Frustrated New Owners

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No worries, Mia.

We have a name for what has happened to you. It's called "pool stored". Richard320 has a good graphic for this. "Pool Stored" doesn't necessarily mean that you were taken in by pool store sales tactics, I was there too with the strips, product labels, and the whole messed up pool balance. That's why I try so hard to help others who are where I was.
 
mla211 said:
when doing research before we got our pool it didn't seem like it was going to be this big of a pain in the ... i knew we would have to do some maintaining but the whole purpose of getting the swg was for less maintenance and less money spent.
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All the SWG does for you is eliminate the need to lug some form of chlorine out to the pool... it just makes that one chore easier, but it doesn't get rid of the rest of "maintaining" a pool. A lucky minority might get away with keeping their pool crystal clear while doing everything 'wrong', but for every one of those you'll often find there are 20 reviews stating the intex SWG system turned their pool green and "doesn't work".. and it was never the SWG at fault, those pools turned green due to simple neglect and misunderstanding. Once an algae bloom takes hold in your pool due to lack of chlorine (and it can take just a couple of days), you have to complete the shock process using another form of chlorine, if you don't, the SWG will never be able to produce enough chlorine to stay ahead of the algae. Once the shock process is done and your pool is relatively stable you can use the SWG to maintain chlorine levels, but you still need to check it regularly (at least every other day, but I'd recommend daily for the first few weeks) and handle any problems as they occur (such as your FC dropping below the minimum for your CYA level - the best solution is simply to add bleach immediately, and deal with the SWG settings later, using the SWG to play "catch up" on a low FC level almost never works). Having a good test kit makes it easier to complete the shock process as well as take care of daily monitoring of your pool... you can test for CC which can be an early indicator of a problem (or evidence that you have kids peeing in your pool).

Daily pool care really isn't that big of a PITA and it's not really that expensive - the largest expense is your test kit, which you'll be able to use next year as well, and can prevent you from having to spend much more cleaning up problems.

I think that most people who run into the same problems you are having get there by assuming they have to do little more than add salt to their pool once it's filled and turn the SWG on. It would be great if it worked that way, but it really doesn't... every one of these pools needs chlorine as it's filling, it needs lots more chlorine until there is adequate CYA in the water, and only once the CYA is in the pool and the salt 100% dissolved (which can take a day or two) can the SWG be turned on and maintain the chlorine in your pool. I actually went through 2 bottles of 8.25% bleach in the week before I turned my SWG on... that's how much chlorine I lost to the sun while I was waiting on my CYA levels to get to where I wanted. That seems like a lot in a little pool, but without enough CYA in the water it's all gone fairly fast.
 
I have no advice as I am a noob to this as well but will tell you... Listen to Charlie... Been with me every step and hasn 't steered me wrong.

I was staring at a brown, green leaf infested dirty swamp 2 weeks ago .. Now it is crystal clear and getting rid of the rest of the old algae :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
clambert,

You give me too much credit. All I did was suggest a course of action, backed up by the true experts here.

YOU did what was needed to clear your pool. You read Pool School, you followed advice given here, and the results speak for themselves. You have learned what YOUR pool needs, and have the know-how to properly care for it.

The credit, if given, goes to all those who have been there - done that, and were willing to share their hard won knowledge with those of us in trouble. All I'm doing is sharing what they taught me, in the best way I know how. Nothing more, and nothing less.

I'm just following my own credo: If you don't know something, find someone who does. And once YOU know, share that with someone else who needs it.
 
mla211 said:
no i just checked and it says 5800 gallons. but i just read on the app and it says never put more than 40 ounces at a time. what do i do? i already put the entire amount??? will it affect my liner?
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Best bet is to get a few boxes of 20 mule team Borax, and a Phenol red pH tester (HTH 6-way, or 2-way).

Your results with this will show 6.8 (lowest on the scale) which means 6.8 OR LOWER. You will need to dose 1/2 box through your skimmer, wait 1 hour, and test again. Yes, you will have to repeat the several times.

Per your liner: Probably won't damage it, but the rest of your equipment could suffer for the overdose. You have run your pH well into the acid range. If you had a concrete/gunite pool, yes your pool would be suffering some etching of the surface. Remember, they sell muriatic acid in plastic bottles, so your liner will be ok for now.
 
Ok. Saw the borax thing on an older post. So I ran out last night at almost midnite to get some. I am gonna go back to wm today and check for the test kit and get some bleach. In a better state of mind this morning. Hopefully it lasts. Lol
 
ok. got the bleach and the tester kit. got all my levels to where they need to be accept chlorine. but just used the pool calculator to figure out how much to put and did so. keeping fingers crossed. we do see a little improvement before we added the bleach. water is still green. but we can see the bottom somewhat. hoping the bleach gets us there. better outlook today. thanks for all the help and for being patient with this not so frustrated owner anymore.
 
so we shocked the pool last night. checked my levels this morning and changed out my filter. my levels are cl. higher than 5. i have the hth kit and only goes up to 5 and my liquid turned orange so i know its definitely higher than 5. my ph is 7.5, alk 230, hrd. 210 and cya 30. one of my questions is how do i lower my alk. and also we have alot of rust in the water. when i clean my filter its almost completely orangish brown from the amount of rust in the water. we used well water to fill and our well water is horrible here. we should have ran the water from the water softener. so what is a solution to the rust in the water. we do have salt in the water since we have the swg. i haven't measure salt levels yet cuz i forgot to pick up a kit for that.
 

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ok. we finally got our pool nice and clear. i tested my water and this is my results. c-0, ph-7.8, hrd. 200, alk. 210 and cya is less than 30. i need to add some bleach, ph down and stabilizer for my cya. how should i add these? should i add one, then wait a while and add another? what time of day is it best to add ph down? and is it safe to swim with the stabilizer not completely dissolved. i read to put it in the skimmer. or should i wait til its completely dissolved?
 
Bleach should be added slowly in front of the return flow, you always want to keep your FC at the proper range for your CYA level, see the chart in pool school, for a CYA level of 30 this means keeping your FC ALWAYS above 2 ppm, and your target should be 4 ppm. As to raising your CYA level, powdered stabilizer should be hung in an old sock in the water flow so it is not touching the liner, it can take several days to dissolve fully (stabilizer is somewhat acidic so it will probably lower your pH a bit, which is ok as your pH is on the high side) and up to a week from then to fully register on the test.

Ike

p.s. you mention pH down, are you using dry acid or liquid muriatic acid?
 
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