My advice is always to K.I.S.S.

[imjay]

I am not an "expert" like many here - I can share over 20 yrs of very successful personal experience with our AGP.

My advice is always to K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple, Stupid).

Buy a hardware store inexpensive 4-way test kit - IMO - ya don't need anything else.

Use the colors on the test kit to determine chem levels - it's always worked great for us.

Shock thoroughly - liquid in the yellow jugs from the hardware is what we use and have used all these years.

Adjust your PH and Alkalinity in small steps until the test kit says they are in the "good" range.

Go a bit heavy on your algaecide - shock will kill what's there and algaecide will keep it from growing again

Then filter A LOT while making sure your water has stabilized re PH, Alkalinity and sanitizer (we use chlorine).

That's all it takes - the above plus patience and your water should become a clear as you would like.

All we have EVER done the few times our water began to cloud was to shock thoroughly and then get our PH and Alkalinity to proper levels with algaecide following application of the shock and filtering takes care of the rest.

Are there more steps chemistry wise you can go through? - sure there are. Are they valid? I'm sure they are but we have never had to use them - we prefer K.I.S.S. - will some tell you that you need to go thought a lot of other steps? Sure they will - we have just never found anything else to be at all necessary and we have over 22k gallons to worry about.

I personally wouldn't worry too much about a bit of debris on the pool floor - I'd focus on following the simple steps to get the water clean and clear before I would sweat the small stuff. (though vacuuming never hurts anything).

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Re: floc my pool

I am not an "expert" like many here - I can share over 20 yrs of very successful personal experience with our AGP.

My advice is always to K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple, Stupid).

Buy a hardware store inexpensive 4-way test kit - IMO - ya don't need anything else.
Use the colors on the test kit to determine chem levels - it's always worked great for us.

Shock thoroughly - liquid in the yellow jugs from the hardware is what we use and have used all these years.

Adjust your PH and Alkalinity in small steps until the test kit says they are in the "good" range.

Go a bit heavy on your algaecide - shock will kill what's there and algaecide will keep it from growing again

Then filter A LOT while making sure your water has stabilized re PH, Alkalinity and sanitizer (we use chlorine).

That's all it takes - the above plus patience and your water should become a clear as you would like.

All we have EVER done the few times our water began to cloud was to shock thoroughly and then get our PH and Alkalinity to proper levels with algaecide following application of the shock and filtering takes care of the rest.

Are there more steps chemistry wise you can go through? - sure there are. Are they valid? I'm sure they are but we have never had to use them - we prefer K.I.S.S. - will some tell you that you need to go thought a lot of other steps? Sure they will - we have just never found anything else to be at all necessary and we have over 22k gallons to worry about.

I personally wouldn't worry too much about a bit of debris on the pool floor - I'd focus on following the simple steps to get the water clean and clear before I would sweat the small stuff. (though vacuuming never hurts anything).

A simple inexpensive test kit from the hardware store doesn't test FC the way an FAS-DPD test can. So it's not all you need. It also doesn't test CYA, which is critical to a trichlor user.

Algaecide is an unneccessary expense in a properly chlorinated pool. Chlorine kills algae and proper levels prevent it from returning - no need for algaecide. Following the basic principals of TFP, means you are unlikely to ever have cloudy water or have to shock your pool. All I have EVER had to do in over 2 years is add bleach, and nothing else. I have only shocked my pool before leaving on week long vacations and before closing for the winter.

You're right, you haven't used them, but thousands of TFP members have and can attest that our methods work. You can't get any KISS'er than BBB. Don't knock it till you try it.

I will agree with you on one thing, not to worry about the little things on the bottom of the pool. Too many members these days get "sparklypoolitis" - harkens back to their pre-TFP days when they routinely battled algae. The slightest hint the algae might return - Horrors!

 

[Guest]

Re: floc my pool

I am not an "expert" like many here - I can share over 20 yrs of very successful personal experience with our AGP.
You have 20 years experience with one AGP. We have a collective experience much greater than that with many more pools of many different types in many geographical locations and climates. Just my personal pool experience is much greater than yours (I have worked in the industry in different capacities) so if someone wants successful personal experience I think we collectively have you beat.
My advice is always to K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple, Stupid).
Which is what we are all about here and if you took the time to read the pool school section of the forum you would understand.
Buy a hardware store inexpensive 4-way test kit - IMO - ya don't need anything else.
BAD advice, these cheap 4 way kits only test total chlorine and do not test CH or CYA. Without a full set of test results you are not in control of your water. I have tested a lot more water than you have, I am sure. I bet I even know the kit you are talking about...it's from Ace Hardware, right? Go ahead, ask me how I know? Or just call me the 'Helpful Hardware Man'. It really is not a good test kit. Use a Taylor kit one time and you will see the difference immediately, even a cheap Taylor kit. Or a LaMotte kit for that matter.
Use the colors on the test kit to determine chem levels - it's always worked great for us.
Well, that's how all test kits work basically. However, even in your 4 way kit you do have two titration tests, TA and Acid Demand. The only colormetric tests are the Total chlorine and the pH.
Shock thoroughly - liquid in the yellow jugs from the hardware is what we use and have used all these years.
Ace hardware again? While you are right that liquid chlorine is the chlorine with the least side effects a well maintained pool rarely need shocking, if ever. Also, liquid chlorine is NOT available in all parts of the country so they must use laundry bleach instead. We are lucky in Florida that Liquid Chlorine is available (I have sold a LOT of yellow carboys of the stuff).
Adjust your PH and Alkalinity in small steps until the test kit says they are in the "good" range.

Go a bit heavy on your algaecide - shock will kill what's there and algaecide will keep it from growing again
Algaecide and shocking are NOT needed in a properly maintained pool. There is no reason to waste money on them if you maintain the pool properly.
Then filter A LOT while making sure your water has stabilized re PH, Alkalinity and sanitizer (we use chlorine).
If your water is balanced and you keep it balanced then there is no need to stabilize pH, TA or chlorine levels. That is what balancing your water is all about and the only way to do that is by proper testing of all the necessary parameters and keeping them in line. NOT fixing problems because they got out of line and your pool went cloudy, or the pH crashed, etc. You have heard the old saying about an ounce of prevention?
That's all it takes - the above plus patience and your water should become a clear as you would like.

All we have EVER done the few times our water began to cloud was to shock thoroughly and then get our PH and Alkalinity to proper levels with algaecide following application of the shock and filtering takes care of the rest.
pH only crashes when you are using trichlor, which is acidic, and you are not monitoring the TA on a regular basis since it will also drop with the use of trichlor. Once again, if you were properly maintaining the water you would not have these problems.
Are there more steps chemistry wise you can go through? - sure there are. Are they valid? I'm sure they are but we have never had to use them - we prefer K.I.S.S. - will some tell you that you need to go thought a lot of other steps? Sure they will - we have just never found anything else to be at all necessary and we have over 22k gallons to worry about.
that has the pH and TA crash, that goes cloudy, that needs constand additions of algaecide and shocking to try and keep it clear. Hardly sounds like KISS to me! Sounds like a lot of unnecessary work!
I personally wouldn't worry too much about a bit of debris on the pool floor - I'd focus on following the simple steps to get the water clean and clear before I would sweat the small stuff. (though vacuuming never hurts anything).

My suggestion to you is to click on the pool school link in the upper right corner of the page and read everything on it.
Then read it a second time.
You might be surprised what you might learn about pool maintenance and how easy it really is compared to what you are doing.

Actually, I have had many customers like you. You operate your pool on the edge and when it has problems you run to the store looking for that 'magic in a bottle' that you can pour in and fix the problem until it reoccurs again (and the same problems continue to reoccur over and over again). Yet you consider your pool successful only because you really have no desire how to learn to properly take care of it and don't realize how easy pool maintenance can be if you do it right and spend the money on what you should spend it on, like a good test kit, instead of throwing it away on algaecide year after year.

Then again, you can lead a horse to water.....and I've had no guilt taking every dollar from customers like you.

 

[chem geek]

See this post of mine about this pool (if this is who I think it is). Basically, a copper-based algaecide is regularly used, the pool gets regular dilution from rain overflow, and the pool is vinyl. All of that makes use of Trichlor work well in this case, but projecting one's own experience from one pool into advice for everyone is inappropriate (of course, simply sharing one's own experience is fine, so long as it's clear it's not a general recommendation and sufficient details are given to understand why that particular situation works well).

[EDIT] I updated the post linked to above to document how this user shocks their pool about every 4-6 weeks to get rid of cloudiness that starts to occur and how 3-4 times in the past 20 years there was an insatiable chlorine demand and how the pool is sometimes opened to algae in the spring. [END-EDIT]

Richard