Newb that needs help.

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C

Coach_1

Well-known member
May 10, 2016
178
Duncan, Ok
Hello all and thanks in advance for the help. We purchased our house during the winter and the pool hadn't been opened in 5 years per the realtor. It's a beautiful pool and the kids really enjoy it. Ingound, concrete/plaster 38' by 22' bean shaped pool goes from 4' 9' deep.
Question is:
I've got these dark shades in the bottom and dark spots forming. Pool was drained, pressure and acid washed about 10 days ago. Is this something to be concerned with?
FC- 5
Ph- 7.5
CYA- non existent
TA-140
TH-230
 
Last edited:
New pool owner question.

Hello all and thanks in advance for the help. We purchased our house during the winter and the pool hadn't been opened in 5 years per the realtor. It's a beautiful pool and the kids really enjoy it. Ingound, concrete/plaster 38' by 22' bean shaped pool goes from 4' 9' deep.
Question is:
I've got these dark shades in the bottom and dark spots forming. Pool was drained, pressure and acid washed about 10 days ago. Is this something to be concerned with?
FC- 5
Ph- 7.5
CYA- non existent
TA-140
TH-230
 
Re: New pool owner question.

:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

Please add your pool details to your signature as described HERE as it will help us help you.

What you are testing with?

Any spots are something to be concerned about. Whether you can do anything about them depends on the cause.

Can you post any pictures of what you are seeing?

If you have trouble, note: To post more/larger pictures, you either need to raise your storage allotment by Becoming a TFP Supporter or follow the How To Post Pictures tutorial.
 
Re: New pool owner question.

Hi Coach! We're hitting you with 3 responses at once. :) Stains are always a concern. I'll add a couple more thoughts. Generally staining comes from either algae, high calcium, or metals in the water. I'm thinking we can rule-out calcium since you just had the pool acid washed. Let's get some more info to help try to figure this out:
- What does the water look like now (clear, cloudy, any color tint, etc)?
- How did you get those test results (which test kit)? We ALL want to know that one. :)
- Where do you get your fill water (city, well, etc)?
- Have you ever heard that you may have metals in the water (iron or copper)?

Depending on how you got those readings above, I can see a couple possibilities... with no CYA either that's algae trying to form because the pool can't protect the FC; or because there is no CYA the FC is exceptionally stronger right now causing metals to precipitate out faster on to the pool surface. At some point, you might want to try a couple tests if you can ... hold a chlorine tablet to the stain, if it goes away it's organic (algae). Or try regular crushed vitamin c tablets in a sock against the stain, if it goes away or lightens significantly it's probably metal.

Combine these first 3 replies to your situation and you'll probably have a good idea of what to do soon. :)
 
Well coach, it's not the ideal testing kit, but it's something. As already noted, you should get some stabilizer in there right away using the sock method we always speak of here. Shoot for an initial CYA target of 30 ppm.
To increase CYA via granular stabilizer, place the required amount as calculated by the Poolmath calculator into a white sock and suspend it near a return jet or in the skimmer. Best not to allow undissolved granules to rest directly against the pool surface. Squeeze the sock periodically to help it dissipate. Once dissolved, consider your CYA adjusted to that programmed (target) level, although the test readings may take anywhere from 24 hours to a few days to fully register. Confirm CYA in about one week before adding any more stabilizer/conditioner.
Click to expand...
Keep your FC at the 3-5 range. Maybe try one of those tests above when you get a chance. See if you get any results. If it's algae, increasing FC to SLAM level (link below) is your method of treatment. If it's metals, that's a whole other issue we'll have to come back to.
 

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Coach, we don't recommend leaving pucks in the skimmer because they are so acidic and can lead to other problems. Speaking of which your pH is already on the low end, so running too much pucks could drive your pH even lower, so you should be careful about that as well. Granular stabilizer is the way to go - safe and predictable. Definitely increase/verify that CYA as soon as you can though or your free chlorine will go right out the window from the sun's UV. For sanitation, regular liquid bleach is preferred here at TFP for non-SWG pools, so you might want to review our recommended chemicals page (link below). Have a good day.
 
Thanks for all the info so far. Ordering one of the recommended test kits today. Also going to put a chlorine puck against the dark spot and see if it goes away as mentioned above. Also trying to educate myself on the switch from pucks to liquid chlorine/bleach and trying to figure out how much cya to use in my pool.
 
Switching to liquid chlorine just means daily maintenance. Instead of having a puck that is slowly bleeding chlorine (and unwanted CYA) into your pool over time, you check once a day and add chlorine (I pour an adult beverage and do so in the afternoon when I'm done with work). That's really it - there's no ceremony involved other than removing the existing pucks and just not using them any more. :)

Testing about the same time each day will let you figure out your rough daily burn, and then you can use pool math to find out how much you need to add to cover that daily burn.
 
I put the puck against a few of the spots and the spots did not change. Left it there for a couple minutes. If I rubbed the puck against them some would be removed and some did not change. Don't have any calcium to try that at the moment.
 

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