Hello! My pool has been doing great until about a week ago, it started getting green algae... today I scrubbed the pool down (with a broom, I'm waiting on my pool maintenance kit in the mail) and I double shocked it with granular shock. After finding this website I realized how important it is to test water and keep the chlorine levels up. If I go to walmart tonight, are any of the recommended test kits there? What else should I buy? Thanks!
Green pool ?
- Thread starter tlc83191
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!!!No, you will not find the Recommended Test Kits at Walmart. They usually need to be ordered online.
Where is Goose Creek? add the state to your profile.
You need to follow the ShockLevelAndMAINTAIN Process and that requires a good test kit.
Until you have the kit, add about 1/3 of a bottle of bleach to the pool each day.
Have you discovered Pool School yet? Start with these:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool
South Carolina, thanks! Would it be better to grab some of the liquid chlorine since it is stronger? It's about the same cost. Also I will order one of the kits online then. I did read a good bit of the pool school, it was very helpful and that's when I decided I should probably get the test kit. I am using a floater with the chlorine tabs, for future reference should I also be adding more chlorine weekly? Or I guess that would be determined by the test, right?
liquid chlorine and bleach are basically the same thing, just different strengths.
You can use Liquid Chlorine Cost Calculator to find the best deal.
Remember the tablets are raising the CYA, the higher the CYA, the higher the FC must be to keep the pool clear. You have to be sure the FC stays high enough at all times and if that means supplementing with bleach, so be it.
You can use Liquid Chlorine Cost Calculator to find the best deal.
Remember the tablets are raising the CYA, the higher the CYA, the higher the FC must be to keep the pool clear. You have to be sure the FC stays high enough at all times and if that means supplementing with bleach, so be it.
Welcome
As jblizzle said, you need to have an accurate set of test results and the proceed to SLAM. this is a process that will require diligent testing and re-dosing of chlorine as required. Read up in pool school because the answer to your chlorine question is that it will be dependent upon your CYA number. Pool school
Post up test results and questions once you get the test kit.
As jblizzle said, you need to have an accurate set of test results and the proceed to SLAM. this is a process that will require diligent testing and re-dosing of chlorine as required. Read up in pool school because the answer to your chlorine question is that it will be dependent upon your CYA number. Pool school
Post up test results and questions once you get the test kit.
So the good news is the pool is no longer green... I'm going to Scrub it again today and put more bleach in it. The bad news is I bought the wrong freaking test kit... hopefully the seller will just cancel the order before they ship it... I am going to go ahead and buy the correct one. I found the Taylor k2006 with free shipping on walmart.com and should get it by Friday. Quick question though, since I am not getting my brush with the long handle until Wednesday and all I have is the broom, will it be OK to get into the pool to Scrub it?
Ok, I got my test kit... is there a specific order I should do my testing? I know to start with my ph, but then what?
Does not really matter, although you likely do not have appropriate lighting for the CYA test.
Yeah I kind of figured that one could wait since lighting does seem important with that test... I did just do the ph and it is low... the water sample turned yellow so I will pick up some washing soda tomorrow and get the ph under control and start the rest of the tests.�� I will post the results as soon as I get them, thanks!
Ok here is the results so far:
Ph- 6.8 or lower the water turned yellow…
TA- solution turned red, very low ph and 0 alkalinity
FC- 1
CC- .5
Cya- waiting for daylight
Ph- 6.8 or lower the water turned yellow…
TA- solution turned red, very low ph and 0 alkalinity
FC- 1
CC- .5
Cya- waiting for daylight
Since TA is near zero. You need to add baking soda to raise the TA to about 50ppm and then retest.
Very bad to have TA and pH that low.
Very bad to have TA and pH that low.
As I was falling asleep I realized I may have done the alkalinity test wrong... I'm going to redo that again in the morning along with my cya. I did the alkalinity test first and then my chlorine... on this test kit there is a big tube and a little tube... I thought I was supposed to do the little tube b/c it has a curve at the top which I figured was what I was reading about but when I was doing the chlorine tests I figured out that was wrong. I don't know why it didn't hit me the alkalinity test should have been in that tube too... I swear I'm slow sometimes, I should have watched the video ��. I'll redo it to make sure it is correct and update in the morning! Thanks for your patience, chemistry was not my thing but I'm learning!
Ok, same result with alkalinity so I will definitely add baking soda. CYA- between 80-90 definitely high so should I drain some water first and refill and then add the baking soda? And how long do I wait before I test alkalinity again after adding baking soda?
- Mar 24, 2014
- 2,455
- Pool Size
- 32000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool SJ-55
CYA test should be done in full sun, so it might be slightly lower than that. Even if it's 70 it's still worth a drain/refill. Let it mix around for a little bit after refilling before testing, say 20 minutes.
Ok, I'm about to go to work now but I have 4 days off after today, I will drain about 30% according to pool math and refill tonight and add the baking soda, and retest again tomorrow in full sun. Thank you guys! I'm so happy I found ya'll, I had no idea my pool was such a wreck! I guess one good thing came from algae, lol!
I got my TA at 50 now, and redid my CYA which is reading 60 now... ph test water is still straight yellow so low ph. I do want to get my CYA a bit lower but I figure I'll handle that next weekend... now should I start working on raising my ph?
BTW, I haven't had the algae come back even in the slightest since the 24th... so the bleach has definitely helped the pool stay sparkly clean ( minus the leaves I need to vacuum today)