New quickset pool

[Ashley123]

Can I really only use bleach borax and baking soda to maintain my teeny tiny pool for a couple of months? Water is slightly green. I bought Clorox smart strips. I have a floating thing with one 3” tablet. We use the pool 5/7 days of the week.
What do I need to do here?

 

[Msch99]

Welcome to TFP!
Yes you can!

I would start out here:
Guide for Seasonal Pools
Maybe check this out too:

ABC's of water chemistry

An expert may chime in with something different but:
Assuming your pool is less than 3000 gallons, the easiest would be to drain, clean and start over. Then follow the Guide to seasonal pools.

You could clean it up by following the TFP slam method, but that could take awhile and consume quite a bit of bleach to accomplish. Following the seasonal guide and coming back when you have specific questions will keep your pool sparkling!

 

[Wobblerlorri]

First, get a good test kit. Links to the ones we recommend are in my signature. We call them "guess strips" for a reason -- testing with them is no better than guessing.

Next, your pool is a pool, no matter the size. It's liable to the same standards of sanitation as a pool ten times its size. Your pool as pictured isn't sanitary.

And yes, you really can keep it sanitary using bleach, borax and baking soda. We can show you how. First steps first, get a good test kit with FAS-DPD reagents so you can KNOW what your free chlorine FC is.

After you have your test kit, post your results like this

FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

Then we can give you tailored advice toward SLAMming your pool. For now, add 5 ppm FC to your pool daily, using liquid chlorine. No Clorox, scented, or splashless stuff. Wal-Mart is a good source of everything you'll need to maintain your pool.

You can do this!

 

[frogabog]

Hi and Welcome to TFP!

It only takes a few days of pucks/tablets to raise CYA too high in that size of a pool. The test strips are junk, unfortunately. If I were in your position I'd drain, clean the walls with bleach and refill. You are a perfect candidate for the seasonal pools methods.

Read the links @Msch99 provided.

To answer your question though, yes you can just use bleach. But if you drain and refill you will need "some" CYA. You can get that by using the tablets for a while and then switching out to bleach only. Check out Pool Math for help calculating you pool volume (or check with the mfr) and how much of whatever to add to your pool. The PoolMath app has a few less options but is a great tool as well. Both are based on the same math/calculations.

Pool Math will also tell you how much CYA those tablets will add to your pool. If I had to guess, 2 3" tablets will raise your CYA to about 50ppm. So maybe don't plan on using more than 1.5-2 of those after you refill.