aa62579
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You said "3 big tablets". How many of those have you used total? If those are trichlor tablets (most often called pucks on this site), they too will have added CYA.
Cloudy blue pool water
- Thread starter Dinifam
- Start date
I know when I opened and had my water tested he said I had absolutely no chlorine if that helps??
I have only used 3 of them. My floater broke and I haven't added any tO the new one...So stay away from those too??
Pucks too add CYA. I'd stay away from those too. That's the beauty of bleach....all it adds is chlorine and a tad bit of salt. No harmful side effects. See pool school for more info on each chemical added. The base of the BBB method of keeping your pool is testing and adding chemicals that you KNOW what you're adding to the pool.
As for the amount of bleach.....I'd say around 15 gallons is a good start. You can always buy more, or store some for later use. Don't add all at once!
As for the amount of bleach.....I'd say around 15 gallons is a good start. You can always buy more, or store some for later use. Don't add all at once!
Ok. I shall buy 15 gallon then
so how much would I add to begin with? And is there a way to make due until my test kit arrives? Do I brush the pool and then shock or shock and then brush? My next concern is that do I need to keep the kids out of it while I am doing all this? They don't seem to care about the color. It's hot and the pool is cool and wet u know
so how much would I add to begin with? And is there a way to make due until my test kit arrives? Do I brush the pool and then shock or shock and then brush? My next concern is that do I need to keep the kids out of it while I am doing all this? They don't seem to care about the color. It's hot and the pool is cool and wet u knowIt sounds like your CYA is somewhere north of 65-70. So in order to properly shock your pool you are going to need to raise the FC level to around 30ppm and hold it there until the pool clears. This will be difficult without the test kit - but since you are on a timeline you are going to need to guess a little bit.
Are you familiar with PoolCalculator.com? You can use that to calc the amount of bleach to add to bring the pool up to shock level.
If you have a cheap chlorine drop test you can try to do a test by mixing pool water with tap water (3 parts tap water, 1 part pool water). Run the test and multiply by 4. This will be wildly inaccurate - but you'll know if you are at roughly 10ppm or 20ppm or whatever.
Is it a vinyl pool?
Are you familiar with PoolCalculator.com? You can use that to calc the amount of bleach to add to bring the pool up to shock level.
If you have a cheap chlorine drop test you can try to do a test by mixing pool water with tap water (3 parts tap water, 1 part pool water). Run the test and multiply by 4. This will be wildly inaccurate - but you'll know if you are at roughly 10ppm or 20ppm or whatever.
Is it a vinyl pool?
Ok. I will buy a chlorine drop test. It is a steel pool with a beaded vinyl liner. What am I looking for as far as pool test results? I looked at the calculator but couldn't get it to give me results?
aa62579
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If your CYA was zero to start with, I come up with 26 cups of dichlor adding 42 CYA, and 3 of the 8oz tri-chlor pucks would add 5.4 CYA. So, CYA of 47.6, bump up to 50 to be safe.
According to the CYA/Chlorine chart, you will need to keep FC at 20ppm during shocking.
If your FC has dropped down to zero (which it certainly could have if you haven't been adding anything else), it would take 6 gallons to get to 20 initially.
According to the CYA/Chlorine chart, you will need to keep FC at 20ppm during shocking.
If your FC has dropped down to zero (which it certainly could have if you haven't been adding anything else), it would take 6 gallons to get to 20 initially.
aa62579
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Dinifam said:
To figure out the amount of a chemical to use, enter your pool volume in the orange size field near the top, enter your current test results in the "Now" column and your desired levels in the "Goal" column, then hit tab, or press the Calculate button, to see what you need to do to get to your goal levels.
Ok. I put in my number and came up with 7 gallons to start. So then after an hour what am I looking for test wise? And do I scrub pool before or after or does if matter?
aa62579
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Dinifam said:
When I put in 18500 gallons, and to go from 0 to 20, I get 767 oz, or 6 gallons.
After an hour, you will want to test, and enter in your current FC (to replace the zero above) and add as much as it will take to get to 20. This will be very hard to do without a FAS-DPD kit as the drop based kits normally only go up to 5 or so. You can start the process now, but it will be much easier to do with a good kit. You will be much more accurate on your dosing. It will also let you test your CYA to determine what it really is.
You want to brush at least once a day - I think after the bleach has been added to help it mix in.
Ahhh yes...back on a computer now. Typing on a phone is just a pain in the rear!
I'd like to start out by giving you a warning. Pool stores and their test results are sketchy at best. There's a chance that your CYA levels are high and we may suggest that you drain some of your water and re-fill. One of the largest reasons we suggest your own kit is so that you learn to test....and to get your OWN results. I can't tell you how many times pool stores have been WAY off with their test results, leading customers to buying and adding more chemicals to the pool. If you weren't in a hurry, I would suggest to add a gallon of bleach a day until your kit gets there. Then start shocking.
BUT......
With you being on a time-crunch it sounds like you're willing to gamble some and risk having the pool store being right. I would start off by picking up a six way drop kit from wal-mart while you're looking for the brush.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/HTH-6-Way-Test-Kit/17043668
This will allow you to test your CYA levels yourself...and your FC levels us to 5ppm. You can use this for a ballpark number while shocking if you're in a hurry.
Test your FC level as often as you can and keep your FC level up around 16ppm. I came to a FC level of 16 by using the pool calculate and a CYA level of 50. This will change depending on the CYA reading that you get yourself. Add more liquid chlorine (bleach) to the pool to keep the FC level up to at least 16.
The largest risk you can have is risking wasting some cash due to blind shocking the pool. I would use the Pool Calculator suggestion of a lower shock level rather than the CYA/FC chart. This will give you some wiggle room to guess somewhat....and not risk any damage. Take it slow until your TF-100 gets there. It's better to sit and read pool school for a few days than it is to just start dumping stuff into your pool without knowing what you're adding.
As for brushing.....
Look at brushing your pool like brushing your teeth. You want to do it often. I think 100% of the users on the board are guilty of not showing the pool enough brushing love. It helps keep stuff from growing on the walls, mixes up the chemicals in the water, and shows the pool water we love it. Anytime you can brush before, during, and after the shocking process......DO IT!
I'd like to start out by giving you a warning. Pool stores and their test results are sketchy at best. There's a chance that your CYA levels are high and we may suggest that you drain some of your water and re-fill. One of the largest reasons we suggest your own kit is so that you learn to test....and to get your OWN results. I can't tell you how many times pool stores have been WAY off with their test results, leading customers to buying and adding more chemicals to the pool. If you weren't in a hurry, I would suggest to add a gallon of bleach a day until your kit gets there. Then start shocking.
BUT......
With you being on a time-crunch it sounds like you're willing to gamble some and risk having the pool store being right. I would start off by picking up a six way drop kit from wal-mart while you're looking for the brush.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/HTH-6-Way-Test-Kit/17043668
This will allow you to test your CYA levels yourself...and your FC levels us to 5ppm. You can use this for a ballpark number while shocking if you're in a hurry.
Test your FC level as often as you can and keep your FC level up around 16ppm. I came to a FC level of 16 by using the pool calculate and a CYA level of 50. This will change depending on the CYA reading that you get yourself. Add more liquid chlorine (bleach) to the pool to keep the FC level up to at least 16.
The largest risk you can have is risking wasting some cash due to blind shocking the pool. I would use the Pool Calculator suggestion of a lower shock level rather than the CYA/FC chart. This will give you some wiggle room to guess somewhat....and not risk any damage. Take it slow until your TF-100 gets there. It's better to sit and read pool school for a few days than it is to just start dumping stuff into your pool without knowing what you're adding.
As for brushing.....
Look at brushing your pool like brushing your teeth. You want to do it often. I think 100% of the users on the board are guilty of not showing the pool enough brushing love. It helps keep stuff from growing on the walls, mixes up the chemicals in the water, and shows the pool water we love it. Anytime you can brush before, during, and after the shocking process......DO IT!
Lol. I know what u mean about typing on a phone. Have been doing so all day! Ok so I bought the bleach and am gonna buy the test kit from wallyworld to tide me over. And brush the pool like crazy. But Mentioned that I used a flock yesterday. It does seem to have helped many hours later. (24) and I can see the bottom now. So should I vacuum to waste first or auto vacuum to filter or just filter and brush? Thanks so much!!!!
vacuuming to waste will get a lot of the junk out of the pool - which is a good thing. It'll also lower your CYA a little - probably helpful as well. So go for it.
With a Vinyl liner you dont want to way overdo it with the chlorine. The cheapo test-kit will be helpful with this.
With a Vinyl liner you dont want to way overdo it with the chlorine. The cheapo test-kit will be helpful with this.
Ok. I will vacuum to waste and then retest and shock. I will post what I get number wise first though and hopefully my test kit gets here fast!
I dumped 4.6 bottles of the huge bottles of bleach. Now I will wait and see. Do I need to keep checking the cya level or just the chlorine?
I'm assuming that your CYA is from your own test kit. If it is your new shock level is now 20FC's. You could try one of two things to work with this pool.
1. You could drain some of your water, and lower your CYA level to around 40. This will lower your shock level, and you need less bleach to clean up the pool. In the long run, this is one item you want to focus on. By lowering your CYA you will get more "bang for your buck" from your chlorine.
2. You could shock with your current CYA level of 70. Your new shock level will be up around 20PPM and you will need to add large amounts to get to your shock level at first. You should hold chlorine better from the sun with this level.....but in the long run it's more work to maintain a pool with this high reading. If you do chose this route.....look into purchasing 12.5% chlorine from the pool store (depending on price) or plan on lugging around several jugs of bleach. I wouldn't plan on doing much shocking until you receive your new kit, as the Wal-Mart one simply isn't accurate enough to do much. I would wait till tomorrow night, and add enough chlorine to raise your FC level to 20. Let the pump run overnight. Let's hope your new test kit is at your house by day 3.
edit......now only check your FC level. Your CYA level will not change unless you add chemicals that contain Cyanuric Acid. I wouldn't trust your test kit either as it's only able to test up to a FC level of 5. Let the pool run overnight and test tomorrow night. I'm guessing you will see some change in the morning. In the mean time.....brush and read pool school.
1. You could drain some of your water, and lower your CYA level to around 40. This will lower your shock level, and you need less bleach to clean up the pool. In the long run, this is one item you want to focus on. By lowering your CYA you will get more "bang for your buck" from your chlorine.
2. You could shock with your current CYA level of 70. Your new shock level will be up around 20PPM and you will need to add large amounts to get to your shock level at first. You should hold chlorine better from the sun with this level.....but in the long run it's more work to maintain a pool with this high reading. If you do chose this route.....look into purchasing 12.5% chlorine from the pool store (depending on price) or plan on lugging around several jugs of bleach. I wouldn't plan on doing much shocking until you receive your new kit, as the Wal-Mart one simply isn't accurate enough to do much. I would wait till tomorrow night, and add enough chlorine to raise your FC level to 20. Let the pump run overnight. Let's hope your new test kit is at your house by day 3.
edit......now only check your FC level. Your CYA level will not change unless you add chemicals that contain Cyanuric Acid. I wouldn't trust your test kit either as it's only able to test up to a FC level of 5. Let the pool run overnight and test tomorrow night. I'm guessing you will see some change in the morning. In the mean time.....brush and read pool school.