuming. Still getting big baskets full of leaves, however, the water isn't as murky when I start, so I can see dark shadows in the corners of the pool. Drop down the vacuum - and bam! instant full skimmer. They all seem to be these itty-bitty leaves, so the leaf net isn't much use when it comes to dredging them up - just the vacuum works. I'm happy I can see where I need to put the vacuum head now!

And yes, I can see the vacuum head at the bottom! It's still hazy and murky but it is a great improvement!
 
Yay for homeschooling! :)

Tomorrow I'm going to go to Sam's and buy a lot more bleach, so the pool can be somewhat maintained while we are gone. I'm hoping a gallon in the morning and a gallon in the evening will do it. Do you guys think I should load up on those floating tabs too? We have some in the shed. Maybe have my dad put in one a day? I am nervous about adding too much CYA into the pool though.

What do you think?
 

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