Hello! I'm a new poster to this forum, but I have been silently stalking you all for weeks! I have learned a lot, but I need to tell you exactly what I've got going on so I know if I'm doing what I should. My pool's back ground: I have an Intex metal frame above ground pool. This is the 2nd season we have put it up. It is a 15' X 48" (4440 gallons). I upgraded the filter this summer to an Intex 2500 filter pump. I use the Intex krystal klear SWCG. I live in Elgin, Oklahoma and we haven't had a drop of rain in many weeks and temps over 100 for the past 40-something days. The water where I live is terrible, but it is from a city supply. It has a pH and TA that is off the charts high (higher than 8.2 and my TA first read 280ppm) and the water is very hard. But once I got the pool full it was clear and beautiful. I used pH minus and slowly over a few days lowered the pH to 7.6. I remember reading somewhere else that as long as your water is clear and pH is in normal limits, the TA doesn't have to be text book perfect, so I didn't correct the high TA. I added a salt pool 3 in 1 product that had CYA, clarifier and SWCG cell saver built in. My water was beautiful for about a month. I did battle chronically low chlorine levels. Most days it wouldn't even register, and I'd just turn it on the "boost" mode for 24 hours. Sure enough, you guessed it... algae bloom about a week ago. I found it in the morning and it wasn't a swamp yet. Just the water was tinted green, there wasn't any floaties or anything stuck to the sides. After a mild anxiety attack I came inside and got on the internet. I ran to the store and came home and put in 1.42 gallon of clorox. (My filter running the whole time). I also turned on the boost mode on my SWCG again. I also bought some CYA and put it in the filter bringing my CYA reading up to 70ppm. The next morning it was no longer green, but was very milky and I could not see the bottom of the pool. The FC was 10, TC 12.5, CC 2.5, pH 7.5, CYA 70. My filter flow was nil. My SWCG was alarming "low flow". Duh. I changed out the filter and voila, it was flowing hard and fast again. I went out to check about 6 hours later, still milky and next to no flow again. Changed filter again, and it was flowing fine again. Long story shortened, over the past week I have had to change the filter 3-4 times a day. Yes, A DAY! I have been power washing them well and sitting them in the hot sun to dry all day and rotating them. It is just too expensive to put in a brand new one every time. I went to Leslie's 3 days ago and explained my problem and the guy sold me a bottle of Natural Chemistry's Perfect and Clear clarifier. I put it in and it did make my filter clog even faster, so I guess it is doing it's job, but my water is still extremely cloudy. Yesterday the FC read 5 and since my daughter and about 8 of her friends swam all day, I shocked it again with another 1.42 gallon of Clorox. I tested it a hour after I put it in and the FC was 25. Water is still super cloudy, but I can slightly see the bottom now. I'm still having to change the filter multiple times a day. Oh, and this morning my SWCG was alarming "low salt" but I tested the salt and it's right at 3000 (perfect). I guess I need to clean the cell with vinegar, but now I'm worried that with all the "boosting" I did, I burned out the cell. AGH!!! AND, I have a small hole in the bottom of the liner where a piece of bermuda grass has started to grow through (I have a ground cover tarp under the pool, too!). I bought a repair patch but haven't been able to fix it because the water has been too cloudy, so I've been having to add about 2 inches of water every other day. Okay, here is my readings right now:
pH: 7.6
FC: 25
TC: 25
CC: 0
CYA: 70ppm
TA: 270 ppm
Do I just keep changing my filter and pray it clears up? Please help! Thank you so much!!!
Amanda
pH: 7.6
FC: 25
TC: 25
CC: 0
CYA: 70ppm
TA: 270 ppm
Do I just keep changing my filter and pray it clears up? Please help! Thank you so much!!!
Amanda