Hi there. My husband and I recently bought a house with a pool. The pool was opened last week by a company, and it was nasty. The previous owners left us all the equipment and we have since begun to figure out how to work most of it. We ran the Polaris for a bit and most of the dead leaves came to the surface and I was able to skim them off. The rest is what I assume is dead algae - as a result of brushing the liner. I have held off with vacuuming until the rain clears up around these parts.
Yesterday I went to the nearest pool store and had the water tested. They told me I had no chemicals:
FC: 0
TC: 0
pH: 0 ?
TA: 0
CYA: 0
Total Dissolved Solids: 500
They told me to start by adding 5 lbs soda ash and 5 lbs alkalinity up, and come back and test water again.
Today I had the water tested again at the store:
FC: 0
TC: 0
pH: 6
TA: 0
The rest of the sheet is blank. They suggested the same as yesterday. I bought the silly 6-way test strips as an attempt to save time/energy/gas. I added 5lbs of soda ash and 5 lbs alkalinity up and tested after 2 hours with the strips:
Hardness: between 100-250
TC: 0
FC: 0
pH: 6-ish
TA: close to 40
Stabilizer: 0
Because I had it on hand, I added 4 lbs of baking soda and 4 lbs of borax and waiting for it to circulate. I have yet to add bleach, as I've read it will burn off if the alkalinity and pH aren't right. Is this correct? I have one of those chlorine pucks in the floater-thing.
The pool store also said not to worry about vacuuming until I get the chemicals balanced. True?
Please let me know if I am on the right track (and if you are missing and critical info to answer my questions). Thanks in advance.
Yesterday I went to the nearest pool store and had the water tested. They told me I had no chemicals:
FC: 0
TC: 0
pH: 0 ?
TA: 0
CYA: 0
Total Dissolved Solids: 500
They told me to start by adding 5 lbs soda ash and 5 lbs alkalinity up, and come back and test water again.
Today I had the water tested again at the store:
FC: 0
TC: 0
pH: 6
TA: 0
The rest of the sheet is blank. They suggested the same as yesterday. I bought the silly 6-way test strips as an attempt to save time/energy/gas. I added 5lbs of soda ash and 5 lbs alkalinity up and tested after 2 hours with the strips:
Hardness: between 100-250
TC: 0
FC: 0
pH: 6-ish
TA: close to 40
Stabilizer: 0
Because I had it on hand, I added 4 lbs of baking soda and 4 lbs of borax and waiting for it to circulate. I have yet to add bleach, as I've read it will burn off if the alkalinity and pH aren't right. Is this correct? I have one of those chlorine pucks in the floater-thing.
The pool store also said not to worry about vacuuming until I get the chemicals balanced. True?
Please let me know if I am on the right track (and if you are missing and critical info to answer my questions). Thanks in advance.