My pool guy quit!

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cottielee

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LifeTime Supporter
Jun 25, 2013
56
Fontana California
My pool guy called last week to tell me he has been ill and may be forced to retire. I never know when he comes to service the pool so I am uncertain of when his last visit was and now my pool is turning green.

I went to Leslies to have my water checked and the results are as follows:
FAC 0
TAC 0
CH 290
CYA 40
TA 220
pH 8.4
Acid 4
Copper 0
Iron 0
Phosphates 150

Leslies is recommending a lot of chemicals that I believe will be well in excess of $100 and I am not sure it will even fix my problem. I tried to maintain my pool in the past using advice/tips from the experts at Leslies and was unsuccessful. I spent a ton of money and never did get my pool right.

Please help if you can.

I live in Fontana California.
 
Likely all you need is some acid to get the pH down and some bleach / liquid chlorine (maybe a lot) to run through the SLAM process covered in the pool school link in the upper right. You will also need to get a good quality test kit (one of the ones suggested in pool school) to easily and successfully complete the SLAM process. Cooler weather this time of year will likely make this easier than doing it in the heat of the summer. We generally don't trust pool store "free" testing very much, but FC and pH are hard to get completely wrong.

Ike
 
First thing I'm going to do is suggest you spend some time reading in pool school. Here are couple of articles to start off with.
pool-school/pool_water_chemistry
pool-school/types_chlorine_pool
pool-school/shocking_your_pool

The second thing I going to recommend is investing in one of our recommended test kits. This is the tool you will need to take control of your pool and perform the SLAM process, which your going to have to do.
pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison

We can help you out but we're going to need a little help on your part to do some reading and educating yourself on our methods. Getting one of the test kits is a must have.
 
+1 to both posts above.

A good test kit is the best investment you can make in successfully maintaining your pool. It will save you a lot more money than you spend in getting it.

SLAMming takes some effort, but it works every time. And once it's complete, the helpful folks here will help you understand and maintain your pool so that you don't get algae again. You may feel a little overwhelmed at first; just keep going through pool school, ask questions, and you'll have it mastered in no time.
 
Welcome! :wave:

First, without a proper test kit, you're working blind. You need a FAS-DPD test kit, period. Leslie's will try to sell you a DPD test kit and tell you it's the same. It isn't. It's a chunk of change, but probably less than one month service charge from the pool guy. It will pay for itself in no time.

Second, do a little reading in Pool School, so these terms we throw at you don;t confuse you worse.

Third, if those numbers are believable, all you need is some acid to adjust pH down to about 7.2 and then lots and lots of liquid bleach for several days running. How much? Only test results and the Pool Calculator can tell. But it can be done.
A little inspiration:
first-time-shocking-with-bleach-t45074.html
pretty-black-pool-t58442.html
first-time-pool-owner-t61565.html
a-little-encouragement-for-those-with-algae-and-new-to-bbb-t57137.html
frog-filled-green-swamp-to-oasis-work-in-progress-t48213-20.html
before-and-after-t36785.html
a-final-picture-set-of-how-well-the-bbb-method-works-t33199.html
 
Welcome to the forum cottielee! :wave:

Just a word of encouragement and to second some others, this really is easier than it may first appear.

As for learning, don't worry yourself with much more than the ABC's of pool chemistry in Pool School right now.

You will need a test kit to control your own pool, but other than that, a little knowledge and willingness to learn is all you need.

We like using bleach (liquid Chlorine) for maintaining Free Chlorine. You will need to adjust your pH too, but getting the FC up right now should be your first priority.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I am really excited about taking control of my pool.
I was in a hurry to get a test kit so I bought a Taylor K-2005 from a local Pool Supply and ordered the Taylor K-1515A FAS-DPD drop test online.

For the last couple of nights I have been up late reading, testing/adjusting and retesting to get my pH down from 8.4 to 7.2 with the help of the pool calculator and muriatic acid. Tonight, or I should say this morning I added almost 2 gallons of 12.5% bleach to bring my FC up and start the SLAM process.
 

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My FAS-DPD (Taylor K-1515-A) kit came in the mail today!

My results were as follows at 9:30 pm
FC 15
CC 1

Should I be doing any other tests while SLAMming the pool?

I added 15 oz of bleach per the pool calculator to raise my FC up to 16 and brushed the entire pool. The water looked real cloudy after the brushing and it is too dark outside to tell if it is green or not.

Should I retest later tonight or wait until the morning?
 
You should hand confirmed and adjusted the pH before starting to SLAM. Let the FC drop below 10ppm before you check the pH.

Then continue to SLAM. Have you verified the CYA with your test kit? You should do that first.
 
I started adjusting the pH Monday night down from my reading of 8.0+ per my test kit adding a little muriatic acid at a time until I got it down to 7.2 Thursday night. At that time I tested my FC and it was at 0 and my TC was 0 so I plugged the CYA number I got at Leslies into the pool calculator and added the required amount of bleach to start the SLAM process.

Should I confirm the pH again and verify the CYA?
 
We tend to find that CYA is the test most pool stores get the most wrong, for one thing the test is a bit harder to read than others, it takes a little time, and your need the right lighting conditions. It should be done outdoors in sunlight with the sun to your back and the view tube held at about waist level. You can pour the test solution back and forth for several minutes until you are confident in your reading. There are youtube videos that will show the correct process. This one shows the process for the TF-100 kit which uses the same chemicals, but a larger view tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxaqoW-_MCs



Ike
 
I tested my CYA and if I am performing the test correctly my CYA appears to be below 30. I watched a couple youtube videos on the CYA test and I think you are supposed to add the solution into the comparator until the dot at the bottom is no longer visible???
 
Update
I don't think I have been testing as often as I should have but here is a summary of my results:

Jan 10 12:00 am
pH 7.2
CYA 40 <~~~This is the only pool store test result listed. It does not appear to be accurate.
FC 0
CC 0
added 240 oz of 12.5% bleach. Targeted FC 16

Jan 10 8:00 pm
FC 15
CC 1

Jan 11 11:30 pm
FC 10
CC 0.5
CYA less than 30
added 90 oz of 12.5% bleach
added 15 oz liquid stabilizer ( :oops: I was reading the wrong value from the pool calculator
which I did not realize until my last test on Jan 13)

Jan 12 1:30 pm
FC 14
CC 0.5
CYA less than 30

Jan 12 9:00 pm
FC 13
CC 0.5
added 45 oz 12.5% bleach

Jan 13 1:00 am
FC 18.5
CC 0.5

Jan 13 9:30 am
FC 15.5
CC 0.5
added 15 oz 12.5% bleach

Jan 13 11:00 pm
FC 11.5
CC 0.5
CYA less than 30
added 67 oz 12.5% bleach

Jan 14 1:00 am
FC 20
CC 0.5
added 78 oz liquid stabilizer

Jan 14 7:15 am
FC 19
CC 0.5

Am I getting close?
 

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Well those last 2 tests appear to pass the OCLT, the CC are in range, and the water looks pretty clear (hard to tell).

So you see any algae or cloudiness? I might suggest doing the OCLT one more time tonight since you still saw a loss of 1ppm in only 6 hours.
 
I don't see any algae. I wasn't sure about cloudiness yesterday so I asked my wife and she said it looked just a little cloudy about the time I took that picture. The wind has been blowing hard since yesterday and I keep brushing to make sure the stabilizer isn't settling in the bottom of the pool so I see a lot of particles floating but I don't think it is cloudy.

Jan 14 4:30 pm
FC 14.5
CC 0.5
CYA 35-45 <~~~I'm not sure of this reading but at least it is finally above 30 ppm
added 52 oz 12.5% bleach to get FC to 20 in case my CYA is 45 per the Chlorine/CYA chart.



Is it possible to tell if my CC is below 0.5 if I am testing using the 10 ml sample where 1 drop = 0.5 ppm?
 

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