- Jul 25, 2009
- 3
Today is our two week mark for our above ground ring quick set pool. Its 10x30, manual shows approx gal cap is 900 "I have been basing treatment on 1000". Our Filter system is RP600 with pump type of F600C, GPH Flow 580.
Our purchase was a very last minute decision so when we first bought and filled it we had no maintenance/cleaning products. We didn't place anything in the pool for the first time until approx 5 days later which was the Wed before last. We started with just putting in some regular household Chlorine Bleach. This seemed to be working as far as I could tell, we weren't having any major issues. A couple of days later "Friday before last" I started noticing the water was looking a little cloudy, not major but you could tell something was changing. I started reading online and like allot of new pool owners was totally overwhelmed.
I purchased a package of the 6 way test strips from Walmart and then my co-worker gave me a bag of HTH Super Shock -n- Swim. She has a larger version of the same pool and said its the only thing that has worked for her so I gave it a try. After a couple of days the water cleared up but then this last Tue or Wed when my kids got in the pool they said the bottom of the pool was slippery. I also noticed a slippery feeling when I took off the pool cover and you can fill it when you touch the bottom of the pool ring. So, yesterday I bought some liquid algae stuff and placed it in the pool around 1 1/2hrs after I put in my Super Shock stuff "filter running entire time". this was at night after sun went down. Today I noticed there were patches of white residue/film floating on top of water, not allot but definately enough so that I noticed. Its weird because when I tried to use the skimmer on it of course it went right through but it didn't look like it broke up at all.
Ok, so below are some of my testing numbers, hopefully this will help you be able to provide me with some advice. First let me say that I am not really sure on the FC/Bromine ppm what the two different numbers mean and are they somehow unrelated/read separately. Before I forget, is it better to read the test strips outside or inside?
July 21st "day the kids complained of it being slippery and first day of Shock Treatment"
Test #1 (evening after kids were done swimming)
TH: 100
FC: 0/0 - Once I dip the stick the color basically turns white. It doesn't look like the original color but its not the light tan of 1/2 reading.
PH: 7.2
TA: 120
CYA: 0
Test #2 (approx 1 hr after Shock Treatment, put in 2 1/2 tbs)
TH: 100
FC: 0/0-1/2 (color looked a tiny tiny bit different then normal but still totally unsure of how to clasify the color)
PH: 7.8
TA: 180
CYA: 0
Test #3 (couple of hours after treatment)
TH: 100
FC: 1/2-2/4, (had a very slight pink tint to it, still not sure I read it correctly)
PH: 8.4
TA: 120
CYA: 30-50 (definately darker then in the past but not sure if it was technnically closer to the 30 or 50)
#4 (around 11pm, kepts testing because I wasn't sure if I was really reading the stick corectly)
TH: 100
FC: 1/2 (?)
PH: 7.2
TA: 120
CYA: 0
July 22 at 8:20am
TH: 100
FC: 0/0 (looks white still)
PH: 7.2
TA: 120
CYA: 0
July 22 at 7pm, can't remember if I did shock before or after this reading
TH: 100
FC: 0/0 (looks white still)
PH: 7.2
TA: 180
CYA: 0
July 22 at 8pm
TH: 100
FC: 0/0 (looks white still)
PH: 7.5
TA: 180
CYA: 0
July 24 (yesterday, 7:44pm, put in 2 1/2 tbs of liquid algaecide)
TH: 100
FC: 0/0 - 1/2 (still doesn't look much like any of the colors on the chart)
PH: 7.2-7.5 (very close, hard to tell)
TA: 180
CYA: 0
July 25 (today, 2pm)
TH: 100
FC: 0/0 - (still doesn't look much like any of the colors on the chart)
PH: 7.2
TA: 120
CYA: 0
Ok, so you can see that my TH has remained at 100 and almost every time our CYA is at 0 and I'm at a loss about our FC. Only two that I feel somewhat comfortable with in terms of accuracy is the PH and TA.
So, my question is, overall what do you think of my numbers and could they be ralated to the slimy feeling in the pool. Water is still looking pretty clear at this point.
Sorry so long, just getting really frustrated at this point. My boys are 8 and 5 and my 5 yr old is not real good at keeping the water out of his mouth so I am concerned about anything harmful that could make him sick.
Our purchase was a very last minute decision so when we first bought and filled it we had no maintenance/cleaning products. We didn't place anything in the pool for the first time until approx 5 days later which was the Wed before last. We started with just putting in some regular household Chlorine Bleach. This seemed to be working as far as I could tell, we weren't having any major issues. A couple of days later "Friday before last" I started noticing the water was looking a little cloudy, not major but you could tell something was changing. I started reading online and like allot of new pool owners was totally overwhelmed.
I purchased a package of the 6 way test strips from Walmart and then my co-worker gave me a bag of HTH Super Shock -n- Swim. She has a larger version of the same pool and said its the only thing that has worked for her so I gave it a try. After a couple of days the water cleared up but then this last Tue or Wed when my kids got in the pool they said the bottom of the pool was slippery. I also noticed a slippery feeling when I took off the pool cover and you can fill it when you touch the bottom of the pool ring. So, yesterday I bought some liquid algae stuff and placed it in the pool around 1 1/2hrs after I put in my Super Shock stuff "filter running entire time". this was at night after sun went down. Today I noticed there were patches of white residue/film floating on top of water, not allot but definately enough so that I noticed. Its weird because when I tried to use the skimmer on it of course it went right through but it didn't look like it broke up at all.
Ok, so below are some of my testing numbers, hopefully this will help you be able to provide me with some advice. First let me say that I am not really sure on the FC/Bromine ppm what the two different numbers mean and are they somehow unrelated/read separately. Before I forget, is it better to read the test strips outside or inside?
July 21st "day the kids complained of it being slippery and first day of Shock Treatment"
Test #1 (evening after kids were done swimming)
TH: 100
FC: 0/0 - Once I dip the stick the color basically turns white. It doesn't look like the original color but its not the light tan of 1/2 reading.
PH: 7.2
TA: 120
CYA: 0
Test #2 (approx 1 hr after Shock Treatment, put in 2 1/2 tbs)
TH: 100
FC: 0/0-1/2 (color looked a tiny tiny bit different then normal but still totally unsure of how to clasify the color)
PH: 7.8
TA: 180
CYA: 0
Test #3 (couple of hours after treatment)
TH: 100
FC: 1/2-2/4, (had a very slight pink tint to it, still not sure I read it correctly)
PH: 8.4
TA: 120
CYA: 30-50 (definately darker then in the past but not sure if it was technnically closer to the 30 or 50)
#4 (around 11pm, kepts testing because I wasn't sure if I was really reading the stick corectly)
TH: 100
FC: 1/2 (?)
PH: 7.2
TA: 120
CYA: 0
July 22 at 8:20am
TH: 100
FC: 0/0 (looks white still)
PH: 7.2
TA: 120
CYA: 0
July 22 at 7pm, can't remember if I did shock before or after this reading
TH: 100
FC: 0/0 (looks white still)
PH: 7.2
TA: 180
CYA: 0
July 22 at 8pm
TH: 100
FC: 0/0 (looks white still)
PH: 7.5
TA: 180
CYA: 0
July 24 (yesterday, 7:44pm, put in 2 1/2 tbs of liquid algaecide)
TH: 100
FC: 0/0 - 1/2 (still doesn't look much like any of the colors on the chart)
PH: 7.2-7.5 (very close, hard to tell)
TA: 180
CYA: 0
July 25 (today, 2pm)
TH: 100
FC: 0/0 - (still doesn't look much like any of the colors on the chart)
PH: 7.2
TA: 120
CYA: 0
Ok, so you can see that my TH has remained at 100 and almost every time our CYA is at 0 and I'm at a loss about our FC. Only two that I feel somewhat comfortable with in terms of accuracy is the PH and TA.
So, my question is, overall what do you think of my numbers and could they be ralated to the slimy feeling in the pool. Water is still looking pretty clear at this point.
Sorry so long, just getting really frustrated at this point. My boys are 8 and 5 and my 5 yr old is not real good at keeping the water out of his mouth so I am concerned about anything harmful that could make him sick.