New Pool Owner In need of Serious HELP.

[bellebrit]

I think all they sell at my Walmart is this HTH brand stuff?

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Is the MA gonna ruin my pool, and am I better off emptying it and starting over? Im seriously freaking out right now, I'm litterally in tears. I should have gotten more opinions before I dumped that in my pool.

 

[jblizzle]

Honestly, I almost suggested dumping the pool and and starting over. In fact, that still may be the best (and cheapest) path forward. My only concern is what the acidic water will do to whatever you dump it on.

 

[JVTrain]

I think all they sell at my Walmart is this HTH brand stuff?

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Is the MA gonna ruin my pool, and am I better off emptying it and starting over? Im seriously freaking out right now, I'm litterally in tears. I should have gotten more opinions before I dumped that in my pool.

Go to the laundry detergent aisle at Walmart or wherever is closest that has a good supply of laundry detergents, even a large grocery store. The 20 Mule Team Borax will be right there with the detergents. That will raise your pH without adding gobs of TA and you can get your pH in line. If you do that part soon your pool should be OK.

The great folks here will help you from there, as long as you're willing to get a good test kit and do some studying in Pool School.

 

[JesseWV]

Not to mention what it will do to the equipment you pump it through.

Honestly, I almost suggested dumping the pool and and starting over. In fact, that still may be the best (and cheapest) path forward. My only concern is what the acidic water will do to whatever you dump it on.

 

[JVTrain]

Not to mention what it will do to the equipment you pump it through.

That's a good point. Perhaps shut down the pump and manually circulate with a brush/rake until borax dissolves?

 

[JesseWV]

Your pool currently has a pH similar to Milk, so don't freak out too much, but do take action!

 

[bellebrit]

Well I have a cement water way right next to my house, we were gonna drain it into before winter. Honest opinion at this point I'm more worried about the safety of my kid and pool than cost, is it better to drain into the water way and start over or bust *** with this borax?

 

[JVTrain]

I'd bust the borax. Acidic water is not good to go in a water way and may (not highly likely) damage the water way.

You'll have borates in your pool to start as a bonus!

 

[bellebrit]

My husband is so worried about the pool liner that he just took off work to come home and drain the whole thing. So I think we're probably gonna go that route, unless someone tells me not to drain it before he starts......

 

[JesseWV]

I'd recommend against draining. You'll just be back to where you started again. You already paid for the acid, which DID lower your TA, and now you can also take advantage of the mistake by using Borax to balance the pH. Then you'll also have the "bonus" of having anti-algae borates in the pool and a little less chlorine usage. You will also not have to pay for another 7000 6000 gallons of water.

Yes, it was a mistake, but it's pretty easy to fix. In your particular situation, in the immortal words of Bob Ross, it was a Happy Accident.

 

[bellebrit]

Ok I will stop him then, and head to walmart, the frugal side of me did not want to have to pay for another 6000 gallons of water any way! Thank You.

 

[bellebrit]

Pool Math says 65 lbs of Borax, does that sound right or how much should I start with.

 

[JesseWV]

I came up with 240 oz, which is only 15lbs (3.2 boxes) If you want to get all the way up to 50ppm Borates you could get 5 boxes. You will need to (take a deep breath) add more acid though.

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I would just stick to balancing your pH for the time being however! One thing at a time.

 

[jblizzle]

I would not bother with adding more borax than required at this point. Since we have no idea where the TA is (the HTH 6-way would tell you this), hard to estimate where the pH may have dropped and how much borax will be needed to raise it. So, I would say try 1 box, circulate for 30-60 minutes and retest.

 

[JesseWV]

TA affects the pH calculation, so if you entered the TA value from before the acid addition that's why you're off.

Adding the acid could have reduced your TA to ~73 so that's what I used as a best guess. It's hard to tell without a proper test kit.

 

[jblizzle]

You don't know where the TA started ... it was just "high"

 

[bellebrit]

When I did the pool math I just entered what its at now when I tested with the strips, which is 0 for everything. So if I go and get the HTH 6 way kit, is it good enough to use or will I also need to get one of the recommended ones? I'm just going to head up to Menards cause they will probably have more boxes of Borax, if I get 6 for now does that sound like it would be enough, or should I get more just in case. Will I need to constantly be adding the borax once its balanced properly or will this be a one time thing, cause if I'll need it often I'll get extra now.

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You don't know where the TA started ... it was just "high"

Pretty much, I just used the strips, which from what I hear now are junk, and the color just changed to the highest level on the strip, so I don't know EXACT the strip only went up to 240 so for all I know it could have been higher.

 

[JesseWV]

Yep, the darn strips are pretty much useless. I did base the calculations off a starting TA of 240, so yes it could be off quite a bit.

The HTH 6-way isn't recommended. Ultimately, you will need a TF-100 or a Taylor T-2006. For now you DO need a simple OTO/pH (2-way) tester to fix the pH.

As far as the Borax, it's a one time thing. You should be okay with 6.

 

[bellebrit]

Ok, I just called Leslies and they said they have all their brand kits on hand, I noticed the Leslies 81329 was in the recomended test kit section but it didn't test for the Chlorine OTO, how important is that? And would you recomend I just get that, or get a 2 way for now and wait on the TF 100?

 

[JesseWV]

You could get the Taylor K-1000 (OTO/pH) from Leslie's for around $12, then order the TF-50.