I moved into my house 12 years ago and had never owned a pool before. I bought a simple test kit and used the pucks with floaters. I didn't know it, but my CYA kept rising higher and higher every year, and so I had to use more and more pucks (and floaters) to keep my pool clean. I didn't understand why I was having trouble because my FC was at a level that I thought would work (of course the standard recommendation was 1-3 ppm, so it never worked). Additionally, my plaster is really bad, so I always got really bad black algae that I just threw copper algaecide at which helped, but never fixed the problem.
Basically things got so bad with the slimy black algae that I all but stopped using the pool for the last couple of years. I think I was looking online for help with algaecides and found PoolSolutions.com and eventually TroubleFreePool.com. TroubleFreePool seemed to have a few more advanced techniques (how to add Borates, etc), so I think that's why I'm here.
Between the two sites, I realized I needed to get a good test kit, did some testing and realized just how out of whack my pool was. My readings were something like CYA of around 400, CH of around 1000 and I can't remember what my TA was but I'm sure it was too high. I dumped half the pool and filled it. Dumped 3/4 the pool and filled it. Got CYA down to 40, CH to 250, and have been working on getting TA under 100 so I can add borates. I recently read that you lose some CYA over time, so I measured and it was at 30, so I'm working on getting my CYA back up to around 50 with a few pucks because I get a lot of sun (pool temps hover around 90 in the summer with a cover). I now have been using liquid chlorine and just moved to the Liquidator (thanks Bama Rambler). The pool's plaster and tile are still horrible and I've got black algae in the cracks, but the pool water is crystal clear I'm working on the black algae with PolyQuat and hopefully I can nip it in the bud next year.
After reading a ton on this site, I'd like to thank JasonLion and chem geek (a man after my heart) for providing excellent posts in every area of the site I seem to go to (I like to hang out in the Deep End). Thanks to the many additional experts and moderators who provide their valuable insight and thanks to duraleigh for putting together a site that seems to do an excellent job of being industry neutral.
I'll have to make sure I sign up as a supporter because, well, frankly it's important to make sure the site is here for me and others.
Basically things got so bad with the slimy black algae that I all but stopped using the pool for the last couple of years. I think I was looking online for help with algaecides and found PoolSolutions.com and eventually TroubleFreePool.com. TroubleFreePool seemed to have a few more advanced techniques (how to add Borates, etc), so I think that's why I'm here.
Between the two sites, I realized I needed to get a good test kit, did some testing and realized just how out of whack my pool was. My readings were something like CYA of around 400, CH of around 1000 and I can't remember what my TA was but I'm sure it was too high. I dumped half the pool and filled it. Dumped 3/4 the pool and filled it. Got CYA down to 40, CH to 250, and have been working on getting TA under 100 so I can add borates. I recently read that you lose some CYA over time, so I measured and it was at 30, so I'm working on getting my CYA back up to around 50 with a few pucks because I get a lot of sun (pool temps hover around 90 in the summer with a cover). I now have been using liquid chlorine and just moved to the Liquidator (thanks Bama Rambler). The pool's plaster and tile are still horrible and I've got black algae in the cracks, but the pool water is crystal clear I'm working on the black algae with PolyQuat and hopefully I can nip it in the bud next year.
After reading a ton on this site, I'd like to thank JasonLion and chem geek (a man after my heart) for providing excellent posts in every area of the site I seem to go to (I like to hang out in the Deep End). Thanks to the many additional experts and moderators who provide their valuable insight and thanks to duraleigh for putting together a site that seems to do an excellent job of being industry neutral.
I'll have to make sure I sign up as a supporter because, well, frankly it's important to make sure the site is here for me and others.