New Home Owner Chemical Assistance

[Buck Pool]

Hello, I am a new pool owner (15x30 above ground oval) and need a little direction. We returned from vacation and are trying to get our pool chemical levels correct. Our pool pump had not been on during the vacation, and I think that might have caused our numbers to go out of whack?

FC 1.5
CC 0.5
CYA 30
chlorine is 2ppm
ph 7.5
Alkalinity 310
Calcium Hardness is 175

the pool app says to add 1 lb 8 oz stabilizer to improve the CYA. Also to add 29 ounces Borax for the PH. I know the alkalinity needs to go down as well.

My questions are: Is adding the borax going to lower my PH? To lower my alkalinity it says I need to lower my PH. In general, If I need to add a few chemicals which do I add first? How long in between each chemical addition. How do you physically add borax to pool? With a sock like we added the stabilizer?

Do my pool numbers look completely off? The pool looks very clear at least. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Charo

 

[Texas Splash]

What Poolmath probably doesn't know is you have algae right? Water is green or cloudy?

 

[Buck Pool]

the

What Poolmath probably doesn't know is you have algae right? Water is green or cloudy?

Hi, the pool water is clear. There is no debris in the pool either. Maybe I did the test wrong?

Thank you!!!

 

[Texas Splash]

With crystal clear water, than all you need to do right now is increase the FC to about 5-7 ppm right away. Use liquid chlorine or regular bleach. Do that quickly before algae tries to grow as your FC right now is way too low.

Your TA is high but we can come back to that later. No biggie. Everything else is fine. Focus on the FC and always go to this FC/CYA Levels to ensure your FC and CYA are balanced together properly. That's how you avoid algae.

 

[Buck Pool]

Hi Texas Spalsh,

Thank you for your help! Last night i did add bleach. This afternoon I tested the pool with both the test kit from trouble free pool and the test strips that came with the pool. I am getting such different numbers with these two different tests. My son did get in the pool and cleaned it. Maybe that arreated it and made the alkalinity go down.

I read that I should keep my pool at a high FC for the next few days. So my plan is to do that and then tackle the high PH. If you or anyone else has any suggestions I would be so appreciative.

Thank you so much for your help!


Trouble free pool test results :
chlorine 5
ph 8.2
FC 10
CC 0
Alkalinity 360
CYA 30

Test Strip results. (taken a few hours after trouble free pool test):
FC 5
Alkalinity 180
PH 9.0
CYA 100

 

[Wobblerlorri]

Ditch the strips and use only your TF-100 for all your testing. No sense confusing the issue with test strips that aren't reproducible.

As for adding chlorine, adjust your pH first to 7.2. Then you can SLAM with equanimity if you feel you need to. That pH is much too high. SLAM Process