Green Pool

[johnburr]

I know I need numbers but have general question. Been to the pool store and had water tested its been green and will not clear. They want me to put in 10 lbs of soda ash, then 3 gal of muric acid. They say this will get the ph to the correct level. I asked if borax would bring PH up and was told that borax is for alkalidity. Soda ash will run about $20 but 4 lb borax is only $5 any advise. I will post the numbers in a little while need to locate the last report.

Thanks

[johnburr]

Pool is 30 round above ground

Free Chlorine is .5
Water PH 7
TA 180
Calcium hardness 90
cyanuric Acid 65
total dissoved solids 900
copper / iron 0
Phosphates 0

forgot also they want me to had 36 lbs of hardness plus

[PatL34]

John,

Welcome to the forum.

You need to give us those numbers so we can advise you. Also pool size in gallons, type, above ground or in ground, concrete or vinyl, pump size, type of filter - DE - Sand - or Cartridge.

Get yourself a decent testkit as well, that can meaure up to 15 ppm Cl. You might have to get that from the pool store. Just don't ask for any more advice, or sales talk.

The one thing your dealer did not mention was to use chlorine, which you are going to need as soon as possible. About a quart for every thousand gallons to bring the Cl up to 15 ppm.

If there is any debris on the bottom or in the skimmer or pump basket, it needs to be removed as well, as this will eat up your Cl.

You are correct in that Borax will bring up your pH, it does it better than soda ash and as you say is lot cheaper. Baking Soda will raise your alkilinity. Once you start your own testing, you will only have to go to the pool store for stabilizer (CYA), and nothing else. Hold off on adding any chemicals, other than the chlorine, until we get some numbers from you.

Hope this helps.

Pat

PS. Just saw your numbers. Carry on with the Cl addition, don't add any more Muriatic acid. The Cl will bring the pH up by itself. Forget a out the 36lbs of hardness plus. You can add shock which will help your chlorine and add calcium. If you have a vinyl pool, then about 120 ppm CH is all you need. With a concrete pool, 200 - 400 ppm should be your goal.

Hope this helps for now.

Pat

[mbar]

You need to add chlorine to bring your number up to shock level to get rid of the algae, Bens best guess chart with a cya of 65 would mean a ppm of 20 - You must keep your chlorine level up at all times, which means check the chlorine as much as you can to keep it steady - the algae will eat the chlorine, and the best way to kill it is with a steady shock level. Here is the chart:
Stabilizer . . . . . . Min. FC . . . . Max FC . . . 'Shock' FC
=> 0 ppm . . . . . . . 1 ppm . . . . . 3 ppm . . . . 10 ppm
=> 10 - 20 ppm . . . . 2 ppm . . . . . 5 ppm . . . . 12 ppm
=> 30 - 50 ppm . . . . 3 ppm . . . . . 6 ppm . . . . 15 ppm
=> 60 - 90 ppm . . . . 5 ppm . . . . . 10 ppm . . .. 20 ppm
=> 100 - 200 ppm . . . 8 ppm . . . . . 15 ppm . . .. 25 ppm

You should leave your ph at 7 and put your return jet facing up to aerate your water which will bring your alk down while raising your ph. You don't need any calcium. Keep your filter running 24/7 and your pool will clear. When your ph raises above 7.4, and your alk is still high, put some muriatic acid in the pool to bring your ph back to 7 or 7.2 and continue to aerate to bring the alk down and ph up.

[johnburr]

28,000 gal
above ground
vinyl
sand doller filter
sand
1 hp pump

have been putting in shock but never seem to get FC up

[mbar]

You aren't using enough chlorine to kill the algae. You have to get your ppm up to 20 and keep it there until the algae is dead. Once the algae is dead you will be able to hold free chlorine. Here is a bleach Calc written by one of our fourm members that can help you see how much to add:

http://www.hal-pc.org/~mwsmith2/BleachCalc262.exe

You have to be patient and dedicated - you will get your pool cleaned up!

[johnburr]

I don't want to sound stupid but how does the Bleach calc work I have put in numbers but does not give me how much bleach what am I doing wrong?

I put in 30 for pool lenth 6 for CL Strength 3 for quanity of bleach ( I assume this is the size of bleach bottle. and 15 ppm increase desired

[mbar]

You would need 9.3 gallons of bleach to raise your chlorine from .5 to 20 ppms in a 28,000 gallon pool with 6% bleach.

You have to put 28,000 in the "ppol size"
6 in the "Chlorine strength"
20 in the "ppm" increase"

click on calculate, and it will show how many gallons in the shaded area on the bottom.

[johnburr]

Mbar thanks

also which test kit at walmart is ok? Need something quick

Freshwater Master Test Kit?

[mbar]

Walmart used to sell a 5 way test kit. I am not familiar with any now - I used the one from Walmart a couple of years ago before I got "Ben's" kit. You can get any drop based kit for chlorine, do a search for "shot glass method" on this forum, and it will tell you how to dilute the test so it goes up passed five. Maybe someone will chime in here with some more ideas.