New pool owner in need of help please

[Brilis]

Hey all,
I am in NJ and just moved into a house with an in ground pool. 18x36 with 25K gallons. I just had a new liner put in about a week ago. I had the pool filled with 4 water trucks with 25K gallons of spring water. Water was 60 degrees, turned on heater and brought water up to 77. Water crystal clear. I brought my water to Leslie and had it tested. I do have test strips but thought they would be more accurate and I could purchase chemicals.

I used a powered shock they sell and some dry acid. Then I tested the water again and here is what the results were according to them.
Free Chlorine 0.38 ppm
Total Chlorine 0.46
PH 8.1
Total Alkalinity 250
Calcium hardness 190
Cyanuric Acid 11
Iron 0.1
Copper 0.2
Phosphates 0
TRDS 300

I have a vinyl liner pool, as I said brand new. Leslie Pool told me to use some Liquid Super shock. 2 gallons which I diluted and added into the pool last might. Filter has not been shut off for a week. The active ingredient is sodium hypochlorite 12.5%. I added nothing else last might at 7PM. This morning before work I took a look into the pool and it is milky white. Can't even see into the water. So 12 hours later. Did I hurt my new liner?

They also gave me muriatic acid and told me to add 2 gallons which I have not done. I now read you should not use this for a vinyl liner pool. Please help me learn. I have been reading and watching videos. I am hoping this site will become my go to and I can learn to take care of my pool myself.

I need how to proceed. I have cartridge filters, 2 of them. An inner and out filter which I replaced so they are brand new. The water so crystal clear up until last night. I really am hoping I did not do any damage to anything.

Thanks so much for the help all.

Brian

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
Add 30 ppm of stabilizer/CYA using the sock method. Add 5ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine each day with the pump running.
You need a proper test kit. I suggest the TF-100 A proper test kit is needed to get the accurate water chemistry results needed to follow the TFP protocols.
The strips most likely read the pH fairly accurately. So add a bit of acid to keep the pH in the 7's. The strips are worthless for everything else.
Let us know if you have any questions.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[Brilis]

Hello and thanks. I am not sure what you mean. What is PPM? I know it is parts per million but how do I know I am getting that amount? What is stabilizer and CYA and sock method? What is FC worth of liquid chlorine? What kind of acid? Should I return the 4 gallons of Muriatic acid and get powder? I have a vinyl liner. Don't want to hurt it hah.

The liquid chlorine, is that the super shock I added, 2 gallons last night?

Thanks.

 

[mknauss]

Recommended Pool Chemicals

Which should I buy? TFP's recommended pool chemicals are cheap, easy, and won't unbalance your pool water.

www.troublefreepool.com

Use PoolMath to determine the amounts of the chemicals you need.

The muriatic acid is perfect. Be sure you see what strength it is on the bottle.
The 'super shock' you added was liquid chlorine. Without CYA in the water, it will be gone very quickly.

 

[Palpatine]

@Brilis Hi and welcome to the forum. Don't get discouraged or frustrated because you don't know the lingo. Listen to Marty and read through the material via the links he posted. Read it all... it won't take long but you'll have a much greater understanding of what is being recommended.

Also, I'm sure someone is going to chime in pretty quickly here and say:

1. Fill out your signature with your equipment, etc. so people can help you quicker and easier
2. Get your own test kit... this is a must
3. STAY OUT of any pool store right now. Their tests are typically very inaccurate... and the experts here call the test strips, guess strips. Again, refer to #2. If you go back to Leslie's they will just try and sell you more stuff that you likely don't need, maybe will mess up your water worse, and will certainly confuse you more.

Don't worry... these guys will get you dialed in, I was exactly where you are at about 8 months ago.

 

[Brilis]

Thanks for the kind words, yes very frustrating hah. Lots to learn which I love. Can I pour in the liquid muriatic acid into my vinyl liner pool or should I get the powder? Also which liquid chlorine do you guys recommend?

Thanks.

 

[Palpatine]

Thanks for the kind words, yes very frustrating hah. Lots to learn which I love. Can I pour in the liquid muriatic acid into my vinyl liner pool or should I get the powder? Also which liquid chlorine do you guys recommend?

Thanks.

I'm definitely no expert... but I'm pretty self sufficient with my own pool now. I even find myself giving advice to other pool owners I know... but you gotta be careful with that. People don't like to hear that what they're doing is wrong... or that their pool man doesn't know what he's doing.

But I digress... Anyways, I don't have a vinyl pool so I'm not real familiar with them and I don't feel comfortable giving any advice on how to care for them. However, I'm pretty sure Marty picked up on that detail and I believe he said Muriatic Acid is perfectly fine. Also, if you read through the recommended materials I would bet you'd find your answer there.

Reading the info and ordering yourself a proper test kit right away are absolute musts here.

The experts here are very knowledgeable and more than willing to help everyone on an individual basis. It's a pretty special community... but you'll be lost without the base knowledge so get crackin.

 

[Brilis]

Also how about the milky white color after I added the shock last night? Is this normal? Can we swim. It was 15 hours ago. Thanks.

 

[Brilis]

Sorry to ask again guys. I am starting to get a little worried. I have been reading up on what you guys suggested. Great info. I will test the water when I get home tonight but last night at 7PM I added 2 gallons of super shock into the pool. Now the waster is like milk. My wife just told me it has not changed at all. So it went from crystal clear water to milky white water. Still the same 19 hours later. Should I just let it be? Any thoughts on this? I am worried I really did something wrong. Thanks again.

 

[mknauss]

What was the powdered shock?

Can you post a picture of the water?

You need a proper test kit.

 

[Brilis]

2 gallons of Super shock liquid.. The active ingredient is sodium hypochlorite 12.5% on the label of each gallon. These were the readings right before I added the 2 gallons.
Free Chlorine 0.38 ppm
Total Chlorine 0.46
PH 8.1
Total Alkalinity 250
Calcium hardness 190
Cyanuric Acid 11
Iron 0.1
Copper 0.2
Phosphates 0
TRDS 300
I will test again when I get home. Just wondering why a white cloudy milky look to the water now for a day and a half.

Thanks.

 

[mknauss]

I used a powered shock they sell and some dry acid.

What was that?

 

[mknauss]

When you get home, use a test strip for pH. That is the only thing it might be close to right on.

Then add some muriatic acid to lower your pH into the 7's. See if the water clears any.

 

[Brilis]

Thanks for the help mknauss. I will give it a try. How much do you think I should add to start?

 

[mknauss]

Once you get the pH from the strip, use the TA from Pool Store and add enough acid to lower to 7.6. Use PoolMath

Post back here and I will check your numbers.

Be sure you order your proper test kit today. We do not provide guidance based on pool store tests and strips. I am making an allowance here as it is for pH only.

 

[Brilis]

OK, got home last night. Pool still white/cloudy. There is a very fine powdery white residue on the bottom of the pool. If I brush it, it will billow up like white smoke. Took a water sample to the pool store and used a test strip. Here are the readings.
FC 2.36
TC 2.36
PH 8.1
TA 240
CH 165
Cyanuric acid 11
iron 0
copper 0.3
Phosphates 184
TDS 600

I could not get the pool math to work on my phone. I was able to log in, enter my info but it would not go any further. Not sure if it was me or the app. I will try again today.

An on line calculator told me to add 128 oz. of MA which I did very slowly and very diluted. I did not do anything else that they recommended. This was at around 8PM last night. Checked the pool at 6AM. Water seems to be clearing but there is a white powdery residue all over the bottom. If I brush it, it billows up like white smoke.

I will be ordering a water test kit today that you recommended. I can see it is a must. Thanks again. Should I vacuum up the white powdery residue? Brush it up? Not sure next step. I was so worried about harming my new liner.

Thanks again.

Brian

 

[mknauss]

The white powdery substance is most likely dead algae. Vacuum it up as best you can.

That was a pretty big acid addition all at once. Be careful of that as we do not have much confidence in the test data you are using.

Have you added the CYA? Are you adding the 5ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine each day? Be sure to do that until you get your kit.
I would stop going to the pool store for tests. Just follow the above until the kit arrives.

Please fill out your signature when you can. Makes it easier to help without having to search for your pool data.

The app is free to use if you do not wish to store the historical data. The $8 per year subscription allows you to share historical data. See my data by touching my Member name and select Poolmath Logs.

 

[Brilis]

I have not added anything else since I added the 2 gallons of super shock. CYA is water conditioner I assume? Also called stabilizer? Is FC just liquid chlorine such as the super shock which has 12.5% sodium hypochlorite? I am not familiar with how much PPM is, if you could assist with that I would be grateful. I used the Pool Math on my computer. Here is what it said to do with the readings above from last night.
FC add 80 oz of 6% bleach
PH add 100 oz of muriaic acid
CYA add 93 oz of stabilizer

How does this sound? Thanks again.

 

[splashpad]

CYA is water conditioner I assume? Also called stabilizer?

Yup!

Is FC just liquid chlorine such as the super shock which has 12.5% sodium hypochlorite?

Yes, FC refers to active chlorine in your pool water,

I am not familiar with how much PPM is, if you could assist with that I would be grateful. I used the Pool Math on my computer

Poolmath does the math for us, Thank you contributors!!

 

[mknauss]

Please fill out your signature when you can. Makes it easier to help without having to search for your pool data.

Add 6 lbs of CYA aka stabilizer aka conditioner using the sock method. I will describe that in detail below.
Add 1 gallon of 10% liquid chlorine each day. Once your test kit arrives, run all the tests and post them here.

Add the CYA by using what we call the sock method. Get an old sock (no holes) and put the measured amount of CYA you need. Tie the sock closed and either suspend it in front of a return (hang it from your brush pole works with something weighted on the deck) OR if it still allows flow thru the skimmer, place the sock in the skimmer. Every 15/20 minutes give the sock a squeeze to speed up the process. Please DO NOT follow the directions on the container of CYA to just pour it into the skimmer and don't just toss the sock in the pool as the CYA is acidic and can bleach/stain pool finishes.