First moves....

[dmayhem]

I have recently moved into a new home. Which has a pool which I have never had before.
I am trying to work my way through all the pool school stuff and am starting with some basic stuff.
Initially I had a knackered filter and no sweep so I have installed a Hayward Swimclear 4025.
The pump (Hayward RS1000) seem fine and I have picked up a poolvenuugen to run via the skimmer.

Before I got the hardware installed the pool had gone green. I think I have managed to (inadequately) shock the pool and the water is now a normalish blue colour though it remains somewhat cloudy.

I expect I have made a poor choice of test kits but have to start somewhere. Suggestions for alternates appreciated.

My 'Aquacheck' numbers are as follows.
Total Hardness - 500
Total Chlorine - 1 maybe 2
Free Chlrine - 0
ph - 7.8
Total Alk - 160
Cyanuric Acid - 150

I can see from the above and looking at various info on the site that my next step rather than tinkering with chemicals is to clear out a good half of the water and replace in order to get the CYA down so that the sanitiser process works properly?

It's a gunite/plaster kidney shaped pool of approx 12000 gals. It's pretty much unshaded for most of the day and we're in Northern Marin CA.

Any pointers appreciated.

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

If your CYA level is really 150 then you need to replace a lot of water. But test strips can sometimes be way off, and it seems unlikely that you could have made much progress against the algae if your CYA was really 150, so I wouldn't tend to believe that reading just yet.

Getting a top quality test kit should really be your first priority. It will save you a great deal of wasted time and money by allowing you to only add chemicals or replace water when you actually have to. I recommend a kit from TF Test Kits, see the link in my signature. The Taylor K-2006 is also good.

 

[Guest]

What JasonLion said!!!!!!

 

[dmayhem]

Thanks
I'll try and get a decent test kit today.
There's a couple of pool stores so hopefully they'll have one. If not I'll order the TF one.