I guess I'm just a middle-aged woman looking for a place to cool off after a scorching hot day gardening! Have a tiny pool compared to most I've read here. Not well off enough to afford all your fancy test kits, and gadgets so I just have your basic hth 6-way test kit from Walmart. I have had my pool up since Memorial Day or there abouts, and I am having a terrible time with it! I was having algae so bad I had to brush and clean every couple days regardless of how much bleach or shock I threw at it.
I got those test strips first, the ones I now know are worthless! First test everything was ZERO or close to it. I mean it registered no change at all, even a couple hours after throwing a shock treatment in! Next day- more algae! Then I read about the BBB Pool Method and got really confused! LOL! I mean I understand the method ok, I'm just not sure what I need to do. I mean, what is a stabilizer, where do I get it, and how much do I need?
Ok, so today I went and got the 6-way test kit and tested my pool. These are the results from the tests I did:
Cl-did not register at all
PH-somewhere around 7.3 best I could tell
TA-90?
CYA-less than 30 cause I could still see the dot after the vial was full!
You should know that I added 4lbs. of Baking Soda to the pool sometime last month (in two different intervals as I understood the directions). I pour about a gallon of bleach in there every couple of days, and a package of shock once a week. We had flooding rains here just after I got the pool set up followed by scorching heat! Temps the last two weeks have been near or over 100deg. My pool is in full sun. I hooked up a sort of fountain in it too, just cause I thought it would be cool.:-?
Oh yeah, my pool is soo hot it sort of defeats the purpose of having one in the first place!
Please keep your answers simple, I don't know anything about chemistry, or pool language or equipment. Just an old small town country woman in Arkansas. Have to drive 50+ miles to the nearest pool store or Lowes!
I got those test strips first, the ones I now know are worthless! First test everything was ZERO or close to it. I mean it registered no change at all, even a couple hours after throwing a shock treatment in! Next day- more algae! Then I read about the BBB Pool Method and got really confused! LOL! I mean I understand the method ok, I'm just not sure what I need to do. I mean, what is a stabilizer, where do I get it, and how much do I need?
Ok, so today I went and got the 6-way test kit and tested my pool. These are the results from the tests I did:
Cl-did not register at all
PH-somewhere around 7.3 best I could tell
TA-90?
CYA-less than 30 cause I could still see the dot after the vial was full!
You should know that I added 4lbs. of Baking Soda to the pool sometime last month (in two different intervals as I understood the directions). I pour about a gallon of bleach in there every couple of days, and a package of shock once a week. We had flooding rains here just after I got the pool set up followed by scorching heat! Temps the last two weeks have been near or over 100deg. My pool is in full sun. I hooked up a sort of fountain in it too, just cause I thought it would be cool.:-?
Oh yeah, my pool is soo hot it sort of defeats the purpose of having one in the first place!
Please keep your answers simple, I don't know anything about chemistry, or pool language or equipment. Just an old small town country woman in Arkansas. Have to drive 50+ miles to the nearest pool store or Lowes!
