Want to start out right!

[mortimay]

I have the Taylor K-2006 test kit on order. Removed the cover to light green water. Got the pump hooked up and running, the pool filled. With the warm, sunny days in early April ended up with dark green swampy water. Right now I have done nothing to the pool. After the mess I had last year, I wanted to be sure to do this correctly the first time!

What supplies can I go ahead a pick up to get started? I was assuming lots of gallons of bleach.

You guys helped me clean up the mess last year so I'm hoping to get my pool up and going much quicker with your help this year!

Thanks!!

[PoolDoc]

Hi Anji;

1. If you can, verify that you have a full level of sand in your filter. You can do the DE test to see (1 quart DE powder in the skimmer => if it shoots back into the pool, your filter needs repair -- probably more sand.)
2. Start adding 3 gallons of plain 6% bleach every evening. Get a cheap OTO (yellow drops) kit. Add 3 more gallons the following evening, if the chlorine level is below 5 ppm. Repeat, and so on.
3. Once the water has turned cloudy blue or gray, add 3 more gallons, and brush the bottom. If it turns green (from algae sludge) add 3 MORE gallons.
4. Filter 24/7
5. Use the cheap kit to check pH. If it's below 7.0, add borax -- 1 box at a time, added SLOWLY to the skimmer with the pump running -- wait 4 hours and retest. Continue till the pH is 7.4 or so.
6. If the pH is above 8.0, read the muriatic acid page (http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?13111), buy a gallon of acid, and add it 1/2 gallon at at a time into the pool, near a return. Wait 4 hours, retest, and repeat as needed till the pH is 7.6 or so.
7. Once you get the K2006, tell us what the test results are, and what your pool looks like.

[mortimay]

My Taylor 2006 kit came so we started tackling the pool. We got the pump going and did a little vacuuming to waste since with all the rain we got over the weekend we needed to lower to water level. Tested the pool at 8:00pm last night with the following results:

Chl 0
pH 8.0
Alk 180ppm (actually turned a little pink at 170ppm but full on red at 180ppm)
CYA 0

Hubby dumped in 3 gal of 12.5%. He was going to dump several gallons in because the last time we had the pool store open for use they just dumped in about 30 gallons of their chlorine and said it should clear up in a few days. It didn't! I stopped him at three.

Here are the results taken this morning at 8:30am:

FC 78ppm
Chl 14ppm
pH 8
Alk 180ppm (actually turned a little pink at 170ppm but full on red at 180ppm)
CYA (didn't redo this test)

The pool isn't a dark green anymore, it's light green but still swampy. Can't see but about 6 inches down. Where do I go from here?

Thanks!
Anji

[Watermom]

I think you might want to try that chlorine test again. FC + CC = TC. 3 gallons of 12.5% chlorine in a 16K pool should add around 23ppm of chlorine. (Which, by the way is too high for a pool with no CYA.) Take a look at the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature below for the correlation between CYA and chlorine levels.

Your pH is too high. (when your chlorine is above 15ppm, your pH test is inaccurate but since your first set of numbers listed pH at 8 when your chlorine was 0, then that one should be accurate. You'll want to lower it to between 7.4-7.6 with some muriatic acid. Take a look at the following guide: Using Muriatic Acid Safely (http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?13111-Using-Muriatic-Acid-to-Safely-Lower-Your-Pool-s-pH.html)

Do you know what your CYA reading was when you closed the pool last fall?

[mortimay]

Ok, I redid the chlorine test, with almost the same results. I'm just learning to use this kit, maybe I'm not doing it correctly? Here's what I did step by step.

I used the 2ppm 25mL sample test.
Put is the two scoops and sample turned pink.
took 30 drops of 871 to turn the sample clear. I read this as 30x2 = 60ppm
added 5 drops of 003 and sample turned pink.
took 7 drops of 871 to turn the sample clear. I read this a 7x2 = 14ppm

Am I doing this correctly? Reading the results correctly?

So, I should go ahead and lower the pH and then what? Just wait until the chlorine level comes down? What should I do in the interim? Vacuum, sweep?

Thanks!

[Watermom]

You are DOING the test correctly but just not INTERPRETING the results properly. Since you are using the 25ml sample, you multiply the number of drops by 0.2 and not 2. So, 30 drops of 0871 would give you a FC reading of 6ppm. Then, after the addition of the 003, 7 drops of the 0871 would give you a CC reading of 1.4ppm.

Go ahead and work to lower the pH. Continue keeping the chlorine at shock level which for your pool with no CYA is 10-12ppm. FYI --- in a 16K pool, each quart of 12.5% liquid chlorine will add about 2ppm of chlorine. Use that to help you figure out how much to add.

Go back and reread Ben's post above and answer any questions that he asked.

By the way --- to save your reagents, just use a 10ml water sample instead of the 25ml sample. Knowing an accurate result within 0.5ppm is adequate. No need to get within 0.2 and it will save your reagents.

If there is debris on the bottom of the pool that you can vac out, do so. Brush the floor and walls daily. Watch your filter pressure and backwash when it rises 8-10psi over clean filter pressure.

[BigDave]

The multiplier for the 25ml sample test is 0.2 and 0.5 for the 10ml sample. So... you have 6 ppm FC and 1.4 ppm CC. You may want to use the 10ml sample as you'll go through your reagent pretty fast using the 25ml.
You can lower your pH as Watermom described - your pH test is accurate with FC of 6.
You'll need to get your FC up to shock level as per Ben's Best Guess Chart (http://poolsolutions.com/gd/best-guess-swimming-pool-chlorine-chart.html) and keep it there until you have almost no CC and you have less than 1ppm FC loss overnight.

[Watermom]

The multiplier for the 25ml sample test is 0.2 and 0.5 for the 10ml sample. So... you have 6 ppm FC and 1.4 ppm CC. You may want to use the 10ml sample as you'll go through your reagent pretty fast using the 25ml.
You can lower your pH as Watermom described - your pH test is accurate with FC of 6.
You'll need to get your FC up to shock level as per Ben's Best Guess Chart (http://poolsolutions.com/gd/best-guess-swimming-pool-chlorine-chart.html) and keep it there until you have almost no CC and you have less than 1ppm FC loss overnight.

Uh, Dave ........... hadn't I already told the OP these very things in my last two posts? ;)

[BigDave]

Sorry WM, Yes you did. I started writing my response before your's was up. I was also dealing with the family morning so not typing very fast.
In your first post this morning you mentioned that pH test won't be accurate at high Cl levels and the OP checked back on this in the "So, I should ...". I meant to point out that the situation is different than when you advised regarding pH test accuracy.

[mortimay]

Still working on the pool. It's getting better but not as quick as I'd like! I know, I know....patience! I've been working on keeping the FC levels between 12-16ppm. The pH was at 7.6 but we got some rain and it's now at 7.8. We vac'd to waste last night and now adding more water to fill so I can continue to vac. I can see the "dark" in the bottom of the pool where there are leaves, etc that I need to get out. So, I'll add more acid tonight to bring the pH back down, I'll keep the FC up and vac to get the ick out of the bottom. Anything else I should be doing?

Also, I have an empty muriatic acid bottle and one that has some acid still in it (this one was left from the previous owners over three years ago). What is the proper/safe way to dispose of these bottles?

Thank you!!

[PoolDoc]

What is the proper/safe way to dispose of these bottles?

Pour the acid in the pool (to lower your pH). Rinse all the bottles out, in the pool. Throw them in the trash.

Regarding your pool generally -- just get the gunk out ASAP, and make SURE you maintain a good high chlorine level 100% of the time.

[CarlD]

Dave and Watermom are right--don't use the 25ml sample, use the 10ml. In ten years, I think I've used the 25 ml once.

When they say .2 and .5, (and this is gonna sound crazy but it's not) every FIVE drops in the 25ml sample is 1ppm of FC, and every TWO drops in the 10ml sample is 1ppm of FC. (5drops to 1ppm means each drop is .2, 2 drops to 1ppm means each drop is .5)

Carl

[PoolDoc]

yer right. I should have noticed that. Thanks for doing so. -ben

[mortimay]

Wanted to send a huge THANK YOU to everyone here at the pool forum. I got my pool cleared in 6 days this year, compared to 8+ weeks last year. You guys ROCK!

Last night I added 2 gal 12.5% bleach and then checked, the number was FC 18ppm and the pH was 7.6. This morning at 8:00am I checked the chlorine and it was 12ppm. I just checked again at 11:00 and here are all my numbers:

FC 6ppm
CC 0
Alk 180ppm
pH 7.8

We added well water last night and also got some rain. Today has been overcast so no direct sunlight on the pool. I know I'm still fighting stuff. Due to some medical issues, I haven't been able to do much with the pool for the last week. The pool had a slight green to it on Friday. I've been shocking again and the water is now crystal clear, but I'm not holding chlorine overnight. Vacuumed to waste the ick on the bottom of the pool. I'll be able to keep up with it this week, and I'm hoping to have it swimable this weekend. What's my next step?

[PoolDoc]

1. Maintain chlorine levels.
2. Lower your pH to 74 - 7.6
3. Get some stabilizer in your pool.

Do you have access to a nearby Sams Club? If so, go buy their PoolBrand bags of dichlor shock. Using dichlor will add BOTH chlorine and stabilizer . . . and you need both. It will also tend to lower pH and ultimately, alkalinity, and you need that, too.

If you don't have access to Sams, you should EITHER

+ Buy this dichlor from Amazon:
Kem-Tek Dichlor 22 lbs (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0030BEHZA/poolbooks)
*OR*

+ Shop around for 15 - 25 lbs locally . . . BUT YOU HAVE TO BE A CHEMICAL LABEL INSPECTOR, to make sure you are NOT getting the blended and diluted goop that Walmart, Costco and most others are selling. Some of it has fairly harmless stuff that allows them to offer "enhanced" shock that's cheaper to make but they can sell for more, but some of it adds copper to your pool!

By the way, if you order form Amazon, you can get the Amazon free Prime trial:

Amazon Prime (http://www.amazon.com/gp/prime/?tag=poolbooks) and get free 2-day shipping for a month. But, if you don't want to keep it, REMEMBER TO CANCEL IT before the month is up. Personally, I'm a late shopper, so it saves me a bundle at Xmas.

[mortimay]

I purchased the Poolbrand Shock from Sams today. What is the best way to add to the pool? I know the directions say broadcast over the water, but it seems that in the past whenever I did that I ended up with granuals on the bottom of the pool. Could I put it in a sock in the basket?

Thank you!

[Watermom]

Dichlor is fast dissolving so it shouldn't sit on the bottom of the pool for long, but if you want, you can pre-dissolve it in a bucket of water.

[mortimay]

Went out to work on the pool this morning. It's clear but has a green tint to it. I have added well water the last couple of days, but water was greenish before.

Cl 5.5
pH 7.8
Alk 220
CYA lower than 30 but there is some CYA (when tested at 30 the water was cloudy but could still see the dot)

Adding more CYA now. What can I do to get rid of the green tint?

[PoolDoc]

If you've got dichlor, don't add CYA -- add dichlor! For each 1 ppm of FC with dichlor, you'll get 0.9 ppm stabilizer.

But, with that Alk, lower your pH to 7.0 - 7.2. Muriatic acid is best -- see the linked safety page in my signature.

[mortimay]

Is there a way to lower the alkalinity?

[PoolDoc]

http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/lowering-swimming-pool-alkalinity-step-by-step.html