Newbie and lost

[clogan]

Just purchased a house two weeks ago which has an inground pool. Well, mostly inground. The top foot is above it on a deck (local pool guy was quick to point out how it wasn't a "true" inground pool). According to the paperwork I can find left behind by the previous owners it's 22,000 gallons. Also ,which I know EVERYONE HATES, it has a caribbean clear copper ionizer. I didn't install it. It was here. But I'm suffering from a total lack of info and none of the local pool companies are willing to help me as they don't sell them, have knowledge of them or believe in them. The local dealer is several hours away and won't return my calls. So now I'm new and COMPLETELY on my own. My main issue right now is pool staining. When I got here the chlorine level was 0. The previous owners said no chlorine was necessary. Head, meet desk, several times. Not knowing anything, I believed them. Yep. Not cool. Now the bottom of the pool is staining. After reading through several forum pages I tested it afraid it was from the copper, but putting a chlorine tablet on it (yes I bought some and have them in a floating dispenser) the stain cleared up right away. Yay, however that's one tiny spot in a huge stain. I shocked the pool up to around 10 last night. Scrubbing and vacuuming does nothing on it. So I'm thinking it's not algae (but what do I know). PH is around 7.4 (was almost 8 when I got here a few weeks ago) Alkalinity is just above 80. (I ordered a liquid test kit but as of right now I'm using the test strips they left behind).
Basically, I'm waving the white flag and about ready to fill it in with dirt since no one local will touch it with a ten foot pole due to the ionizer in it.
Can anyone share some knowledge. I'm losing too much sleep over this thing.

 

[Texas Splash]

Hello and welcome! The fact the stain reacted favorably to the chlorine tabs is a good thing. So a vast majority of your stains would appear to be organic in nature which simply requires more of what you've been doing .... chlorine. If it's just a stain and you see no active algae, then simply elevating your chlorine level for a few days or weeks, along with consistent scrubbing, should help to get those to fade. They probably didn't show-up quickly, so they will take a while to go away as well.

Now if you come across any stains that don't react to the chlorine, try placing some dry acid (in a sock) on the area. If it fades that confirms copper. Form there you have decisions to make, but you can always check back with us if that happens. It's good you ordered a test kit, that's a step in the right direction. Let us know which one you ordered. But stick with chlorine (regular bleach or pool liquid chlorine) and always refer to the [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA] to make sure you know where your FC should be based on your current CYA. For now, keep the FC a bit elevated over your normal daily FC range and see if that helps on those stained areas. Let us know how else we can help.

 

[clogan]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, it took a few weeks to appear so I'm hoping it will disappear within the same time frame. I got chlorine pellet type things to put in the floating chlorine dispenser. Should I just use liquid bleach instead?

 

[Texas Splash]

Liquid chlorine (aha regular bleach) is always best for long-term chlorination. Those tabs/pucks increase your CYA which over time you definitely don't want. Plus, the bleach is easier to dose and predict in a more real-time manner.

 

[clogan]

Thank you. I will switch to liquid. But why don’t I want cya? (I just bought stabilizer)

 

[clogan]

Also, I’ve had these floating for three days now and my FC is still 0.

 

[Texas Splash]

But why don’t I want cya? (I just bought stabilizer)

Oh, don't get me wrong, you do need stabilizer, and it's okay to use tabs as long as you know for sure, by using the proper home test kit, what your CYA is so that you don't go too high. That's the key as you can see from the [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]. Once your test kit arrives (hopefully a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C), you will confirm that CYA and balance accordingly. If it's low (below 30) the FC can drop quickly from the sun. If it's too high (approaching 100) the stabilizer interferes with the FC's ability to chlorinate properly. Once you confirm your actual CYA, the situation will become much clearer.

By the way, don't forget to update your signature.

 

[clogan]

Test strip (I know, strips aren’t the best. It’s all I had quick access to locally) say cya is 0 along with fc. I’ll do my best on the signature. I don’t even know what my pool really has yet, lol!