new to pool care

[silversteed]

Just purchased a house with a pool and I'm now trying to take care of it. The pool is Plaster pool ~25,000 gallons, kidney shaped with one skimmer and two drains. I believe that the filter is a DE. Also, it has a heater that currently doesn't work.

The previous owners had tablets in the skimmer and a float with about 6 tablets in it. I took those out after the first couple of days as I wasn't sure they were needed, plus I read that putting the tablets in the skimmer was a bad idea as it is very hard on equipment.

We have been cleaning it daily and taking measurements and recently took some water to the local pool store and received these results:

Free Chlorine 3.04 ppm
Total Chlorine 3.25 ppm
Combined Chlorine 0.21 ppm
pH 6.9
Hardness 159 ppm
Alkalinity 43 ppm
Cyanuric Acid 34 ppm
Copper 1.22 ppm
Iron 0.06 ppm

The store advised us to add pH Up ~18 lbs. We added 16oz circulated the pump for a few hours and then the next day added 16 more oz and circulated the pump. The pH is now at 7.2.

The water is now cloudy and I think that the filter needs to be back-washed as its pressure has gone up about 10 psi.

Also, the sides of the pool are chalky and are turning it white. This can be washed off, but I'd like to correct the problem.

Should I keep floating the tabs all the time in the pool?
Do I need to shock the pool? (hasn't been shocked in a couple of weeks). We were thinking of back-washing the filter, cleaning the sides of the pool, and shocking tonight...good idea?

It seems as though I just have to wait for problems and then employ corrective action to correct them, isn't there a way just to keep status quo in the pool? Maybe some sort of routine?

Thanks for any and all help.

Jim

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome

There are a lot of things that I could try to explain, but it has all been written before.

I would recommend reading through all of Pool School (button at upper right) a few times to get a better feel for the pool chemistry and terminology so we can communicate effectively.

Also, I have to say that one of the best investments you can make would be ordering one of the recommended test kits. Pool Store testing is notoriously inaccurate and just leads you to spend money that is not needed.

To some of your questions:
Given the high use of pucks, I have a hard time believing your CYA number. The pucks add FC and CYA. The FC is consumed the CYA stays. Eventually the CYA is so high that the pucks do not add enough FC and you get into problems. CYA tests seems to be one that the pool stores are the worst at. Also the pucks are acidic and thus why your pH was so low. I would recommend you stop using them and switch to liquid chlorine.

We also recommend you clean the filter when the pressure goes up 20-25% of your clean pressure. If you do not know the clean pressure, do a thorough cleaning and start from scratch.

Reading through Pool School will give you a much better idea on how to get into a routine with your pool care. You may have some work to go through before you are at the maintenance stage, but it is hard to get there without the proper test kit.

Please feel welcome to ask any questions that come up in your reading.

 

[silversteed]

Thanks.

Ok back to the Pool School for me!

I had no idea that the pucks did anything but add Chlorine to the pool. Your answer makes sense to me.

I will be purchasing one of the better kits ASAP.

Thanks again.

 

[Pauls234]

Jim,

Jason is right on. I bought a house in June that came with a pool of which I knew nothing about. Fortunately I came across this site and now I know quite a bit. It may take some patience to get there, but once you get that pool to its proper state with the help of the experts on this forum, you'll find that a few minutes a day is all you will need to maintain, particularly once you embrace BBB. In the two months my pool has been open, armed with knowledge and a good test kit, I have not had to add anything other than regular old bleach and I've had crystal clear water every single day.