Hi folks,
I am brand new to the forum. Last year I moved into a house with an above ground 21' round pool knowing nothing about pool ownership or maintenance. My wife and her family grew up using baqua so we went with that plus some second hand pump and filter. The chemicals were expensive and the equipment was sub par. The filter actually broke at some point and we never got the pool 100% clear. It was fun but a pain to deal with so over the winter we decided to purchase new equipment and switch to chlorine. And so this story begins . . .
I ordered the TF100 test kit. We now have a 1hp pump and 18" sand filter with fresh sand all hooked up. Yesterday I pulled the cover off to a generally clear pool. Some baqua goop and lots of particles had fallen to the bottom. I vacuumed almost all the heavy debris to waste, brought the water level back up, and then started the filter.
Just after the cover came off and water added.
[attachment=1:311woudu]pool-dirty.jpg[/attachment:311woudu]
After vacuuming.
[attachment=0:311woudu]pool-vacuumed.jpg[/attachment:311woudu]
Then the baqua test strips . . .
SoftSwim B (bigaunide) - 25
ppm Softswim Clarifier - 20
The TF-100 tests
Chlorine - 0 (obviously)
PH - 8.2
I then added ph Minus which brought the pH to about 7.3. Ready to add bleach.
10:30 pm added 155 oz. of 12.5% pool shock. I have about 12 jugs of this I got for $3 each at Ocean State Job Lot. Unfortunately it was dark out so no pics but it did look like the water was clouding up. I'll take a pic tomorrow morning. Stay tuned . . .
I am brand new to the forum. Last year I moved into a house with an above ground 21' round pool knowing nothing about pool ownership or maintenance. My wife and her family grew up using baqua so we went with that plus some second hand pump and filter. The chemicals were expensive and the equipment was sub par. The filter actually broke at some point and we never got the pool 100% clear. It was fun but a pain to deal with so over the winter we decided to purchase new equipment and switch to chlorine. And so this story begins . . .
I ordered the TF100 test kit. We now have a 1hp pump and 18" sand filter with fresh sand all hooked up. Yesterday I pulled the cover off to a generally clear pool. Some baqua goop and lots of particles had fallen to the bottom. I vacuumed almost all the heavy debris to waste, brought the water level back up, and then started the filter.
Just after the cover came off and water added.
[attachment=1:311woudu]pool-dirty.jpg[/attachment:311woudu]
After vacuuming.
[attachment=0:311woudu]pool-vacuumed.jpg[/attachment:311woudu]
Then the baqua test strips . . .
SoftSwim B (bigaunide) - 25
ppm Softswim Clarifier - 20
The TF-100 tests
Chlorine - 0 (obviously)
PH - 8.2
I then added ph Minus which brought the pH to about 7.3. Ready to add bleach.
10:30 pm added 155 oz. of 12.5% pool shock. I have about 12 jugs of this I got for $3 each at Ocean State Job Lot. Unfortunately it was dark out so no pics but it did look like the water was clouding up. I'll take a pic tomorrow morning. Stay tuned . . .