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[Slugger129]

Hi!
New to the group?! So if I'm in the wrong section please point me in the right direction.... I have an 18x48 Coleman above ground pool. We have well water and I've filtered all the rust out with a homemade 5 bucket filter setup?. Now what do I do? I haven't added anything to it but I'm worried about algae and other things... I tested the water with a 6 way test kit from Walmart

Chlorine didn't even register
TA is 400
PH is 8.2 or higher
Total Hardness 330
CYA is above 100

Can I just put bleach in it? And how much? (I just bought a jug of regular concentrated bleach)I would rather not put any chemicals in it at all but I know that's probably not realistic. Thank you in advance for the advice!!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Welcome to TFP, Slugger! Baseball fan?

Well, unless you want algae and risk person to person transmission of cooties, you *need* to get some sanitizer in there.

Bleach is ideal! It doesn't add to your CYA, or calcium, and its cheap and easy to come by.

Your test kit isn't exactly one we recommend, but knowing that you will close the pool in winter and it would be easy to exchange some water with rain and snow... Basically you need to use Pool Math app (found at top of page) and fill it all out and it will guide you in telling you how much to add.

Your pH is too high, you'll need muriatic acid to lower it.
Your FC is non-existent so you need to add bleach
Your CYA is way too high, possibly over 100 if youv'e been using pucks. This means your FC needs to be a lot higher than normal too.

Read this: ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and then Pool School - Recommended Levels

Bring back any new questions Glad to have you here!

 

[Slugger129]

My son is a die-hard fan of the MN Twins! �� Thank you for the advice and I'm happy to be part of the group!��

 

[needsajet]

Welcome to TFP! Good to have you here

If you haven't added anything to your water, your CYA would not be 100 so there's something missing in the information, or testing error. There's no CYA coming from your water system. It's added in granular or liquid form, or as a result of using chlorine tabs or pucks.

If you retest and there is not any CYA, then you'll want to get some. Agreed re: getting some bleach in there right away! Algae can grow real fast in summer.

 

[Slugger129]

I added the recommended amount of bleach and it registered on the test kit for 3-4 hours (why did it not stay?) I was going to add the muriatic acid to lower the PH can I add that anytime or do I have to wait 24 hours? Should I add more bleach or work on the PH level first?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

You can add the acid 30min after the bleach. Make sure to brush it around to mix it in well as you don't want it sitting against the liner.

 

[needsajet]

FC is burned off by the sun and used up by eliminating organic contamination. You can learn a lot at this link: Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

There's some instructions in "Read Before Posting" that will help you get the best possible advice (linked in my signature below). If you add your pool info to your signature, it's very helpful, described at the same link.