Grandma in need of your help

[BlondeGrandma]

Hello All,
I have been reading fervently on your forum topics.

I have four grandchildren, which I watch during the summer. My daughter decided to buy a pool and bring it to my house for the kids to swim in.

I don't know the first thing about this pool, except that I can not get it clear.

I have opted to do the BBB method, as my daughter bought all of this pool stuff that I cannot seem to get to work for me.

I live in the deep south, the pool is in full sunlight most of the day.

I do not know any numbers for you all, (the nearest pool store is a good ways off from us.)

This is what I know:
The pool is above ground, 24x4 1/2 round, holds 13,500 gallons of water. I have a small test kit that just measures ph and chlorine. The sand is new, the little fingers in the bottom of the filter barrel are just fine. Lots of yellow and green comes out after I backwash and rinse. Filter seems to be working fine.

My husband brought home a floating prefilled stablizer that you cut holes in according to the volume of water in your pool. We cut holes in it for 15,000 gal. Pool turned green still. We then cut all of the holes for 40,000 gal and still pool was pretty green. I added 20 percent algecide with some of the green disappearing.

I then tried the bleach. Pool turned blue but has a hazy cloud about a foot and a half from the bottom. Chlorine is depleted by late afternoon after I put it in the night before. Therefore green seems to start again.

I had a problem with the ph being very low and corrected that with ph+ that my daughter had bought, but it seems to deplete quickly.

I have no idea what CYA is and do not have a test to do it with.

Do I need the floating stablizer if I just add the bleach everynight and if so, how much should I put in daily?

What is washing soda? Is it just arm and hammer baking soda?
Will that raise my ph? If not what can I buy from the store that will?

To shock the pool with bleach, how many gallons of bleach should I put in, or should I use the shock plus stuff that you buy? How often should I shock?

I know this is a lot of questions, but I am a grandma that knows nothing about pools.

Thanks for any help from anyone.

 

[Casey]

Hi Grandma! Welcome to TFP!

Start out by reading pool school. There is a wealth of information there that can answer most, if not all of your questions.
category/pool-school/

As far as test kits, I highly recommend the TF 100 sold by Duraleigh, he's a member here. 8) You can go to http://www.tftestkits.com too.

Check out the pool calculator too! You'll find that in Pool School!

Stabilized chlorine (floaters) can cause PH to fall. I'd use Borax (20 Mule Team in the green box in laundry isle) to bring it up. You really need a test kit! Duraleigh also has super fast shipping! 8)

CYA is basically sunscreen for chlorine. You need it but not in excess! That floater you have will add CYA because it's stabilized but it disolves slowly and doesn't offer much bang when it comes to keeping up an FC level on it's own. That's where BBB comes in.

I can't stress enough over that test kit!

 

[Guest]

you need to do two things to get your pool under control. First read the pool school section of the forum, it's arranged in order so just start at the top and work down.
category/pool-school/
Second, get a good test kit so you can test your water. There are a two that we recommend, the Taylor K-2006 (NOT the K-2005) and the TF100 Test kit from TF TEST KITS. There is a link to TF TEST KITS in my signature below. You can get the Taylor kit from Taylor Technologies or from several online retailers.

Don't be put off by the apparent high price of a good test kit. It is the BEST investment you can make and it will save you a LOT of money in the long haul.

Once you read the pool school you will be better able to ask question that will help you with your pool!

Washing soda is NOT baking soda. It's washing soda (sometimes called soda ash or sal soda--YOUR grandmother probably used it all the time around the house!) and it's found in the laundry aisle under the name Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda. It's usually right near the 20 Mule Team Borax in the green box (Someting esle that YOUR grandmother probably kept on hand at all times!) which is actually better for raising your pH than the washing soda. It's all in Pool school so start reading! Being a grandma is NO excuse for not learning about your pool. You will find that taking care of a pool is very easy once you get into it!

Welcome to the forum.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I have opted to do the BBB method

Great Decision! Welcome to TFP!

I do not know any numbers for you all, (the nearest pool store is a good ways off from us.)

It will be very difficult for us to advise you without full test results; it will be very difficult for you to be in control of your pool if you don't have a good test kit.

My husband brought home a floating prefilled stablizer

Is it the "HTH" Disposable one? IF so, your floater contains "tri-chlor" which is stabilized chlorine(chlorine and CYA). It is acidic and will lower your PH, which you described happening in your pool. So you can continue to use it and boost the PH with washing soda or borax, but it's hard for us to advise you of the proper product to use since we don't know what your TA is....you need a good test kit.

I then tried the bleach. Pool turned blue but has a hazy cloud about a foot and a half from the bottom. Chlorine is depleted by late afternoon after I put it in the night before. Therefore green seems to start again.

You probably didn't add enough, for long enough, to kill all of the algae....Also, you probably don't have enough CYA in there to hold FC during the daytime. You will need to shock your pool and once the algae is dead you will need to maintain at least 2ppm of FC until your CYA increases. You need a good test kit that can test for FC above 10. We can't tell you how high to shock to since we don't know your CYA. You need a good test kit.

I had a problem with the ph being very low and corrected that with ph+ that my daughter had bought, but it seems to deplete quickly.

That is due to the use of the floater....

I have no idea what CYA is and do not have a test to do it with.

It is also called stabilizer and it protects your chlorine from UV rays. Ideally, your pool should have 30-50 ppm. You need a good test kit. :lol:

Do I need the floating stablizer if I just add the bleach everynight and if so, how much should I put in daily?

No. You don't need the floating dispenser, and as for bleach additions, it just depends on your daily testing of chlorine. You test, decide how much you need to raise your FC. So, say you test and your FC is 0, you need to add enough bleach to raise it to 2ppm. So then you use the Pool Calculator, and it will tell you how much bleach to add. Some nights you may need more, some less. Same for shocking your pool, it will tell you how much bleach to add to get your pool to 10ppm or the appropriate shock level based on your CYA. You need a good test kit, so you can determine your FC levels and your CYA levels.

What is washing soda? Is it just arm and hammer baking soda?

No. Baking Soda is different, but both or made by Arm and Hammer. (Waterbear just gave a better explanation as I was typing )

Will that raise my ph? If not what can I buy from the store that will?

Yes, both will. So will Borax. But we need to know what your TA is. "Aeration" will also raise your PH. Turn your return eyeball up so that the water breaks the surface with bubbles. 4 grandkids splashing is also aeration! But you need to monitor your PH daily. To low PH is bad and so is too high. That's something you need to read about in Pool School.....and another reason for a good test kit. :-D

To shock the pool with bleach, how many gallons of bleach should I put in, or should I use the shock plus stuff that you buy? How often should I shock?

Use the Pool Calculator after you test your chlorine to determine how much. As for how often you should shock? That depends on your test results....you need a good test kit. A properly balanced and maintained pool does not require routine shocking.

Have I come on too strong about the test kit? Seriously, it's the best money you could ever spend on the pool. And since the pool was your daughters idea, tell her to pay for it

Hope this helps....sorry for the lengthy reply. feel free to ask any questions at all. Casey was right, off to Pool School you go!

 

[Guest]

BTW, did I forget to mention that you need to get yourself a good test kit?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

BTW, did I forget to mention that you need to get yourself a good test kit?

Sorry Grandma, sometimes we get a wee bit loopy.....

 

[BlondeGrandma]

:lol: You all are funny. I get it, I need a good test kit. Okay tell me if I have learned anything.

CYA is sunscreen, and if I opened all of the holes in my floater(it is a disposable one) to 40,000 gal, and I have 13,000 gal pool, I probably have too much CYA

The floater puts CYA in the pool and also can lower ph.

Borax will raise my ph.

If my CYA is low, I need the floater and need to add bleach according to my CYA levels and low CYA will deplete my FC. but if my CYA is too low and the floater opened up all the way is not giving out enough CYA, what do I do to bring up the CYA?

If my CYA is high I dont need the floater and need to drain some water out of the pool and add fresh water.

AND I NEED A GOOD TEST KIT! :lol: The one I have test ph and chlorine. I added the ph+ because it said on the tube to add soda ash. It also says to find out if I need to shock to let it sit for five minutes and if there is a big change in color on the chlorine side, that I need to super shock the pool. I know, I NEED A GOOD TEST KIT! :lol:

Am I on the right track now? I will continue reading the pool school, and I am grateful for all of your post. Thank you for your patience with me.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

You get an A+!

And Extra credit for doing homework....

CYA can be purchased seperately at stores like Home Depot or Lowes or Wal-mart where they have pool departments. Pool stores have it, of course... anyway, look for a bottle marked either "stabilizer" or "conditioner" or CYA. It should read Cyanuric Acid on the ingredients.

We don't know if you have too much CYA or too little, until you get a good test kit. LOL

 

[BlondeGrandma]

Thanks frustratedpoolmom,

I came home this afternoon with a busted hose!

I guess now I have to start all over.

Oh well, until I get that test kit, I don't know what I am doing anyway. :lol:

I do have a problem with the vacume, whenever I would vacume, the debris would come back in the pool. I was told by one poolman, that I needed to check the fingers in the bottom of my filter and change the sand. I did, then they told me that the spider gasket probably needed replacing, I did, then they told me that I needed to replace the multi valve on top, so I did and it still will come back in the pool. Is it best just to vacume the bottom on waste? I have been doing it while it is on filter.

Thanks again.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I don't know much about sand filters, or vacuming with them. I'm sorry. If no one responds to that question, it's a bit buried in this thread....start a new thread more specific to the filter issue, putting the issue in the title, to draw attention to the equipment experts....

Sorry about the hose!!!

 

[Terry]

A sand filter should be able to capture the larger debris, finer particles will pass through. You can help the filter with the finer particles by adding DE to your sand filter. Mix the DE w/ water to create a slurry then add only enough to raise the pressure 1lb. You will not need very much. The DE coats the top of the sand and filters finer particles. You will have to repeat this procedure each time you backwash as the DE will be washed out. If you are having trouble w/ larger debris coming through the DE trick won't solve your problem, in fact the DE itself may end up in the pool.

I frequently vacuum to waste w/ my sand filter. Cheap insurance that my efforts won't be in vain. If you decide to vacuum to waste try this trick: When the grandkids are finished swimming have them make a whirlpool by walking around the sides of the pool, if they get the water going good enough all the debris will end up in the center of the pool. Vacuuming will be a snap and very little water will be lost! Growing up we had a/g pools and that was always a condition of swimming- we had to make a whirlpool before getting out. I use the trick today w/ my octogon shaped spa, except I make the whirlpool w/ the net while walking around the deck.

 

[Alfred Beachport]

I use the trick today w/ my octogon shaped spa....

Terry, like to see some pictures of that octagon over on the Spa Care subboard!

As a former AG pool kid, making whirlpools was something we did all the time.

And BG, I agree with FPM that $17 per grandbaby is cheap insurance for your daughter to spring for a good test kit.