Feel so lost!

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melrief

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Jun 13, 2015
5
Fremont
Stick with me here.. as I'm very new to ALL of this. Let's just say, I totally regret ever getting a pool. I assume in the next few years it will come down, but I'm holding onto hope that I can get this figured out. We bought our pool from Superior Pool and Spa in Nebraska. They are always understaffed, and the workers they do have, are not knowledge about their products or what is required for a clean pool.

Let me tell you what I know we have.. We have a 18 ft road 4ft deep above ground. We use a sand filter. They talked us into the Nature2 attachment, but failed to put in a new cartridge. We really don't understand the purpose of it (we didn't notice any changes with it). We use ProTeam chemicals and have acid on hand all the time. We also ALWAYS have a high PH level. Is this normal?

Another question, if we test and PH is high, we need to lower it before putting anything else in right? We started the season with ProTeam Supreme. Weekly, we use ProTeam Weekly Treat (supposed to be used if you start with Supreme), ProTeam Microfloc Clarifier and one bag of ProTeam Power Magic AC Shock. Is this all necessary each week? I apologize in advance for my stupidity with this all. I'm in over my head!
 
Welcome to TFP!

We were all lost at one point. There is a lot of information to take in.

To be honest, we do not recommend the Nature2 and you not changing the cartridge is a good thing. It adds metals to the water under the premise that you can use less chlorine. The problem is that the metals can stain your pool,and turn blond hair green. We had one new poster today with a daughter with green hair after only 3 months using a Nature2.

At the top of every page here you will find a link to pool school. That is where we keep the storehouse of knowledge from everyone here.

If you stick around here you will find that we generally don't use "name brand" chemicals. We use liquid chlorine, and in most areas of the country that equates to laundry bleach.

I I'd to visit your neck of the woods regularly as I worked for a company out of Lincoln and I stayed in the owners cabin on the Platt River, just outside Ashland.
 
Thanks for replying. I'm glad to hear about the Nature2 product! Always good to save some $$!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall the workers at the pool store tell us that the chemicals we use are all chlorine free. I don't use any tablets, liquid.. nothing with chlorine in it. Is this.. possible?
 
One thing for certain, not too many of us here trust anything the pool store or pool builders say anymore. :) Too many inconsistencies. Stick with us in TFP, and like Tim said above, we can help you. Start by reviewing the Pool School page and any of the links below in my sig. #1 priority though - if you don't have your own "good" test kit, please order one as noted below (i.e. TF-100). EVERYTHING begins there. Why? Because we've all learned (from personal experience) you cannot reply on pool store tests, test strips, or simple over-the-counter kits. They don't read Free Chlorine (FC) or Cyanuric Acid (CYA) levels accurately or to the high levels we need.

So relax, the pool will not be a burden like you expect if you let us help you. Get the test kit, come back and post some results or ask for test kit help if you need it. We're here for you. Welcome!
 
melrief said:
Thanks for replying. I'm glad to hear about the Nature2 product! Always good to save some $$!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall the workers at the pool store tell us that the chemicals we use are all chlorine free. I don't use any tablets, liquid.. nothing with chlorine in it. Is this.. possible?
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anything is possible, but not necessarily safe.

There are basically two approved sanitizers, chlorine and peroxide. Obviously you have heard about chlorine. The peroxide based products are generally called Baqua products, after the predominate player in the industry Baquacil.

Anything else is not approved by the EPA and should not be advertised as something to sanitize your pool. I looked real quick at what you are using and it is not familiar to me. It may be one or the other, but I'm not sure.

What I am sure of is that what you want is chlorine. A properly balanced and chlorinated pool is the best thing going.

How does your water look? Cloudy, green, clear, sparkley?


We have 20 people showing up at the house in an hour, so,I'm heading for the shower but we have lots of folks to help.
 
Your Proteam shock is chlorine (see the MSDS sheet here http://www.proteampoolcare.com/images/uploads/POWER_MAGIC_2012-Current.pdf). The Calcium hypochlorite listed as also called chlorine powder or bleach powder. So you're adding bleach every week, just in an expensive powdered form, and you have no idea if what you're adding is what your pool needs to stay sanitized. Walmart laundry bleach does the same thing as your shock, and you won't need any of your other Poolteam products. You can save a LOT of money by not buying the chemicals the pool store is selling you, and taking control of your pool yourself using liquid bleach, your acid, and some other walmart-sold pool chemicals IF you need them. But the first thing you need to do is get a test kit that you can rely on and do the testing yourself. Pool store testing is just not reliable, and selling you chemicals is how they make their money. I'd urge you to order the test kit from this site and take control! It's really easy once you start! Welcome!
 
I am going to try to talk my husband into going the chlorine route. He says he is "anti-chlorine". I think it's from his childhood times of the strong smell, burning eyes and burning skin. I'm assuming there was just too much of it!
Our water looks okay right now.. it's a little cloudy, but nothing horrible. Don't even get me started on how frustrated I am of the granular shock they sell us that they say should dissolve. It doesn't! It just sits on the bottom of the pool until we vacuum it out.

tim5055 said:
anything is possible, but not necessarily safe.

There are basically two approved sanitizers, chlorine and peroxide. Obviously you have heard about chlorine. The peroxide based products are generally called Baqua products, after the predominate player in the industry Baquacil.

Anything else is not approved by the EPA and should not be advertised as something to sanitize your pool. I looked real quick at what you are using and it is not familiar to me. It may be one or the other, but I'm not sure.

What I am sure of is that what you want is chlorine. A properly balanced and chlorinated pool is the best thing going.

How does your water look? Cloudy, green, clear, sparkley?


We have 20 people showing up at the house in an hour, so,I'm heading for the shower but we have lots of folks to help.
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- - - Updated - - -

Wont using straight bleach from Walmart bleach my liner?
 

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Have no worries about your liner. I, as well as a lot of other people on this forum, have liners in their pool with no problems. Chlorine is chlorine. Whether you have powdered shock or chlorine pucks or regular household bleach, its still chlorine. The only differences are the concentrations and the solid forms have stabilizer in them. Let your husband know that the stuff from the pool store that you are currently using IS chlorine.
 
Task said:
Have no worries about your liner. I, as well as a lot of other people on this forum, have liners in their pool with no problems. Chlorine is chlorine. Whether you have powdered shock or chlorine pucks or regular household bleach, its still chlorine. The only differences are the concentrations and the solid forms have stabilizer in them. Let your husband know that the stuff from the pool store that you are currently using IS chlorine.
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Will do! Boy, is he in for a treat! ;)
 
Be nice Melrief. Butter him up first. :) We've seen MANY visitors come to the sight, some of them family-owned pool owners and life-long practitioners of pool store treatments. Some of them get by for a while, sure. But inevitably it catches-up to them in the form of green or cloudy pools. What the pool stores don't educate "us" about is that water does need to be chlorinated, but it's only as good and efficient as the current CYA (stabilizer) level. That's why the Chlorine/CYA chart is so important here. In addition, most test kits (and certainly test strips) do not read these high levels - only the low generic color changing ones that go up to 5 ppm. Not good enough.

I have no vested, personal interest in what course of action you chose, or whether or not you purchase a TF-100 or Taylor K2006 test kit. But ever since I bought my TF-100 last year, my water has never been less than crystal clear to the bottom of 7'. The money I spent at the pool store over & over based on "their" readings had me broke financially and mentally exhausted. Now I make a weekly trip to the local grocery store for some regular generic bleach (sodium Hypochlorite), and pour an amount in based on my CYA level and I'm done. Pennies per day. Because the Chlorine/CYA chart was developed by educated experts in this process, it's designed to maximize the efficiency of the chlorine you put in the pool while keeping distractions like smell or effects on swimwear to a minimum.

So, that's my speech. Blah, blah, blah. :) We hope to see you back soon with TF-100 or Taylor K2006 test results. If not, we certainly respect you (or husband's decision) to stay with previous methods. Either way, we just want pool owners to enjoy their investment and have a great swimming season. Keep in touch and let us know how things go.
 
melrief said:
...He says he is "anti-chlorine". I think it's from his childhood times of the strong smell, burning eyes and burning skin. I'm assuming there was just too much...
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Please inform your hubby that those symptoms are caused by a poorly managed pool which is out of balance.

I too once felt the same way about "chlorine". It's hard to get over it, but there are many thousands of us who use liquid chlorine as our primary sanitizer and never experience burning, smells, or vinyl fading, ever.

Those bags o' shock (CHLORINE), sitting undissolved, are way more damaging to your liner!
 
MarianParoo said:
Please inform your hubby that those symptoms are caused by a poorly managed pool which is out of balance.

I too once felt the same way about "chlorine". It's hard to get over it, but there are many thousands of us who use liquid chlorine as our primary sanitizer and never experience burning, smells, or vinyl fading, ever.

Those bags o' shock (CHLORINE), sitting undissolved, are way more damaging to your liner!
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yep. I only smell the chlorine when I am leaning directly over it while pouring it in. Open my eyes underwater all the time. My blonde daughter has never had greenish hair. It'll be just fine.
 
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