Newbie questions

[Hywel]

Hi. We just bought a house in Chapel Hill TN with an above ground circular pool that was a mess. I’ve been working on it and my current situation with alerts from the pool store water test is:
Free Chlorine: 0.66
Total chlorine: 4.8
PH: 7
CH: 195
CA: 19
I added 1lb 12oz of soda ash for the PH at 5pm central.
I now have to wait a day to add 9lbs of hard calcium, then 4 hours to add 6lbs 8oz of sodium hypochlorite and finally wait 4 more hours to add 111 fl oz of water conditioner.
I need to get this done as quickly as possible (daughter and friends coming home for a long weekend). Do I have to wait the full day/24 hours before moving to the calcium stage?
Long first post, but any help is appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[woodyp]

You don't need the calcium, take it back. Got any pics? That sounds like a SLAM candidate. Water conditioner sounds like snake oil, take it back too.

 

[Hywel]

Thanks for the response Woody. This was 3 days ago and the second today after dry acid, green to clean and 6 bags of shock.

 

[sande005]

What exact product are they telling you to use for "sodium hypochlorite"? Generally it is a liquid, so dispensing by weight is not usual. I suspect a powder, which may have other additives that can come back to give you future issues.
Without knowing your CYA (Stabilizer) level, the Cl (sodium hypo) amount to add is very suspect.

Yes - return the calcium and the water conditioner. There is no benefit or need.

That's not clean - you still have algae.

Pool store tests are extremely inaccurate, as are test strips. You simply must get a good test kit. But knowing you are on a deadline, we'll try to muddle through. It won't get pristine in the short time, but as long as you can see the bottom, you will be able to use it. Seeing the bottom is critical - you want to know if someone is down there and not coming up.....

Report back all the results of the last pool store test.

I STRONGLY recommend the TF-Pro kit from TFtestkits.net.
But read about alternatives here: Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared

 

[Hywel]

Thanks for the response Woody. This was 3 days ago and the second today after dry acid, green to clean and 6 bags of shock.

 

[Hywel]

What exact product are they telling you to use for "sodium hypochlorite"? Generally it is a liquid, so dispensing by weight is not usual. I suspect a powder, which may have other additives that can come back to give you future issues.
Without knowing your CYA (Stabilizer) level, the Cl (sodium hypo) amount to add is very suspect.

Yes - return the calcium and the water conditioner. There is no benefit or need.

That's not clean - you still have algae.

Pool store tests are extremely inaccurate, as are test strips. You simply must get a good test kit. But knowing you are on a deadline, we'll try to muddle through. It won't get pristine in the short time, but as long as you can see the bottom, you will be able to use it. Seeing the bottom is critical - you want to know if someone is down there and not coming up.....

Report back all the results of the last pool store test.

I STRONGLY recommend the TF-Pro kit from TFtestkits.net.
But read about alternatives here: Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared

Appreciate the help! Attached is today’s test which led to my post plus what they suggest

 

[Hywel]

Appreciate the help! Attached is today’s test which led to my post plus what they suggest

 

[sande005]

Need to know your total gallons.
Soda ash amounts they called for are not in the photo, but based on your post, at a guess and back figuring, your pool is ~16,000 gallons? If not, they over/under dosed you, or are trying to get you to somewhere other than my assumed target of a pH of 7.4

At 16,000 gallons, they are hitting your pool VERY hard with Chlorine. All of the products they suggest will raise it by ~35ppm, when their goal on the sheet is to get it to 4! Don't swim if you have already added it! I assume they were hoping that hitting it so hard would give you a miracle cure for the algae.

What is safe? IF we can trust their CYA number (which we can't!), getting to 10 is what we call for in defeating algae (over days) and is swimmable. 4-5 would be the goal IF there was no algae at all. Most home test kits/strips are very inaccurate and cannot read Cl above about 5, 10 at best. Hence why the kits we recommend - they can.

For right now - let us know your total gallons. That is important.

Because of the coming weekend, even though we hate it, take another sample to the store and get a new test when returning the other items. Report those results here.

Do NOT buy anything, except a case of Liquid Chlorine (WalMart or Home Depot may have stock and may be cheaper). Then we can advise on a safe amount of Cl to add. It will not magically clear the pool, but will begin to make a dent in the algae, and be safe. Again, don't swim if you cannot see the bottom, irregardless of the Cl level.

The other products they recommend - Powder Plus also adds Hardness, same as the calcium you are returning. And with a vinyl pool, you never need to worry about it (extremely high levels with a heater or salt water generator excepted). Chlor Brite adds stabilizer in addition to Chlorine. Their test shows you are a little on the low end of that, but not by much. Using the Chlor Brite routinely will drive it up over time, which increases the amount of Cl you need. Ending in too much stabilizer and you have to drain your pool. Other chems and shocks in powder have other undesired effects too. Liquid Chlorine ands nothing else.

Read through the entire section of "Pool School" here, especially about the CYA and CL relationship, and the SLAM process. That will be your journey after the pool party.

 

[Mdragger88]

You said the pool is a mess. Algae/cloudiness?
If so this is not going to be an overnight fix no matter what they said at the pool store.
The first step is getting a proper test kit that you can use at home
(Taylor k2006 c or tf100/TFpro are the only ones we recommend)
Test Kits Compared. You should be able to aquire either kit within a few days if you order today.
Until that comes you can add 5ppm worth of liquid chlorine each day infront of a running return away from the pool wall - brush the area. Add nothing else
This will keep things from getting worse until you can take proper action with accurate data. & begin the
SLAM Process with liquid chlorine.

As Woody mentioned you don’t need to add calcium in a vinyl pool. Take it back.
That liquid cya “conditioner” is also the most expensive way to buy cya.
You can keep it if you wish but we don’t trust pool store results so hold off on adding it until you can test accurately with your own kit.
Your ph (if its correct) is a little low but will rise on its own. You can simply point the jets up to aerate the water & help it rise a little more. Any ph in the 7’s is ok.

 

[Mdragger88]

The criteria for the pool being safe to swim in is:
*Ph in the 7’s
*Fc anywhere between minimum & slam level for your cya
See —> FC/CYA Levels
And
*You can see the bottom of the deep end of the pool for swimmer safety

All 3 of these must be true.

 

[woodyp]

You gonna need to make a decision as to whether ro follow TFP tried and true advice or the pool store.