Just bought a pool with a house attached.

[goz63]

Always wanted a pool and now we have one. Perfect size for my wife and I, 10,000 gal inground pool. Fiberglass. Had a local pool company service the pool, the same one the previous owner used. Well as I am learning, they are not so good. My pH has been less than 7 (6.4-6.9) since we bought it. Didn't know that was bad until recently. Replaced my filters, they had not touched them in years, oh and fired the pool guy. So now am learning. Purchased the PoolMath full app and am working to get the pool balanced. So far great information on here. My FC is high and not sure why so working on that. I have not purchased a pool text kit yet but was using the pool store. Then my CYA went from 5 one day to 148 the next and I didn't put anything in the pool except metal out. Not confident these guys are ANY good at this. Next purchase will be the pool test kit to do it myself. At least in Southern Mississippi I won't have to "close" my pool for the winter lol.

 

[Mendy48]

Welcome!!!

Could you put a signature page on your profile that has your pool diameters. See mine for example.

Congratulations, you're on the right track by coming here first. What type of test kit are you getting? Once you get your Test Kit, please post your numbers/readings here (FC, CC, CYA, pH, TA, CH). You don't want to relay on the pool stores for your results cause they are usually not accurate. So once you get your test kit, post your results here.

All you need to balance your pool is is Chlorine & CYA (stabilizer). Muriatic Acid and Borax to manage PH on a periodic basis as needed. If you use bleach for your chlorine levels, make sure you get the plain stuff (no splashless, scents, or polymers. No Clorox or cloromax - no additives). Don't use Metals Out. Not sure what that could be doing to your pool chemistry. I'm sure someone would chime in here shortly about that.

I look forward to seeing your test results soon.

 

[Divin Dave]

Hi goz
welcome to TFP. Get yourself a test kit and stay far away from the pool store. As you are learning, they are there to sell you whatever they can, and in most cases, whether you need it or not is not their top priority.
The TF100 test kit will be a great investment and will pay for itself in nothing flat.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Hiya Goz... welcome! Mendy's right- you need a test kit. We endorse and trust two on the market. The K-2006 and the TF-100. The TF-100 is a much better buy because unless you get the K-2006C version, the basic kit is more costly yet has half the reagents as the TF-100.
You can get the TF-100 direct from www.tftestkits.net or Amazon or PoolSupplyWorld.com

We don't trust pool store results either, for just about the same reason you saw. The results swing wildly about and are usually inaccurate. Having your *own* trusted tester will save you *buckets* of cash *not* buying things you really don't need.

If your pH is truly that low that is the first thing you need to address......,seriously!

Maddie

 

[goz63]

Yep, pulled the trigger on the TF-100. PoolSupplyWorld had the best price with free shipping and quickest delivery over the other two. Will be here next week. Thank you Maddie for that site. And yes, working on the pH. Adding Sodium Carbonate (soda ash) as my alkalinity is fine. I will post some numbers when the test kit gets here. Using some strips in the mean time because like I said, I don't trust the pool store numbers. I have my pool log in the PoolMath app and you can view what i have so far. Numbers from the pool store.
Mark

 

[goz63]

So my TF-100 just arrived and I immediately put it to use. Here are the results...
FC 5
pH 7.5 (best its been in a while)
Alk 130
CH 50
CYA >200 ouch
So It looks like i have to drain a bunch of water and start this all over again. That scares me. Before I do that, I have a 10,000 gallon pool, how much should I drain and secondly, I am sure I will need to add some chlorine, How much will I need to add when I put the water from our well back?
Mark

 

[mknauss]

With a fiberglass pool, you must be very careful draining your pool.

Read Draining - Further Reading and then come back and we can discuss options.

What is the temperature of your fill water and pool water?

 

[Mendy48]

Lovely!

I'll let an expert chime in here shortly on how much you need to drain (in terms of gallons).

But IMO, with a CYA of over 200 (lets say it's 200), it looks like you'll have to drain about 75 percent of your pool. I think this would mean that you'll need to replace around 7,500 gallons of your pool water. I'll let an expert chime in here shortly to see if this number is correct, but I'm pretty sure that if you have 200 CYA and you'll like to to come down to about 50 CYA, then you'll need to replace about 7,500 gallons of your pool water with fresh water (non-swg).

Just out of curiosity how did you test your CYA. Did you do the dilution method being that your CYA is over 200? Again, I'm sure an expert would chime in here shortly about this. However, here's the link to the dilution method.

Nevertheless, once you drain/replace or exchange water in your pool, you'll need to test for CYA again and follow the chart to know how much chorine you need to add to your pool. I would do an entire test of (FC, CC, TA, CH, pH) once the pool water is replaced.

p.s. water exchange may be your best bet (instead of draining).

 

[goz63]

The fiberglass pool thing was a legit fear. We have a fairly high water table so I will be doing an exchange and not a grain I believe. I am not surprised the CYA is high. The local pool company that was servicing the previous owner just use our auto chlorinator with the 3” pucks. As I am reading that just continues to put CYA in the pool with no where for it to go. Years of that and this is what you get I guess.
So the article states not to use the pool pump but if you are doing an exchange and monitor the in flow and out flow making sure the pump doesn’t lose prime what is the risk? My pump usually runs 8-5 during the day anyway.
Final question, my pool is crystal clear and 86 degrees. We only have until the end of the month that I will want to swim. If I put 7k of well water in it the temp won’t recover until next year. Can I milk this out another 30 days?

 

[mknauss]

You can wait as long as you keep your FC elevated. Try to keep a minimum of 5-7.5% of CYA level in FC in the pool water.

A previous member asked how you got the CYA of 200+. Did you use the extended test for CYA?

I personally do not like using a pool pump to drain as you are using a $1000 pump to do the job of a $80 pump.

 

[goz63]

So I did the 50% dilution test for the second test. Still a bit over 100. If it isn't going to change the treatment did't feel the need to continue to diagnose .
I will look into getting a separate pump and not use the pool pump. Any amazon sugestions for that? I will be doing a simultaneous exchange due the fiberglass pool. I didn't like those photos. I will wait until the end of the month to do the water change so we can still use it while the temp is pleasant. Pool is 86 degrees. Hate to drop that into the 60's right now.
So to keep the FC at the 5-7.5% of ~200 I am looking at 10-15. I will look at adding some chlorine bleach to raise that up.
Mark

 

[mknauss]

That's fine. Just wanted to be sure you were not extrapolating from the basic test.

I have a 1/2 hp Superior brand sump pump from Amazon. You do not need a flow switch. Should be about $80. Plan on where you are going to send the waste water. Through a garden hose the pump will give you 7 gpm or so. This will take a couple days.