First of all, I wanted to say how thankful I am this site exists. I would have had no idea what to do with the pool that came with our new home without it.
I had the local pool company close the pool up for us last Fall. We had only been in the house for a week and I had no time or idea how to deal with the pool. I also had them come out last Friday and open it back up; while opening, my wife said they did pour a porporri of chemicals in the pool but I was not around to ask exactly what was being put in and why.
I read up on pool school and quickly realized I needed TF-100 kit as soon as possible. I figured, if I could measure the variables accurately, that was most of what I would need to identify how to fix the problem. The pool opened up greenish and but that did clear after 48 hours or so after opening; I assume the pool company shocked it well upon opening.
What I have been dealing with since is particularly cloudy water, especially in the deep end.
While I was waiting on the TF-100 delivery, I did my best to get any leaf or organic matter I could out of the pool. I can't see the deep end, but I blindly vacuumed to waste across the entire pool as best as I could for it being my first time.
I was able to unbox my TF-100 yesterday and ran every test available. Initial reading came back as....
FC = 2.5
CC = 8
TC = 10.5
PH = 6.8
ALK = 90
CALCIUM = 160
CYA = UNDER 20 (undetectable)
I've been stocking up on 12.5% 1 gallon jugs of bleach/shock at Menards since they are on sale (2 for $3.99). So I have been hitting it hard with those. I put in 8 yesterday (4/21) throughout the day.
I also was worried about the PH being at the very bottom of the test. So I plugged that into the PoolMath calc and added 304 ounces of Borax to attempt to raise to 7.6ish yesterday as well.
As a final step, I added approximately 6 pounds of CYA from Walmart (dry granules). I put it in socks and put one by a return and one in the skimmer basket.
So I feel like I added a ton of chemicals yesterday, but they all seemed reasonable given the PoolMath recommendations.
All that being said, I came home today and immediately dumped in 4 more 12.5% gallons of shock. Then after letting that settle for an hour I retested....
FC = 6.5
CC=1.5
TC = 8
PH = 6.8
TA = 90
CYA = Less than 20 (undetectable)
I was encouraged to see some level of FC, along with the CC reducing.
My questions are, will those socks full of CYA work their magic over time? I thought it could take days, and don't want to add too much because, as I understand, it is hard to remove.
My PH? I was at 6.8 on the initial and after that large (seemed like at least) dose of Borax I am still hitting 6.8 24 hours later? To early to dose again or wait?
I know this pool was treated with pucks 100% of the year by the previous owner. So I suspected CYA might be a problem. Since it was closed hastily during a home sale and opened up with 0% CYA and cloudy water, could that be ammonia issues (if so does that change my course of action?)?
I am sorry this is long winded, but I just wanted to provide enough detail to engender some helpful feedback. I am definitely working at trying to clear up the pool, and just want to ensure I am on the right track. I am going out there again tonight to test FC CC and add whatever is needed to reach shock levels of FC.
I should have mentioned out of the gate that the pump is running 24/7 during all of this.
Thanks for reading.
I had the local pool company close the pool up for us last Fall. We had only been in the house for a week and I had no time or idea how to deal with the pool. I also had them come out last Friday and open it back up; while opening, my wife said they did pour a porporri of chemicals in the pool but I was not around to ask exactly what was being put in and why.
I read up on pool school and quickly realized I needed TF-100 kit as soon as possible. I figured, if I could measure the variables accurately, that was most of what I would need to identify how to fix the problem. The pool opened up greenish and but that did clear after 48 hours or so after opening; I assume the pool company shocked it well upon opening.
What I have been dealing with since is particularly cloudy water, especially in the deep end.
While I was waiting on the TF-100 delivery, I did my best to get any leaf or organic matter I could out of the pool. I can't see the deep end, but I blindly vacuumed to waste across the entire pool as best as I could for it being my first time.
I was able to unbox my TF-100 yesterday and ran every test available. Initial reading came back as....
FC = 2.5
CC = 8
TC = 10.5
PH = 6.8
ALK = 90
CALCIUM = 160
CYA = UNDER 20 (undetectable)
I've been stocking up on 12.5% 1 gallon jugs of bleach/shock at Menards since they are on sale (2 for $3.99). So I have been hitting it hard with those. I put in 8 yesterday (4/21) throughout the day.
I also was worried about the PH being at the very bottom of the test. So I plugged that into the PoolMath calc and added 304 ounces of Borax to attempt to raise to 7.6ish yesterday as well.
As a final step, I added approximately 6 pounds of CYA from Walmart (dry granules). I put it in socks and put one by a return and one in the skimmer basket.
So I feel like I added a ton of chemicals yesterday, but they all seemed reasonable given the PoolMath recommendations.
All that being said, I came home today and immediately dumped in 4 more 12.5% gallons of shock. Then after letting that settle for an hour I retested....
FC = 6.5
CC=1.5
TC = 8
PH = 6.8
TA = 90
CYA = Less than 20 (undetectable)
I was encouraged to see some level of FC, along with the CC reducing.
My questions are, will those socks full of CYA work their magic over time? I thought it could take days, and don't want to add too much because, as I understand, it is hard to remove.
My PH? I was at 6.8 on the initial and after that large (seemed like at least) dose of Borax I am still hitting 6.8 24 hours later? To early to dose again or wait?
I know this pool was treated with pucks 100% of the year by the previous owner. So I suspected CYA might be a problem. Since it was closed hastily during a home sale and opened up with 0% CYA and cloudy water, could that be ammonia issues (if so does that change my course of action?)?
I am sorry this is long winded, but I just wanted to provide enough detail to engender some helpful feedback. I am definitely working at trying to clear up the pool, and just want to ensure I am on the right track. I am going out there again tonight to test FC CC and add whatever is needed to reach shock levels of FC.
I should have mentioned out of the gate that the pump is running 24/7 during all of this.
Thanks for reading.