Couple of questions??

[hairgirl]

I have a couple of questions.
I went on vacation last week (wed)for about 5 days put 2 gallons of 12.5% chlorine in the pool plus I added 2 chlorine disks in my floater (I had put one in on the previous Sunday to see how long it lasted and it was about 1/2 gone) came home sunday night the pool looked great I could actually see the bottom of the pool !!
I vacuumed it this morning and turned the pump back on and checked my chlorine and it tested zilch, shouldn't I have a little chlorine in it? The first disk i put in is almost gone and the 2 new ones are about 1/4 gone, I added 1/2 gallon of chlorine in this evening. As soon as I post this I am going to order the good test kit.

Do the floaters actually do any good or do most people just use liquid chlorine?

This house we bought is a foreclosure and when we moved in the pool was uncovered and the steps were in, we are guessing at least 2 years. The steps are the really nice ones with the molded wide stairs and it screws onto our deck. The previous owners had used a couple of bags of this blue sand stuff?? to put in the steps I guess to help hold them down the writing is gone from the bags and some of them have leaked so I have this blue sandy stuff I keep getting on the bottom of my pool I have been able to vacuum most of it up but still have some thats settles to the bottom, my question is does anyone know what it is and is there a better way to get it out or just vacuuming will eventually get it out?

Thanks for all your help,
Mindy

 

[Buggsw]

You definitely need a good test kit, so I'm happy to hear you are ordering one, tonight.

I'm surprised you didn't have some chlorine considering the amount of 12% you put in, but are you sure it was 12%? Had it been sitting around awhile before you put it in, because chlorine does lose some strength after a period of time.

 

[hairgirl]

yep got it ordered

As far as the chlorine goes My fiance just bought it from the pool store couple weeks ago, Its a very reputable store it's the only local one for about 30-45 miles.

 

[duraleigh]

Mindy, what was your CYA when you put the Cl in the pool? Without CYA, the Cl will disappear very quickly.

 

[hairgirl]

Okay I got my test kit and these are my current #'s as of 15 min ago

FC 10.5
CC 0
PH 7.5
TA 210
CH 200
CYA 42

We had a pool party yesterday and had 4 small kids plus 10-12 adults in at different times so I put a gallon of 12.5% chlorine in last night after I backwashed the pool because I am SURE there were little accidents with the kids.

I am getting frustrated because I just cant seem to get that bottom 12" clear not sure what I am doing wrong???
Thanks,
Mindy

 

[reebok]

sand filters are slow, assuming everything is dead. if you want, you can start shocking now pool-school/shocking_your_pool
you shock level is about 16-18 or so. pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock
tonight, I would recommend doing an overnight loss test. this will tell you if you have any active algae in your pool.
pool-school/overnight_fc_test

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Are you running the filter 24/7 and brushing the bottom daily?

 

[hairgirl]

The pump has been on since yesterday morning so I will keep running it at what point do I stop running it 24/7?

I brushed pool saturday and we had pool party yesterday and I will brush again today

I am going to add a little more chlorine to bring it up to shock level, can you swim (actually just planned on floating) in a pool with chlorine that high?

I will do an overnight test tonight.

This pool was pretty rough when we moved in and I started working on it in June. I have noticed there is scaling on some of the walls, I am assuming it is calcium scaling. I really dont want to dump water is there an additive or anything you can put in to help remove? I am going to try a pumice stone on the small sections as the article about scaling said that could be done.
Thanks agan,
Mindy

 

[Butterfly]

The pump has been on since yesterday morning so I will keep running it at what point do I stop running it 24/7?
You can reduce run time now, but it will take longer to clear your pool.

I brushed pool saturday and we had pool party yesterday and I will brush again today
Good. Lots of brushing.

I am going to add a little more chlorine to bring it up to shock level, can you swim (actually just planned on floating) in a pool with chlorine that high?
Different opinions. I think it is okay to swim anywhere above the min and up to shock level based on your CYA level.

I will do an overnight test tonight.

This pool was pretty rough when we moved in and I started working on it in June. I have noticed there is scaling on some of the walls, I am assuming it is calcium scaling. I really dont want to dump water is there an additive or anything you can put in to help remove? I am going to try a pumice stone on the small sections as the article about scaling said that could be done.
Others will chime in, but I don't think you should use a pumice stone on a vinyl liner. TA & pH can be adjusted to help dissolve calcium scaling. Try a google search (bottom left of page) for "scaling on vinyl liner" for more info.

Thanks agan,
Mindy

 

[hairgirl]

Okay these are my latest test results

FC 15.5
CC 0
PH 8.2
TA 220
CH 175
CYA 40

Should I add the Muriatic Acid now to lower the PH or wait till my Chlorine holds and water clears? I still have my pump running also.
Thanks,
Mindy

 

[DaveNJ]

I don't believe ph readings are accurate with high cl levels.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Correct, wait until the FC is below 10 to adjust PH.

 

[hairgirl]

Ok I had to work 12+ hours today and when I left this morning my FC was 15.5 when I got home which was just a short while ago my FC was 6.5, Is that normal that I should have burned through that much chlorine? My pool is still not clear, I am running my pump 24/7 and brushing. Am I just expecting to much to soon? I would just love to have a clear pool before i have to close it but I guess I am just getting frustrated trying to figure this all out.
Thanks all for your help,
Mindy

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

That's normal for a daytime loss when the FC is so high.

Did you retest the PH before you started shocking again?