Mimi's delimma..

[mimidjets]

I recently put up a 10472 gallon saltwater generator pool. I didnt run the generator long enough to make enough chlorine, so of course I had green water... Since then, with alot of back washing, adding more salt, and running my generator longer and my sand filter 24/7, the green has changed to almost clear. The problem now is low chlorine readings and high ph readings. I just bought new test strips and will go home and test again. I guess ill know with these new strips where I stand.

[PoolDoc]

SWCG's perform well to MAINTAIN chlorine levels in pool water that's in good condition. But, when you use them to try to clean up a messed up pool, you usually will end up only by shortening your SWCG life AND failing to clear the pool.

You'd be best off turning the SWCG off, till your pool is all clear, and running 100% manually. On a 10K pool, if you add 1.5 gallons of PLAIN 6% household each evening till you are all cleaned up, that will be a good start.

For high pH, read the muriatic acid stick linked in my signature, and then you'll be able to fix that, as well.

Once you have your pool all cleaned up AND have gotten a test kit and made sure your alkalinity and calcium levels are OK for an SWCG, you can turn it back on, and relax.

[mimidjets]

Thank you so much for your advice! I have read alot about putting bleach in to fix the chlorine levels, but just wasn't sure if I would mess things up now that I have it clear. When I run the SWG at night, (I am running it for 10 hours at night now), anyway when its' running at night you can smell chlorine, so i know it's working properly. I think I just need to catch it up like you said. I will defintely do the bleach thing and the ph thing. It does look better. It's clear and swimmable now. Just no chlorine during the day. The ph when tested starts out orange but before the 15 minutes is up it's red.

[aylad]

If you smell "chlorine", then you have goo in the pool that needs to be burned off.What you're actually smelling is the chloramines, which form when chlorine engages the goo to try to kill it--and that's what it's in there for. However, if all the chlorine you're producing overnight is used up fighting "goo" that's already in the water, my concern is that it will leave little left to fight goo during the day as it's introduced by swimmers. I think you probably still need to shock the pool to eliminate ALL the "goo" so that your SWCG can then do a better job of maintaining chlorine levels.

Just curious, have you checked your chlorine levels in the mid-morning? I'm just wondering how much chlorine is in reserve for the day after the SWCG is turned off?

Janet

[mimidjets]

Ok I have put the bleach in. I bought some muriatic acid but not sure when it is safe to put it in after the bleach. Also how long should we wait to swim in it and how long should I wait to turn the SWG back on?

[Watermom]

You can add muriatic acid a half hour or so after the bleach with no problem, and a half hour after adding it, you can swim. Just need to give it time to mix in so swimmers won't run into a hot pocket of acid or bleach.

You want to wait to turn the SWCG back on until you can go overnight without losing more than 1ppm or chlorine and the water is clear. Have you ordered a good kit yet? Test strips are not a very reliable way to test your pool's chemistry. You also really need to post a full set of numbers here for us to look at.

[mimidjets]

I'm sorry, I'm new at this. I just want to make sure I understand this. Since it's raining right now and my chlorine and ph numbers are not up yet, should I just put a bag of shock it in tomorrow or go ahead and keep doing the bleach thing until they come up?

[PoolDoc]

I'd prefer bleach, just because I don't know what's in your shock. When we know little about a particular pool's chemistry, we always recommend bleach, because it has the fewest OTHER effects on the pool.

Once you have a good test kit, and have reported accurate values, and exactly what sort of 'shock' you have, we may have other recommendations.

[mimidjets]

After putting bleach in for two days, and adding 1 pint of muriatic acid, according to package directions for my size pool, my numbers with my 6-way strips were all in the normal range for this test kit. (haven't gotten my good test kit yet) These WERE the readings at the end of that day of adding the bleach and acid:TH 200/FC 2-4/PH 7.5/TA 120/CYA 30-50... Yesterday and this mornings readings are:TH 100/ FG 5-10/PH 8.4/TA 120/CYA30-50. My ph just won't cooperate! Is it safe to add more muriatic acid? My pool water is beautifully clear and feels great! It smells great not like strong chlorine but clean and soft! You wouldn't think there was a problem with numbers at all! I just want to relax and not worry about that ph level!

[Watermom]

Your pH may or may not be 8.4. When you test pH while the chlorine levels are that high (unless you have a K-2006 kit), then you will typically get falsely high pH readings. Wait until the chlorine is below 5 and then test pH again.

[mimidjets]

Ok great! WHEN I do get ready to turn my SWG back on to maintain, should I run during the day or at night? I had been running at night for 8 hours. I have heard different stories about that. Like you are wasting time running during the day because of the sun and heat. OR you need to run during the day because of the sun and heat. What is the right thing to do?

[aylad]

I'll let one of the SWCG folks chime in with a definitive answer, but if it were my pool I would run it during the day--I would want the chlorine production happening when it's needed most, which is when the sun is out burning up what chlorine is in the water. If you run it at night, you will have to make sure that there's enough residual chlorine in the pool ALL DAY so that you don't fall below your minimum level by night time. Makes more sense to me to run it during the day...but that's just me thinkin' ;)

Janet

[mimidjets]

Makes sense to me too. Just want to do the right thing. Don't want to battle that green water again! Thanks for your thoughts!

[aylad]

You won't battle the green water again, as long as you keep your chlorine levels where they need to be--the question is, is it easier for you to do that by running it at night, or during the day?

Janet

[mimidjets]

Yea, that's what I need to figure out. If anyone has done this and knows the answer as to what worked for you, please share. I have a friend that runs hers at night, but her chlorine levels are always a little low.

[aylad]

The only way you're going to know for sure what works best in your pool is to experiment with it...run it at night, test at various times during the day, and see if your chlorine is holding. If so, fine...if not, then try running it during the day, then test after it's off, and again the next morning. If it holds overnight, then there's your answer :)

One thing you might want to check into--I understand that there are some places in the country where the electricity rates are lower at night than during the day, and that might make a difference in when you want to run it--but if you want to avoid the green water, you're going to need to run it at whatever time is necessary to keep your chlorine levels consistent.

[PoolDoc]

I don't know if we have enough experience with Intex SWCG's to really tell you how they perform, or what to expect. What I can tell you is you need to maintain adequate chlorine levels, REGARDLESS of how the Intex unit performs.

Add bleach as needed!