New member, new pool owner, a little specific advice, please.

[LauraNJ]

Hello, thanks for reading!

My name is Laura and I live in South Jersey. My husband and I just had a saltwater pool pass inspection July 14th. It's free form, just under 10,000 gallons. I apologize, I would spend more time educating myself before asking a question, but I am worried because we have an issue and I don't know how to proceed in this exact moment.

We started to get green algae before we even passed inspection. This week, I mentioned chlorine shock to my husband, with no result from him, ha. I have been brushing, and vacuuming daily which has helped keep it in check. Our Taylor test kit is limited, and I saw that FC is crucial, so I took a sample to our local pool store. I'll attach the printout, but she said we have zero chlorine. She said to add 2 shock packets, run the filter 24hrs, turn the salt generator up to 75%, and to even throw in the robot to mix things up. So, I texted my husband (who was at the gym) all the info, and put in 2 packets of what he had previously purchased in. He texts back that what I put in is non-chlorine shock oxidizer (Cholorox Salt Pool Shock Oxidizer). I panicked and called the girl at the pool supply back. She said not to panic, it should still have the same effect, but if not, then put in a chlorine shock (my husband is telling me this is not done in saltwater pools, but I am telling him I have read and now heard differently).

So, my specific questions are - What should I look out for now? Do I have to counteract putting that much non-chlorine shock oxidizer in? Will turning up the salt generator increase the FC? (The Hayward app says how many "Chlorinating ppm"s there are, but is that not the same as FC is in the pool? You have to manually test that?) ...The Taylor saltwater kit I purchased does not have the FC test bottles included, so I should get that asap, correct?

Thank you so very much for your time and advice. In the meantime, I will continue educating myself!
Laura

PS - Updating with current pool pics, and an image of what the robot was picking up.

 

[PoolStored]

Welcome to TFP!!!

First get your own test kit...Link-->Test Kits Compared

Download Pool Math and configure your pool. Link-->PoolMath

Use pool math to determine how much liquid chlorine you need to add to the pool to add 3ppm of Free Chlorine (FC). Use the "effects of adding" function in the menu.

Add that 3ppm of liquid chlorine each day until the kit arrives.

When the kit arrives, post a full set of results, then start the SLAM process to clear the pool. Link-->SLAM Process

Proof is in the pudding. Link-->How Clear is TFP Clear?

 

[LauraNJ]

Welcome to TFP!!!

First get your own test kit...Link-->Test Kits Compared

Download Pool Math and configure your pool. Link-->PoolMath

Use pool math to determine how much liquid chlorine you need to add to the pool to add 3ppm of Free Chlorine (FC). Use the "effects of adding" function in the menu.

Add that 3ppm of liquid chlorine each day until the kit arrives.

When the kit arrives, post a full set of results, then start the SLAM process to clear the pool. Link-->SLAM Process

Proof is in the pudding. Link-->How Clear is TFP Clear?

Thank you for your response. Sorry for the delay, life got in the way!

So, it turned out my husband had the Taylor K-2006 Saltwater test kit all along. We tested the FC on 7/27 and it was 2.5ppm. The TC was allegedly 1ppm. We didn't test the CYA ourselves, I didn't realize the pool store wasn't trustworthy, yet. The pool store person had used a metal thermometer type tool, not a test strip, so hopefully it was more accurate, but it was at 25ppm that day (which I now know is too low).

I didn't know enough and was deferring to my husband, who seemed to know a bit more (although now we know the CYA is too low and FC should be higher for a saltwater pool), so since the 27th we didn't add any chlorine or CYA or anything. Just what I had listed above (non-chlorine shock oxidizer, upped the SWG to 75%, ran filter 24hrs), and the water soon became crystal clear.

Fast-forward to today, I tested the water myself using the Taylor kit and I just tried to use PoolMath to log:

FC = .5
TC = 1
ph = 7.8
Alkalinity = 70
CYA = Zero? Sample did not cloud (Another pool store sample said 25, but they used a test strip this time)
Calcium Hardness = 70
Salt = 3300

So, I read several of the articles on here, specifically for balancing a SW pool. I know that my FC and CYA need help, but I want to be 100% certain I do it properly.

Firstly, my husband put the SWG on Super Chlorinate about an hour ago.

Do I want to add liquid chlorine (to get it up to around 3ppm?) AND CYA? Or do I just add CYA because the SWG will increase the FC if I add the CYA? (I have liquid stabilizer on hand).

Thank you!

 

[PoolStored]

Start the SLAM process to clear the pool. Link-->SLAM Process