Newbie just opened pool

[avalance]

Topic Split off by Moderator.

Hope I'm in the right place for this question.

In case my profile doesn't appear, I have a 20,000 gal. vinyl lined in ground pool using a sand filter. Attached fiberglass spa. Sani-King chlorinator using 3" tri-chlor tabs.

Opened the pool this last Saturday using a Leslies opening kit. Water looked OK and everything mechanical running great. Added the following according to kit directions:

Removed worms at the deep end using a hose fed leaf bag
added 1 liter Leslies Metal Free
tested ph at 7.5 and alkalinity at 140 ppm
Brushed and vacuumed, then backwashed
shock oxidized with 4 lbs Leslies Fresh & Clear - did not simply broadcast per their instructions. Dissolved in b5 gallon bucket and poured around perimeter.
added 3 lbs Leslie's Chlor-Brite (di-chlor sanitizer) and ran pool overnight.

Next morning, pool was green, so I added 1 quart Leslies Algae Control (which is their step). Let water circulate 4 hours with no change.

Hit it again that night with 4 more lbs of Chlor-Brite, which improved things, but still green.

Brushed, vacuumed and backwashed again the next day and shocked with 3 lbs di-chlor. Cloudy but not green, tested.

tested with strip, getting the following:

FC: 0.5
Alk: 140
pH: 6.8
Cyanuric acid: 40

I'm afraid I haven't killed everything, and have always been confused about breakthrough chlorination, and would like to try bleach rather than adding more di-chlor shock. So basically, my question is how much bleach should I add, and after brushing and vacuuming once more after that, can I rely on the chlorinator to take over?

 

[newpoolguy17]

Re: Trying to restore green Pool

Welcome to my problem this past week. As everyone will probably tell you, get a good test kit from tftestkits.net which allows you to measure accurate FC, CC, TC and other chemicals of your pool accurately. Use the pool calculator at poolcalculator.com to determine what your shock level needs to be by entering the CYA as 40 in your case. Bring your pool up to shock level and check every hour or so and bring the level back up if it has dropped until:

1. Your pool is sparkling clean
2. FC does not drop more than 1ppm overnight
3. Your CC is no more than .5ppm

You can figure out how much bleach you should add with the pool calculator. It looks like at a CYA of 40 your shock level is 15ppm of FC. Since you have .5ppm now (test strips are not accurate, so that is why a good test kit is important) in order to raise that to 15ppm it would require 301oz of 6% bleach. Check the FC every hour and keep bringing it up to shock level when necessary.

Again in order to do any of this, you need a test kit that measures high levels of FC, I believe test strips only go up to 5ppm.

This is all of what I've learned this past 2 weeks on here, so the experts will correct me or give you more details. I don't trust pool stores anymore because they seem to just give me a blanket answer of "add more shock" with no procedures of what to look for when trying to clear a pool.

Hope What I type helps. Your PH is kind of low, so you may want to raise it back up in the ball park of 7.2-7.5 before you do the chlorine shock.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Hi and welcome.
You have come to the right place, but I have begun your own thread so you can get proper responses without hijacking someone elses thread.

NPG17 gave you good advice...

However, I am skeptical of these test results and if you are relying on strips you will have a very difficult and expensive time trying to clear the pool. I also wouldn't follow Leslie's advice on clearing the pool - they will leave you broke.

You need to read Pool School; starting with these articles:

ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry

Recommended Pool Chemicals - so you can stop spending a fortune at Leslie's

Test Kit Comparison (cuz you need a good kit, I recommend the TF100 XL)

Recommended Levels

Pool Calculator Instructions

Defeating Algae

Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis

Shocking Your Pool

We can get you to a trouble-free pool, just follow the steps outlined in the last two articles. Post here if you have any questions at all or are unsure about anything - we're glad to help.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

[ So basically, my question is how much bleach should I add, and after brushing and vacuuming once more after that, can I rely on the chlorinator to take over?

Shocking is a process not a one time event... so if you follow the steps in the articles I linked above, you'll get there and be confident in this method.

As for the chlorinator taking over, that remains to be seen - I'm curious about what your CYA level really is... I doubt it's 40.

If your CYA level is higher than 50 you probably won't be able to use the chlorinator and keep the pool algae free without the additional assistance of other products.

 

[avalance]

Thank you all for your input. I used a DPT test kit all last year but some reagents dried up over the winter so a new test kit is the first step. Like all of you, I distrust the pool stores. Still have questions on how to interpret the pool calculators. Hopefully I'll get more useful responses after formulating some concise questions. More study required here.

 

[mkenyon2]

A good set of test results will bring good results too.

There have been several Green to Gleam stories lately, since pools are opening. They are great to read, even if you don't have a green pool.

 

[avalance]

Tried using the pool calculator, inputting CYA=40, current FC=0.5ppm and shock level of 15ppm of FC, and came up with 601 oz 6% bleach, not 301 oz. as NPG17 came up with. Can you reconfirm these results?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I calc the same as you - 601 oz

 

[avalance]

Thanks for double checking. Plan to test with a reliable DPT kit and make the adjustments. You've been a big help.

 

[avalance]

Still trying to get my water balanced, specifically proper chlorine levels.

To review, started with a moderately green pool, which I shocked twice with dichlor, 4 lbs each time. Also brushed, vacuumed and backwashed each time. After studying the articles Frustrated Pool Mom suggested, I quickly learned that dichlor is not the way to go because it raises the CYA too much.

At this point the water looks pretty good, not green at all, faintly hazy but not cloudy.

Tested with a Leslies DPD kit, which I know is not recommended because it only measures chlorine levels to 5 ppm, not to higher shock levels.

Thursday (yesterday) morning:

FC = 0.25
TC = 4
pH = 7.0
CYA = 60
Alkalinity = 160
Didn't perform Calcium Hardness

Raised pH with Leslies pH UP during the day, which worked well, then shocked last night with four 182oz bottles Clorox, poured excruciatingly slowly over the deep return stream.

This morning (Friday):

FC = 1.0
TC = way above 5ppm (guessing about 10ppm?)
pH = 7.4
CYA = 100
Alkalinity = 160
Calcium Hardness = 110

The CYA test, using the small vial with the black dot at the bottom is tricky, so I also tested with an Aqua chek strip getting the following:

FC = 0
pH = 7.4
CYA = 80
Alkalinity = 160

Am I on the right track? Not sure where to go from here. Also suggestions for making sure I'm doing the CYA test properly.

 

[JasonLion]

You aren't using nearly enough chlorine. Take a look at How to Shock You Pool over at Pool School.

 

[avalance]

Read How to Shock You Pool. Got it. And use the pool calculator to determine how much chlorine to use for each treatment? Is there a ballpark idea how many bottles that might require?

 

[JasonLion]

It is very difficult to predict how much chlorine you are really going to need. I would pick up enough to add 50 or 60 ppm of chlorine to the pool. Chances are you won't need that much, but you can always use it up adding chlorine daily.