Hi Everyone

[mariodevora]

Hi guys my name is Mario I'm from Moreno Valley CA. About a year ago I purchased my first home that came with a pool. Well not knowing much I went with just the advice given by friends who had pools on how to maintain it. Now that i found this site and forum I find out I've wasted a bunch of money on products I dint need. Here is the equipment i have and where i stand as of this moment. My water has algae and its kinda clear but greenish at the same time if that makes sense. I will be ordering one of the test kits recommended here either the taylor k-2006 or the tf-100 no later than tomorrow. In the meantime I went to leslies pool supplies to have the water tested just to have a general idea of where i stand. The results were

FAC 0
TAC 0
CH 330
CYA 50
TA 90
PH 7.6
COPPER 0
IRON 0
TDS 2000
Pho 100

18k gallon in ground plaster pool
Pentair Clean & Clear Plus 320 cartridge filter with 4 new pleatco filters.
A.O Smith Centurion pump HP= 2.60 (switch less motor no governor if that matters )

I estimated wrong when I was at leslies I told them 15k gallons instead of the 18k gallons it is. Now after reading that pool store results weren't accurate I figured a general idea wouldn't hurt while I wait for my test kit to arrive. Any advice what i should do while my test kit arrives? should I add some liquid chlorine? I do have algae in there the girl at the pool store suggested I shock it with powder she went to the point of saying leslies chemicals were better than home depots chemical pretty convincingly actually but I will only go with tfp advice. Thanks guys any suggestions would help even criticism would help so that I better my posts.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

First I would recommend the TF-100 as it is a better value. Since you are in CA, it will be slightly cheaper and faster to order it from poolsupplyworld.com who is the west coast distributor for tftestkits.net

You should definitely get some chlorine in the pool using liquid chlorine or bleach. Have you read Pool School yet? According to the FC/CYA Chart, and assuming your CYA is really 50ppm, you should never let the FC get below 4ppm. So I would use PoolMath to tell you how much bleach to add to get to 6ppm.

 

[pwrstrk]

Welcome to TFP !!

Your headed in the right direction with getting yourself a good test kit. I'll second the TF-100. It is the one I use.

After you get your kit, post a full set of results, as these are the ones we will trust. The CYA test is going to be an important one. In the meantime I would start reading the SLAM process in pool school and get yourself prepared to do it.

Any questions ask away. Lots of good people here to help you.

 

[DebbieO]

Welcome! You came to the right place. I have the TF100 kit myself and it is the best investment I ever made concerning my pool. Grab the Speedstir also if you are able to. Testing isn't hard but the Speedstir just makes it a breeze. Kinda fun, too!

 

[Smykowski]

Welcome to the forum!

While you're waiting for the kit to arrive, spend as much time as you can stand reading Pool School. There's a lot of information to absorb, and it will take several passes before it starts to click.

 

[kimkats]

Go ahead and shop around for YOUR best buy on bleach/chlorine. Some find the best price at Wal-mart, some at Ace Hardware, some at the pool store (of course that will be the ONLY thing you buy from them LOL). Make sure to check the % of chlorine when you are shopping.

Once you find where you are going to buy chlorine get quite a bit and start adding what the pool calculator says you should add to SLAM your pool. It will not be long until your test kit gets there. For now just act as if you have almost no chlorine in the pool.

Good luck and take a pic and share it with us so we can cheer you on as you get your pool clear!

Kim

 

[Patrick_B]

Welcome to the forum Mario!

Do check out the ABC's in Pool School and everything else as you feel like absorbing it. Glad you found us, and let us know if we can be of any help as you move along. We enjoy helping folks who want to learn this stuff and control their own pools.

 

[mariodevora]

Thanks guys..... I just ordered the tf-100 from poolsupplyworld.com hope it will come in by the end of the week. I have read pool school and the abc. In the mean time I plan on adding liquid chlorine, brushing, clean the filters and if water clears up a bit manually vacuum the pool. I need to figure out this pool calculator now to see how much chlorine to add.

 

[Patrick_B]

Congrats on ordering the kit and jumping in to learn!

You're off to a great start Mario, and it looks like you'll lick this easily with your "can do" attitude.

Just fool around with the Pool Math, and look over your entries carefully before adding anything to the pool.

Please ask questions if you have them. We'll be here to help if you need it.

 

[BoDarville]

mariodevora:

Welcome to TFP!

You have been given great advice and it looks like you have followed many of the suggestions offered.