My Pool-ventures :)

[denniston]

Hey everyone,
I feel like I've already received so much from this community (from reading in the pool school) and this is only my first post. At first I wasn't sure if we amateur (temporary) pool owners were represented in the community, but it seems as though I've seen some posts from some others.

My pool experience. I've owned several of the blue easy set up pools in the past with moderate success. Last fall my wife's grandmother called us up and asked us to remove the 9'x18'x52" Intex Ultra Frame pool she had bought for her grandkids who lived next door. Apparently they weren't interested in maintaining the pool. Physically the pool seemed in nice condition and even came with a salt water set up. Needless to say the pool was like a swamp. My wife and I did our best to clean it when we dismantled it.

When spring arrived, I began to prepare a place for the pool in our yard. I removed several inches of sod, formed up a foundation, and screeded in a trailer load of sand. When it came to installing the pool everything went very well. I noticed that there was a small amount of dried on gunk, but I assumed after being frozen all winter it just soak off and get filtered out. First mistake. As I'm sure you can guess 24 hours after filling the pool it was full of algae. Not knowing what to do, I went to my local big box store, and bought a bag of shock (1lb of 52% calcium hypochlorite) and some HTH Algae Guard. After I added that to the pool, I realized I should probably do some research, and that's when I came across this wonderful site. This morning I went back to the store bought the most expensive pool tester they had, not great, but it did have the CYA.

From my reading I understood that there was no use in testing for the CYA while the pool is being shocked. And since this is a fresh fill, I added approx. 1lb which I calculated should raise it to about 20. My tester only goes to 5 on the chlorine test, and it was off the chart. I retested it, and only put 1 drop of OTO in (it calls for 5). I assumed if I did that and then multiplied by 5 it would be right. When I did that I came up with a result of 10. Using the calculator I figured that adding 4.5 Cups of 8.25% bleach would raise the level to 15.

Unfortunately my family will be leaving on vacation on Friday morning. Is there any way to get this cleared up by then. I hate to think how mature the algae culture would be by the time we get back on Tuesday.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Jason Denniston
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[duraleigh]

on Friday morning. Is there any way to get this cleared up by then.

No. Sorry.

Spend some time between now and then reading Pool School "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" should be first. Then read "How to Shock Your Pool" ...that's what you need to do when you return.

You will limp along badly with the kit you bought so return it if you can and get one that has the tests needed to properly complete the shock test.....Few, if any, stores have it in stock so you will need to order but it will be there waiting for you when you return.

 

[denniston]

You will limp along badly with the kit you bought so return it if you can and get one that has the tests needed to properly complete the shock test.....

Is the FAS/DPD Chlorine & CC's test that is listed on your site the only other main test that I need? I wouldn't be able to return the test since I have already used it some. Much of the items in my kit are the same as you have listed on your site.

Thanks for your quick reply.

Jason

 

[duraleigh]

Is the FAS/DPD Chlorine & CC's test that is listed on your site the only other main test that I need

I'm pretty sure that's correct. If you can test CYA, pH and TA and CH, that'll be all you need to add.

 

[Isaac-1]

Welcome, and I would suggest if you can get the water looking better before you go then use a couple of trichlor pucks in a cheap floater while gone on vacation, just make sure to run the numbers through pool calculator to see how much CYA they will also add. I think Wal-Mart sells them in 3 packs, so you don't need to invest in a large bucket. Using less drops on the OTO test will not let you test higher chlorine levels since it is color based results, instead mix pool water 50/50 with non chlorinated water (common bottled water will work) then multiply your reading by 2, this of course adds to the error in the test, so is only a ballpark reading.

 

[denniston]

Welcome, and I would suggest if you can get the water looking better before you go

That's what I was thinking. What I read in the pool school was the sooner you work on it the better, but then I don't know if it's useless and any left overs with just repopulate over the 4 days.

then use a couple of trichlor pucks in a cheap floater while gone on vacation

I had one of those floaters left over from a previous pool-venture. And I think it was my dad who gave me like half a bucket of those pucks. I tossed a couple of those in as soon as I noticed the green.

 

[Isaac-1]

Just keep count on those pucks, and use pool calculator to see how they are going to effect your CYA

 

[Richard320]

You will limp along badly with the kit you bought so return it if you can and get one that has the tests needed to properly complete the shock test.....

Is the FAS/DPD Chlorine & CC's test that is listed on your site the only other main test that I need? I wouldn't be able to return the test since I have already used it some. Much of the items in my kit are the same as you have listed on your site.

Thanks for your quick reply.

Jason

If it says Taylor on the bottles, you are correct. You can just order the FAS-DPD test separately. http://tftestkits.net/FAS-DPD-Chlorine- ... t-p47.html

 

[denniston]

Would something like this be a worthwhile purchase for my pool?
http://www.amazon.com/Intex-56673EG-14- ... d_sxp_f_pt

I found one locally for $50.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

If it were me I would.
Any reason you didn't drain and start over? Your pool being less than 5,000 gallons, might be cheaper to just drain and refill...

 

[denniston]

I thought about it. But since it happened within 24 hours of filling the pool, I was afraid it would happen again. Any thoughts?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Did you add any chlorine while it was filling or in the 24 before it turned green?

 

[denniston]

Did you add any chlorine while it was filling or in the 24 before it turned green?

I don't think so.

 

[denniston]

After about four days away on vacation I was dreading what the pool would look like. Much to my surprise when i got home, it looked pretty decent. Next I'm going to vacuum the bottom (if I can figure it out), then brush down the sides. What do you all think?

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[denniston]

I'm still waiting for my good chlorine test to arrive, but I think it is looking better. I used the vacuum today, and the filter really showed that I was removing a lot of 'junk', and then I brushed down all the surfaces.

One thing I've noticed is that my pool looks relatively good until I stir it up. It still has a green tint, but is quite transparent. Does anyone have any perspective on how my process is going?

I was thinking about vacuuming it and brushing it (and using my crude chlorine system) every two hours tomorrow.

 

[fast1971chevelle]

Looks 100% better have you added any cya to your pool yet? If not put in enough to get you to 30 ppm and shock as often as you can per the cya/fc chart....remember the more diligent you are with maintaining shock level and brushing and vacuuming the quicker you will have a sparkly clean pool......Mike

 

[denniston]

I added approx. 1lb of CYA which should have taken it to about 20. And I've had a few Triclor tabs floating in the pool, so I'm not sure how much they have added. Like I said I'm waiting for my good chlorine test to arrive, until then I've been using the smell test. Not sure how good of an idea that is, but it seems to have been effective on the algae.

Thanks

 

[denniston]

I've read in a couple places where it says when fighting algae, to vacuum your pool with out it going through the filter. Can someone explain that to me, and explain why? I'm assuming higher quality filter pumps allow to pump water from the vacuum on to the ground? My pump and filter (at this point) are all in one, and so I cannot vacuum with out it going through the filter. While I've been fighting the algae, I've noticed a lot of sediment in my filter after vacuuming.

 

[linen]

I've read in a couple places where it says when fighting algae, to vacuum your pool with out it going through the filter. Can someone explain that to me, and explain why?

Some filter valves have a waste setting where you can vacuum the junk out of the pool to reduce how much filter cleaning is needed. This is especially helpful on cartridge filters since the plug up quick when vacuuming algae. The downside is this uses a lot of water.

Also, you may have read leaving your pump on recirculate or bypass to keep the water moving and chemicals mixed in if you have to be away from the filter for awhile during shocking. This is so the filter does not plug up while you are gone and stop your flow/circulation.

 

[denniston]

Yeah! I finally received my good chlorine test. I did a full round of tests on the pool, and I hope the community can help me finish clearing up the pool. The pool isn't nearly as green, but it doesn't seem crystal clear by any means. Not sure if it's slightly greenish or if it's just cloudy.

Here's my results:
FC 23.5
CC 0
pH 7.8
CH ~150
CYA 35
TA 350