Having a real hard time with my new pool

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J

johnbaker26

Member
Apr 17, 2021
16
Texas
Hello,

This seems like a great forum so glad I found it!

So we bought a home with a 20,000 gallon in ground pool. We drained it over the winter and had it refinished. I refilled it about 3 weeks ago using our local tap water. So we put some bleach pellets in it once it was full that the previous owners had left behind, but i'm guessing not enough since the pool turned green. So I turned to my good friend amazon and bought a device called PoolRX had good reviews and supposedly was all we would need for the next 6 months. Or at least that is what I got from the ad. So bought one and threw it in the skimmer, and wow the pool turned blue almost right away and looked nice. But next morning copper looking deposits formed and were staining the bottom, so I took it out, took a water sample down to our local Leslie pools to have tested. They sent me home with metal remover and some acid wash. This seemed to have no effect though I can clean the stains right off with a lemon but the stains remain in the pool and have gotten worse despite the solutions they sold me.
So I took a new sample to them and they sent me home with many chemicals. Now my pool is green again and the stains are still there, the parts I cleaned with a cut lemon are stained again as well. I'm hesitating going back to Leslies as all they are going to do is test my water, and sell me even more chemicals that so far have done nothing to resolve my issues, and may have in fact created more. So i'm starting to think that was 300 dollars down the drain.

Here is the results from my latest test from today:water.jpg
'

Here is a photo of the stains:


1487909A-2C99-42E9-A8FE-A94D1CF1D89C.jpg




And the current state my pool is in: 8A425D0B-99B4-40CE-BE92-8A9A776FD094.jpg
 
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Hello and welcome! You have stumbled upon what many here have: pool stores exist to sell things and not always what your pool actually needs.

Checking your pool chemistry is something you can do yourself. Check the pool school articles here, and get a reliable test kit - either a Taylor K-2006C (the C is important to get enough reagents) or a TFT-100. The kits will run you $100 or so but you will be able to test your own water and avoid spending bundles more at the pool store.

The next step for us to help is to get your own kit and tell us the results. Until it arrives, stock up on liquid chlorine and add 5ppm or so per day and keep your pump running.
 
Hey John and welcome !!!! Get yourself a test kit for a fraction of what you’ve already paid.

The TF-100 has an XL option that gets you more of the stuff you’ll need as 1) a beginner and 2) someone who needs to clear a green pool. Your testing will go through the roof for now. If you just buy the regular kits you will probably be close to empty, or empty when the fight is done.

Also reeeeeeeeeally loved purchase by all is the smart stir. It makes testing so much easier and for $30 is a no brainer. We have thousands of members using it and not one has ever come back to report they were disappointed. Plus, it makes you feel all science-y.

I get my stuff at tftestkits.net. The lady running the show makes sure you get real fresh supplies that will last the full 2 years before expiring. Amazon/Leslies are a gamble with how long they have sat around. The kits are a great long term bargain, saving you its own cost 10X over or more. But short term they aren’t cheap. I want mine lasting as long as possible.

Anywho. Get a reliable kit. We will tell you what to add and when to add it. We got you.

in the meantime download the poolmath app for free and enter your pool info. Add 5ppm per day of plain old fashioned bleach to stop the green from getting any worse. No scents, flavors. Splashless, XYZ technology, etc. plain chlorine/bleach. Walmart had pool essentials brand and HD/Lowe’s has it in the pool aisle as well
 
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It sounds like you may have some metal contamination in your pool. The Leslie's report shows copper (from the pool rx) but if lemon clears it up it is behaving more like iron stains. First thing you need to do is lower the pH to 7.2 and try to keep it there. Next step is to use liquid chlorine to sanitize the pool. Currently your water is clear green. Does your plaster have a bluish tint to it? Do you use well water to fill your pool? If so you may have iron in your water contributing to the staining problem. You can treat the water to force the iron out of solution so it may be filtered out, or you can use regular doses of sequestrant and keep the pH low to keep the iron in solution so it doesn't stain the pool.

The best way to take control of your pool is to get your own FAS/DPD test kit so that you can have accurate and consistent test results to dose your pool.
 
johnbaker26 said:
I'm guessing the poolmath app will help me with what that is
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Yup. You enter in your pool size and material and the app will tell you to go from 0-5 ppm it will require .7 gallons of 10% bleach. (Or whatevs). It’s an awesome app and it’s free. Upgrade it for $7 (?) and it will track your progress and save your history. Worth every penny when you’re new.
 
Newdude said:
Yup. You enter in your pool size and material and the app will tell you to go from 0-5 ppm it will require .7 gallons of 10% bleach. (Or whatevs). It’s an awesome app and it’s free. Upgrade it for $7 (?) and it will track your progress and save your history. Worth every penny when you’re new.
Click to expand...
OK is this under the Bleach Calculator? Using the calculator it came up with a 17,350 gallon pool. So how much bleach per day is 5ppm? I can't find that screen in the app.
 
The first screen that comes up.... tap on ‘FC’. That’s code around here for free chlorine.

how many gallons is the pool ? Is it 17350 or was that just the app guessing ?
 
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johnbaker26 said:
So how much is 5ppm per day, part under FC does not say this
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Depends on the strength you use.
Set up the pool. Click on the FC and set current free chlorine to 0, target to 5, and set the strength below that. It will tell you how much to add. :)
 
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Daily. Pools will consume 2-4 ppm per day. You need a bit extra right now.
 
It will tell you how much to add to reach your target FC. You need to get some muriatic acid and lower your pH level down in the low 7's as soon as you can. That is probably the only test from Leslies you can believe.
 
thanks for that suggestion i'll get some acid to lower it tomorrow.

I just need a detailed explanation on what i'm doing with this app and bleach. Is this amount the app determined a daily amount i add every day? or is this the total to bring it up to the target?
 
Total to target. Everyday the target will change. It will depend on how much FC you lost the day before based on sun/UV, bather load, etc

For now you will be adding 5ppm per day. It will get used up. Probably quickly.
 
Newdude said:
Everyday the target will change.
Click to expand...
That will be true when the OP gets a proper test kit and can measure the FC in the pool water. Right now, they cannot do that. So adding 5 ppm FC per day is suggested to keep things from turning south while waiting on the test kit.
 
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