OMG!!! Aren't there "pool boys" that do this anymore???

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J

jo3ponies

0
Jun 22, 2015
8
Southwest, Oklahoma
I have a 20' round vinyl above ground pool that I bought late last summer. I skimmed your forums and bought the test kit you recommended and made it through the end of summer finding out that I'm a water baby. I love, love, love swimming and I didn't even know it till then. I kept the pool pretty good over the winter but it was frozen a lot so could not do much. Spring at last! Then rains, flooding, more rains for the last 2 months here. Didn't do anything but add some Chlorine bleach a couple of times. Now rains have stopped at last and heat is setting in and I'm ready to swim but I have a slightly green mess. It received a lot of rain water and besides the green there are water bugs. I originally filled the pool from our water well which is extremely high calcium but managed it last year with muriatic acid, bleach and regular testing and sweeping sediment on the bottom. I got the test kit out today and started testing, beginning with calcium and it said 720 PPM. (if I did it right. Still trying to figure some of this out) and 0 Free Chlorine so I thought I'd stop right there, before I do anything else and see what to do before I do something to make it more difficult. I tried to buy water to fill the pool but it seems to be unavailable in my area (I'm rural) so filling from my water well is the only option. We do not have a softener. Am I a hopeless case? Should I drain and start over? Or will you have me happily splashing around soon??? I have read some other posts but didn't find any with water as hard as ours.

Dry docked and land locked
in SWOK
 
Welcome to the forum. :wave:

CH up fairly high like that can be an issue so they must be managed. You also report a CH of 720 which is not a valid number. double check your math and report back

That said, I doubt you are in any particular trouble but you have to give us some numbers to work with.

pH -
FC -
CC -
TA -
CH -
CYA -
 
Three things about the CH level.

One: that test requires a lot of swirling. Three times more than you imagine, at least. My CH level went down 200 just by testing with a speedstir. So it's probably not as high as you fear.
Two: you can do the test with 10 ml of water and each drop counts as 25. At your levels, it doesn't really matter if you measure 710, 720, or 725.
Three: high CH can cause scaling in a vinyl pool. Low CH is no problem, but high CH can be. You'll need to monitor CSI and try to keep it neutral. But that's far in the future at this point.

That said... if the well water is high in CH, replacing water isn't going to gain you much. Better to try to harvest as much rainwater as you can when you can. Also, when you start clearing the swamp, the filter is going to load up and need backwashing frequently, so you'll replace a few inches that way, which will also reduce CH.

So... test pH, TA, and CYA. If CYA is too high, you have a valid reason to drain somewater. If okay, adjust pH and get to work killing algae. Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain
 
Yes, CH is 750 (not my math but my fast fingers). It is lower than usual because of all the rain we've had. It surprised me as it was 950 last fall. I hadn't run across SLAM so thanks for the link. I'll get the rest of my tests since the CH didn't scare anyone. I was afraid you'd tell me to forget it and go to the community pool! I will sleep so much better tonight knowing I can take action tomorrow. Sleep well.
 
Pool is now crystal clear and I have had Cyanuric acid crystals floating for several days (although it's not dissolving very fast in the sock in the floater). I have some numbers (if I did this right. Please forgive me if I seem dumb about this but I really am. Following some of the directions is confusing but here's what I've got so far.

FC 9.5ppm
CC 1.5
PH 6.8-7.0
TA 70ppm
CH 750
CYA 30


We are vacuuming sediment from the bottom but water is clear. What I need to know is (since it's now 101 deg here) is if it's safe to swim!
 
Ahhhhhhhhh, what a relief it is. AC is on the blink so this is the coolest I've been in a while.

Thanks, BuckeyeChris. I knew it wasn't right on yet but needed to, um, vacuum debris from inside the pool to reach it all. So I keep working with the bleach and Cyanuric acid to do that? I'll go back and read some more. My internet provider was down for a couple of days and then your site was down for a day and I didn't get to "study" my lessons. No problems now so I can get that done. Thanks again.
 

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Site is back up! Hit the books! :mrgreen::mrgreen:

Seriously, you are doing great. read "The ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry" up in Pool School. That's sort of the cornerstone. Get that article mastered and you are on your way.
 
I have been basking in the success of your advise, taking regular readings and making necessary adjustments and enjoying the heck out of my pool but, the winds came, the lightning flashed, and it rained for days. I added chlorine and tested and was happy with my readings and awaiting the return of the sun while getting all the debris out of the pool that had blown in from everywhere. EEEEEEEEk!!!!!! While removing leaves and grass debris from the pool I saw hundreds of little (and some not so little) water bugs. I've fished out some and squished them (didn't want them sneaking back in) but there are more every day!!! What can I do to kill the little buggers. There seems to be a couple of different kinds. I don't know where they came from but they can't stay here!!! Help!!!!
 
You can raise your FC level by a few PPM or you can add borates to your pool.
 
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