The dreaded rash!

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G

growing2boys

0
Jun 20, 2011
6
Hi everyone,
I put up a 10x30 intex pool 1.5 weeks ago. I am using the cheapy, but somewhat functional pump that came with it. This is my first pool.
I am using a floater with 1" chlorine tabs & adjusting the "dose" to my gallons. I put in an algaecide the first day. On day 3 my tests showed everything was perfect including PH, so I tossed my boys in.
They were fine. Pool crystal clear x 1 week. They swam daily. Then I added the recommended weekly dose of algaecide. Again I tested (PH & chlorine is what I have tests for). All was perfect. I tossed my boys back in the next day after running the pump all night (I run it 8 hours a day since it really doesn't move much water)

My boys are the only ones in it & they always ask me to take them to the bathroom (so no "organics" in the pool)

My son woke up with a rash the day after spending a lot of time in the pool (following the 2nd dose of algaecide). It is now on every part of his body. It's red, dry, angry, itchy. I took him to the doctor (actually 4 doctors looked at him because they have never seen anything like it) They say it could be viral, but I know it's my pool. I told them about the pool, but they had no experience with pool rashes (they said)
He has swam in many pools without a rash before.

I feel TERRIBLE! I drained the entire pool today. I am not sure if I should give it another go. They absolutely love it, but my son isn't loving his rash at the moment & his mom feels like a jerk.

Any tips?
Thanks
Sarah
 
Not to doubt, but how do you know it's the pool? We do not recommend using algaecide (not that that would cause such a rash, unless you overdosed maybe :scartch:), but testing FC, CC, PH, TA, CH and CYA are important. Post a full set of test results and we'll be able to tell if something is "off"...sorry to hear about this :(
 
Thanks for the reply.
My pool is a glorified kiddie pool. It's only about 1000 gallons. I didn't want to spend a fortune on testing things & chemicals because I only plan to use it one month.
I also found it all confusing & didn't want to kill my kids.
Can it really become a deadly weapon in that amount of time?

Everything chemical I have purchased gives amounts starting at 10,000 gallons & I can't find anything on the web to help me figure it all out. The only source I found said I "had" to use an algaecide. The pool calculator on here won't work if you set it to 1000 gallons. (unless I am doing it wrong?)

Why don't you recommend an algaecide? I know I didn't OD on that. I was very careful with my measurements.
I'm not even sure if I am using the right "kind" of chlorine as I read (on the bottle itself) you shouldn't use tabs if you have under 10,000.

How confusing!
 
Long before finding this board, when I didn't know much about BBB and the first two years with the kiddie pool the ONLY time my son got a rash in the summer was right after I added algaecide to the pool after having it up for a month or so. I didn't catch on the first summer, but when his rash broke out the second summer, the day after I added some algaecide, I decided to never use it again. I am convinced that the algeacide caused the rash. Funny, it never affected my daughter, but maybe it's like a lot of allergens, you have to be sensitive to it.
 
Get a good test kit, no strips. you need to be able to test FC {free chlorine}, TA [total alkality] and PH at an absolute minimum for a short term kiddie pool.

Drain, refill, adjust your chemistry using the BBB method via the Pool Calculator http://www.poolcalculator.com {PC} You can assume that chlorine will be negligible after a day of sunshine, that your CYA will be zero, and that your PH and TA wont be at harmful levels.

Reset the PC to show your proper amount of gallons {top of chart}, preferred chlorine source, pool surface material, and suggested goals {TFP.com}, at the bottom.

Add pool conditioner/stabilizer containing CYAnuric acid, available at Walmart etc, using the calculator's suggested target levels set at 30ppm. Tie the powder into an old sock and hang it in the pump outflow, and squeeze it often to help it disperse. This helps your chlorine to stay in the pool and sanitize instead of being burnt off by the sun, and busy sanitizing the stuff that needs to be cleaned out.

Until you get your test kit, and until your CYA sock is dispersed, add bleach. At the beginning when the sock is almost full, add the amount prescribed as if your CYA is zero. As the sock empties, you can ballpark your estimated CYA in the pool, or take a sample for free water testing if a pool store for more definitive results. Add your estimates or test results into the PC in the CYA "now" column, and add bleach as prescribed.

You need a test to adjust your TA and PH. Enter the numbers into the PC and add borax/baking soda/muriatic acid as prescribed.

You will have your test kit in a few days at most; test FC at the same time daily and adjust with the PC, test TA/PH/CYA every few weeks or when rain or splash-out replenishment adds new water to the pool and adjust as needed.

I am liking my blue blob with 30 CYA, PH of 7.2, and FC of 5+ppm.

Swim often, Intex pumps done move much water to prevent stagnant areas, but people do!

It really isnt tough, although it might seem so at the git-go. Folks around here will make sure you succeed!
 
Thank you so much for the replies!!! What wonderful info.

I knew it was that algaecide! He has very sensitive skin. He gets rashes from lot of things. Hurray! At least the mystery is solved.

I just got done draining it completely & cleaning every drop out with a sponge. Here I thought I'll just get them a bigger kiddie pool- easy as pie right? LOL I can't stand up straight right now.

Thanks again everyone. I will work on that pool calculator again & hit Walmart yet again. Thanks again!
Sarah
 
You can use the tabs you already have to help add CYA when rain or splash-out refilling. Figure about 3-4 1 inch tabs in the floater to bring CYA up 5ppm per 1000 gallons, but it will be slow. If you get the combo A and C type filter, it has a screen in the center. You can put the tabs in the top of filter, they will disperse quicker.

When the CYA is up to par, switch back to bleach.
 

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Given the small volume of this pool, its seasonal nature, the likelihood of considerable splash-out and need to refill—thus diluting all chems—I would not bother with CYA. It takes a while to dissolve, it requires a specific testing method, it can be a little tricky to get to the right level in a pool with frequent additions or partial exchanges of water.

These small pools can be maintained at FC=3ppm by adding between 6 and 8 oz of Clorox bleach daily. Add the bleach after sunset when the boys are out of the pool and spend a couple of minutes swishing it around with a brush. You can get a very inexpensive OTO test kit at Wal-Mart, ACE, Leslie's, or online to check pH and chlorine. The Taylor OTO kit tests FC (free chlorine), the others test TC (total chlorine). This type of kit is more accurate than test strips.

I would make sure the pH is within range (between 7.2 and 7.8) and just add a cup of Clorox daily and have a blast watching the little guys play.
 
Might be just me, but I think the CYA level is important for the temporary pools to help stabilize the chlorine levels. They already have the disadvantages of lethargic pumps and feeble filters to deal with, a little CYA is what I credit my success with the Blue Blob to.

The levels dont need to be doted on, I check mine once a month at the pool store. When I bought my tub of CYA, I used the extra to help another blob owner, and still hade enough to open the pool this year, and probably next year as well. I use triclor tabs for minor adjustments.
 
CYA is important. I understand Anna's statement, but you need some, if for no other reason then to moderate the FC level. One reason the Pool School article recommends using Dichlor to begin with is because it's easier to regulate the amount that's added.
 
ob1quixote said:
Might be just me, but I think the CYA level is important for the temporary pools to help stabilize the chlorine levels. They already have the disadvantages of lethargic pumps and feeble filters to deal with, a little CYA is what I credit my success with the Blue Blob to.

The levels dont need to be doted on, I check mine once a month at the pool store. When I bought my tub of CYA, I used the extra to help another blob owner, and still hade enough to open the pool this year, and probably next year as well. I use triclor tabs for minor adjustments.
Click to expand...


Agreed. Did exactly the same, and still doing it this year (when friend sets up her tiny pool) with the CYA we originally bought for our small pools.

We didn't really have a lot of huge issues, but we did battle with the pool(s) some. H was diligent (if not obsessed) about pool care w/chems till we found BBB last spring w/the new metal framed pool. The only reason we did as well as we did w/strips and chems from walmart was likely due to CYA which he always made sure was added upon filling. We only got a little green, the smell was what clued us in and then of course algaecide was added which mostly got it going again.

We did ok, and likely the additional CYA was the main reason. I think we were opening at about 50ppm all those years, and then the pucks drove it up further through the summer. I honestly don't think we've actually bought more than one bottle of pucks though, all this time. We still have enough left for the summer to chlorinate the pond and foot bath.

I will admit that we absolutely overshot the initial CYA dose going by the "range" levels we were reading about on the bottles and on websites for pools, and likely had been all these years with the small pools. Our current pool started that way last year because we filled the new pool, added CYA... found BBB, and then had to drain 50% in the first week to get it down to a level that works for our pool/location.

I claim innocence btw... pools were his till last year. 0:)
 
Guys and gals, all I'm saying is that a pool can be kept sanitized and clean without stabilizer as long as an adequate amount of bleach is added regularly. In fact, don't we have a thread right now about public pools in NY which can't have CYA in them?

Sarah's pool is very small and sees a lot of activity with two boys in it daily. Getting any sort of proper CYA level will be challenging. It's either going to be too low and therefore useless, or way too high, requiring draining and refilling and starting all over again while the swimming season is ticking away. If it goes too high and the pH drops, that can't be good for the little boy who has sensitive skin.

A floater with some tabs in it would be far more useful in her pool than doing the CYA-in-a-sock routine. By the time the measured amount of CYA crystals have broken up in the water she'll likely have had a considerable amount of water replacement from splashing and rain, or draining it again because the filter can't handle whatever dirt and debris gets dragged into a kiddie pool.

The whole point is that given the very small amount of bleach it takes daily, less than 1 cup, to maintain this small volume at sanitizing levels, why bother with stabilizer which is, as we all agree, the more difficult chemical to get in and get right.
 
Do people have a hard time getting CYA levels right? I'm a second year blob owner and havent had any problem hitting my target {30ppm} either year. If they do, I would suspect that their pools are not filled to capacity, but they are using the full capacity number to calculate the dose. Then when they test the water, it is high, say 750 gallons dosed at 1000 gallon levels.

I'm sure she could get by on bleach alone, especially in the short term.
 
I'm guessing AnnaK is saying the boys will splash out a lot (and thus replace a lot) and it will be hard to know how much CYA to assume is there for purposes of bleach dosing. I don't disagree with that and at times I have to say I thought the unknown value was harder to deal with than a known value of zero. I think keeping my 1000 gallon Intex pool clean was way harder than my bigger Intex the following year. So I bought the big CYA test for (then) $17 from TF Testkits and tested frequently (had enough for following year too). I also opted for FAS-DPD to test FC, which for me was essential with such a small pool since I had a toufh time with the yellows on the OTO. I only used my red/yellow block thing to test pH.

Ultimately AnnaK is right that it can be done with zero CYA and an OTO test and bleach. If it gets out of whack, it is small enough to drain and refill. But for some people, more control is worth the testing supply money to ensure the pool is ready for the spontaneous play date, and more importantly at my house, that the water is warmed from the sun and not fresh from the hose when needed. So for me, I wanted CYA, kept track of it more frequently with the small pool than with my bigger pool, and always knew FC and CC by using drops. Was probably an extra $40 that first year to keep my pool always at the ready.
 
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