Pool newbie, Intex 16'x8'x42" -- chlorine smell or lack thereof (thread retitled)
Hello, everyone!
I am new to this forum, and new to pool ownership. Over the past few days, I've been reading from the Pool School articles and through many of the threads in this forum.
It's been an eye-opener, and I have been learning a lot about water chemicals and keeping pool water clear. I know a lot of people locally that have pools -- but their ideas about how to maintain pools vary wildly. I'm hoping the collective knowledge here can help evaluate the various opinions and help me come up with a manageable pool treatment plan.
...
Current situation:
I'm the new owner of an Intex 16' x 8' x 42" Prism Frame Pool (link) with vinyl liner. Came with pump and 'paper' filter. Assembled it in our backyard on Saturday, May 27th, filled it with ~3,300 gal of tap water by the following morning. Immediately after filling and before chemicals, ran a water sample over to our local Leslie's (accounts I've read here of being "pool stored" made my heart sink
).
Here were the Sunday, May 28th water figures - thanks to Pool School and many threads here for drilling the abbreviations into my skull. Water was room temperature by the time I got it to Leslie's:
FC - 0 parts per million (ppm)
TC - 0 ppm
CH - 150 ppm
CYA - 0 ppm
TA - 70 ppm
pH - 7.2
Phosphates - 100 parts per billion (making clear that's no typo)
Copper, Iron, and Total Dissolved Solids were all 0.
Leslie's gave me a nice printout of the water figures (hope they're accurate :-| ) and a list of recommended chemicals. OK. So before I left the store, I bought:
a) the Leslie's brand Alkalinity Up, er, baking soda;
b) their Instant Pool Water Conditioner (Cyanuric acid must come out of this stuff, but what else? Who knows?);
c) a one-pound bag of their Chlor Brite (di-chlor); and
d) a jug of their Perfect Weekly additive (wish I could find out what was in that stuff :-| )
I already had three 3" HTH 4-in-1 tri-chlor pucks from an earlier Home Depot trip -- and a floater for the pucks. Figured I was ready to roll.
So, it's still Sunday, May 28. 10:30 a.m. 1/2 lb (=16 fl oz, most of an 18 oz Solo cup) of the baking soda go into the pool. Broadcast while walking the perimeter. I stir the baking soda around with a pool net after. Next, three 3" tri-chlor pucks go into the floater and left to do their thing. Filter is running the entire time.
About 3 p.m., a half-gallon of the Instant Pool Water Conditioner goes in ... walked it around the perimeter again and dribbled it out little by little (no skimmer, didn't know about tying up a sock). <<< we snuck in a hour-or-so swim about 6-ish>>> Right after sunset (8-ish), half of that 1 lb bag (= 8 fl oz, coincidentally) of di-chlor goes in, broadcast the same way, walking it around the perimeter of the pool plus throwing some to the middle. Filter stays on continuously from Sunday morning through Monday close to sunset (~36 hrs).
Monday, May 29th. Memorial Day. Enough time for a late-morning swim (1 adult, 2 kids for about 90 minutes), then the rains begin. The rain continues all week long, and there is not much sun. Overcast days and plenty of showers. My son got in the pool once during the week, for about an hour. Dutifully, I run out every morning to turn the filter on, and then go back out in the evening to turn it off (I understand it shouldn't typically run 24/7?). I do nothing whatsoever with water testing, chemicals, filter cleaning ... nothing at all. At this point, I'm still thinking that the pucks are doing the job. And hey -- the pool smells great (for what that's worth) and looks nice and clear, rain notwithstanding.
Fast forward to the morning of Sunday, June 4. Still overcast and showery. I remove the filter for the first time (stock Intex pool filter, size A), thoroughly hose it off (looks pretty clean!), put it back in, and turn the pump on. Then I add in the first dose of Leslie's Perfect Weekly (shrug) and the remaining half-pound of di-chlor (yep -- I added chlorine early in the morning. Didn't know at the time). Late that afternoon, there is a break in the rain, and me and my son swim for about an hour.
Monday, June 5. Another sunless rainy day. Filter still going on and off like clockwork, haven't missed a day. No one swims.
Tuesday, June 6. Overcast morning, but no rain. The tri-chlor tablets are now about the size of Ritz crackers. Pool still looks great. It's sunny by about 2 p.m. We go swimming that evening for about 90 minutes.
Wednesday, June 7. Nice and sunny outside, all day. I discover TFP's Pool School online, and get to reading the articles there regarding pool chemistry. I also start checking out this forum, and look for threads about water chemistry and about Intex pools. I start to have sinking feeling once I realize I've done no testing of the water since the day I filled it. Also, I learn about the issues of accumulating CYA and how too much flubs up the chlorine efficacy :-|. Leslie's had a suggested re-test date of Sunday 6/11. I want to see what is up with my pool water and make sure it is not screwed up. So, after an hour swim, I collect another pool water sample and go to Leslie's in the late afternoon and have them run another water test. The results:
FC - 7 parts per million (ppm)
TC - 7 ppm
CH - 110 ppm (they try to sell me Hardness Plus to raise this. I read some Pool School, noted my vinyl liner, and refuse)
CYA - 50 ppm
TA - 70 ppm
pH - 7.2
Phosphates - 250 parts per billion (they sell me their PhosFree to knock this level down. I buy it )
Copper, Iron, and Total Dissolved Solids were still 0
Water temp was 70F after a 15-min drive
So I check those figures against Pool School's Chlorine/CYA chart, and see that things are looking good (assuming Leslie's test #s are good :-| ). Leslie's staff seemed to reflexively think an FC of 7 ppm was an issue, but with a CYA of 50, that seems to be actually OK.
I am realizing now that I am going to have to address chlorine very soon. I look at the laundry bleach I have in my home, and I am not sure it will do the trick. Concentrated 8.25%, local store brand. Date on bottle is from November 2016. Might be better than nothing, but I haven't tried it yet. Still no water test kit, either.
Thursday, June 8th. Another sunny day chewing up chlorine. Did nothing to pool except filter turn-on/turn-off. Thought FC might have needed to come down, so I talked myself out of adding in the bleach without doing more research first. Two main things that I pored over yesterday was the Pool School's Guide for Seasonal/Temporary Pools and the 2009 thread that seemed to be the genesis of that particular Pool School article. Meanwhile, my son and I swam yesterday evening for over two hours.
...
So here I am today. I feel the need to get my water tested at Leslie's yet again. Need to see where the water is at. So weird ... their system is to only test every two weeks or something like that. I read here that people test their water every day. I ask around locally, and a lot of people barely ever test ... they just leave tri-chlor pucks in their pool all summer, replenishing them as they dissolve. I've seen some people's pool with algae blooms -- and now, I assume that they've over-relied on the ever-popular tri-chlor pucks, got their CYA too high, and then BLOOM! I guess people just drain and start over or something, because you go back to those same pools a week or two later, and the algae is gone.
OK. So after work today, and after another water test at Leslie's, I am off to find an HTH 6-in-1 testing kit (or similar) and some basic bleach or liquid chlorine (Leslie's had none Wednesday ... thought for sure I'd find it there). Can't fight the feeling that I've gotten lucky so far -- the pool still looks and smells great today. The tri-chlor pucks, even after 11 days, are not 100% gone but they're very close.
So, basic questions -- I can't futz around with the chlorine much longer, can I? And with a CYA already at 50, I shouldn't touch tri-chlor pucks again, right? Would more di-chlor be OK, or no (also has CYA issues, right?)?
...
Thanks in advance to anyone who made it through this wall of text I have a great impression of this community just from reading through the first several threads, and hope to learn much more about pool maintenance going forward.
Hello, everyone!
I am new to this forum, and new to pool ownership. Over the past few days, I've been reading from the Pool School articles and through many of the threads in this forum.
It's been an eye-opener, and I have been learning a lot about water chemicals and keeping pool water clear. I know a lot of people locally that have pools -- but their ideas about how to maintain pools vary wildly. I'm hoping the collective knowledge here can help evaluate the various opinions and help me come up with a manageable pool treatment plan.
...
Current situation:
I'm the new owner of an Intex 16' x 8' x 42" Prism Frame Pool (link) with vinyl liner. Came with pump and 'paper' filter. Assembled it in our backyard on Saturday, May 27th, filled it with ~3,300 gal of tap water by the following morning. Immediately after filling and before chemicals, ran a water sample over to our local Leslie's (accounts I've read here of being "pool stored" made my heart sink
).Here were the Sunday, May 28th water figures - thanks to Pool School and many threads here for drilling the abbreviations into my skull. Water was room temperature by the time I got it to Leslie's:
FC - 0 parts per million (ppm)
TC - 0 ppm
CH - 150 ppm
CYA - 0 ppm
TA - 70 ppm
pH - 7.2
Phosphates - 100 parts per billion (making clear that's no typo)
Copper, Iron, and Total Dissolved Solids were all 0.
Leslie's gave me a nice printout of the water figures (hope they're accurate :-| ) and a list of recommended chemicals. OK. So before I left the store, I bought:
a) the Leslie's brand Alkalinity Up, er, baking soda;
b) their Instant Pool Water Conditioner (Cyanuric acid must come out of this stuff, but what else? Who knows?);
c) a one-pound bag of their Chlor Brite (di-chlor); and
d) a jug of their Perfect Weekly additive (wish I could find out what was in that stuff :-| )
I already had three 3" HTH 4-in-1 tri-chlor pucks from an earlier Home Depot trip -- and a floater for the pucks. Figured I was ready to roll.
So, it's still Sunday, May 28. 10:30 a.m. 1/2 lb (=16 fl oz, most of an 18 oz Solo cup) of the baking soda go into the pool. Broadcast while walking the perimeter. I stir the baking soda around with a pool net after. Next, three 3" tri-chlor pucks go into the floater and left to do their thing. Filter is running the entire time.
About 3 p.m., a half-gallon of the Instant Pool Water Conditioner goes in ... walked it around the perimeter again and dribbled it out little by little (no skimmer, didn't know about tying up a sock). <<< we snuck in a hour-or-so swim about 6-ish>>> Right after sunset (8-ish), half of that 1 lb bag (= 8 fl oz, coincidentally) of di-chlor goes in, broadcast the same way, walking it around the perimeter of the pool plus throwing some to the middle. Filter stays on continuously from Sunday morning through Monday close to sunset (~36 hrs).
Monday, May 29th. Memorial Day. Enough time for a late-morning swim (1 adult, 2 kids for about 90 minutes), then the rains begin.
The rain continues all week long, and there is not much sun. Overcast days and plenty of showers. My son got in the pool once during the week, for about an hour. Dutifully, I run out every morning to turn the filter on, and then go back out in the evening to turn it off (I understand it shouldn't typically run 24/7?). I do nothing whatsoever with water testing, chemicals, filter cleaning ... nothing at all. At this point, I'm still thinking that the pucks are doing the job. And hey -- the pool smells great (for what that's worth) and looks nice and clear, rain notwithstanding.Fast forward to the morning of Sunday, June 4. Still overcast and showery. I remove the filter for the first time (stock Intex pool filter, size A), thoroughly hose it off (looks pretty clean!), put it back in, and turn the pump on. Then I add in the first dose of Leslie's Perfect Weekly (shrug) and the remaining half-pound of di-chlor (yep -- I added chlorine early in the morning. Didn't know at the time). Late that afternoon, there is a break in the rain, and me and my son swim for about an hour.
Monday, June 5. Another sunless rainy day. Filter still going on and off like clockwork, haven't missed a day. No one swims.
Tuesday, June 6. Overcast morning, but no rain. The tri-chlor tablets are now about the size of Ritz crackers. Pool still looks great. It's sunny by about 2 p.m. We go swimming that evening for about 90 minutes.
Wednesday, June 7. Nice and sunny outside, all day. I discover TFP's Pool School online, and get to reading the articles there regarding pool chemistry. I also start checking out this forum, and look for threads about water chemistry and about Intex pools. I start to have sinking feeling once I realize I've done no testing of the water since the day I filled it. Also, I learn about the issues of accumulating CYA and how too much flubs up the chlorine efficacy :-|. Leslie's had a suggested re-test date of Sunday 6/11. I want to see what is up with my pool water and make sure it is not screwed up. So, after an hour swim, I collect another pool water sample and go to Leslie's in the late afternoon and have them run another water test. The results:
FC - 7 parts per million (ppm)
TC - 7 ppm
CH - 110 ppm (they try to sell me Hardness Plus to raise this. I read some Pool School, noted my vinyl liner, and refuse)
CYA - 50 ppm
TA - 70 ppm
pH - 7.2
Phosphates - 250 parts per billion (they sell me their PhosFree to knock this level down. I buy it
)Copper, Iron, and Total Dissolved Solids were still 0
Water temp was 70F after a 15-min drive
So I check those figures against Pool School's Chlorine/CYA chart, and see that things are looking good (assuming Leslie's test #s are good :-| ). Leslie's staff seemed to reflexively think an FC of 7 ppm was an issue, but with a CYA of 50, that seems to be actually OK.
I am realizing now that I am going to have to address chlorine very soon. I look at the laundry bleach I have in my home, and I am not sure it will do the trick. Concentrated 8.25%, local store brand. Date on bottle is from November 2016. Might be better than nothing, but I haven't tried it yet. Still no water test kit, either.
Thursday, June 8th. Another sunny day chewing up chlorine. Did nothing to pool except filter turn-on/turn-off. Thought FC might have needed to come down, so I talked myself out of adding in the bleach without doing more research first. Two main things that I pored over yesterday was the Pool School's Guide for Seasonal/Temporary Pools and the 2009 thread that seemed to be the genesis of that particular Pool School article. Meanwhile, my son and I swam yesterday evening for over two hours.
...
So here I am today. I feel the need to get my water tested at Leslie's yet again. Need to see where the water is at. So weird ... their system is to only test every two weeks or something like that. I read here that people test their water every day. I ask around locally, and a lot of people barely ever test ... they just leave tri-chlor pucks in their pool all summer, replenishing them as they dissolve. I've seen some people's pool with algae blooms -- and now, I assume that they've over-relied on the ever-popular tri-chlor pucks, got their CYA too high, and then BLOOM! I guess people just drain and start over or something, because you go back to those same pools a week or two later, and the algae is gone.
OK. So after work today, and after another water test at Leslie's, I am off to find an HTH 6-in-1 testing kit (or similar) and some basic bleach or liquid chlorine (Leslie's had none Wednesday ... thought for sure I'd find it there). Can't fight the feeling that I've gotten lucky so far -- the pool still looks and smells great today. The tri-chlor pucks, even after 11 days, are not 100% gone but they're very close.
So, basic questions -- I can't futz around with the chlorine much longer, can I? And with a CYA already at 50, I shouldn't touch tri-chlor pucks again, right? Would more di-chlor be OK, or no (also has CYA issues, right?)?
...
Thanks in advance to anyone who made it through this wall of text
I have a great impression of this community just from reading through the first several threads, and hope to learn much more about pool maintenance going forward.
That "standing across the backyard and still smelling pool chlorine" smell is in-between in intensity, but always gave me pause because I thought it caused eye burning and clothes bleaching. Usually, I'd get in the pool anyway, though 