Well im just beginning to learn pool care for my 14ft x4 1/2 ft deep above ground pool. i live in nevada right next to alkaline flats. So far my alkilinity was way to high starting at 220ppm and i have gotten it down to 160ppm. my hardness has went from 201ppm to 160ppm. my chlorine hasn't even shown up even though I've put it in there. my ph went from 7.8 down to 7.2. So I'm a little confused on how i even those out. any help would be awesome given. the fact that i have almost no knowledge of this.Only things i have is bleach, baking soda, borax, and muriatic acid. also i forgot to add that it is a little cloudy and slightly green not much though for bout 2 days. also my pump is the original pump which is a INTEX krystal clear filter pump model 673R. not sure what CYA is.
new to the bbb method not sure what im doing wrong
- Thread starter confusedpoolinfo
- Start date
The only way to get more chlorine is to add more chlorine. If you put it in and measure an hour later, is it still there? 4 hours later? How about an overnight chlorine loss test? (see pool school)
pH down to 7.2 is where you want to be to lower TA. You raise it by aeration - splashing in the pool, turn returns so they break the water surface, etc.
Hardness can't go down unless you drain water or have a testing error. It's one of the harder tests to perform.
How are you testing?
pH down to 7.2 is where you want to be to lower TA. You raise it by aeration - splashing in the pool, turn returns so they break the water surface, etc.
Hardness can't go down unless you drain water or have a testing error. It's one of the harder tests to perform.
How are you testing?
Well I've added a lot of chlorine but its just not showin up it seems like. even within the hr
How are you testing? If you are using strips, there is a possibility your FC is so high that it is bleaching out the strip.
Welcome! 
Without any stabilizer aka cyanuric acid aka CYA, any bleach you add will be destroyed by the sun within hours. If you haven't added any, either as stabilizer or in powdered chlorines, you have none. It doesn't occur naturally, so it won;t be in your fill water.
If the pool is already getting green and cloudy, you need to get some more bleach in there, fast. And then some stabilizer so the next bunch of bleach you add last a little longer. Until you get that water clear and sparkling, yopu want CYA to be about 30. Afterwards, you can add more to get it to 50 CYA.
The low pH will come up with aeration - people swimming, whatever. Your TA is not so bad now that you need to worry about messing with it and the pH. Right now the emphasis is on the green.
Do you know how to use poolmath? This explains it.
To clear the green, use the Shock Level And Maintain process.
There's a lot more reading in pool school, but you urgently need to deal with that green tint. If that pool size you gave is right, you need to add a little over 2 qts of bleach ASAP. That will get you to 10 ppm. Then get some stabilizer in there to bring you to 30. After that, you'll be using 12 as the target chlorine level until the SLAM is complete. The sooner you stop the algae the less you'll need to kill, the less chlorone it will take, and the faster you'll have your pool back.
Without any stabilizer aka cyanuric acid aka CYA, any bleach you add will be destroyed by the sun within hours. If you haven't added any, either as stabilizer or in powdered chlorines, you have none. It doesn't occur naturally, so it won;t be in your fill water.
If the pool is already getting green and cloudy, you need to get some more bleach in there, fast. And then some stabilizer so the next bunch of bleach you add last a little longer. Until you get that water clear and sparkling, yopu want CYA to be about 30. Afterwards, you can add more to get it to 50 CYA.
The low pH will come up with aeration - people swimming, whatever. Your TA is not so bad now that you need to worry about messing with it and the pH. Right now the emphasis is on the green.
Do you know how to use poolmath? This explains it.
To clear the green, use the Shock Level And Maintain process.
There's a lot more reading in pool school, but you urgently need to deal with that green tint. If that pool size you gave is right, you need to add a little over 2 qts of bleach ASAP. That will get you to 10 ppm. Then get some stabilizer in there to bring you to 30. After that, you'll be using 12 as the target chlorine level until the SLAM is complete. The sooner you stop the algae the less you'll need to kill, the less chlorone it will take, and the faster you'll have your pool back.
Dang Richard. I just picked up new glasses about an hour ago and obviously I'm not used to them. I completely overlooked the fact that the pool was cloudy and green.