New owners of a green pool

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M

Mtomey

0
Bronze Supporter
May 9, 2016
82
Charlotte, nc
Pool Size
17500
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Hayward Aqua Rite (T-9)
Hello. First of all i want to thank everyone because i found this great site through google and i feel like you are all very knowledgeable and i will save some $. We bought this house in January. The pool was winterized and had a cover, we paid the pool store to come and 'open it'. We dont know for sure the volume of the pool. The store said we had extremely high level of metal (supposedly due to clorox shocks the previous owner had in inventory) and had us dump half the water and do 1 treatment of metal free and another powderlike product... then another one. After had, they didnt test it but said it should be good, 'ready' for shocks, ash and tablets, which we have been using. We have wasted over 300 not counting the price of the water and the pool is still green. I was using the store test strips and the numbers were looking ok today except for fci which was high, but i read here those tests are no good. The filter seems to need a backwash everyday if not twice per day. I will keep looking here for info on where to get your recommended test kit... as of now, i have an inventory of soda ash, 3" tablets, power powder plus shocks, the old clorox products, and the not good test strips.
Fyi: there were even medium sized frogs in there, havent seen them for 2-3 days.
It has been over 2 weeks and i dont see any progress... can you recommend me any initial steps?
 
Is it full of water and does the pump & filter work?

My first suggestion is to stop going to the pool store. Their only response it to sell you something.

I will tell you, it didn't turn green overnight and it will take time to clear. But, we can teach you how to get it sparkling and keep it that was for a lot less money than the pool store.

Not much credence is given to pool store testing around here. While you would think that a "professional" would be the best, unfortunately in most cases it is quite the opposite. Between employees who blindly trust the word of chemical sales representatives and high school kids working in the pool store for the summer you end up with poor results from their testing. But, what can you do?? We base our pool care system on accurate testing and only adding what the pool needs, when it needs it. To do that you need your own accurate test kit. Order a TF100 and at least include the XL option. That will give you what you need while you are clearing the pool, and probably enough reagents for a couple of years normal use.

While you wait for it to get delivered, you have a homework assignment. Start with Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis
 
Mtomey, your story is much like mine and after about the same amount of money literally down the drain, I looked for a better way as well and found TFP. The reason why your pool isn't getting any better is because you have no idea what you are working with for levels and likely the pool store doesn't either as their tests can be wildly inaccurate and as Tim said, are designed to sell you more product. Definitely order a reliable test kit. I think TF Test Kits are in NC also so you should get it pretty quickly. Once you get your kit and post your results, the pros here combined with pool school and pool math will get you sparkling blue. Mine took 2 weeks of testing, SLAMing, and filtration. I learned a ton in the process as will you and with basic maintenance, this shouldn't happen again. You can see some of my before and after pics on this page: Lost all chlorine overnight? - Page 4
 
Thanks for the prompt responses. It is full now and pump and filter seem to work, gauge is weird looking, will post picture tomorrow but strightto the floor is 10, where it rests when working its in the mid 20s. I have no idea how old anything is, they left some ppers from the liner, they built it on 2004 and liner looks like it is the original. I will order the kit and read my homework :)
 
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Mtomey said:
It is full now and pump and filter seem to work. I will order the kit and read my homework :)
Click to expand...
Great. While at the TFTeskits site look at replacement gauges if you think yours is bad.

If you feel you must do something until the kit gets in here is your assignment:

Pour 1/2 bottle (121oz bottle ) concentrated bleach (8.25%) in the pool morning & night with the pump running

Brush the sides of the pool each day

Vacuum or net any debris off the bottom

With a digital camera take a photo of the steps looking down. You will use this later to compare results. Once you get the array kit and the SLAM starts you will do this every day or two to show the progression.

Have Sufi ie t bleach on hand to treat the pool. Once the SLAM starts you will go through multiple bottles a day.

Have sufficient beverages (adult beverages if you like) available so at the end of each day you can sit by the pool and imagine a sparkly ble pool with the family swimming.

- - - Updated - - -

Mtomey said:
Also, there is a timer that i suspect is for the pump / filter but i havent figure out how to get it working
Click to expand...
Ppost. Photo,so,we can see it.
 
I spent $500ish last year before I found this site. I have spent a total of $150 this year, including skimmer socks (which I reccomend) and a new brush. Keep it brushed, or if you see a lot of settlement on the floor, vacuum it out. Test kit is imperative! Good luck!
 
Wow, I have never seen that style timer used with a pool, but that's a different issue.

It works like most Intermatic timers. You set the current time in the little window at the top of the dial where the tiny arrow is pointing. The little red and black trippers pull straight out and you slid them back down on the outer edge of the wheel with the time you want the pump to start or stop. Intermatic has changed the color of the on/off trippers through the years, but I'm gonna take a stab and say the red one is the on tripper and the black one is the off tripper. To verify, when you pull them out you will see a little flag type protrusion one on e of the two little legs at the bottom of the tripper. If the flag is at the very bottom of the leg it is an on tripper, flag near the middle it's and off tripper. Many people just spin the big wheel to manually turn it on/off but in the upper left corner there is a little round peg with an arrow going around it. Turn that peg in the direction of the arrow and it cycles through on/off as you turn.
 
Will try the timer when i get home... i am at walmart buying clorox.. my husband is against throwing away the tablets, soda ash, and power powder plus we just bought.. cn we use that at all with this method?
 

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First, don't feel you need to buy the "brand name", as generic bleach be it from WalMart, Dollar General or any other place is going ot be the same stuff. Just look for things like "concentrated" or check the ingredients and you want 8.25%. We like you to purchase from places that have a fast turnover in stock, so again WalMart, Dollar General come to mind.

While it may not seem like it from the way we give advice at times, we are not "against" using any products (OK, maybe a few are discouraged like algecide that have metals in them). We want you to understand what you are putting in the pool and what it does to the chemistry of the water.

Going on vacation? If your CYA level is not too high then the tablets may be a great way to chlorinate the pool while you are gone. It's all about understanding what the products do to th epool.
 
Mtomey said:
Will try the timer when i get home... i am at walmart buying clorox.. my husband is against throwing away the tablets, soda ash, and power powder plus we just bought.. cn we use that at all with this method?
Click to expand...

If you have not opened it, you may want to take the stuff back, mostly because you have overpaid for it. But, some pool store products can lead to pool issues, such as your Power Powder Plus. It is Calcium Hypochlorite, which when used over time can cause very high CH (Calcium) content in your water, which can lead to scaling. You don't need calcium in your vinyl pool, whatever is in the fill water is just fine.
 
Do you at least find it a little funny that you have a bottle of pH down and a bottle of dry acid next to it, which takes pH down? :)

Those tabs are most likely trichlor, which stated above will raise CYA. But as also stated, if your CYA is around 30, you can use them for vacation time.
 
I just set the timer but I don't see it moving, to check, I tested with a range that's not now and the filter is still going.. might be for landscape lights but it is strange they will have one for lights and not for the pump...
 

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