Fairly new pool owner.....Need advice.

[krashhole]

Fist off let me say I am glad I found this website! There is a ton of information and I appreciate each and every one of you that take the time to post the information that you do

Ok, I have a 15x4 metal frame frame pool holding about 4400-ish gallons. We bought the pool last year Fathers Day weekend. I have really had a lot of issues with the pool other than it going green on me for the 3rd time now since last summer. I decided to drain the pool yesterday and start from scratch. The pool is now all cleaned up and refilled. Only thing I have added is 2 of the 1 inch DA tablets. The water is so nice and pretty right now, we cant wait to hop in this evening! I cant remember what I added last summer or how much of what I used. All I really did was shock the pool once a week, keep 2-3 of the 1 inch DA tablets in the skimmer, and add 2oz of algae preventive. I also run 2 pumps instead of the single pump for better water circulation. I use the FC-3710 filters from Leslie's because they work better and last longer than the standard Intex filters.

I am going to check my levels in a bit and post my findings.

My question is about the BBB method. I have read through it, but I guess I dont fully understand it all yet. Should I go ahead and use the stuff mentioned? And if so, how much? I dont quite understand the pool calculator yet either, so any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[RobbieH]

You shouldn't ever need to shock, especially not once a week!!! My thinking is that you are saying you added a package of shock, not performed the shock process.

My advice is to read the Pool School at the top right, learn how to properly measure your levels, and use the BBB method for a sparkly pool all year round. At 4400 gallons, you won't need much bleach!

 

[NWMNMom]

You should check out the quick start guide for small pools in pool school. The calculator allows yoy to enter your pool size and tells you how much of each item to add. You will need a good drops based test kit.

 

[krashhole]

For testing purposes right now, all I have are the HTH 6 way strips and the HTH 2 way dropper kit.

Here are the results using the strips:
TH 400
FC 0
PH 8.2-8.4
TA 180
CYA 0

I will go read over those areas you guys pointed out. Thanks!

 

[krashhole]

You shouldn't ever need to shock, especially not once a week!!! My thinking is that you are saying you added a package of shock, not performed the shock process.

My advice is to read the Pool School at the top right, learn how to properly measure your levels, and use the BBB method for a sparkly pool all year round. At 4400 gallons, you won't need much bleach!

I was going by the recommended schedule HTH wrote in their literature. I see you are in Dallas. I am right outside of Galveston so we pretty much have the same HOT HOT HOT weather lol

 

[krashhole]

Ok, so according to the calculator I should add 360z of bleach to bring my FC from 0 to 4

I have PH minus to lower those numbers

Should I not worry about TA until I lower the PH?

Cant remember what my CYA should be.

 

[JesseWV]

For testing purposes right now, all I have are the HTH 6 way strips and the HTH 2 way dropper kit.

Here are the results using the strips:
TH 400
FC 0
PH 8.2-8.4
TA 180
CYA 0

Your pH is way too high. Go get some Muriatic Acid from a hardware store, it's usually in the paint section. The http://www.poolcalculator.com came up with 24oz of acid to reduce your pH from 8.4 to 7.5 in a pool of 4400 gallons.

You may even want to bring the pH down to 7.0 and aerate the water to get back up to 7.5 because your TA is a little high. I would hold off on doing that part until you get a good test kit to confirm your TA is really 180.

As far a FC, I take it you just put a tablet in the skimmer? You should probably add some granular dichlor to give the water some initial sanitizing ability and stabilizer. The pool calculator says you'd only need 3 oz. Be sure to do you pH adjustment first. Wait 30 minutes or so after adding the acid before you add the dichlor.

 

[JesseWV]

Ok, so according to the calculator I should add 360z of bleach to bring my FC from 0 to 4

4ppm is a little high to have your FC level without any CYA. I wouldn't go higher than 2ppm if you're going to swim in it.

If you're not going to add CYA separately it would be easier to use dichlor at first for both FC and getting your CYA up.

I have PH minus to lower those numbers. Should I not worry about TA until I lower the PH?

Correct. Your TA should come down a bit when you add the pH Minus. You should really get a more accurate TA measurement before trying to tackle the TA.

Cant remember what my CYA should be.

Most agree it should be 30-50 if I'm not mistaken. At 30 CYA, 4ppm FC would be just right.

 

[krashhole]

I went ahead and added the 36oz of bleach. When should I test again?

I am basically going by the beginners guide. Shouldnt I get my FC level up and then adjust PH? And since the PH is up, should I go ahead and add the PH minus now or wait until the bleach is circulated good? I still have nearly a full jug of HTH PH minus.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Go ahead and get the pH down to about 7.5. The sooner the better. Don't be surprised if it takes more acid than you think it should. Strips aren't accurate and it might actually be higher than you can test for.

 

[krashhole]

Also, both of my pumps run 24/7. I assume when you say "Aerate" you mean running the pumps?

 

[krashhole]

Go ahead and get the pH down to about 7.5. The sooner the better. Don't be surprised if it takes more acid than you think it should. Strips aren't accurate and it might actually be higher than you can test for.

I used the dropper test kit and it showed the PH of 8.4 maybe even higher. Is the PH so high because of the fresh water in the pool?

 

[JesseWV]

I used the dropper test kit and it showed the PH of 8.4 maybe even higher. Is the PH so high because of the fresh water in the pool?

That's the only explanation. Where did the water come from? How did you add the water? Was the hose submerged?

Aeration is the process of introducing air into the water. You can use fountains or just direct your return to the surface so it breaks the plane. This is great for when you want to raise pH without affecting TA.

You have 2 pumps? That seems strange if the pool is really only 4400 gallons.

 

[krashhole]

I may have been off on just how many gallons my pool holds. According to Intex, the metal frame pools 15'x42" = 3,507 gal of water. If I remember correctly on the box it said something like 4400 gallons. Maybe because on the box it also says 15x48?

 

[krashhole]

We have city water and yeah the hose was submerged. Right now, the water level is about a inch below the return so the water is just spraying across the surface of the pool. Should I not leave it like that? In the past it has always been completely underwater.

 

[JesseWV]

I may have been off on just how many gallons my pool holds. According to Intex, the metal frame pools 15'x42" = 3,507 gal of water. If I remember correctly on the box it said something like 4400 gallons. Maybe because on the box it also says 15x48?

15'x48" = 5300 gal
15'x42" = 4600 gal

 

[JesseWV]

We have city water and yeah the hose was submerged. Right now, the water level is about a inch below the return so the water is just spraying across the surface of the pool. Should I not leave it like that? In the past it has always been completely underwater.

So your skimmer is below your return?

What is happening now is aeration. This will raise your pH. As long as you get the water level above your return soon it shouldn't be too much of an increase. You may want to retest the pH about an hour after the return is completely submerged. That way you'll know how much pH down (dry acid) to add.

 

[krashhole]

I'm really lost now lol. Reading the specs on the pool I have it says:
Frame Setâ„¢ Above Ground Swimming Pool Specifications & Features:
Size: 15' Diameter x 48" Height
Weight: 171.4 lbs
Water Capacity: 4,440 gallons (16,806 L)

 

[krashhole]

We have city water and yeah the hose was submerged. Right now, the water level is about a inch below the return so the water is just spraying across the surface of the pool. Should I not leave it like that? In the past it has always been completely underwater.

So your skimmer is below your return?

What is happening now is aeration. This will raise your pH. As long as you get the water level above your return soon it shouldn't be too much of an increase. You may want to retest the pH about an hour after the return is completely submerged. That way you'll know how much pH down (dry acid) to add.

No, my skimmer basket hangs on the rail and is attached to the suction side. The other end (return?) is what the water is spraying out of.

 

[JesseWV]

I'm really lost now lol. Reading the specs on the pool I have it says:
Frame Setâ„¢ Above Ground Swimming Pool Specifications & Features:
Size: 15' Diameter x 48" Height
Weight: 171.4 lbs
Water Capacity: 4,440 gallons (16,806 L)

The pool may be 48" tall but you can only fill it to 42". The bottom of the pool is probably curved up around the edge which accounts for the 160 gallon difference.