Translation please

Jump to latest Follow Reply
P

pjb

0
Jun 15, 2008
9
Hi. I am a newbie here. I went to the pool store today for a free water testing and have some questions about the results. I have a 24 ft above ground that holds about 13,500 gallons. Here are my results:
TC: 5
FC: 4.2
pH: 7.6
Total alk: 95
CYA: 38

The pool lady gave me the results and told me that I need 10.5 lbs of Balance Pak 100/which I call Arm & Hammer baking soda. What amount of baking soda do I need to add? On another note, when I used my cheap drop test my alkalinity was reading 120 so I'm not so sure if I trust the pool store result. I will go out in a while and test that again.

She also said that I need 1.5 lbs of Lo N Slo, which I am going to assume is the pH reducer/which I am not buying from them because I'm sure muriatic acid will do the same.

I also need to add 4 bags of burn out extreme. My main question is what amount of bleach do I need to add to equal their 4 bags of shock? That was because she said I have a chlorine lock, which I am going to assume means I have combined chlorine. I have also had problems with mustard algae and so the recommendation was to add an additional 3 bags after I added 10 oz of PowerFloc, which I am not going to do. After the extra 3 bags of shock I should add Banish and she said that would get rid of my algae problem.

Please feel free to jump in and point me in the right direction. I have always tried to use the bbb method but my DH is starting to lose faith in me so I really need to make this pool sparkle and prove him wrong :lol:


I appreciate any help
 
How does your water look?

Your #'s aren't that bad. You could bring your ph down a bit as you said with muratic acid and you can shock the water with bleach according to JasonLion's pool calculator here: http://www.poolcalculator.com/

Keep the chlorine level at shock level until it holds within 1 ppm overnight, and you have less than 1 ppm CC's, and your water is clear.
 
My water actually looks alot better today, it is finally coming around. I went out and brushed the areas where there is still some algae but at least the water is turning back to blue instead of greenish-blue. I checked my alkalinity with my drop test and it is showing 120 so I am going to leave it alone.

I couldn't believe everything the people in the pool store were buying just because the lady said they needed it. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. If I didn't think she would have thrown me out I would have told the last guy that the stuff he just paid $16 was about $5 worth of baking soda, unbelievable.
 
If you have algae, you should be at shock levels.
For a CYA of 40, you should have the FC up around 15 to shock it.
It should take about 300 oz of 6% bleach to get to 15, for a 13,500 gal pool.

And, you need to maintain that FC until the pool maintains the FC levels overnight without dropping more than 1.

To be able to do this, you really need a good test kit.
I bought the tf testkit
http://www.tftestkits.com/
at the beginning of the season, and it was probably the best investment I made in helping to maintain my pool. At a minimum, you need to be able to measure FC and CC, at shock levels.

It would also help if you added a description of your pool, and equipment to your signature, so whenever you ask questions, people will know what kind of pool you have, and how big it is.

Good luck
Randy
 
pjb said:
My water actually looks alot better today, it is finally coming around. I went out and brushed the areas where there is still some algae but at least the water is turning back to blue instead of greenish-blue. I checked my alkalinity with my drop test and it is showing 120 so I am going to leave it alone.

I couldn't believe everything the people in the pool store were buying just because the lady said they needed it. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. If I didn't think she would have thrown me out I would have told the last guy that the stuff he just paid $16 was about $5 worth of baking soda, unbelievable.
Click to expand...

Been there, done that....3 years ago I was one of those people...if they said I needed it, I bought it.

The blind leading the blind..... :roll:

P.S. Randy gave you great advice!!!
 
pjb, welcome to the forum.

You can find great info in "Pool School". There is a link at the top of each page in the sub-heading and link in my sig.

Your numbers look good, except for needing to shock your pool.

You have gotten great advice. If you want to have control over your water, you need a good test kit. I highly recommend the TF Test Kit sold by duraleigh (Dave) and he is an active member of TFP. His kit comes with 'customer service'! Link in my sig.

Congratulations on not getting 'pool stored'. Great job on your first post and nice sig!

We're glad you're here. :-D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply