Help cleaning up green pool

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I like to buy a few things at Lowes (net scooper, thermometer, that kind of thing) and I will use one hole in the wall mom&pop pool store on Davis road in Martinez for a few odd equpment things at times. With all the pollen we get, I love skimmer the socks. They're just like stockings (which some use) that they line your skimmer basket and let you collect some of the finer stuff out of the filter. You just dump, rinse them out and reuse them. BUT you need to be available daily to clean them out as we get a LOT of pollen. Capisce?
 
good info thank you, so far i've only been to the place that installed the pool (2-3 times), I've learned way more on here in a couple hours than I ever did going there. I had never even thought about the pollen in this area, I'll go ahead and add that to the shopping list.
 
So i was going through making my second round of orders, brush and skimmer socks (thank you Yippee) and was just wondering if there is any other piece of equipment i might need for the SLAM process or for the TFPC method. I really dont have much, I have seen a lot where people mention vacuums, is this something that is required or more of a convenience. Also, anything else that I might need, the previous owner didnt leave much, just a skimmer and a net and some acid. So far I have a brush and test kit on the way, anything else that I would need for this journey?
 
Welcome to the forum. :lol: For a pretty large pool like that, I am not sure the leaf nets at Lowe's or HD will have the ruggedness you need.

You'll have to spend a bit of money but I would suggest a 12' expandable (expands to like 20-22) aluminum pole and then a Good all-purpose leaf net (Red Baron is one but certainly not the only one.)
 
So i found a that i had a crack in my filter that I missed while i was fixing the the broken pipes so this drove me to going to the dreaded pool store. But, just for fun I took in a water sample to see what they test compared to mine (my kit isnt here yet) their results are below:

FC: 0
CC: 0
PH: 8.5
TA: 60
CH: 90
CYA: 10
Salt: 1500

Hopefully, my test will be here soon so i can see how they compare.
As a note I am not planning on doing anything with these results, posted more as a comparison to others
 
If you dont have a vacuum, you will need one whether you have algae or not. They are needed for keeping the bottom of the pool clean (if you dont use a robot or some other type of automatic cleaner). I actually enjoy manual vacuum, but Im still new so I expect that my enjoyment might change with time. Especially when its 11o degrees in the middle of August.

You will also need a vacuum hose to hook up to the vacuum head. Pay attention to the type of plastic end is on the vacuum hose. You want to get the one which has a "swivel" or rotating fitting on one end of the hose. Walmart carries the 35 foot long one for about 38 ish dollars. (lowes where I live have vacuum hose, but not the one with a swivel end). The swivel end lest you move the vacuum around without tying the hose up in a knot.
The swivel end of the hose hooks to the vacuum, the other to the skimmer.

You will prolly have to get the vacuum head either online or at the pool store but you might get lucky and fine one at Lowes or HD. Vacuum heads are made specifically for vinyl or plaster, so be sure to get one for a vinyl pool.
http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/141-visual-encyclopedia-of-pool-equipment

If you have the sort of pole that duraleigh mentined, then the net can be removed from it and a vacuum head or brush installed on the pole.
If you dont have this type of telescoping pole, Lowes carries them for about 22ish dollars

If you have never primed a vacuum hose before, google it on YouTube. You can't just throw the hose in the water, hook it to the skimmer and expect it to work. Good instrcutions on YouTube about priming a vacuum hose.

Good luck with your SLAM.
 
Ok, that makes a lot more sense now, googled how to prime it, the previous owner left the hose and the white plate that goes in the skimmer, so I guess I have that too. Thank you for the info, I probably would have hooked it up and just wondered why it wasn't working.
 
yeah, I know all about priming that vacuum hose. I had to learn the hard way because that's just the way I am.
The first time, I tried and tried for about 30 minutes to prime it. Finally gave up and called my friend. He came over, ragged on me a little bit and primed it for me, but didnt explain it well enough I guess. Second time, another 30 minutes... no way was I gonna call him again, I never woulda heard the end of it. Finally I gave in and googled it up. Takes all of 30 seconds...if that long. Sometimes Im juist an idiot.

Keep us posted man, its interesting to see how folks come along with the slamming. Even better when they are done and have a sparkly pool. Sparkly pools rock!

CumminUp07 said:
Ok, that makes a lot more sense now, googled how to prime it, the previous owner left the hose and the white plate that goes in the skimmer, so I guess I have that too. Thank you for the info, I probably would have hooked it up and just wondered why it wasn't working.
Click to expand...
 

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Now im under pressure what with having a following and all. Anyway the test results are in and they arent pretty:

FC: 0
PH: >8.2
TA: 50
CH: 75
CYA: <20


so based off of this im going to make a guess and say that i need to add some muratic(sp) acid to get the ph down, definitely need some cyanuric acid (will that make the PH go down too?) and lots of bleach, the question is in what order and? can I start adding bleach along with cyanuric acid or do i need to get that up first before i start slamming it?
 
Lower the PH first with acid into the low 7's Wait at least 30-40 min's with pump running. Then add your CYA in a sock in front of the return. You can start adding bleach for SLAM level determined by your CYA level your aiming for or you can wait for the CYA to dissolve then add your bleach. Choice is yours. The CYA will lower your PH some. Pool math at the bottom, effects of adding chem's will tell you how much. It won't be all that much. ?
 
alright, my first day of slamming is done, I've added enough CYA to get my pool up to 65, about ten less than recommenced, and enough bleach to reach my shock level. After my first treatment I had to leave for a little bit, but i came back and it was at 6, so i raised it back up to 27 and that is where it has been holding for the past two hours, its about 5 in morning so i cant really see to much of a difference yet, I'll have some pictures in the morning. Also added some acid but not much, PoolMath says that for the amount of stabilizer i added that it should lower my ph by 1.1
 
High chlorine will mess with your PH readings. Do not worry about your PH right now. Keep your chlorine levels up at shock levels as much as you can UNTIL you can pass these three things:

CC is 0.5 or lower;
You pass an OCLT (ie overnight FC loss test shows a loss of 1.0 ppm or less);
And the water is clear.

Just in case you do not have this page bookmarked here is the SLAM process:

http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shocking

Please note it is a process not a one time treatment. BUT once you are done you will be home free if you keep up with your testing and bleaching!

It can be done!

Kim
 
CumminUp07 said:
after my first day and night of slamming, applied bleach 4-5 times throughout yesterday and last night, I woke up to a good sight. Still not clear but there is a noticeable difference turning from green to a bluish grey.

View attachment 28047
Click to expand...

Lookin good! Keep it up and you'll be on your way to reading the dates off of quarters in the deep end! :mrgreen:
 
.."I've added enough CYA to get my pool up to 65, about ten less than recommenced,"..
Where did you see the recommended level at 75? If using the pool calculator (Pool Math)http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html suggest you drop down to lower section for suggested goal levels and choose the TFP option in the drop down box. CYA that is too high can be an issue and then requires dumping water to get it lower. And as one of the experts mentioned SLAM works better with lower CYA . Keep testing and SLAM that sucker into a fun safe place to play. good luck.
 

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