First timer here! Need help & suggestions

[AlfredIsHere]

I am new to the forum, so hello!

To start, this pool has been sitting in this condition for about 1 year now and have decided to start on it to get it to be crystal clear. As in background, my knowledge in the pool field is very slim but have been looking through this forum to educate myself. I went ahead and ordered a TF100 Test Kit but for the time being went to my local pool store and got these test results from them.

PH- 7.4
TA- 120
FC- 0.1
TC- 0.1
CH- 320
CYA- 40

I was working with my local pool store for help to get this pool back to normal but as a person with not much knowledge, i'm not sure if i'm just using money over and over again with them. I will say though that 1 week ago from adding chemicals here and there from what they told me to do, my PH went from 8.2 to 7.4 and my CYA went from 20 to 40. Besides that, i'm here to see what the experts have to say!

The pool looks extremely cloudy and also has a slight green tint to it - very little though.

I'm basically seeing what exact steps should I take and I should go about doing this to get a beautiful pool out of this mess.
Thank you for any help!

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

Hi and welcome! Please read Pool School. (link is at the upper right of every page)

You need to get chlorine into your pool. Your chlorine is too low, and you have algae that you need to kill. You should use bleach or liquid chlorine because your CYA is already in the proper range, and your CH does not need to be raised either (tablets or powdered chlorine/shock contain either CYA or calcium)

Once you get your test kit, you will have better test results (pool store results, while better than nothing, can be wildly inaccurate) and then you will be able to snap your pool into shape in no time!

 

[Noggin]

You should use bleach or liquid chlorine because your CYA is already in the proper range, and your CH does not need to be raised either (tablets or powdered chlorine/shock contain either CYA or calcium)

For the OP's sake, I think you meant to say that CYA doesn't need to be raised. CH doesn't need to be raised either though

Anyway OP, the pool store might try to sell you floc, clarifier, algecide or other stuff. I don't think you'll need it they just want your money, but I'm a fairly new pool owner too so take what other's say over what I say.

 

[duraleigh]

Alfred,

Welcome to the forum!

Shock your pool! Read how in pool school...it is not a product you buy but it is a process. Read on how to do it, but then wait for the test kit to get to you so you can shock properly...it's very difficult without the kit. Post back any questions you have and you'll get lot's of help.

 

[AnnaK]

Welcome Alfred!

In the signature line of The Mermaid Queen's post are two links which will help you: the one to Jason's Pool Calculator and the CYA-Chlorine Chart. Those two items will become your best friends once you decide to go with the BBB Method of pool maintenance.

From the information you've given above, at CYA=40 you need 16 ppm FC (free chlorine) to achieve shock level in a non-salt water pool, according to the chart. Now you go to the pool calculator, input 20,000 in the "size" field at the top and put 0 in the first field next to FC and 16 in the field next to it. For now, we'll believe the pool store's test and just say that FC is for all practical purposes at 0.

Now enter 5.25 in the white field that says "% bleach". Regular Clorox is 5.25% . Then click on "calculate" and it'll tell you that you need to add 758 oz of 5.25% bleach to raise your FC from 0 to 16 ppm. That's 6 gallons.

The pool calculator lets you specify what kind of chlorine you use. If you can buy liquid chlorine in carboys at the pool store, that's approximately 10% strength so you'd want to input 10% to get the amount needed to reach 16 ppm FC.

We all have our preferred methods of adding chlorine to our pools. My own is to pour it into a plastic pitcher and broadcast it across the pool surface. Not very smart as that can create splash-back and the holes in my clothes will attest to that. The safest way is to run your pump and then slowly poor the chlorine into the stream in front of a return.

Keep the pump running. It might take a few days to remove the cloudiness. If you haven't yet heard of skimmer socks, do a forum search. May of us use them inside the skimmer basket. They catch a lot of stuff that would otherwise get into your filter medium and they reduce the need to backwash or clean/replace cartridges.

Once your test kit arrives you'll be able to easily monitor your chlorine levels, both FC and CC, and maintain the shock process if needed.

Best of luck!

 

[MJCP]

Words of encouragement, and Kudos to this site.

I have been following this site for 3 years now, and although my pool chemistry is different than the BBB
(I have a bromine pool but thats a whole other story) After following the advice of the experts here for my 3rd year, My pool was crystal clear all last year, and I just peaked under my winter cover and for the first time ever my water is crystal clear after sitting all winter. The contributors here are the best - this is the only place I go for answers. Best of luck be patient.

 

[Butterfly]

Hi AlfredIsHere,

You've already gotten great information.

Ordering the TF100 test kit puts you way ahead of the game

When can we see a pic of that pool?

Welcome to TFP

 

[AlfredIsHere]

Thank you everyone for responding and helping with my pool situation, greatly appreciated! Ill try to get some pictures of my backyard this afternoon. I was also a little skeptical of the pool stores results myself, so iv decided to wait it out until my test kit arrives so I do it right the first time and don't create more problems in my pool. Unless someone has a better suggestion besides waiting, i'm always open to advice!