Hello everyone, my name is Steven and I'm new to the site as you can tell. My family and I recently moved to Lakewood, CA into a house that has a pool. The details on the pool and the equipment are in my signature. I have been reading in the Pool School section and have ordered the TF-100 test kit so that I can accurately see how my pool chemistry is and make educated decisions on what/how to treat it. I have much more reading/learning to do, but I wanted to post some initial numbers to see what you guys think.
In the meantime I have purchased initial supplies and test kits from the local Home Depot (prior to finding this great site) and have followed the testing and chemical treatment advice of the brand that is sold there (Pooltime). I've used both the test strips and the dinky 5 way tester kit and through using both the testing kits and inputting the results on their site (pooltime.com), it gave me instructions on what chemicals to add. Well following that has caused me some headache. The pool was clear before I started, but now has a cloudiness to it that doesn't seem to be getting better. Some of the chemicals I've added through the recommendation from that site are...
This of course has been added over the course of 1.5 weeks. I have initally found that the filter cartridge was completely useless when we moved in as the original pool guy had ignored the fact that the pressure gauge was broken, and hadn't thought to look into that as there was no pressure from any of the water jets at all. I fixed the pressure gauge and saw it jump from 15psi to 28psi. It previously had been running at 15psi for 2 weeks with no change. After reading on this site I learned that the pressure is a direct indicator as to how dirty the filter cartridge is. So I pulled it out and cleaned it out thoroughly. The clean filter psi reading was now at 5psi. I have been cleaning it each time it reaches 15psi, and the pool looks better, although still is cloudy. I just can't seem to get the cloudiness to dissapate.
Current numbers as of 5/22 @ 18:00 PST.
FC: 7+ (hard to tell, the current testing kit doesn't read past 6)
pH: 7.2
TA: 250
CH: 650 (only readable from test strip, maxed out at 1000. But since it reads Total Hardness, subtracted 1/3 for magnesium hardness)
CYA: 160
I will get better, more accurate numbers from my TF-100 when it arrives tomorrow. Here are a couple pictures of the pool and cloudiness. Any suggestions? Thanking you all in advance.
In the meantime I have purchased initial supplies and test kits from the local Home Depot (prior to finding this great site) and have followed the testing and chemical treatment advice of the brand that is sold there (Pooltime). I've used both the test strips and the dinky 5 way tester kit and through using both the testing kits and inputting the results on their site (pooltime.com), it gave me instructions on what chemicals to add. Well following that has caused me some headache. The pool was clear before I started, but now has a cloudiness to it that doesn't seem to be getting better. Some of the chemicals I've added through the recommendation from that site are...
- Four 1lb bags of 4in1 Pool Shock
- Four quarts of Metal, Stain, & Scale Out
- Four quarts of PH Down Chemical
- Four ounces of Algacide
This of course has been added over the course of 1.5 weeks. I have initally found that the filter cartridge was completely useless when we moved in as the original pool guy had ignored the fact that the pressure gauge was broken, and hadn't thought to look into that as there was no pressure from any of the water jets at all. I fixed the pressure gauge and saw it jump from 15psi to 28psi. It previously had been running at 15psi for 2 weeks with no change. After reading on this site I learned that the pressure is a direct indicator as to how dirty the filter cartridge is. So I pulled it out and cleaned it out thoroughly. The clean filter psi reading was now at 5psi. I have been cleaning it each time it reaches 15psi, and the pool looks better, although still is cloudy. I just can't seem to get the cloudiness to dissapate.
Current numbers as of 5/22 @ 18:00 PST.
FC: 7+ (hard to tell, the current testing kit doesn't read past 6)
pH: 7.2
TA: 250
CH: 650 (only readable from test strip, maxed out at 1000. But since it reads Total Hardness, subtracted 1/3 for magnesium hardness)
CYA: 160
I will get better, more accurate numbers from my TF-100 when it arrives tomorrow. Here are a couple pictures of the pool and cloudiness. Any suggestions? Thanking you all in advance.