Wanting to switch from pristine blue to chlorine

[Justingsxr]

Hi my wife and I just got our first pool this year and the pool store sold is on pristine blue after some reading I found out it’s not that great want to switch to chlorine have only been adding chemicals for about a month and a half any help would be appreciated pool is 15 foot round by 52 inches 5700 gallons

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! It's good that you switched, now we have to watch and see if enough copper was released into the water to cause problems. There's a few simple things you need to do now:
- Have a proper test kit. We recommend either a TF-100 (link below in my signature) or Taylor K-2006C. That's very important.
- Next is add stabilizer (CYA) if not already. I'm assuming this is a non-salt pool right? Be sure to update your signature. So increase the CYA to 30 using the sock-soaking method, If yo need help with that let us know. Our PoolMath APP can help you with the dosage amount.
- At the same time, add liquid chlorine or regular bleach with a goal of about 2 ppm on day one until all the stabilizer is dissolved. After that, increase the FC to around 4-5 ppm or keep it balanced to that CYA as noticed n the FC/CYA Chart. That will help you avoid algae.

If after adding the chlorine you start to see water color changed or dark staining on the pool itself, you know there was too much copper in the water already and it would just be best to dump most of it and start over. But if that happens let us know.

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[Justingsxr]

Hi I haven’t switched yet I want to as soon as possible yes it’s non salt I can get you the readings the pool store gave me the other day sometime today I just got done with work I do know that the copper II reading was a 1.2 they told me it should be a .9 so don’t use the blue for about a week but that is supposed to be the sanitizer we fell for the non chlorine gimmick and they said ph was 6.8 and phosphates were 1682 I have been cleaning the pool we haven’t even been in it yet

 

[Texas Splash]

I do know that the copper II reading was a 1.2

That answers the big question - too high. Pool store testing and advice is typically off the mark, and that's confirmed in some of the things they told you. Our threshold for metals is 0.3. Anything above that is trouble, and you're way above that limit. I would pull that band-aid off now and just exchange water. But you probably can't empty all the water because water keeps the pool shell and liner in place. So consider dumping down to about 18 inches or so. Just keep an eye on it when you get that low to ensure nothing shifts or pulls away. Once you refill you should be able to start fresh with no copper concerns.

 

[Justingsxr]

Ok so draining it and refill really isn’t at option at this time due to the way that I work wouldn’t be able to due that for about 31/2 weeks and tomorrow is my weekly chemical treatment is there anything I can do to start treating it differently know I don’t want the water sitting that long with not kinda of treatment and start haveing other issues along with to much copper I also have no idea what chemicals I should be buying thanks

 

[Justingsxr]

I do have a 1 gallon jug of liquid chlorine

 

[Texas Splash]

You could start trying to add liquid chlorine/bleach and balance the FC to the CYA as noted on the FC/CYA Chart, just understand there could be a reaction between chlorine and copper. If it happens, not much you can do. Also be mindful of blonde hair and fingernails that can sometimes change color as well. Nice for Halloween but not June. You may get lucky and that doesn't happen, but it's a possibility. The only other thing I can think of is you just keep using that stuff and add some non-copper based algaecide (i..e Polyquat 60) and see if that gets you through a couples weeks until you return and dump the pool.