My First Pool

[Dima]

I think I got it how to vacuum now. I checked, my skimmer has 2 outs, I guess all of them must be opened now (it was winterized so they were closed), and I can use one of them to vacuum pool when needed.

Also another question, I got this bleach, wanted first to get clorax but this one was double cheapier. It is a walmart bleach, what do u think ?

http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/great-value-liquid-bleach/6000002586592

Thank you

 

[TSiGirl]

Very unique pool..cannot wait to see some updates.

 

[bridgman]

I had trouble finding inexpensive laundry bleach around here (I live on the other side of Toronto from you) with a specified % of sodium hypochlorite, and the dilution instructions on the bleach suggested the percentage was pretty low. In the past "Ultra" meant "concentrated" (8.25 %) but these days it often seems to mean "we call it Ultra because our customers are willing to pay more if it says Ultra on the label", at least in Canada.

I ended up using Purox 10.5% pool chlorine from Canadian Tire -- $5.99 for 5 liters -- which seemed to be the best deal I could find on a regular basis. There's also a "house brand" 10.5% for a dollar less, but it always seems to be out of stock.

 

[Dima]

Thank you , but how do you know the concentration %, I could not find any data on the label

I had trouble finding inexpensive laundry bleach around here (I live on the other side of Toronto from you) with a specified % of sodium hypochlorite, and the dilution instructions on the bleach suggested the percentage was pretty low. In the past "Ultra" meant "concentrated" (8.25 %) but these days it often seems to mean "we call it Ultra because our customers are willing to pay more if it says Ultra on the label", at least in Canada.

I ended up using Purox 10.5% pool chlorine from Canadian Tire -- $5.99 for 5 liters -- which seemed to be the best deal I could find on a regular basis. There's also a "house brand" 10.5% for a dollar less, but it always seems to be out of stock.

 

[reindeerboy]

Walmart Ultra Bleach is 8.25%. The label is small and on the front by the UPC label. That bleach is fine as long as it is not scented bleach. I have started to purchase my bleach by the case from Fleet Farm up here. 4 gallons for $9.95 a case with 12.5 concentration levels.

Also, I do have a liner in ground pool so to get our the wrinkles is difficult at times. With your pool, you have to be sure the liner is not old as if you can sometimes cause more damage than its worth. Filling it up full and then take a toilet plunger to move the wrinkles around works great and you should be able to do that with this size of pool.

Go to pool school and continue to read up on proper maintaining your pool with back washing and vacuum to waste if you have a sand filter. Is your filter sand or what kind is it? If it is cartridge, then just clean the cartridge more often. When you vacuum, do it on waste so that all the little piles of dead algae are flushed out of your system. I rarely use filter when cleaning my pool. I have good water and its cheap so its easier to vacuum on waste and replace the water. Plus it helps monitor and control your CYA levels. Learn the different types of chlorine and how each of them can be used to put in CYA at the proper times of the year. I use pucks and chlorine in the spring to add CYA to my pool and once my level is good, I switch to full bleach.

Sounds like you are getting the hang of it. Keep it up and have POP as this stuff doesn't come to you overnight. The TF100 kit that Dave sells on here is sweet and I rarely ever use the pool company except to help in a repair or update to my pool. That's it.

Good luck and keep it up. More pics with your progress would be good too.

Chad

 

[Dima]

thank you for all the info, will provide more pics soon to see my progress.

Question, I have a sand filter actually. I am not sure how to clean it ? Can I use it while stabilizing the water ? or it should be disconnected ?

Walmart Ultra Bleach is 8.25%. The label is small and on the front by the UPC label. That bleach is fine as long as it is not scented bleach. I have started to purchase my bleach by the case from Fleet Farm up here. 4 gallons for $9.95 a case with 12.5 concentration levels.

Also, I do have a liner in ground pool so to get our the wrinkles is difficult at times. With your pool, you have to be sure the liner is not old as if you can sometimes cause more damage than its worth. Filling it up full and then take a toilet plunger to move the wrinkles around works great and you should be able to do that with this size of pool.

Go to pool school and continue to read up on proper maintaining your pool with back washing and vacuum to waste if you have a sand filter. Is your filter sand or what kind is it? If it is cartridge, then just clean the cartridge more often. When you vacuum, do it on waste so that all the little piles of dead algae are flushed out of your system. I rarely use filter when cleaning my pool. I have good water and its cheap so its easier to vacuum on waste and replace the water. Plus it helps monitor and control your CYA levels. Learn the different types of chlorine and how each of them can be used to put in CYA at the proper times of the year. I use pucks and chlorine in the spring to add CYA to my pool and once my level is good, I switch to full bleach.

Sounds like you are getting the hang of it. Keep it up and have POP as this stuff doesn't come to you overnight. The TF100 kit that Dave sells on here is sweet and I rarely ever use the pool company except to help in a repair or update to my pool. That's it.

Good luck and keep it up. More pics with your progress would be good too.

Chad

 

[reindeerboy]

No disconnection required. Sand filters are the easiest of filters in my opinion. Cleaning it involves just a backwash if the pressure rises above 4-6 psi of your normal operating range. Really the only think I do to clean mine is purchase a bit of sand bed cleaner and I only use it when closing the pool down in the winter. You can use it while you do a backwash and the instructions are on the back of the bottle. I order it from poolgeek.com and its a ROBARB Backwash product. Easy to find and comes right to your door. Below is the link.

http://www.poolgeek.com/products/robarb-back-wash-8-oz


I just go ahead and clean my pool while on vacuum to waste. Set the mutiport valve to waste while you vacuum and leave the hose going in the pool while you vacuum the pool. Then I set the valve to rinse and do a 30-40 second rinse of the pipes and then put it back to filter. Simple to do and easy. Then adjust chems as needed.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Also another question, I got this bleach, wanted first to get clorax but this one was double cheapier. It is a walmart bleach, what do u think ?

http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/great-value-liquid-bleach/6000002586592

Thank you

No bueno. That bleach is only 4.25% it says.

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you , but how do you know the concentration %, I could not find any data on the label

I found the concentration on the question/answer section as you wind down the page. Its cheap bleach because its weak bleach. Avoid it.

 

[reindeerboy]

WOW, never seen that bleach before at our Walmart here. I would never use it as I look for better deals and seem to have found it at Fleet Farm. They also have these kind of things at some Lowes stores or Menards too. Just have to watch for them. My local pool store cant even compete with price so that is where I now go to purchase all my liquid chlorine/bleach. .

 

[bridgman]

For some reason bleach in Canada (a) doesn't generally have a % label and (b) when it does have a label it seems to be relatively weak, even the Clorox brand. It might be like beer where the % alcohol difference between US and Canada is because of different ways of measuring (AFAIK) but I doubt it.

That's how I ended up at Canadian Tire buying pool chlorine

 

[Dima]

If I start using Chlorine from Canadian Tire, how can I use http://www.poolcalculator.com/ ? Which section to pick

For some reason bleach in Canada (a) doesn't generally have a % label and (b) when it does have a label it seems to be relatively weak, even the Clorox brand. It might be like beer where the % alcohol difference between US and Canada is because of different ways of measuring (AFAIK) but I doubt it.

That's how I ended up at Canadian Tire buying pool chlorine

 

[DrS]

FYI: For information on bleaches (or other chemicals) like % Ca(ClO)2 or NaClO, Google the product name and either "MSDS" or "SDS" Canada is signatory to the global harmonizing of Material Safety Data Sheets. So you will find that info there in bulk

 

[Abigail K]

If I start using Chlorine from Canadian Tire, how can I use http://www.poolcalculator.com/ ? Which section to pick

1) The recommendation is to use Pool Math (top of the page, the tab beside "Forum") for calculations as pool calculator has abandoned by its owner Pool Math doesn't have any ads on the page
2) For liquid forms of chlorine, use % bleach (because it's the same active ingredient - sodium hypochlorite), and key the % sodium hypochlorite listed on the label (you mentioned 10.5%) in the text box (i.e. change the default 6 to 10.5). The weight/volume on the second line refers to the powders and pucks.

 

[Dima]

Guys lost here. yesterday added 15l of bleach testeted todat fc - 4ppm. iwith poolcalculator detected thst i need anoyher 10l to reach 12ppm. added them however later find out that my bleach is 4,8% insteod of 6 . Anyway tested one more time Fc-18PPM. HOE OS THIS POSSIBLE. Bleach lower concentration.so i woul expect it tp br below 12. Please help

 

[bridgman]

Couple of possibilities -- bleach is manufactured with a higher percentage than the spec so that with reasonable stock turnover it doesn't drop below that level when you buy it. Another possible factor is that the pool not holding as many gallons as you think -- a lot of times the pool is spec'ed as holding X gallons but that's only when it's full to the brim.

Third possibility is that when you measured the first time the bleach wasn't fully mixed and so FC level was actually a bit higher than you measured.

 

[JVTrain]

Pool volume estimate is most likely cause of FC discrepancies with additions. Mixing time also could be it. The manufacturer having more chlorine than the label is less likely as manufacturers are concerned with their bottom line and over concentrating their product does not help that. If it is more concentrated than listed, it's a quality control issue with manufacturing, not on purpose.

 

[Dima]

oh man ... I am so stupid. You are guys right. I calculated the volume of my pool incorrectly. Its 8 side octogon, side 2.5 meters, deep 1 meter.

SO I calculated the area is 30 square meters, 1 meter deep, so 30x1 = 30 cubic meters = equals to 7925.16 gallons. S I was wrong but that much thinking its 20k.

So my question is, after all this putting too much chlorine in the pool, before I left today FCC dropped to 12ppm. The water is still very cloudy and bright green color. Did I really crew up with the chlorine? or it will be back to normal ?

Thank you. Recent photo from today.

 

[JVTrain]

You'll be fine too muchchlorine for that short period won't break anything. It's not stupid, unless you don't learn something, and you did! Keep at the SLAM with your new knowledge. Good work.

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[Dima]

Today came back from work, FC is almost 0. Added more to reach 12ppm.

 

[JVTrain]

Dose with chlorine add much as you can at night. Then the chlorine is only being lost to algae and organics and not being broken down by the sun. CYA helps prevent loss to sunlight but it can't eliminate it. If you're going to be gone all day, going up to FC level of 14 before you leave won't hurt although you'll likely be pretty low again at the end of the day, until the algae is mostly dead. The fastest way to get it dead is test and dose often, every hour whenever possible.

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