On Monday I went to the pool store just to get my pH level double checked b/c I am terrible with colors. I thought it was 7.8 and their results backed that up - CYA 30, FC 1, pH 7.8, TA 80. I couldn't find muriatic acid (didn't realize I could get it in the paint department) so I added 4 cups of dry acid to a 5 gallon bucket of water and slowly dispersed that into the deep end in front of a return. An hour later I added 1.5lbs of 73% cal-hypo and didn't think about the pool for the rest of the day.
I checked my chlorine levels Tuesday around 5pm and had 0 available, pH was 7.2. Water is clear but I should have had some residual chlorine so I decide to SLAM. Go to home depot and picked up 8 gallons of 10% bleach (date marked 21 165, June 14th right?). I put in 3 gallons of the 10% bleach which should have brought my FC up to 13 to start the SLAM. I checked my levels around 9pm and again had 0 available FC, pH still looked like 7.2 to me. I added another 3 gallons of 10%. This time I checked my levels 30 minutes after adding the chlorine by diluting my water 2/3 with bottled water and chlorine levels were between 9-15 (can't be exact with the OTO test, I know). I checked again at 11:30 and back down to 1-2.
This morning FC is at 0. I added my remaining 2 gallons of 10% at 7:30am. Went back to HD and got 12 more gallons of 10% (same date code) Checked levels at 9:45 and FC is 1-2. Added another 3 gallons.
The water is clear. It's been clear. I had some precipitate yesterday, but nothing visible while brushing today. My filter pressure has been steady at around 5psi. Picture is from ~10AM.
I know I need a better test kit and I'm kicking myself for not getting it months ago, but need to wait until the next paycheck to do that. I'm starting to think my pH is below 7 b/c I found some test strips and they seem to say it's at 6.8. Even if that's off, would it affect the SLAM method?
Am I moving in the right direction?
Update at 11:30 AM - checked and chlorine was around 2-3 so I added another 3 gallons. Brushed and didn't see anything getting kicked up. Water is still clear.
I checked my chlorine levels Tuesday around 5pm and had 0 available, pH was 7.2. Water is clear but I should have had some residual chlorine so I decide to SLAM. Go to home depot and picked up 8 gallons of 10% bleach (date marked 21 165, June 14th right?). I put in 3 gallons of the 10% bleach which should have brought my FC up to 13 to start the SLAM. I checked my levels around 9pm and again had 0 available FC, pH still looked like 7.2 to me. I added another 3 gallons of 10%. This time I checked my levels 30 minutes after adding the chlorine by diluting my water 2/3 with bottled water and chlorine levels were between 9-15 (can't be exact with the OTO test, I know). I checked again at 11:30 and back down to 1-2.
This morning FC is at 0. I added my remaining 2 gallons of 10% at 7:30am. Went back to HD and got 12 more gallons of 10% (same date code) Checked levels at 9:45 and FC is 1-2. Added another 3 gallons.
The water is clear. It's been clear. I had some precipitate yesterday, but nothing visible while brushing today. My filter pressure has been steady at around 5psi. Picture is from ~10AM.
I know I need a better test kit and I'm kicking myself for not getting it months ago, but need to wait until the next paycheck to do that. I'm starting to think my pH is below 7 b/c I found some test strips and they seem to say it's at 6.8. Even if that's off, would it affect the SLAM method?
Am I moving in the right direction?
Update at 11:30 AM - checked and chlorine was around 2-3 so I added another 3 gallons. Brushed and didn't see anything getting kicked up. Water is still clear.
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