Pond Pool

[woodyp]

I'd return that cal hypo to the pool store if possible considering we have no idea what your calcium hardness is. Stick with the great advice you've gotten here---we'll get you there. I'd take the advice of draining at least half the pool and refilling before your test kit arrives. Take a deep breath........familiarize yourself with the ABCs in Pool School till then.........small bites are easier to digest.

 

[Dunkinpool]

I have 23 gals of bleach. I figure at this point I am on some watch lists here in Arkansas!?

 

[Dunkinpool]

The well and pond are right next to each other but different sources. This area has a lot of iron with deep wells (avg well is 120'+) but we actually have a cistern water supply with a natural spring supplying the house. No major iron problems. I will call tomorrow to our local pool store (not where we bought it) about the iron test just to be sure. It's not really a red tint, if that matters.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I have to agree with the idea of draining some of that water out (half-ish at least) to get the Bromine out of there. Please keep in mind that pool stores are in the business of SELLING, not necessarily interested in the quality of your water.

Save your chemicals for after a refill and test kit arrivesl

Maddie

 

[YippeeSkippy]

While you're learning about the pitfalls of using the wrong chemicals, lets toss a very cool thing at you- a cheap, effective way of ridding your pool of iron!!
Read this man's great explanation of how he cleared up his well water-

If you’ve got iron in your fill water, use Polyfill to remove it

EDIT: Found out this method only works if your iron is oxidized already, meaning it’s got a dull or bright green tint to the water, or a nasty brown tint. If you know you have iron in your fill water, but it isn’t oxidized yet, bring your pool to shock level and it’ll turn the telltale green...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[wireform]

Ok. So he had me buy a box of shock (24 bags). I have 20 gal of bleach...for stand by I guess. Bought that prior to starting this. So I need to stop adding the shock? I'm telling y'all...I know nothing. He also told me not to vacuum or backwash until it was blue. My husband back washed today and it was nasty brown. I am so confused because I am hearing 3 different suggestions. I appreciate the replies .I can follow directions easily...but not when I have 2 or more completely different suggestions. It really upsets me that the pool place can't be trusted. Uuugghh

As long as the water is brown the backwash will be brown too.

 

[Mdragger88]

Even if its not iron surely the poly fill would help filter some of the pond water Debris . It would have probably have been best to filter it as it was added with the polyfill bucket method.
@Dunkinpool this pool store didn’t sell u a perma-salt system did they?

 

[Casey]

That dude did you a HUGE favor by not rendering you service. He led you here. Read the ABCs in Pool School and let's wait for the kit. Maybe you can shut the pump off n let any sediment go to the bottom and do a vac to waste. That will help you remove dirt and it'll get rid of the bromine in the pool. 2 birds. 1 stone. Then refill.

 

[mac.dblues]

We are in Arkadelphia and use Troublefreepool method exclusively. If you'll listen to these people your pool will be swimming by the time your water warms up. We get our liquid chlorine at Atwoods. They run it for $7.99 a case every couple of weeks in their ad. They also have a half gallon plastic measuring cup that is really good for drawing your water sample and adding chemicals. It has a line for every 2 or 4 ounces. I use the PoolPal app for testing. It uses the Pool Math calculator to tell you exactly what to add based on your pool size. One thing I didn't see up there but may have missed, you need, really need to go read pool school and the ABC's of pool chemistry to understand better what people will tell you on here.

 

[kimkats]

You are getting some great help and doing a great job with what you have to work with! I wanted to jump in to cheer you on!!

Kim

 

[DoubleEcho]

I second, third, and fourth the advice that you're getting here. As far as a pool store goes, in my experience they might think they're being helpful but 99% of the time they want to sell products. The first pool guy we had come out to our swampy pool just dumped 2 bottles of chlorine and 2 bottles of algaecide in and told me to run the pump, never told me to add more chlorine. Also, algaecide cancels out the chlorine.

Just stick with the advice here, it's proven to work

 

[Dunkinpool]

Thanks for the help and encouragement. My husband actually made a bucket with poly fill that did some filtering (obviously not a lot) as we filled the pool. Just to clarify, I have read the ABC's, I have watched many videos in the Pool School. I even have notes on what each tested level stands for and the recommended levels. I have a notebook set up for testing the water to write down levels and what I did to help it. I am a teacher and did my homework prior to even having the pool installed. My problem has been I am at a fork in the road so to speak. Because I am a new pool owner I would have assumed the pool people would help me. That's one direction at the fork that I obviously took. Now I'm back at the fork (with a flat tire) and need to go the other direction. Most of the forum stuff I have read on here doesn't deal with brown pond water. So I had an additional variable and wasn'tsure how it tied in with the suggested methods. I had decided we would do the slam but then was apparently given false info that seemed correct at the time...to a pool virgin. I'm not uneducated with the pool lingo, however I am just confused and beyond frustrated bc of all the unknowns (iron, algae, tannins, etc...) and I'm grabbing at straws. Now I have to sit back and wait until the pool test kit gets here. It's just very frustrating when I had in my mind we would be swimming by Memorial Day. This forum has helped me and given me some hope, I just want to be productive and I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. Ok...I am done!? Again thanks for the help. Keep it coming.

 

[wireform]

Dunking, You can easily put away your pen and paper away and use poolmath. Enter all the info into a new log each time and it's there for good. You can even share it then we can see what you have in your pool log when there's something alarming going on.

 

[JoeSelf]

Two pounds would give you about a 6 ppm bromide bank. That's quite a bit for a chlorine pool... Essentially that 3 ppm of FC you measured (not that I trust strips, but as an example) would actually be entirely bromine.

I would dump the water if it were me. Consider it a learning experience to the incompetence and shadiness of pool stores, something to remember the next time you are tempted to get testing or advice from one.

This is why you were told to dump the water. Listen to him. He's been here a long time. Most of your chlorine in the beginning would be to fight/get rid of the bromine.

 

[Donldson]

This is why you were told to dump the water. Listen to him. He's been here a long time. Most of your chlorine in the beginning would be to fight/get rid of the bromine.

Thank you for that. The last sentence is a bit off though. With bromide in the water some of the chlorine will always be converted to bromine and there will always be bromine in the water if there is any chlorine. Bromine is not buffered or protected from the sunlight by CYA, and thus burns off fairly quickly. Not as fast as completely unprotected chlorine, but faster than chlorine protected by CYA. So, unless my math is wrong, there will always be a larger chlorine demand during the day than if there was no bromide in the water. At best this will cause more chlorine to be used than should be necessary, at worst it could cause the sanitizer levels to drop low enough for algae to form and create a constant battle all summer. And bromide doesn't go away on its own, there will still be some next year too. EDIT: Bromine and chlorine will exist in the water together and both work to sanitize the water and oxidize waste. As bromine is consumed it reverts back to bromide which will react with any chlorine in the water to return to bromine. They don't fight each other, but bromine will always be the first to be created and the last to leave. I realized it can be confusing so wanted to add this edit to try to clarify what the presence of bromide in the water actually does.

My worst fear for this thread is that we help someone get it working, put many hours and dollars in to successfully completing the SLAM, and finally see a clean and clear pool... Only for this problem to raise its head afterwards and OP being forced to drain clear water and start all of this over again. Maybe some people helping just don't understand the potential issues with bromide in the water, maybe they just don't want to pile on someone during a really stressful time. Understandable, but the possible consequences of ignoring this are not worth it, IMO. And right now, while waiting on the test kit, is the perfect time to do it.

 

[JJ_Tex]

I'm putting on my project manager hat on and trying to recap the steps for the OP.

- Based on the addition of Bromine, the recommendation is to dump the water
- The OP needs to determine the best way to refill the pool. Per the suggestion from Mknaus, you should test whatever fill water for iron at a pool store. If pond water is used I liked the suggestions of using the polyfill to help filter, then leaving off the pump for a bit to let stuff settle to the bottom, then vacuum to waste.
- Next, the OP should start a SLAM to kill anything in the fill water or anything lingering in the pool from the pond water

Did I get that right? What am I missing in the above?

 

[carnivalday]

First I want to welcome the op, so glad you came here! There is so much help here for you, and dont worry about all the initial learning. It seems overwhelming, but once you understand it fully, you'll be so happy you did this, and will be amazed how easy it ends up being. Right now you probably have the biggest problem that you will ever have. When I put in my pool last year, I filled up my pool with well water, and it ended up really beautiful. You're pool is really good sized, but I have to wonder if draining and starting over with fresh well water might be the easiest and cheapest way for you. But do take stock in what all these people are telling you, they are extremely smart, talented, and happy to help. Whatever you decide, you'll get sparkly clear water eventually.

 

[Flying Tivo]

I have a notebook set up for testing the water to write down levels and what I did to help it.

Forget old school, get the PoolMathapp.

 

[carnivalday]

Hey now, theres some of us....uhem.....who just dont want to be using apps, squinting on our phones, tapping teeny buttons. I use a spread sheet myself thats on my desktop, and it works just fine for me. So some of us are still old school.

 

[kimkats]

Old school for me as well! I do NOT like apps! Paper and pencil here as well!