Get me in the pool! in Dallas, Tx

lenalandmine

New member
Aug 10, 2024
3
Dallas, Tx
Pool Size
6700
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hey TFP folk. You guys are amazing. I have been binge reading posts and comments on here over the last week and am astounded. We upgraded from a little 10' easy set Intex we dubbed the "little big pool" to an 18'x52" metal frame Intex Ultra Xtr pool. It was.. a lot of work. That I did, by myself, over the course of a week and a half. I now own stock in Gatorade.

The pool has looked great in the 3 weeks we've had it. I'd been using chlorine tabs we were given by a family member who just took down their pool. I tested with strips I was also given for about 2 days until I got an HTH 6-way test kit that I love using. I've read about the test kits recommended here and would love to get one, but since this HTH kit was just purchased, I'm wondering what, if at all, I could purchase separately to complete it. I am unable to test CC, which is needed to complete the SLAM I am currently undergoing.

Since I'd been using those tablets, the chlorine was always unstable. I used some leftover chlorine granules I'd had from the little big pool to get it up to shock, but it would be depleted by the following day. I now know this meant an upcoming algae bloom. Last Sunday the water was noticeably cloudy, I was away Monday, and by Tuesday it was green an extremely cloudy. I was away on Wednesday and got to work on the pool on Thursday. I vacuumed and brushed, have been adding liquid chlorine since reading the SLAM instructions. I am unable to test above 10ppm but can tell the sample is much darker than the max out reading of 5-10ppm. The sand pump filter that came with the pool is running 24/7 and the pool is now finally blue, albeit a bit cloudy still.

The questions I have now are, do I need to do anything further or wait it out and let the filter continue to run, do I need to continue adding chlorine in high doses after this as it's been high for 3 days now, what can I do differently moving forward?

Thanks everything, y'all are incredible!
 
Time to SLAM.
Slam time indeed! I have been doing my best to follow the protocol outside of the fact I can’t test FC past 5-10ppm or CC at all. It’s still working though! I’m wondering when is it safe to re-enter the pool? I know our old chlorine tabs and granules always said to drop below 4ppm before re-entering but I’ve read on here that it’s safe to enter up to shock levels. The CYA is around 30.