I need someone to PLEASE break this down Barney style for me!! I have purchase a little 3 ft pool from Walmart a week ago.. We go it set up, filled with water..& forgot to add the chemicals.. So 4 days later, the Bottom of the pool was slimy-like. We have a little kit we bought separately and I called myself treating the pool... But it has turned the water green.. I am completely lost on everything.. I do not comprehend the pool "lingo".. If someone could please take the time to break it down into simpler terms or even tell me EXACTLY what to do.. I would be more than happy! It is 36 ft high, 15 around. Thanks so much in advance!!!!
Help!! BEGINNER!
- Thread starter Wbryant10
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!
Begin with this article: ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry. This boils everything you need to know about managing pool water chemistry down to one page. The 3 things you should do first:
If all you have right now in the house is liquid bleach, go ahead and add about 20 oz to bring you up to 3-4 ppm FC (I'm estimating your pool to be at about 4,000 gallons based on the dimensions you provided - except I assumed that the 36 was in inches, not feet). Then I would go out this morning and get the granular stabilizer (available in most big-box stores) and a good intermediate test kit such as the HTH 6-way test available at your local MegaMart.
Once you add the stabilizer (go for a target of 40 which will require about 21 oz of granular stabilizer), then increase your chlorine target to between 3 and 7 ppm. But until then, target chlorine between 3-5 ppm.
Use Pool Math to help determine dosage levels. There is a pool water estimator at the bottom of the PoolMath page. Enter your pool's dimensions and it will give you the gallons of water in your pool. Enter the gallons at the top of the page.
Begin with this article: ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry. This boils everything you need to know about managing pool water chemistry down to one page. The 3 things you should do first:
- Adjust pH to between 7.2 and 7.8
- Add stabilizer (CYA)
- Get some chlorine in there (using plain unscented liquid bleach)
If all you have right now in the house is liquid bleach, go ahead and add about 20 oz to bring you up to 3-4 ppm FC (I'm estimating your pool to be at about 4,000 gallons based on the dimensions you provided - except I assumed that the 36 was in inches, not feet). Then I would go out this morning and get the granular stabilizer (available in most big-box stores) and a good intermediate test kit such as the HTH 6-way test available at your local MegaMart.
Once you add the stabilizer (go for a target of 40 which will require about 21 oz of granular stabilizer), then increase your chlorine target to between 3 and 7 ppm. But until then, target chlorine between 3-5 ppm.
Use Pool Math to help determine dosage levels. There is a pool water estimator at the bottom of the PoolMath page. Enter your pool's dimensions and it will give you the gallons of water in your pool. Enter the gallons at the top of the page.
- Jul 3, 2013
- 9,028
- Pool Size
- 15000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool SJ-40
Welcome to TFP 
You not alone, many people show up here looking to keep their pool clean... Here is a link to a seasonal pool.. check out poolmath above, you pool holds about 3500 gallons, you can dump the water and start over or just go from where your at, it may be easier to start over, spray some bleach water on the pool walls and wash them off and refill using this page
Pool School - Guide for Seasonal/Temporary Pools
You can treat you pool just like the big ones if you want, you will just need a bigger kit like the TF100 to know exactly what is going on with your water..
Let us know
You not alone, many people show up here looking to keep their pool clean... Here is a link to a seasonal pool.. check out poolmath above, you pool holds about 3500 gallons, you can dump the water and start over or just go from where your at, it may be easier to start over, spray some bleach water on the pool walls and wash them off and refill using this page
Pool School - Guide for Seasonal/Temporary Pools
You can treat you pool just like the big ones if you want, you will just need a bigger kit like the TF100 to know exactly what is going on with your water..
Let us know
You asked for a quick summary, but you will need to do a little bit of learning to do this right.The recommended above write-ups should get you going.
But as a quick summary...
- Chlorine (bleach) will kill off the organic bad stuff in the water like algae, bacteria and viruses. The slimy stuff will consist of these things (but mostly it's algae).
- Stabilizer (CYA) will help keep chlorine constant in your pool. Too much makes the chlorine less effective, not enough and your chlorine will be burned off quickly by the sun.
- pH is the measure of acid/base (think vinegar/baking soda). pH out of range makes the water irritate your skin and eyes. It also needs to be in the correct range for the chlorine to work effectively.
But as a quick summary...
- Chlorine (bleach) will kill off the organic bad stuff in the water like algae, bacteria and viruses. The slimy stuff will consist of these things (but mostly it's algae).
- Stabilizer (CYA) will help keep chlorine constant in your pool. Too much makes the chlorine less effective, not enough and your chlorine will be burned off quickly by the sun.
- pH is the measure of acid/base (think vinegar/baking soda). pH out of range makes the water irritate your skin and eyes. It also needs to be in the correct range for the chlorine to work effectively.