Hi I’m Ashley and new to this group.

[Ashmiddle]

I have a 27,000 gallon above ground pool. I can’t seem to keep enough chlorine in it. I go through shock and 3”tablets so fast it’s becoming unaffordable. I have to put in about 6lbs of shock and around five 3” tablets a week and still the levels get super low. I take my water to have it tested and they keep saying more shock and it’s always something extra also needed. My pool gets full sun. It was built when I moved in and the one jet return isn’t enough circulation and will get algae very quickly… like two days if it hasn’t been swam in even with the shock threatment. Pool cleaning/chemical treatment companies will not help out because it’s a half above and half I ground pools the middle goes to around 7 feet deep but outer edges is at 4 feet. Full sun constantly. Any suggestions? We have a great filtration system which is glass medium. I’m just lost and broke at this point. Beginning of the season I ended up putting around 15-17lbs of shock in the pool cause of all the problems (which was recommended by pool company who tested the water).

 

[reggiehammond]

Hi - you're getting the typical pool store run around. The methods here are much easier, cheaper and consistent than anything you'll learn at the pool store.

First, you'll need a proper test kit. Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared
While you wait, read up on pool school. Pool School

Tabs and "Shock" add the same thing, free chlorine. But they also add other things that are less useful, or even harmful to water quality. The pool store just wants to sell you more chemicals and empty your pocketbook, but it's not sustainable both in water quality, and in your finances.

You'll learn from pool school and more reading on the site that filtration does not equal sanitation. Chlorine keeps the water clear of bacteria, algae and viruses. Filters just remove the dirt and pollen from the water.

 

[woodyp]

Welcome to the forum. As mentioned we'll need a full set of test numbers from a reliable test kit.

 

[Ashmiddle]

Ok will get a teste kit. I have test strips now but don’t think it’s the same as you might be recommending. I just tested it and it’s low on everything. But I just put in four lbs of shock two days ago and four 4” tablets in the skimmer basket.

 

[Ashmiddle]

Hi - you're getting the typical pool store run around. The methods here are much easier, cheaper and consistent than anything you'll learn at the pool store.

First, you'll need a proper test kit. Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared
While you wait, read up on pool school. Pool School

Tabs and "Shock" add the same thing, free chlorine. But they also add other things that are less useful, or even harmful to water quality. The pool store just wants to sell you more chemicals and empty your pocketbook, but it's not sustainable both in water quality, and in your finances.

You'll learn from pool school and more reading on the site that filtration does not equal sanitation. Chlorine keeps the water clear of bacteria, algae and viruses. Filters just remove the dirt and pollen from the water.

Which test kit do I need?

 

[Mdragger88]

Which test kit do I need?

Taylor k2006c - available on Amazon
Or tf100xl option here

TF-100 Test Kit

tftestkits.net

 

[Mdragger88]

Ash,
Please don’t put tablets (or really any chemicals) in the skimmer. They are acidic & can damage your equipment. Also if they are in there when the pump is off they can ruin your liner near the skimmer. They should only go in an inline feeder or a floating dispenser.
Until your kit comes in add 5ppm worth of liquid chlorine/plain bleach (no additives-cloromax, no splashless, no flavors,etc.) to the pool daily (pour it slowly in front of a running return & brush the area well)
PoolMath will calculate amounts.
Also backwash your filter when pressure rises 25% over clean pressure.

 

[Ashmiddle]

Ash,
Please don’t put tablets (or really any chemicals) in the skimmer. They are acidic & can damage your equipment. Also if they are in there when the pump is off they can ruin your liner near the skimmer. They should only go in an inline feeder or a floating dispenser.
Until your kit comes in add 5ppm worth of liquid chlorine/plain bleach (no additives-cloromax, no splashless, no flavors,etc.) to the pool daily (pour it slowly in front of a running return & brush the area well)
PoolMath will calculate amounts.
Also backwash your filter when pressure rises 25% over clean pressure.

What is 5ppm mean. Sorry for all the questions. I do backwash once or twice a week depending on how much use the pool has had. Where would I get the liquid chlorine? For grocery store or a pool supply store. Also we are going to go out of town for 10 days. Any suggestions to keep it from going green .

 

[Mdragger88]

There are no silly questions!
Ppm means parts per million- its how every level in the pool is measured
In your pool volume 1.5 gallons of 10% strength liquid chlorine would raise your fc level 5ppm
There are different strengths of liquid chlorine/bleach (it is all sodium hypochlorite) the percentage strength is listed on the label
Home Depot, lowes, ace hardware, & Walmart all carry 10% liquid chlorine for pools without additives in the pool section. Some pool stores do also.
Household bleach is generally 6%
If % is not listed don’t buy it.
For household bleach it needs to be plain, no splashless, fabric conditioners, scents, cloromax etc.

PoolMath is a free calculator that will do the math for u. You input your pool volume & the strength of bleach u have & it will tell u how much to add to reach 5ppm each day To keep the pool from getting worse until u can do the SLAM Process when your test kit comes.
How were u planning on caring for (feeding) the pool when u were away? Perhaps if you were having someone come check on it for you they could add liquid chlorine.
The SLAM process requires frequent testing & replenishing of chlorine multiple times per day, so it may be best to wait until u return to start that.

 

[reggiehammond]

What is 5ppm mean. Sorry for all the questions. I do backwash once or twice a week depending on how much use the pool has had. Where would I get the liquid chlorine? For grocery store or a pool supply store. Also we are going to go out of town for 10 days. Any suggestions to keep it from going green .

If i were you, I’d throw a bunch of tabs in, raise the FC with shock and come back to fight it after vacation.

Once you buy a test kit, you’ll likely find that your CYA levels are unsustainable and you’ll need to dump most of the pool water and start fresh. Pools can be very simple, or very tricky, depending on how you want to manage it.

The pool store or pool company method of shock and tabs requires frequent water changes due to algae blooms and super high CYA levels. The TFP method requires some vigilance in terms of testing and chemical dosing, but it’s easy. For many here (especially Texans), a salt water chlorine generator is the answer to having clean, clear water all year round with very minimal expense and hassle.

 

[Ashmiddle]

If i were you, I’d throw a bunch of tabs in, raise the FC with shock and come back to fight it after vacation.

Once you buy a test kit, you’ll likely find that your CYA levels are unsustainable and you’ll need to dump most of the pool water and start fresh. Pools can be very simple, or very tricky, depending on how you want to manage it.

The pool store or pool company method of shock and tabs requires frequent water changes due to algae blooms and super high CYA levels. The TFP method requires some vigilance in terms of testing and chemical dosing, but it’s easy. For many here (especially Texans), a salt water chlorine generator is the answer to having clean, clear water all year round with very minimal expense and hassle.

Our CYA levels were high master year so we drained the whole pool and started fresh. When I did take my water for testing the CYA levels were hardly even charitable they are so low.

 

[Ashmiddle]

There are no silly questions!
Ppm means parts per million- its how every level in the pool is measured
In your pool volume 1.5 gallons of 10% strength liquid chlorine would raise your fc level 5ppm
There are different strengths of liquid chlorine/bleach (it is all sodium hypochlorite) the percentage strength is listed on the label
Home Depot, lowes, ace hardware, & Walmart all carry 10% liquid chlorine for pools without additives in the pool section. Some pool stores do also.
Household bleach is generally 6%
If % is not listed don’t buy it.
For household bleach it needs to be plain, no splashless, fabric conditioners, scents, cloromax etc.

PoolMath is a free calculator that will do the math for u. You input your pool volume & the strength of bleach u have & it will tell u how much to add to reach 5ppm each day To keep the pool from getting worse until u can do the SLAM Process when your test kit comes.
How were u planning on caring for (feeding) the pool when u were away? Perhaps if you were having someone come check on it for you they could add liquid chlorine.
The SLAM process requires frequent testing & replenishing of chlorine multiple times per day, so it may be best to wait until u return to start that.

How is liquid bleach different than shock treatment??is it a big money savings just using liquid bleach? Do you have to treat daily because it does evaporate quickly. I know the four lbs of shock I was putting g in doesn’t have a stabilizer and within a week I have no free chlorine at all.and test strip it’s reads no chlorine

 

[reggiehammond]

Our CYA levels were high master year so we drained the whole pool and started fresh. When I did take my water for testing the CYA levels were hardly even charitable they are so low.

Ok - if CYA is actually low (not a given due to pool store inaccuracy) then you're losing free chlorine to UV. You need more CYA to protect the FC.

 

[jeffchap]

Welcome, Ashley! You are precisely the reason this group exists. At one time or another, we've all been exactly where you are now. So relax, you're in good hands.

Don't be scared off by the price of a good test kit. It is ESSENTIAL and will save you many times over what it costs. Once your pool is balanced the TFP way, you'll be amazed how little it costs to maintain. My pool is about the same size as yours and I run it all year on $200-300 in supplies (granted, I do have a saltwater chlorinator so I don't buy chlorine).

Read up in Pool School to see why our method works. The bottom line is we acknowledge the relationship between stabilizer, aka CYA and free chlorine (FC) and manage it by only using stabilizer free forms of chlorine, such as plain old laundry bleach. All solid forms of chlorine such as tabs and powdered shock contain stabilizer. The chlorine gets used up but the stabilizer remains in your water. Eventually there's so much stabilizer that you can't add enough chlorine to sanitize your water. This is what the pool stores refer to as "chlorine lock" and the result is that you have to drain your pool. That will never happen with the TFP method.

And just so you know what a TFP can look like...

How Clear is TFP Clear? Let's See (Pics Only Please).

How clear should my water be? A very common question. Here is mine on a calm morning where I could finally vacuum. Yes I know, I'm still manually vacuuming. It took me 7 years to finally get an SWG, I'm working on a robot. :) So now let's see your water clarity.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[red-beard]

Don't be scared off by the price of a good test kit. It is ESSENTIAL and will save you many times over what it costs. Once your pool is balanced the TFP way, you'll be amazed how little it costs to maintain. My pool is about the same size as yours and I run it all year on $200-300 in supplies (granted, I do have a saltwater chlorinator so I don't buy chlorine).

The cost of the test kit is usually less than the cost of one trip to the pool store, compared to the junk they push you to buy.

If you started "fresh" this year, you are in great shape for the TFP methods. I'm on my third year of doing TFP properly. I expect you are low on CYA, which is why you are using so much chlorine. If you

I have a 27,000 gallon above ground pool. I can’t seem to keep enough chlorine in it. I go through shock and 3”tablets so fast it’s becoming unaffordable. I have to put in about 6lbs of shock and around five 3” tablets a week and still the levels get super low. I take my water to have it tested and they keep saying more shock and it’s always something extra also needed. My pool gets full sun. It was built when I moved in and the one jet return isn’t enough circulation and will get algae very quickly… like two days if it hasn’t been swam in even with the shock threatment. Pool cleaning/chemical treatment companies will not help out because it’s a half above and half I ground pools the middle goes to around 7 feet deep but outer edges is at 4 feet. Full sun constantly. Any suggestions? We have a great filtration system which is glass medium. I’m just lost and broke at this point. Beginning of the season I ended up putting around 15-17lbs of shock in the pool cause of all the problems (which was recommended by pool company who tested the water).

If you are putting in five three inch tablets a week, they will increase your Free Chlorine by 10 ppm over the week (about 1.3 PPM a day) and your CYA by 6.2 ppm each week. 1.3 ppm per day in the Dallas area in the summer is definitely not enough! The 1.5 Gallons will increase your FC chlorine by a bit over 5 ppm. I suggest you put the chlorine in in the evening, after sunset. This allows it to mix throughout the pool and work overnight keeping the pool clean and safe.
You need a CYA reading to see how much you've already added. Most of us in Texas run the CYA a little higher than the minimum of 30 ppm. You may want to get some CYA (Cyanuric Acid - aka Stabilizer) from Home Depot or Amazon. And you can buy bottle of 10% liquid chlorine from Home Depot. See the Pool School article on adding CYA - aka the "Sock" method.
Testing CYA - FC/CYA Test
Adding CYA - CYA Sock Method

 

[Mdragger88]

How is liquid bleach different than shock treatment??is it a big money savings just using liquid bleach? Do you have to treat daily because it does evaporate quickly. I know the four lbs of shock I was putting g in doesn’t have a stabilizer and within a week I have no free chlorine at all.and test strip it’s reads no chlorine

Shock is a verb - not a product. It is the act of raising fc high enough to kill all the nasties. Although it is listed on many packages for various chemicals.
If the product u were using is dichlor or trichlor they add free chlorine, stabilizer & salt they also are acidic so they lower ph & ta, trichlor pucks also do this. The fc gets depleted & the cya stays behind & builds.

If the product you were using is cal hypo then it contains calcium & will increase your ch as well as free chlorine. The fc gets depleted & the ch stays behind & builds. Low ch is not a problem for vinyl lined pools but high ch is a problem for all pools.

Liquid chlorine only adds free chlorine & a little salt.
Until u know your actual levels via accurate testing it’s hard to know what u really need & how to accomplish that. Any thing else is just guessing. It’s really hard to get directions to where u want to go without knowing where u are. Thus the recommendation to add 5ppm worth of liquid chlorine daily to keep the situation from getting worse until u can accurately test & take real action.

& yes - you have to keep adequate fc levels in the pool daily (never falling below minimum) , this is based on your cya level FC/CYA Levels - if u don’t nasties will grow.
Pools are like pets- you have to feed them every day whether you play with them or not.
Here are the options

How to Chlorinate Your Pool

Before chlorinating your pool, you should know these simple tips. Learn the best way to add chlorine to your pool.

www.google.com

Each has its own pros & cons due to the effects on other parameters - all methods require regular testing