New pool owner in Augusta, GA - HELP!!!!!

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SGT Fulmer

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Jul 13, 2012
3
Fort Gordon, GA USA!!!!
Hello everyone. My name is SGT Fulmer, and I am currently stationed at Ft Gordon, GA in Augusta. I was out in the field, and when I returned, my wife had bought a nice little 10x30 Intex pool from Academy sports. The kids are excited, so I filled her on up with water from our hose, and the first two days let them swim in it. On the third day, I started to notice the water was a little cloudy and not sparkling like it was. So I did what any person would do, I researched it online, and found myself here. I had bought cholorine tabs from walmart, as welll as a couple orange packages of shock, balancer, and a bunch of other stuff I later found out I did not need. I studied pool school for a couple hours, continued researching various things, and went back to Wally world to return the excess unnecessaries, and to then get what I needed. After I bought some borax and a 7 dollar thing of baking soda, along with a 3 way test kit, I thought I was set. Here are my issues.

#1 - The color coding on the test kit I bought is not very accurate, of course...........The chlorine shade I came up with is around the 2.0 - 5.0 range, which should be safe for swimming, so I guess I am good there. My PH on the other hand is very dark purple, and I am sure it is over 8.0. Until my T 100 test kit comes in, which I ordered from EBay for around 35 bucks, should I keep my kids out of the pool? I cannot get a definite reading, but my kids and wife think I am going too "in depth", or "overboard" so to say on the whole testing thing, and I will not allow them into the pool until I am 100% sure its safe, even if its just the pH. I an unsure of how much muriatic acid to add since I dont know the exact reading, so what would you all do until the good test kit comes in? Keep em out of the water, or let em swim for 2 hours at a time, and then shower off directly after getting out? I dont even have the muriatic acid on hand, I haveto run out and buy some, but what should I do? Just guestimate, and add the MA in in very small amounts, and keep testing 15 minutes after adding the stuff until the color gets in range?

#2 - Should I buy a vacuum for our little pool? There is not that much on the floor of the pool as of right now, and I scrub it with a plasic push broom every day, and then use my net to try and get most of what I can out of the pool after doing that. Should I go ahead and get the vacuum just in case? I do like taking care of the things I have....... I plan on using our pool from May thru October, so what is a good cheap vacuum that you all would recommend? Keep in mind that Im an E5 in the Army, and dont have a ton of disposable income!!!!!

#3 - I have heard alot of talk about stabalizer, or CYA,and i am wondering that if I am using the BBB method, should I use any CYA? My wife is a couponer, and we have a grip of regular bleach, so chlorine really isnt a concern for us, but would it do me good to just "take the plunge" and get some CYA, so I wont use up her stockpile of Clorox in 2 weeks? Is it worth it, or is that one of the chemicals I could do without with regular testing, cleaning and adding of the BBB?

Sorry for all the questions, Im just really new to this whole pool thing. I guess I am a worst scenario type of guy. I even got a door chime put on our front and back doors, just so if my 3 year old opens the door, we'll know, and there is no chance of him trying to get into the pool when we aren't paying complete attention to him. Everyone but me in my household thinks I am off my rocker and being a worrywart, but I try and remind them that an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure.
 
Given your readings, as long as the water looks good swimming is fine. Swim when the water is clear, FC is at or above the minimum, and PH is 7.2+.

1) You should add some acid to bring the PH down to around 7.5.
2) You will almost certainly want a vacuum eventually.
3) Yes CYA is important. Get CYA up into the 30 to 50 range.
 
You have a very small pool, so you need to be careful on dosage amounts on everything. It is only going to take about 6 ounces of CYA to get you to 30 ppm. It is only going to take About a cup of Muriatic Acid to get your PH under control.

Each day you will then add about A cup and a half Of 6% bleach, and you should be in good shape. make sure it is just bleach, without a bunch of other stuff in it. Walmart Great Value plain old (unscented) bleach is good.

High pH is not as big an issue as low pH for the kiddos. Chlorine can be as high as 10 and still be safe to swim, so long as the water is clear, and you can see the bottom of the pool.

One advantage of the small pool is, if things get too crazy out of wack, just dump the water and start over. Clean the cartridge filter often.

Thank you for your service it our country. I had two brothers at Ft Gordon over the years.
 
Thanks guys! I am heading out to get the CYA and the Muriatic acid right now. One other question. Once I get the CYA to around 40 or 50, how often should I need to add more? I wont be getting my T100 test kit until Wednesday or Thursday, so should I just add the CYA recommended to get my pool up to par, and then once I get my test kit, test it and go from there, or should I just hold off on the CYA until I get the test kit completely?

I wish I would have read here about a test kit before I went out and wasted 12 bucks on this 3 way test kit, maybe Ill see if my wife can find the receipt....................I usually dont skimp when it comes to safety, but after reading here about the kits, it seems really irresponsible of someone to get a cheap kit that doesnt give you very accurate results, especially when you are dealing with bleach, acid, chemicals and potential hazards to your childrens safety and your safety. Im glad I came to this site, jus sayin............. I would have thought I was being proactive with that crappy kit, when in fact I would have been doing my kids a major disservice. I guess the pool stores and chem companies hate an informed consumer, glad I came here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Get the CYA started, as it will help hold your chlorine a little better. Put it in an old sock and hang in front of the water return. 6 ounces is going to get you to around 30 ppm. I would sneak up on 50 from there. Replacement will be dependent on rain and splash out, which could be a lot on a small pool. Remember, CYA will not show up on your test for about a week, so do not waste time testing until then.

Do your broom thing after adding the MA, and let the kids back in after 30 minutes with the pump running.
 
Do my broom thing!!!!!! LOL!

Im just gonna go get a vacuum right now when I get the CYA and MA. My broom thing works good though!!! Its a nice neon green brand new plastic push broom for like a garage that I push along the bottom, get the little pine needles and bigger pieces of dirt up in the water, and then run my pool skiimmer net below the surface and get what I can get out. Its been like 9 days since set up, and the floor looks really clean, so it must be working some!! (although I cover it every night, and run the pump from noon to 6 every day)
 
An easy way to get the dirt is to walk circles around the inside edge of the pool, creating a whirlpool. All of the dirt will collect neatly in the center and easily picked up by your net. Sometimes I do that right before I get out, and the pile is ready to be disposed of when I get back in, with little effort.
 
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