Pristine Blue help- thanks to all here

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h20cean

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Jun 7, 2011
10
Let me start by saying thanks to the knowledgeable folks here you got me away from Pristine Blue.
I have a new pool of 3 months now. The pool store started me out with Pristine Blue stating how easy to use it is. The Pristine Blue has been a real PITA. I had perfect water balance yet still had algae. I decided to look online for help and found these forums.

Today I went back to the pool store armed with an arsenal of info from this site.
I told the owner I had researched pristine blue online and had become familiar with the product. He nodded his head and said "lets get you started on chlorine. Im going to comp. you everything you need".
He comp'ed me new sand, a chlorine dispenser and the plumbing, chlorine, stuff to make the change from pristine blue and upgraded the pump to a 1 1/2 hp.

When he explained my 'new' maintenance schedule I fell over, chlorine is easier than pristine blue and at a fraction of the price.

I just wanted to thank the folks here. Even as a lurker I picked up so much info from these forums. Now can I go swim instead of brushing algae. :party:
 
h20cean said:
He comp'ed me new sand, a chlorine dispenser and the plumbing, chlorine, stuff to make the change from pristine blue and upgraded the pump to a 1 1/2 hp.
Click to expand...
Welcome to TFP! :wave:

Well, the "chlorine dispenser" implies using Trichlor pucks/tabs and if that is your only source of chlorine than you could end up with the CYA level getting too high and getting algae again. If the pool store also sells chlorinating liquid, then you could use some of that instead of or supplementing the Trichlor (depending on how much dilution of water you have). You could also use 6% unscented bleach if the store doesn't have chlorinating liquid or if the chlorinating liquid is too expensive.

Pristine Blue adds copper to your pool so did you do a drain/refill (even partial) to lower the copper level in your pool? At least with a vinyl pool your risk of staining is lower.
 
Thanks for the welcome. :cheers:
We had a long discussion about the copper issue. To use metal deactivator or not to. The copper was at 120ppm. In the end they gave me a product (metal remover) that was new to them, untried. I decided to use it yesterday. Tomorrow I will take a water sample to them. I'll post it on here.
Yes the pucks are Trichlor and are (adjustable) dispensed in the return line from the filter. I run my filter 12 hrs a day. There are also 1lb bags of powder chlorine they gave me to use every three weeks. From what I have read on here I would think liquid bleach would be in my future. :-D
It seems to me that 7000 gallons of water should be easy to keep up. Once I get the routine of the pool there shouldnt be much to it.
I'll post the next water sample (tomorrow) to see where Im at and what I need to do next.
 
Here is todays water test.
FC 0.0
TC 0.1
CC 0.1
TA 139
PH 7.5
CH 205
CYA 38
copper 0 ppm I guess that stuff worked. lol

I added 8 oz of muriatic acid to bring the PH down just a little.
The trichlor puck has been in for 24 hrs. I did the first 1 lb shock/superchlorinator last night. Pool store told me to only use this every three weeks, it can fade the vinyl.
Next step...?
 
I think I figured out how I started out with perfect water balance (for pristine blue) and still grew algae. This afternoon I happened to notice the colored stickers on the filter. The colored stickers on the pump line did not match the color on the filter... yep, the installer plumbed the filter backwards. The pump line was going into the 'To Pool' port and the 'Pump' line was going to the pool. The filter has been running backwards.

I switched the lines. The pressure gauge went from 10lbs to now showing 17lbs. There was a small cloud and about 2 pounds of sand shot into the pool.
Next question, should I use bleach between the 'every three week' shock. What are the options other than relying on just trichlor.
 
If you maintain proper FC levels, you rarely, if ever, NEED to shock, especially in Florida where you wouldn't winterize your pool.

There are other options besides trichlor - there is an article in pool school about daily chlorination options. You can use tablets, or bleach every day, and as long as you stay above your "min" FC level for your CYA (refer to the chart) you don't need to shock "every three weeks."
 
Thanks poolmom. chemGeek had mentioned some options but I wasnt sure, lots of options. I have looked over Pool School but its a lot to take in. Learning a new language.lol
Something I have been wondering about is that my boston terrier swims daily. Its a smaller dog 30 lbs. Does pet hair, doggie body oil and such affect a pool massively? Will I need to compensate for daily doggie use or choose one cya method over another.
 

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The only thing you would need to consider with lil doggies is bump your FC up by 1-2 ppm than you normally would to compensate for the extra "stuff" they bring to the table. I mean pool. lol

Yes, it can be very overwhelming at first. It will begin to click, I promise :)
 
Thanks again for your help and volunteering your time to help others.
The pool calculator states I could add 15 oz of bleach. Hey that is easy to use.
Today I told the pool store about the filter being hooked up backwards. The owner told me it wasnt possible, as I showed him a picture of the filter (hooked up backwards). I asked him, what do you mean its not possible, do you want to see a different picture of it? Sheeesh!
Anyway, today I have clear water. I can see underwater from one end of the pool to the other. The water has never been this clear.
 
I want to make sure I understand this right. It looks like I want to get the trichlor dialed in to the pool. The feeder dial goes from 1-8. I want it set so it does not add to much. Maybe a setting of 2 running the pump 12 hrs. Then use bleach to do the real work. The trichlor is the constant the bleach is adjustable/as needed (as long as I dont overkill with trichlor). Is that right?
 
h20cean said:
I want to make sure I understand this right. It looks like I want to get the trichlor dialed in to the pool. The feeder dial goes from 1-8. I want it set so it does not add to much. Maybe a setting of 2 running the pump 12 hrs. Then use bleach to do the real work. The trichlor is the constant the bleach is adjustable/as needed (as long as I dont overkill with trichlor). Is that right?
Click to expand...

disclaimer: JUST DON'T ADD BLEACH VIA SKIMMER WITH TRICHLOR PUCKS IN THE FEEDER!

Three questions:

1. What's the FC you are shooting for? Are you stating above that you want the pucks to deliver part of your FC demand and use bleach for the rest; so then pucks+bleach=FC?? I guess you could do that. Not sure if many here do. But see above disclaimer.

2. What level of CYA do you want to have in your pool? Are you looking to bump it up with the pucks, then stop using them altogether when you reach your optimum CYA level??? If so, sure go ahead and use the pucks.

3. What do you mean by "use bleach to do the real work"?? Chlorine is chlorine.

I'm confused.
 
ivyleager you're confused... I'm confused. :) Thats why I was asking. From what Ive gathered on here, pucks are fine when used properly and combined with a sterilizing method other than adding shock, adding bleach does that (hence "the real work". Tho I could be cross referencing different methods. Ive read a lot of 'pool stuff' and have sufficiently confused myself. lol

According to the pool calculator my FC should be at 3-7, yesterday it was at 0. Im letting the pump run 24/7 till FC starts to come up then I'll turn the dial down on the puck feeder. Other than that everything is looking good right now. Im trying to figure out the maintenance procedure to keep this super clear water I have right now. Pucks, bleach, the BBB method... its making my head hurt :hammer:

So do I just let the pucks flow on a low setting and thats it? Just sit back and let the pucks do their thing... its that easy?
 
Trichlor has pros and cons, and you can never fully get away from either the pros or the cons. Using a little trichlor all the time can work fairly well in some situations, but you need to keep an eye on your CYA level. If CYA is either too low or too high you will have problems. How well things work out depends on how much water replacement your pool has, trichlor works out better when there are higher rates of water replacement.
 
Get some bleach or liquid chlorine in there now and get your FC up to at least 5!
and don't ever let your FC go to 0, if you do and it stays there at 0 too long with summer here, you'll have an algae bloom and will need to do the shock process all over again.
 
h20cean said:
ivyleager you're confused... I'm confused. :) Thats why I was asking. From what Ive gathered on here, pucks are fine when used properly and combined with a sterilizing method other than adding shock, adding bleach does that (hence "the real work". Tho I could be cross referencing different methods. Ive read a lot of 'pool stuff' and have sufficiently confused myself. lol

According to the pool calculator my FC should be at 3-7, yesterday it was at 0. Im letting the pump run 24/7 till FC starts to come up then I'll turn the dial down on the puck feeder. Other than that everything is looking good right now. Im trying to figure out the maintenance procedure to keep this super clear water I have right now. Pucks, bleach, the BBB method... its making my head hurt :hammer:

So do I just let the pucks flow on a low setting and thats it? Just sit back and let the pucks do their thing... its that easy?
Click to expand...

Yes, pucks are fine but not as easy as "set it and forget it". And JasonLion is correct that they have pros and cons. But the chlorine released from the pucks IS your sterilizing method when maintained at correct FC level. Even tho its dialed in via feeder, you'll still need to monitor and test your FC levels to make sure it doesn't get too high or low; and test your CYA levels as well. I have a feeder that I no longer use because the dial mechanism was defective and anything over the "1" setting (about 2ppm level) shot my FC to 10ppm!

Most of the members on this forum do not routinely shock (superchlorinate) their pool. If the pool is maintained within correct FC levels and not showing signs of algae, there is no need to shock weekly (as most pool stores recommend). However, when I did use pucks years ago, I mistakenly used granular chlorine (di-chlor) to shock my pool and my CYA shot >100! So you would be correct to use bleach as your shocking method. But make sure you do not add the bleach through the skimmer with pucks in your feeder.

It takes a while to integrate everything and take control of your pool, but once you conquer that, then you can sit back and relax.

Hope this helps.
 
Most of the members on this forum do not routinely shock (superchlorinate) their pool.
Yes, the pool store told me shock will fade the vinyl liner, dont do it more than every three weeks. This is where I started getting lost as to what to do for any extra needed sanitation/shock/increase CYA, FC. I think I understand the puck thingys now, watch them, watch them, watch them, adjust the flow as needed. For now I'll stick with the puck, watch the water balance, adjust the puck accordingly and I guess extend the filter run time if needed.
It looks like it wasnt as big a deal as I was making it. :shock: Thanks for helping me understand. :cool: Thats really what I needed, an easy to follow explanation. :mrgreen:

I didnt have a chance to take a water sample today but getting the filter plumbed right made a huge difference. Right now it looks like there is no water in the pool, its that clear. The pool has never looked this good.
 
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