Hi New to TFP and pool maintenance in general. Recently received the gift of a free pool - Intex above ground Vinyl 12x48. approx. 8,400 gallons, with sand filter. Not having good options to fill the pool, I chose to fill from a Bog/Pond on my property. Read numerous threads on the forums and even reached out the Duraleigh for some additional details (thanks Dave). To summarize I took the following steps:
1. Ordered the TF-100 test kit
2. Pumped the water through the sand filter while filling the pool (backwashed often)
3. Raised PH (Borax), CYA and FC (Liquid Chlorine) to 7.4, 30 and 12 respectively to begin SLAM (thank you Pool Calculator to make this process easy for even a beginner)
4. Ran pump and filter 24/7 and tested Chlorine and CC levels about every 4 hours - readjusting Chlorine level as needed.
In about 4 days - my pool water went from a dark, murky brown (no visibility to even an inch below the surface) to a crystal clear lovely shade of Yellow/Green (I assume the green is caused from the yellow against the blue liner). Now from everything I read, I am assuming it is Iron in the water (i now know that ponds and bogs in my area are known for having iron). Since my kids were dying to get in the pool - I tried to use a Sequestrant (pool mate Metal Out). Followed instructions and dropped PH to 6.8 (MA) and lowered Chlorine to zero (let it burn off), added bottle (was good for 10,000 gallons) and waited 2 days with no change.
Not wanting to listen to the kids ask if the pool will be ready tomorrow again - i researched more on TFP and saw the PolyFil technique to filter out Iron - quick trip to the big box store for a bucket, a few pvc fittings and the polyfil, i diverted my pool water through the polyfil filter (also began to raise Chlorine back up to 12). 26hrs later I am still seeing no noticeable change in my yellow/green water.
Trying to identify what i may have done wrong, but more importantly - where do i go from here to get my crystal clear blue pool?
Any help and advise is appreciated
Latest test results:
FC - 12.5
CC - .5
TC - 13
TA - 40
CYA - 25
PH - 7.2
1. Ordered the TF-100 test kit
2. Pumped the water through the sand filter while filling the pool (backwashed often)
3. Raised PH (Borax), CYA and FC (Liquid Chlorine) to 7.4, 30 and 12 respectively to begin SLAM (thank you Pool Calculator to make this process easy for even a beginner)
4. Ran pump and filter 24/7 and tested Chlorine and CC levels about every 4 hours - readjusting Chlorine level as needed.
In about 4 days - my pool water went from a dark, murky brown (no visibility to even an inch below the surface) to a crystal clear lovely shade of Yellow/Green (I assume the green is caused from the yellow against the blue liner). Now from everything I read, I am assuming it is Iron in the water (i now know that ponds and bogs in my area are known for having iron). Since my kids were dying to get in the pool - I tried to use a Sequestrant (pool mate Metal Out). Followed instructions and dropped PH to 6.8 (MA) and lowered Chlorine to zero (let it burn off), added bottle (was good for 10,000 gallons) and waited 2 days with no change.
Not wanting to listen to the kids ask if the pool will be ready tomorrow again - i researched more on TFP and saw the PolyFil technique to filter out Iron - quick trip to the big box store for a bucket, a few pvc fittings and the polyfil, i diverted my pool water through the polyfil filter (also began to raise Chlorine back up to 12). 26hrs later I am still seeing no noticeable change in my yellow/green water.
Trying to identify what i may have done wrong, but more importantly - where do i go from here to get my crystal clear blue pool?
Any help and advise is appreciated
Latest test results:
FC - 12.5
CC - .5
TC - 13
TA - 40
CYA - 25
PH - 7.2
