Pristine Blue to Chlorine Help Needed

[dtail]

Hello everyone,
We had our 33' above ground round pool installed approximately 2 years ago. We got sucked into the whole Pristine Blue thing and have been using it since the pool was installed. After reading several forums and doing some reading on the PB website, my wife and I have decided to get rid of the PB and switch over to chlorine. I've read that we will have to completely drain our pool in order to get rid of the copper, or we have to go through a very lengthy process to change over to chlorine. I really don't want to have to drain the 30,000 gallons of water again for about the 4th time since the pool was installed. We've had issues since we purchased the pool but that's all for another discussion. Is there any way that I can make this change without a complicated process or draining the pool completely?? I have spent so much money on chemicals and time trying to keep this pool clean for my family that I'm almost to the point I'm ready to just give it up and take down the pool and eat the $7000. we spent on the pool and chalk up all the chemical and other costs as a very expensive learning experience. Any help I can get with this would be greatly appreciated. I checked the copper level this morning with the cheap kit that was advised we use, and the level is about 0.3. My pH level is low and alk level is around 110. I'm planning on putting 3 pounds of shock in the pool this evening. I haven't put any PB in the pool for about 2 weeks. Thanks all for any help I can get!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

You can certainly convert over to chlorine but you should use a metal sequestering agent to help keep the copper in solution. High FC levels and high pH can lead to copper scaling and staining. Either ProTeam metal magic or one of the Jacks Magic products should work.

But here’s your first step - get a high quality test kit and test your water yourself! You can do no good to your pool when you can’t even say for sure what is in it. Throwing chemicals in blindly or even under the direction of pool stores is a recipe for disaster and further bleeding of your wallet. The test kit is the single best investment you can make in your pool.

 

[Newdude]

The devil is in the @dtails they say. Welcome.

It’s your choice if you drain or fix the water, but after that, you have smooth sailing ahead now that you found us. 33k is a lot of water so it will take alot of treating. But..... And this is a very big *but*, when you need 10lbs of Alkalinity up, and the pool store wants to charge you $75, We will send you to Costco/Bjs/Sams where they have 13 lb bags of Arm and Hammer baking soda (same thing) for $6.99. The rest of the stuff is also over the counter Plain Jane stuff at Walmart or the grocery store.

like Matt said above me, a proper test kit will make its money back dozens of times over. Check outTest Kits Compared

while you wait for it to come, Read up on
ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry And you’ll be on your way to trouble free pool care. *henceforth known as TFPC.

 

[dtail]

Thank you all very much for your help. I just ordered a TF-100 kit so as soon as it comes in I can post my levels. I still haven't decided whether to drain the pool again or not but I'm hoping as the copper level keeps dropping, I can convert to chlorine without having to go to that length again. I am going to shock the pool tonight, adding 3 pounds for the 30k gallons. We have had 4 days here of heavy rain so I haven't been able to do anything, and I saw today that there are back swimmers in the pool so I know that I have an algae problem even though the water is clear. I won't be buying anything from the local pool store where we purchased the pool, especially after getting educated here. Thank you all again, and I've gone in and updated my signature.

 

[mknauss]

Do you think the CYA is high? Watch for copper cyanurate. Purple colors.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

In your climate and location, if you can let rain water fill your pool when you get heavy storms, that will go a long way to reducing copper levels. The trick is to drain the pool first by an inch or two and let the rain refill it. That gives you maximum benefit. Or run a slow submersible pump in your deep end while the rain is filling up the pool. I would not worry too much about draining. If the 0.3ppm Cu is at all accurate, it’s right in the edge of where staining can occur.

Do NOT shock the water too high. Raising chlorine levels without knowing other parameters can possibly cause stains. Just elevate the chlorine to 5ppm and try to maintain that until your kit arrives.

 

[dtail]

That's a big relief, thank you JoyfulNoise! The directions on the shock say 1 lb for each 10k gallons so I'm planning on putting in 3 pounds tonight because with all the rain, my pH level is extremely low right now. I'll check it in the morning with the test strips that I have after running the filter all night on high. Thanks again for your help.

mknauss, I'm not sure exactly what my CYA level is but with 4 days or heavy rain and no chemicals, I would think it will be low. I can't wait for the test kit to come in now so I can get true levels on everything. I'll post what the test strips show tonight. Thank you for your help!

 

[MITBeta]

What kind of shock do you have?

 

[kellyfair]

Dtail, if you are getting the kind of rain I am, you will definitely be able to reap the benefit!

 

[dtail]

I have pristine super shock. I was going to shock the pool tonight but now we have thunderstorm warnings again! I drained the pool down about 3 inches in hopes if it does rain, it will pour again between tonight and tomorrow morning when it's supposed to finally be over and then I can begin to add my chemicals again. When I add the shock, would should I put in with it if anything? I plan on taking a sample of the water down to the pool store after the rain has stopped and before I put anything in it to see where my chemical levels are but I am not going to buy anything Pristine Blue!

 

[mknauss]

That shock will add more copper, right?

No reason to go to the pool store. Follow what Matt said earlier.

 

[dtail]

Okay, just got back from one of the local pool outlets and had my water tested. It was almost comical to listen to everything he tried to sell me on including a $940 salt chlorination system. I got 2 containers of liquid chlorine but haven't added anything to the pool yet. I'll list the results of all the tests below.
Total Chlorine 0.0 ppm
Free Chlorine 0.0 ppm
combine Chlorine 0.0 ppm
pH 8.0
Acid Demand 2
Base Demand *
Total Alkalinity 90 ppm
Calcium Hardness 110ppm
Stabilizer 0 ppm
Total Dissolved Solids 150 ppm
Salt * ppm
Copper 0.3

He told me to put in a stabilizer before adding any chlorine and let it dissolve. Then add both of the 2.5 gallon jugs of liquid chlorine to the water?? His reason was because the pool is so large it would take 5 gallons of liquid chlorine to get my level right. I wasn't going to add a thing to the pool until I checked with all of you to see what is the best route to take because he didn't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling that he knew what he was talking about lol. One thing I forgot to mention earlier was that we are on well water water directly out of the springs here and that is the water that is in our pool. I used hoses from our pump each time to refill the pool because I know how good it is here.

 

[kellyfair]

Dtail, don’t do anything more than add chlorine (use Pool Math app to figure out how much based on advice from a Matt) until your test kit comes in. You need numbers you can trust (not from a pool store).

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I would just get your pH balanced (aim for 7.6 but lower it in increments so you don't overshoot) and try to keep the FC at 3-5ppm while you wait for the test kit. Don't add anything else. Go to Walmart or another big box store and get their Pool Essentials liquid chlorine pool shock (10% bleach) and you'll pay less than what the pool store is selling it for....and you won't have to listen to all the PS baloney...

 

[dtail]

will do thank you both!

 

[dtail]

Good News! I got my TF-100 test kit yesterday, but the results were not good. I was low or zero on most everything. I had purchased stabilizer before I switched to chlorine but hadn't used it so I put approx 9lbs of stabilizer in the water and 3lbs of shock last night. I got up this morning and checked all the levels at about 09:00, and this is what I have now.

FC 15 (Hoping the sun will burn down the chlorine to a safer level today)
Chlorine check on k-1000 kit shows 5-10 level
pH 7.2
Total Alk 110
CYA 40 (Add more stabilizer?)
Cal Hardness 475
shows no combined chloramines
Copper 0.3 (No staining at all on the liner!!)

Upon re-figuring the pool volume, the pool actually has 28,736 gallons, not 30k as previously noted. I don't know how great a difference in chemicals there would be with 1264 less gallons but I'm trying to get as accurate as I can with our levels. I'm thinking that maybe next year going to a salt chlorination system just for the reduced maintenance and cost.

I tried to enter the figures into the pool math app but they wouldn't save. Is the app a subscription only application? I see there is an upgrade available but nothing would save so I'm assuming that the whole app is subscription based? I don't have a problem with subscribing, I'm just trying to figure out if it's something I'm doing wrong that it won't save my data in the app.

 

[mknauss]

To save historical data you must subscribe to the Premium version of the app.

That pool volume difference is not material.

If you put CYA in to dissolve yesterday, wait at least 24-48 hours after it is all dissolved to test for it. Though your CYA of 40 matches what the 9lbs of stabilizer you added should test at.

Your FC of 15 is in a 'safe' level. It is under SLAM level for your CYA.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Please retest everything once the FC falls below 10ppm, especially pH. High FC can cause the pH test to read falsely high, though I wouldn't worry too much about it at this point. Just don't do anymore adjustments until your FC comes down. Once the CYA gets to the correct level than you can start balancing everything else.

I wouldn't worry about the copper levels unless you see staining. I doubt you will but just be sure to keep any copper-containing products out of the pool water. AT this point all your pool needs is chlorine and, perhaps, some acid to control pH.

 

[dtail]

When I checked the pool this morning, all the CYA I added yesterday has dissolved as far as I can see. I plan on checking the levels again in the next hour to see how the sun has affected the chlorine. What would you suggest for the acid Matt? I'll post the new levels when I get them. Thank you both for the response and the help. I'll be subscribing to the premium version of the app, and also supporting TFP shortly. I'm so glad I stumbled upon this site!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Don’t worry about pH until your levels come down. TFP suggests only using muriatic acid for pH control. You can get it at any big box hardware store.