Unexpectedly responsible for our pool in LA!

Longridge

New member
Aug 2, 2024
3
Los Angeles, CA
Pool Size
18000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
I never would have thought I'd be here, but earlier this year, my husband took over pool maintenance of our midcentury plaster pool from our weekly pool service guy, so he has been DIYing our pool maintenance. My husband is unexpectedly away from home for a few weeks, and as luck would have it, right before he left, the pool pump stopped working. We had it back up and running within two days of it going out, but now I'm in charge of bringing the pool chemistry back to normal without any knowledge of how to do so! I have not had any proper introduction to pool maintenance, other than "just make sure the floater is full of chlorine tabs", so here I am to try to figure it out!
 
Do you have a water test kit? Even a simple one?

Is the water green or cloudy? Can you see the bottom of the deep end?

First thing is go to Lowe’s, Home Depot or a pool store and buy 4 gallons of liquid chlorine. Pour 1 gallon in now with the pump running at least 8 hours each day. I see you’re in Los Angeles. It’s going to be over 100* for the next 5 days so you’re probably going to use all 4 gallons of chlorine depending on how bad your water looks.

Can you post a picture of the water?
 
Welcome TFP.

Use the K-2006C test kit you listed in your signature and post a full set of test results in the format..,

FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

Do you have PoolMath?
 
Ditch the tabs and stay out of pool stores. You will only need the test kit and some chlorine to start with and after you can test your water the forum will guide you on a path to clear, sanitized water that you can easily maintain. Then don't let your husband botch it up. You'll need to train him as well and you'll both need to heed the CYA and FC relationship to keep it all good.