I have what looks to be sand on the bottom

[frogabog]

You're not going to put all ten of those gallons in at once, BTW...

Use the pool calculator (see my sig) to calculate how much bleach you'll add to raise the pool to shock level for your CYA level (30ppm). Make sure you enter in your current numbers in the left column (now) and set the bottom of the calculator table to bleach, troublefreepool.com, and vinyl. Then use the right hand column to enter in the values you want to change to.

Get the kit though, because it's really the only good way to know if you're maintaining shock level. Till then, if you do decide to attempt to shock you'll have to guess what it may have lost every hour. Not easy, nor particularly effective although you could get lucky.

 

[swbp]

I am going to get the kit first. I see home depot has liquid chlorine two 1 gallon jugs for 7.00 or should I just get great value bleach? I was thinking 1 jug at a time then test, wait a couple hours then Repeat ect.

 

[frogabog]

Check the percentage of chlorine on the jugs. If it's 12%, then it's twice the strength of typical grocery store bleach, and if it's cost effective to buy the 12% then go ahead.

I wouldn't put a whole jug of 12% into the pool though. We really need to know some accurate numbers to know what your shock level even is. Need to know CYA first.

My pool is roughly 5000 gallons. To raise chlorine by 1ppm, I use 1 cup 2 ounces. So, a gallon of bleach will raise my chlorine by about 14.5ppm. A gallon of 12% would put me at 30ppm. WAY too much, so don't just dump in a gallon of bleach unless you know what it'll do to your pool.

Work with the pool calculator a bit, see what you come up with for ppm's. Without a kit, all you have is the known ppm's from what you add.

 

[swbp]

My cya as of yesterday night was 30. I did add 2 bottles (1lb each) of hth chlorinating granules and 2 bottles ( 1lb each) of hth shock and swim today. I did the shock and my wife did not know so she did the chlorine granulas after. I sure hope I didn't mess things up any more then it was. I really Must thank everyone for their help since I'm a noobie to this. I guess I will have the pool store test tomorrow and not do anything else till I get the kit in

 

[frogabog]

I think your CYA will be higher next time you test. That's a lot of granules (who knows which ones... but they likely added more CYA). No more powdered or solid chlorine till you know for sure what your CYA number is. Only add bleach from now on if you add any.

 

[Noangelny]

I also have a summer escapes pool. The filter/pump that comes with these pools is awful. You have to run it basically 24/7 to even try to keep the pool clean, which jacks up the electric bill and costs more for cartridges and chemicals. If the aeration/filtration on the pool is lacking it is really hard to keep the pool balanced. Also, the cartridge needs to be taken out of the skimmer and cleaned out daily with a garden hose on jet stream to get out all the bugs and other gunk that gets caught in there. I did it for a few weeks and decided to upgrade to a sand filter. The Sand filter is much more cost effective. Personally it is better to invest in a good sand filter than run that cheap one for 24/7, and constantly buying the paper cartridges.

This is my system set up..

I bought my sand filter for $149.00 on amazon. You will also need the Summer Escapes Skimmer adapter for your pool which is 19.99 also at amazon or Leslie's pool stores.

 

[Noangelny]

Your pool holds approx 5061 gallons. It isn't a true 48"
fill on the summer escapes pools. If you have the manual
it says this amount at max fill.

 

[frogabog]

Just measure the depth of the water, and use the Pool Calculator for an accurate result. Relying on mfr. volumes means your conditions match the mfr's and who knows what that water level actually is.

 

[swbp]

thnx all... sorry for the lack of response on my part had some family issues to tend to, so haven't had any time to really be aggressive with getting the pool 100%... still having a hard time keeping the bottom clean, pool water it's self looks fantastic but every day we vacuum the next morning there is spots of what looks to be dark brown algae mostly in the same spots over and over.. when we vacuum it comes up really easy and looks to be gone but never fails to re-appear.. still have not got a test kit so i have to depend on leslies readings every day or other day (just don't have the money to put into a 60+ dollar pool kit) i am guessing that it is indeed algae but if it were dead would it float to the top? i also put 1/2 a bottle of algae control but did not do anything.. i keep brushing the bottom but next day it right back there.. several times i have poured 1/2 jug 12% liquid chlorine in the next day i have it tested it wont even read ( says the bleach level is to high to even test) when pouring should i pour a whole bottle @ a time? or more or less? thank you in advance


EDIT.. here are some pic's ( got the oldest cleaning ") )

no cloudiness at all!!!