Hi everyone,
We are about a month in with our pool. The first three weeks or so everything was great and the water was somehow staying clear even though we hadn't added anything to it and we were only running the SWCG. And then we got a 1.5" rain last week and things have gone crazy. It was then that I realized that I was supposed to be doing more to balance the chemicals. So off to the local pool supply store. I'll bet you already know where this is going.
Their Test Strips showed that I was had low pH and low CYA. So I purchased some Soda Ash and Conditioner/Stabilizer to bring those levels back to normal.
Then I went away for three days and came back to this (my wife or kids tried to vacuum it) on Thu, 8/17 @ 3pm:
So then I went ahead and tried to finish vacuuming it but because it is a sucky (not sucky?) pump, it got frustrating so I ended up with this at 4pm:
Then I finally clued into the fact that I needed help and figured out that the local pool supply store could test my water and provide guidance on what I should do.
Test results on Thu, 8/17 @ 3:30pm:
FAC - 0
TAC - 0
Salt - 1800
CH - 200
CYA - 40
TA - 110
pH - 7.8
Copper - 0
Iron - 0
Pho - 300
So I bought Power Powder Plus shock and Perfect Weekly for phosphates (I know, I know. I'm smarter now two days later). I added 8oz shock Thu afternoon. Then 1 cap Perfect Weekly and 20lbs of Salt on Fri afternoon.
Test results on Sat, 8/19 @ 10:30am:
FAC - 0
TAC - 0
Salt - 3200
CH - 100
CYA - 50
TA - 90
pH - 7.8
Copper - 0TF‑100 Trouble Free Pool Test Kit ‑ FAS‑DPD Test Kit
Iron - 0
Pho - 750
So I bought a 15lb container of Hardness Plus to raise my Calcium Hardness. I told her I would come back after four hours to get my water tested again to see if the system said I could go ahead and start the shock.
Here is the water on Sat, 8/19 @ 2:30pm:
But I'm not going anywhere until I get some advice from the experienced folks here on TFP. Specifically on the SLAM method.
Obviously, FAC = 0 is a problem. I get how I didn't know that the algae is consuming the chlorine but one would think they might get a little more guidance from the local pool supply store experts on how to overcome that level. If I had gone back, the advice was going to be buy a bottle of Green Clean and add the remaining 8oz of Power Powder Plus and come back in a few days. Argh! I can see why there is a bias against the local pool supply store experts here.
So, I would like to skip my local pool supply store experts and learn to SLAM my pool. From the SLAM page and the INYO video, I believe the first step is to raise my CYA to 70-80 based on the Chlorine / CYA Chart. Correct?
And it appears I need to invest in the TF‑100 FAS‑DPD Test Kit (with the XL option). Am I stuck until I receive that kit? I'm sure that will take a few days and then I'm out of town again on Wed/Thu. I really don't want to just let it sit for a week.
Thanks in advance for the assistance. Looking forward to working with everyone.
Matt
We are about a month in with our pool. The first three weeks or so everything was great and the water was somehow staying clear even though we hadn't added anything to it and we were only running the SWCG. And then we got a 1.5" rain last week and things have gone crazy. It was then that I realized that I was supposed to be doing more to balance the chemicals. So off to the local pool supply store. I'll bet you already know where this is going.
Their Test Strips showed that I was had low pH and low CYA. So I purchased some Soda Ash and Conditioner/Stabilizer to bring those levels back to normal.
Then I went away for three days and came back to this (my wife or kids tried to vacuum it) on Thu, 8/17 @ 3pm:
So then I went ahead and tried to finish vacuuming it but because it is a sucky (not sucky?) pump, it got frustrating so I ended up with this at 4pm:
Then I finally clued into the fact that I needed help and figured out that the local pool supply store could test my water and provide guidance on what I should do.
Test results on Thu, 8/17 @ 3:30pm:
FAC - 0
TAC - 0
Salt - 1800
CH - 200
CYA - 40
TA - 110
pH - 7.8
Copper - 0
Iron - 0
Pho - 300
So I bought Power Powder Plus shock and Perfect Weekly for phosphates (I know, I know. I'm smarter now two days later). I added 8oz shock Thu afternoon. Then 1 cap Perfect Weekly and 20lbs of Salt on Fri afternoon.
Test results on Sat, 8/19 @ 10:30am:
FAC - 0
TAC - 0
Salt - 3200
CH - 100
CYA - 50
TA - 90
pH - 7.8
Copper - 0TF‑100 Trouble Free Pool Test Kit ‑ FAS‑DPD Test Kit
Iron - 0
Pho - 750
So I bought a 15lb container of Hardness Plus to raise my Calcium Hardness. I told her I would come back after four hours to get my water tested again to see if the system said I could go ahead and start the shock.
Here is the water on Sat, 8/19 @ 2:30pm:
But I'm not going anywhere until I get some advice from the experienced folks here on TFP. Specifically on the SLAM method.
Obviously, FAC = 0 is a problem. I get how I didn't know that the algae is consuming the chlorine but one would think they might get a little more guidance from the local pool supply store experts on how to overcome that level. If I had gone back, the advice was going to be buy a bottle of Green Clean and add the remaining 8oz of Power Powder Plus and come back in a few days. Argh! I can see why there is a bias against the local pool supply store experts here.
So, I would like to skip my local pool supply store experts and learn to SLAM my pool. From the SLAM page and the INYO video, I believe the first step is to raise my CYA to 70-80 based on the Chlorine / CYA Chart. Correct?
And it appears I need to invest in the TF‑100 FAS‑DPD Test Kit (with the XL option). Am I stuck until I receive that kit? I'm sure that will take a few days and then I'm out of town again on Wed/Thu. I really don't want to just let it sit for a week.
Thanks in advance for the assistance. Looking forward to working with everyone.
Matt