My first opening, after my first closing... not so good

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armedmetallica

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Oct 12, 2012
102
Central New Jersey
Hello TFP! I've posted on and off in the last 9 months or so...

New pool owner (never wanted the "hassle" of a pool), but it came with the house we bought, so now trying to make the best of it... you know, for the kids!

My cover had lots of leaves, and water and pollen gathered throughout the off season. This lead to a nice leaf stew of swamppy porportions. I managed to rake it all up, and pumped out all the water. With a huge storm coming, I figured, lets open the pool up so that we don't have another swamp growing on the cover.

AND then I realized - it's green! not terrible, I can see through to the bottom; there's some debris down there, leaves and things that apparently got in there. But there are also floaty insects (my guess is mosquitos). So I didn't connect my pump or anything yet. It's wide open, sitting there.

I don't know that this is algae, then again it's not normal for water to be green, so who knows. I read through some of the sticky about algae (what a great write-up!)

Going to pool store tomorrow to get some readings.

Is it a Bad thing to just dump out ALL the water and start from scratch?

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Oh - adding tow more and forgot to mention, I have a SWG .. so techncially a salt-water pool, for what that's worth

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Continue to get all the debris off the bottom. The more you get out, the less chlorine you will waste when you begin the shock process. I am sure one of the experts will come around soon and give you more specific info.

One last thing...Read Pool School!
 
No need to drain that pool!

For starters, order yourself a test kit and get it on the way. It will become your best friend for getting and keeping your pool sparklingly clear all the time. The TF100 comes with everything you need and is what most here consider the best.

While you are waiting for that, read through the Pool School section, and focus on the section on shocking your pool. Shocking your pool is a process, not a product like the stores would like you to think. You will need all of the test kit values to determine where to start with that process. If you are unable to wait for the kit to arrive to get started, you can get a sample at your local pool stores... But warning... they are not often very accurate.

The values you will need are ph, FC, CC, CYA, TA & CH

Also, it would be a good idea to gather some regular chlorine while you are waiting to get your first test results. It's going to take quite a lot, but will be much cheaper than the pool stores chlorine with additives.

Once you have your first set of results, feel free to post them, and we will be along to help you.
 
9 months and you still don't have your own test kit? :hammer:

Scoop out as much debris as you can. There's not much more to do until you know the CYA level so you know the shock level.

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I think with that type of pool you'd need a new liner if you drained the pool.

Post your pool specs in your signature line so people can readily see what you have - factors like type of pool (vinyl above ground, not make/model); gallonage; pump; filter; climate/location all help us help you. Once you get the good kit, post the results.

You can absolutely learn to love having a pool and your fears of the "hassle" of owning it will be forgotten - at least as far as how to keep your water crystal clear without going broke. Now, the hassles of people leaving you with wet towels when they leave; eating you out of house and home when they send their kids over to visit; and how to store all those pool toys you can afford since you stopped getting pool-stored -- those are all hassles we all have to bear.

In short, if you want to get and maintain control of your pool, you'll need to buy a good test kit that included the FAS-DPD test; you'll need to read Pool School and then re-read the relevant parts (ABCs of Chemistry; How to Complete the Shock Process; and others specific to you - like defeating algae).
 
thanks everyone for the numerous, quick replies. No wonder this site comes up first for most pool related searches! .... i did visit the Pool School briefly... will revisit for a Master's degree.

Okay - so the draining and starting over is forgotten. I will order the test kit, ASAP.

I always thought the "shocking" wasn't needed with an SWG. But then again, I don't think it was supposed to get this bad.

Okay so when you say "regular chlorine" is that like bleach, as in the stuff I use to get my whites whiter? Or specific pool chlorine?

I can't get much more of the debris out via scooping... should I fill the pool back up so that the skimmer can work, then fire up the pump, filter etc, and start vaccuming? OR first thing is get THIS water cleared up before adding more?

When do I add my SWG back in? after everything is stabilized? Sorry, lotsa questions, I know.

One last thought - Can I get some sort of triage on WTF happened? :hammer: so I don't repeat this next year? I think, the end by the deck wasn't covered tight enough, and lead to leaves and things getting inside from there. But still there were leaves and crud on the other end ... so can't say that was the cause of it.

Liner didn't seem slimy around the top area, but that pool pillow in the pict, was slimy with gunk.
 
armedmetallica said:
thanks everyone for the numerous, quick replies. No wonder this site comes up first for most pool related searches! .... i did visit the Pool School briefly... will revisit for a Master's degree.

Okay - so the draining and starting over is forgotten. I will order the test kit, ASAP.

I always thought the "shocking" wasn't needed with an SWG. But then again, I don't think it was supposed to get this bad.

Okay so when you say "regular chlorine" is that like bleach, as in the stuff I use to get my whites whiter? Or specific pool chlorine? Either. Whatever works out cheapest or most convenient. bleach-prices-2013-t58266.html?hilit=bleach%20prices%202013

I can't get much more of the debris out via scooping... should I fill the pool back up so that the skimmer can work, then fire up the pump, filter etc, and start vaccuming? OR first thing is get THIS water cleared up before adding more? The more debris you get out, the less chlorine and time it will take. Since we don't know if you need to drain any yet, hold off. You might want to vacuum to waste or set up a siphon vacuum

When do I add my SWG back in? after everything is stabilized? Sorry, lotsa questions, I know. Yes.

One last thought - Can I get some sort of triage on *** happened? :hammer: so I don't repeat this next year? I think, the end by the deck wasn't covered tight enough, and lead to leaves and things getting inside from there. But still there were leaves and crud on the other end ... so can't say that was the cause of it.

Liner didn't seem slimy around the top area, but that pool pillow in the pict, was slimy with gunk.Closed too early and/or opened too late.
Click to expand...
 
thanks - I have about 5 gals at home of standard issue Chlorox, might as well start there.

will look to see if I can get something I saw a battery powered vac @ BJ's didn't think it would be useful...

is this the right place to get the test kit? http://tftestkits.net/splash-page.html

I see they have a link back to TFP, but not sure if it's to be shady and seem affiliated, or something else.

I might have closed too late? I think I did it right before super storm Sandy came around... had issues getting covers, etc;
 
That is the place. Dave, designed and sells the kits to be more compatible with the methods taught here. He also owns this forum. It really is the best kit you can buy with great customer service.
 

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Just want to chime in. Here bj's has 4 pack of 1 gallon 12.5% bleach for the best price, its like $13.

Oh, and your pool looks much better than mine did a month ago. Bleach stabilzer and borax are the only things we have added to the pool and its sparkling.
 
jblizzle said:
That is the place. Dave, designed and sells the kits to be more compatible with the methods taught here. He also owns this forum. It really is the best kit you can buy with great customer service.
Click to expand...

are these guys selling a knock off?

http://www.poolsupplyworld.com/TFTestki ... TF-100.htm

seems similar, but cheaper than the source.


Also while i sit around and wait for this, can I trust the pool store analysis, or should I just pick up a 6-way test, to get through the weekend Home Depot has that for like $12.

Was it a bad Idea to open the pool, knowing that there will be two days of rainy days (i wanted to avoid the water collecting on the cover, AGAIN).
 
Same kit, they are a re-distributor on the West Coast ... should be the same price, but they do not offer some of the options.

You will get it faster from tftestkits.net

I would not trust the pool store results too much or spend money on a "temp" kit. Maybe get the pool store to test it once to get a ROUGH idea.
Clearly you need chlorine, so if you want to feel like you are doing something, you could add some bleach every day.
 
jblizzle said:
Same kit, they are a re-distributor on the West Coast ... should be the same price, but they do not offer some of the options.

You will get it faster from tftestkits.net

I would not trust the pool store results too much or spend money on a "temp" kit. Maybe get the pool store to test it once to get a ROUGH idea.
Clearly you need chlorine, so if you want to feel like you are doing something, you could add some bleach every day.
Click to expand...

thanks - that's what i needed to hear.

will order it direct ... Dave should make the affiliation clearer... like i said, at first that link back seemed a little suspicious.

I'm on a lot of forums, but man this one hands down has the fastest and helpful (no condescending, what an idiot, how'd you let this happen) replies!
 
I'm hoping 2 weeks max and you'll be a success story! :mrgreen: It's tried and true. You just have to follow it! :goodjob:
 
so i passed by the pool store; and much like people around here say, they didn't offer much in terms of test results. He just said that he wont get a read for CYA, since the pump has to be on for 24hrs before you can get a good read.

He told me to add 2lbs of liquid shock over night, and keep pump on 24hrs for several days, then to bring another sample in.

Right now, it's sunny outside, planning on trying to scoop out what I can of the debris that's in there. Feel so helpless without the test kit. Like i'm not doing anything positive.

Can I start connecting my pipes and things? Right out of the skimmer, before the pump, there's a ball valve that I can close off. I also have a new filter cartridge on order, trying to figure out if I should let this gunk run through the old filter, or wait till the new one gets here?
 

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