Complete beginner don't what I'm doing. HELP!!

[rookie_pool]

Just bought house with a 20,000 gallon pool and we opened it on May 20th, it was so green and dirty so we kept the pool running since May 20th non-stop to filter out everything.
I've been backwashing and rinsing the skimmer socks non-stop and I've used my dolphin vacuum to clean also.

I used this test kit and I seen to have balanced the PH level to the ideal level. I added these Member's Mark Quick Dissolving Shock yesterday after the pool seem cleaned enough but today I checked the FC and it's very low. Did I not used the right shock? There are so many I don't even know which is which.

How do you guys check the CYA and Calcium Hardness?

 

[IceShadow]

I would recommend picking up a more complete test kit. Either a K-2006c from Amazon or a TFT-100 from TFTestKits.net. That will include more accurate FC tests for you and tests for the CYA and CH.

For now I would recommend adding just liquid chlorine / bleach. Stuff meant for pools is best - it's 10% or 12.5% concentration. I think in NJ a lot of people get it from Ocean State Job Lots. The powdered stuff is adding more CYA, which you may not want.

Some light reading while you wait on your test kits:

ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Recommended Levels

Check out Pool School articles here and you can see how we maintain water and why.

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! Unfortunately, the test kit you have is not as thorough as the ones we recommend. We advise using a TF-100 (link in my signature) or Taylor K-2005C test kit. They test all parameters and have a special portion of the test kit (FAS-DPD) that separates free chlorine from combined chlorine and allows you to test FC at much higher levels. Why test FC at higher levels? That's how we perform the SLAM Process to kill and remove algae. Also see our FC/CYA Levels. Those links, and the one below, are great resources to help you. But let us know about any questions oyu have.

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[rookie_pool]

I would recommend picking up a more complete test kit. Either a K-2006c from Amazon or a TFT-100 from TFTestKits.net. That will include more accurate FC tests for you and tests for the CYA and CH.

For now I would recommend adding just liquid chlorine / bleach. Stuff meant for pools is best - it's 10% or 12.5% concentration. I think in NJ a lot of people get it from Ocean State Job Lots. The powdered stuff is adding more CYA, which you may not want.

Some light reading while you wait on your test kits:

ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Recommended Levels

Check out Pool School articles here and you can see how we maintain water and why.

What's the difference between the K-2005 and K-2006?

 

[IceShadow]

What's the difference between the K-2005 and K-2006?

See: Test Kits Compared

K-2005 doesn't have the FAS-DPD chlorine test which is crucial. The K-2006c has larger reagents than the K-2006, and is recommended as otherwise you'll probably run out of FAS-DPD test chemicals.

 

[dfwnoob]

K-2005 uses a DPD-only chlorine test which maxes out at 10ppm making it unsuitable for SLAM purposes. Your Poolmaster test is an OTO test and maxes out at only 5ppm; further it lacks the CYA test. K-2006 has the FAS-DPD chlorine test you actually need.

 

[rookie_pool]

I would recommend picking up a more complete test kit. Either a K-2006c from Amazon or a TFT-100 from TFTestKits.net. That will include more accurate FC tests for you and tests for the CYA and CH.

For now I would recommend adding just liquid chlorine / bleach. Stuff meant for pools is best - it's 10% or 12.5% concentration. I think in NJ a lot of people get it from Ocean State Job Lots. The powdered stuff is adding more CYA, which you may not want.

Some light reading while you wait on your test kits:

ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Recommended Levels

Check out Pool School articles here and you can see how we maintain water and why.

Isn't having CYA a good thing? I just went to my local pool shop to get my water tested, they said I need to bring my PH down and told me to buy a bag of PH decreaser and 2 bags of SMART SHOCK.

Anyway, the printout she gave me is showing 13 CYA and 0.2 FC. What should I be doing next? I already ordered the test kit on Amazon.

 

[IceShadow]

You do want some CYA, but it doesn't get used up at nearly the rate that FC does. It can drop maybe 4-5 ppm in a month whereas a 2-4ppm drop of FC in a day is pretty typical, and that's for a pool that isn't actively fighting algae.

Pool store testing is notorious for being inaccurate. It could be right or it could be completely wrong. Don't add any chemicals based on their tests. Once you get your kit in, you can determine a plan of action that will help your pool out.

We do things differently here from how pool stores advocate, because we recognize the relationship between CYA and FC that pool stores pretty much ignore. So you can't really mix their advice with ours, even if their tests are accurate.

Since your pool is green, add enough liquid chlorine daily to add 5ppm of FC to your pool. If you're not sure how much that is, you can use Pool Math (either the app or the link at the bottom of the page) to figure out how much to add. What test kit did you get?

 

[rookie_pool]

You do want some CYA, but it doesn't get used up at nearly the rate that FC does. It can drop maybe 4-5 ppm in a month whereas a 2-4ppm drop of FC in a day is pretty typical, and that's for a pool that isn't actively fighting algae.

Pool store testing is notorious for being inaccurate. It could be right or it could be completely wrong. Don't add any chemicals based on their tests. Once you get your kit in, you can determine a plan of action that will help your pool out.

We do things differently here from how pool stores advocate, because we recognize the relationship between CYA and FC that pool stores pretty much ignore. So you can't really mix their advice with ours, even if their tests are accurate.

Since your pool is green, add enough liquid chlorine daily to add 5ppm of FC to your pool. If you're not sure how much that is, you can use Pool Math (either the app or the link at the bottom of the page) to figure out how much to add. What test kit did you get?

The K-2006 kit. I put in 10 lbs of baking soda and 3 pounds of lo n' slow and then 7 bottles of liquid chlorine from Home Depot. Filter on yesterday for 12 hours, forgot to remove the off clip and headed to work. Came back home at 8pm and just turned it on again. Still green, well kinda green, more like teal green. Waiting for the K-2006 kit to arrive so I can post the results here and then see what I need to do next. I feel like I'm wasting a lot of money throwing chemicals in and nothing's happening.

 

[IceShadow]

That’s what the kit is for. Targeted additions so you are adding exactly what you need.

Until you get it just add 5ppm of liquid chlorine daily to avoid backsliding.

 

[rookie_pool]

That’s what the kit is for. Targeted additions so you are adding exactly what you need.

Until you get it just add 5ppm of liquid chlorine daily to avoid backsliding.

Alright, my kit is arriving Friday. Will post the results and let you Gods tell me what to do because I just threw in another 2 bags of Drytec this afternoon and it doesn't seem to be working much, still teal green and cloudy.

 

[Flying Tivo]

Just to reassure you, your pool did not go green in one day. Also it will not clear in one day. The SLAM Process is the way to go.

and let you Gods tell me what to do

We are regular people like you that arrived here with your same problems and found a proven scientifically way to maintain a pool. This of course requires testing which is done with the kit you order.

 

[rookie_pool]

Okay so I tested the Free & Combined Chlorine, if I use the 1 drop = 0.2 ppm, I counted 12, goes colorless, then goes back to pink, added another drop, goes colorless then back to pink, this process kept continuing until I reached 20 drops of R-0871 and I didn’t wait this time and quickly added the R-0003 and it instantly turned pink. But the instructions says to add 5 drops, only one drop turned it pink, then I added 8 drops of R-0871 and it turned colorless again but it slowly turned pink again. What am I doing wrong? It doesn’t stay colorless.

 

[Texas Splash]

if I use the 1 drop = 0.2 ppm, I counted 12, goes colorless, then goes back to pink, added another drop, goes colorless then back to pink,

Don't wait. It will always try to go back to pink. Once it goes clear the first time, that's your FC.

 

[rookie_pool]

Don't wait. It will always try to go back to pink. Once it goes clear the first time, that's your FC.

First time was around 12-13 drops.

 

[Texas Splash]

Also, don't use the 0.2 (25 ml) Taylor method. Do your FC tests as follows:

10 ml water sample size with ONE generous/heaping scoop of power. Mix and count drops until clear then divide in half. Example: 20 drops equals an FC of 10.

 

[rookie_pool]

Looks like a 7.8

 

[IceShadow]

Yep, seems about right. Is the pool still green/cloudy?

 

[rookie_pool]

Alkalinity- 14 drops light pink
15 drops pink
16 darker pink, is that considered red?

 

[rookie_pool]

Yep, seems about right. Is the pool still green/cloudy?

Yeah it is, I went to the pool store 15 minutes ago and she said I need to drain the pool to the last step because she looked at the test and said there’s not enough chlorine in the store to get the pool crystal clear again. Told me to drain it. Since the opening threw in like bags of baking soda, lo n’ slo, many bags of drytec shock, 10 bottles of liquid chlorine, all that money down the drain.