question

[bslmama]

hi y'all-i lurked here last year and had clear water all season-i upgraded to a 30ft round pool with liner from my old 24ft round intex-we installed it ourselves with help from a friend who installs pools for a living...but i just turned it off over the winter-and it was green green

i have ordered my test kit this morning -in the meantime i have the simple one from walmart

i have been adding bleach-how long does it take to turn the corner and get milky white-i still have a green tint to the water-i have added 5 bottles a day for 3 days-it looks better but.....

i also have my pump on re circulate-the water is clear to the second step-thanks in advance for any help

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

Please stop blindly adding bleach and wait for your test kit. Without knowing the CYA level, you have no idea what FC level to target. And without being able to test the FC, you have no idea how much bleach to add.

Each bottle is probably adding around 4ppm of FC (depends on water depth, chlorine strength, and bottle size) ... and blindly adding 20ppm of FC every day is a bad idea and could very well damage your pool.

You need to follow the ShockLevelAndMAINTAIN Process when your kit arrives.

While waiting ...
Have you discovered Pool School yet? Start with these:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

Please post whatever test results you have. Understanding what is going on with the pool starts with knowing your chemical levels.

 

[bslmama]

so i should stop now and wait-i just read all of those and i figured out i have a 20,000 gallon pool
can i take my water and get it tested at the pool place

 

[bslmama]

i am going to get it tested now -i hope i havent messed anything up-i did the CL test and it was 0(clear water) when i started-now its darker yellow than the top level which is 5.0

 

[jblizzle]

Wait for your test kit. The pool store will not be able to test the FC above 5ppm either ... plus if you have read much of this forum, you know that we think pool store testing is not worth what you pay for it which is usually $0.

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Which test kit did you order?

Please add your pool details to your signature as described HERE as it will help us help you.

 

[tim5055]

You can guesstamate the level this way, but it is a GUESS

On the OTO (yellow) chlorine test:

Blinding tweety-bird yellow is about 10. School bus yellow is about 12-13. Hunter orange is around 18, up around 25 it starts to look pumpkin orange.

 

[bslmama]

tf-100 kit from the link here-i will update my details should i keep letting it run or stop?

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ok-its at a 1 now - earlier it was like a school bus yellow

 

[jblizzle]

If you are not adding chemicals or filtering anything, there is no real point in having the pump running.

You should have the kit before the weekend and then you can post up a set of test results and focus on the SLAM process.

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You can add 1 ... one!!! ... bottle of bleach a day to try to keep the FC up around 5ppm (which is all you can test for). I would also start the process of filtering everything out of the water.

 

[bslmama]

well i added the bleach-i could turn it back on filter

 

[tim5055]

ok-its at a 1 now - earlier it was like a school bus yellow

It's gone from over 5 to 1 in about an hour???

 

[bslmama]

ok-thank you-would it be easier to just pump out half of the water and fill it back up-draining is not an issue where i am

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i added bleach at 10:30 and its 1:20 now so 3 hours-is that bad?

 

[jblizzle]

Partial draining is one option, but you can not drain too much with possibly damaging the liner. Plus you will still have to SLAM anyway.

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It is not "bad" it just means that you are lucky there is something in the pool to consume the FC fast enough that the FC did not build up VERY high. Although it could also be loss to the sun if your CYA is 0.

 

[bslmama]

its definitely at a 1 now-im starting to feel stupid :/ my friend just told me her pool guy can open any pool for 100$ but i really want to manage it myself

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it sits in full sun til about 4

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i also had a ton of leaves and pollen things off of my oak trees-i have lots of huge live oaks in my yard and i guess they blow into it-i have vacuumed

 

[jblizzle]

Ultimately you will do a better (and safer) job opening and maintaining the pool than that "pool guy". All he would do is drop a ridiculous amount of chlorine in the water and hope for the best ... with no care about any damage that could be caused.

What test kit are you using now? Must be a yellow OTO chlorine test, but what brand?

Like I said, if the measurement drops down to something you can actually read, then add a little bleach to stay up around 5ppm until you can test everything.

 

[bslmama]

its the aqua-chem test where you add the drops for cl and ph (red and yellow)

 

[Beens]

It will be a lot easier once your new kit gets in and you can really see what's going on.
You don't need no stinkin' pool guy! You've got an awesome kit on it's way and.... Us! (I'll just hang out as a cheerleader, don't worry, I don't charge! LoL)

 

[bslmama]

thanks everyone-y'all are awesome to help people like this-i should have the kit tomorrow and i will post results as soon as i get it-7 days of rain in the forecast but overcast days are ok right? lol

 

[JasonLion]

Overcast and/or raining days are not a problem.