Totally new to all of this. Looking for opinions on what to do next. Sorry this is so long.
Quick back story:
We purchased this house in October. The pool had not been opened for two years previous. We had someone open it about three weeks ago. The filter was a very old DE filter. The pool had been closed correctly and everything (surprisingly) worked as expected. The pool held all of its water for the entire two years and the water was green, but the pool guy said it looked really good for two years.
After it was opened, we started shocking it. We started with 5 pounds. That did nothing so over the next few days we kept shocking it more and more. Eventually (after 32 lbs) the water cleared completely. Almost too clear. It looked like a giant bathtub. Once cleared, we vacuumed the bottom because it was really gross. After that, the water turned nasty looking again so we added another three pounds of shock. The water turned a really pretty light blue as I believe it should be and has remained that way ever since.
The old DE filter was a huge pain and needed to be backwashed very frequently, even after the pool was cleared up. We were spending a ton of time and money it. So 5 days ago we bought a new sand filter and installed it. Works like a champ. We did need to backwash once, but that was because we vacuumed the bottom again. Other than that, the pool is staying clear and nice so we moved on to getting the chemicals balanced.
That's where you all come in
The test kit we have sucks so we ended up taking a sample to the pool store today. They gave us results and told us what we need to do to fix it. I'm not sure what they said to do is correct so I'm hoping some of the smart people on here can give me some advice on their recommendations.
Total Chlorine (1.0-3.0): 3.3
Free Chlorine (1.0-3.0): 2.6
pH (7.2-7.6): 6.4
Total Alkalinity (100-150): 40
Calcium Hardness (200-400): 50
Stabilizer (30-100): 0
Recommendation:
Step 1: Add 20 lb, 11 oz Spectrum Alkalinity Rise
Step 2: Add 4 lb Spectrum Ph Rise
Step 3: Add 46 lb Spectrum Calcium Rise (46 lbs???)
Step 4: Add 9 lb, 9oz Spectrum Stabilizer
Does this seem right? I'm guessing all this is going to be very expensive. We already have the pH rise, but that's it. And 20 and 46 pounds both seem like a super high amount of chemicals. Do we really need this much?
Quick back story:
We purchased this house in October. The pool had not been opened for two years previous. We had someone open it about three weeks ago. The filter was a very old DE filter. The pool had been closed correctly and everything (surprisingly) worked as expected. The pool held all of its water for the entire two years and the water was green, but the pool guy said it looked really good for two years.
After it was opened, we started shocking it. We started with 5 pounds. That did nothing so over the next few days we kept shocking it more and more. Eventually (after 32 lbs) the water cleared completely. Almost too clear. It looked like a giant bathtub. Once cleared, we vacuumed the bottom because it was really gross. After that, the water turned nasty looking again so we added another three pounds of shock. The water turned a really pretty light blue as I believe it should be and has remained that way ever since.
The old DE filter was a huge pain and needed to be backwashed very frequently, even after the pool was cleared up. We were spending a ton of time and money it. So 5 days ago we bought a new sand filter and installed it. Works like a champ. We did need to backwash once, but that was because we vacuumed the bottom again. Other than that, the pool is staying clear and nice so we moved on to getting the chemicals balanced.
That's where you all come in
The test kit we have sucks so we ended up taking a sample to the pool store today. They gave us results and told us what we need to do to fix it. I'm not sure what they said to do is correct so I'm hoping some of the smart people on here can give me some advice on their recommendations.
Total Chlorine (1.0-3.0): 3.3
Free Chlorine (1.0-3.0): 2.6
pH (7.2-7.6): 6.4
Total Alkalinity (100-150): 40
Calcium Hardness (200-400): 50
Stabilizer (30-100): 0
Recommendation:
Step 1: Add 20 lb, 11 oz Spectrum Alkalinity Rise
Step 2: Add 4 lb Spectrum Ph Rise
Step 3: Add 46 lb Spectrum Calcium Rise (46 lbs???)
Step 4: Add 9 lb, 9oz Spectrum Stabilizer
Does this seem right? I'm guessing all this is going to be very expensive. We already have the pH rise, but that's it. And 20 and 46 pounds both seem like a super high amount of chemicals. Do we really need this much?