Last year we had a 26' intex pool and this website save us. We were very successful using the BBB. This year we opted to get our new pool. The installation was finished today. We bought a package that included chemicals for the pool. I never intended no using them. I have my bleach, baking soda and borax waiting in the garage. But today, during the installation I was at work. The installers went ahead and put the chemicals in the pool. I should have made myself very clear with them, but I guess I didn't. So I come home from work to find my newly installed, newly filled pool cloudy. This is the FIRST day. I'm so worried now that I can't use BBB? What do I do? They put in 2 gallons of muriatic acid, 8lbs do (bio guard) inhibit optimizer plus active ingredient sodium tetraborate pentahydrate 100% AND bio guard smart shock 2lbs with active ingredients of sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione 63.05% COPPER citrate .73% other ingredients 36.22 (available chlorine 39%) copper as metallic .26%. So does this mean that I have copper in my new water?! Can this be fixed? Will I need to do a conversion? What a nightmare. I spent all day at work excited only to come home to a cloudy pool that you can't even see the bottom of. Please help. Thank you so much.
Oh No! Please help me.
- Thread starter Edn35
- Start date
Personally I would demand they pay for a full drain and water replacement, plus replace the chemicals, but that is just me
the next best thing is post a full set of test results, and work from there, hopefully it did not add enough metal or CYA to the pool to be a problem
the next best thing is post a full set of test results, and work from there, hopefully it did not add enough metal or CYA to the pool to be a problem
Oh and they added some smart algicide with 3.3% copper and 96.7% other ingredients. Silk sticks are the tablets used.
I wouldn't worry too much. The sodium tetraborate pentahydrate just adds Borates and the di-chlor is Chlorine and CYA. The amounts they added are minimal--less than 10 ppm for both Borates and CYA. The only unwanted addition is Copper. Even so, you have a large pool and I doubt there will be any problems unless they dumped gallons of algaecide in there.
You have a top notch test kit. Run your tests, start balancing the water and get to swimmin.
You have a top notch test kit. Run your tests, start balancing the water and get to swimmin.
Ok, my test results.
Ph was very pale. Below 6.8 but I don't know how much.
FC 2.5
CC .5
TC 3
TA 70
CH tested without copper 180
CH rested with copper 170
CYA looked about 60
So what does all of this mean. Do I need to do a metals test? Am I doomed? Thanks.
Ph was very pale. Below 6.8 but I don't know how much.
FC 2.5
CC .5
TC 3
TA 70
CH tested without copper 180
CH rested with copper 170
CYA looked about 60
So what does all of this mean. Do I need to do a metals test? Am I doomed? Thanks.
If your CYA is 60, they must have added stabilizer. Did they? Even so, you're not behind the eight ball. Adjust your PH to 7.2 and get your Chlorine up. If you have to shock, it shouldn't be for long with a fresh fill. I know you're upset but you just might be borrowing trouble. Every fresh fill needs to be balanced and sometimes shocked. If the water is just cloudy it probably needs Chlorine and filtering.
I found this site a couple years ago mid-season. I had thrown way more stuff in my way smaller pool than those guys threw in yours. It was a veritable witches brew. Once I knew the right way to care for my pool, thanks to this site, I had a crystal clear pool without draining a drop of water.
I found this site a couple years ago mid-season. I had thrown way more stuff in my way smaller pool than those guys threw in yours. It was a veritable witches brew. Once I knew the right way to care for my pool, thanks to this site, I had a crystal clear pool without draining a drop of water.
If CYA is already testing at 60 and if they used dry CYA you may have to dump and replace some water, don't do it yet though as dry CYA can take a week to show up on the test after if fully dissolves.
Ike
p.s. wait a minute, how did you test CYA? You posted you would be testing after it was already dark, and CYA should be tested in full sunlight with the sun to your back
Ike
p.s. wait a minute, how did you test CYA? You posted you would be testing after it was already dark, and CYA should be tested in full sunlight with the sun to your back
If they did add stabilizer, I don't see the container for it. Everything I listed is what I have in front of me that was opened and used. There are three trichloro-s-triazinetrione tablets in the skimmer basket right now. I'm not sure what to do with those. Do I take them out and add the bleach or leave them in there and use them instead or also? If I have copper in my water is it ok to add the bleach? Will there be a reaction of some sort?
My brain is overheating and I can't even think clearly right now. Sorry for rambling.
Hmm. True true point! It was dark. I'm in such a state of turmoil that I forgot that part. Thank you for pointing that out. So I should retest tomorrow. That could change things. What would you recommend I do tonight? The pump is running and there are 3 tablets in. The skimmer right now. How should I proceed at this point?
I would say let it go, 3 tabs are not going to make a lot of difference over night one way or another.
Ok. Thank you. I will let it go for tonight. Thanks to ALL of you for your help. I will be staying in touch through this process. Thanks again!
Ok so when I got home from work today the pool was clearer. You can see the bottom now. But it's still a little cloudy. It's not crystal clear but it is better. I took the tablets out of the strainer basket and I added borax to raise the PH. I can't tell if there is sand on the bottom of the pool or if its dead algae. I forget exactly what they used in the filter. They didn't call it sand but something else like shells or something. Shoot ill look it up. It looks finer than sand and they said it takes less of it to do the same thing. Anyway here are my test results for today.
FC 7.0
CC .5
TC 7.5
TA 100
CH 150
CYA was right between 45 and 50 on the gauge.
So what do you think? Is it safe to use the bleach now instead of the tablets? Why is the water still cloudy But better than last night when I couldn't see bottom. I'll try to post pics if I can get it to work. Thank you in advance.
FC 7.0
CC .5
TC 7.5
TA 100
CH 150
CYA was right between 45 and 50 on the gauge.
So what do you think? Is it safe to use the bleach now instead of the tablets? Why is the water still cloudy But better than last night when I couldn't see bottom. I'll try to post pics if I can get it to work. Thank you in advance.
Hi, it's me again. So here I am two or three days later. My current readings are
FC 21.5
TA 100
CYA 50
CH 150
PH 7.8
Let me tell you what's been going on. The water was very cloudy. Like a pool full of watered down milk. I've been shocking and maintaining 20ppm. Everyday the water gets clearer but there is always dead algae ( I hope) on the bottom of the pool. I had lost 1ppm night before last. so i shocked yesturday morning again and came home to find much more "dead algea". We have been backwashing, vacuuming and puming to waste. we got 5 inches of rain saturday so it made it easy to pump to waste
Last night I got carried away before bed and dumped in more bleach and it raised my FC to 31.5. Holy cow! Ran the pump all night and this morning it wa clear with very little stuff on the bottom. My FC raised to 32? Not sure but maybe last nights reading was off? Anyway I figured I would turn the pump of and see if anything settles to the bottom today. There is a little green/brown stuff again. Does this mean I need to keep shocking? Or do I just need to clean up dead algae? Is it really dead? My water is very clear right now. Clearest that its been. Pics to follow. Please help. I. Not sure if I'm finished or I need to keep shocking or exactly what my next step is. Can we swim yet?? Ahhh it's killing is! Brand new pool and haven't get to be in it yet. Thank you soooo much!
FC 21.5
TA 100
CYA 50
CH 150
PH 7.8
Let me tell you what's been going on. The water was very cloudy. Like a pool full of watered down milk. I've been shocking and maintaining 20ppm. Everyday the water gets clearer but there is always dead algae ( I hope) on the bottom of the pool. I had lost 1ppm night before last. so i shocked yesturday morning again and came home to find much more "dead algea". We have been backwashing, vacuuming and puming to waste. we got 5 inches of rain saturday so it made it easy to pump to waste
Last night I got carried away before bed and dumped in more bleach and it raised my FC to 31.5. Holy cow! Ran the pump all night and this morning it wa clear with very little stuff on the bottom. My FC raised to 32? Not sure but maybe last nights reading was off? Anyway I figured I would turn the pump of and see if anything settles to the bottom today. There is a little green/brown stuff again. Does this mean I need to keep shocking? Or do I just need to clean up dead algae? Is it really dead? My water is very clear right now. Clearest that its been. Pics to follow. Please help. I. Not sure if I'm finished or I need to keep shocking or exactly what my next step is. Can we swim yet?? Ahhh it's killing is! Brand new pool and haven't get to be in it yet. Thank you soooo much!Attachments
Keep shocking until:
CC<1
OCLT Shows a loss of 1ppm or less
Water is crystal clear.
It is safe to swim up to shock level, but more importantly you need to be able to see the bottom if someone goes down.
CC<1
OCLT Shows a loss of 1ppm or less
Water is crystal clear.
It is safe to swim up to shock level, but more importantly you need to be able to see the bottom if someone goes down.
Ok. I forgot to mention that CC is <1. It barely turns a tiny bit pink. Very very faint. I can see the bottom perfectly. It is very clear. Hard to tell in the pic though I know. And my overnight test last night showed a .5 increase. Obviously I did something wrong there I know. So I guess I will test it again over night and see. That's really the only remaining factor. Will there be a lot of residual dead algae to clean up? I keep wondering if I licked it but if there is dead algae on the bottom every day/night then I guess not?
